How did ancient temples represent Mount Meru in Southeast Asian religious architecture?

In Southeast Asian religious architecture, ancient temples represented Mount Meru—the mythical axis of the universe—by integrating cosmological beliefs into their physical design. Because local traditions already associated mountaintops with the dwelling places of gods and spirits, this Indian concept was readily adopted and adapted across the region.12

Architectural representations of Mount Meru typically included the following features:

• Towered Shrines: The central shrine of a temple was crowned by a roof tower, which served as a symbolic representation of the cosmic mountain.13
• Terraced Plinths: Temples were often constructed upon lofty, terraced platforms or plinths that functioned as artificial mountains.1
• Artificial Landscapes: Khmer kings, in particular, built "temple mountains" by creating massive platforms of earth, often utilizing soil excavated from moats and irrigation channels to elevate the shrines.2
• Symbolic Layouts: The overall temple complex was frequently designed to illustrate a mystical conception of the cosmos, with the central tower acting as the hub of creation from which the world spread outward.21

These structures served as essential "supernatural mechanisms" that linked the earthly realm to the divine.2