The god Vishnu appears the turtle Kurma, one of his many avatars, or incarnations, on the East gallery of Angkor Wat, Cambodia. Here. he supports the Churning of the Sea of Milk, in which teams of gods and demons are pulling on the ends of a giant snake wrapped around Mount Mandara, in order to release amrita, the elixir of immortality. The world's largest religious monument and an architectural masterpiece, Angkor Wat is the apogee of classical Khmer style. Built between 1113 and 1150 by King Suryavarman II, it was both city and temple, the capital of the Empire and the State Temple dedicated to the god Vishnu. Surrounded by a broad moat, it covers 200 hectares (1.5 km by 1.3 km) and is a microcosm of the Hindu universe.