The construction of the baray probably began in the eleventh century under the reign of King Suryavarman I and was completed under the reign of King Udayadityavarman II.
Angkor engineers who created the Western Baray seem to have used elements of the existing site buildings. Is the dam seems to be largely a section of a dike surrounding the capital of King Yasovarman which was built in the center of the temple of Phnom Bakheng. In other places, the construction of the baray resulted burial or submersion other sites. South dike and partially buried temple Ak Yum pyramidal and built of brick. The western baray appears to have been formerly inhabited archaeological research have indeed unearthed in the area of the bases of walls, stairs and shards of pottery and a stone engraved dating from 713 AD which provides an overview how were delimited fields of rice were offered a queen Jayadevi.
In the early excavations, French archaeologists believed that the Western Baray functioned as a vast reservoir of water retention for powering irrigation canals in times of drought, thus multiplying rice crops each year. More recent studies, however, theorize that the Baray had mainly symbolic function, acting as an earthly representation of the primordial ocean, with the Western Mebon temple at its center.
In modern times, a valve was built on the south dike of the baray, thus raising the water level and water supply to the fields of the south. Today the baray not retain water throughout the year in its western end. During the rainy season, however, the water advances to the eastern breakwater.
Baray waters, clear and calm, made it a place frequented by locals, for swimming and boating. The body of water was also used occasionally landing site for seaplanes.
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