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Situated
between India and China, Southeast Asia has been the birthplace of several
cultures, some of which rank among the world’s greatest civilizations. Among
the Indianized kingdoms which sprang up in Southeast Asia before the Common era,
the great Khmer civilization and its capital, Angkor, in modern day Cambodia.
The advent of Indians in Southeast Asia has hardly a parallel in history. In
view of the ethnic affinities between the prehistoric Austro-Asiatic races of
India and those of Suvarnabhumi, contact between the two regions may well go
back to the remotest antiquity. Most of the countries of Southeast Asia came
under the cultural and religious influence of India. This region was broadly
referred to by ancient Indians as Suvarnabhumi (the Land of Gold) or
Suvarnadvipa (the Island of Gold). Vedic Indians must have charted Java,
Yawadvip, thousands of years ago because Yawadvip is mentioned in India's
earliest epic, the Ramayana. The Ramayana reveals some knowledge of the eastern
regions beyond seas; for instance Sugriva dispatched his men to Yavadvipa, the
island of Java, in search of Sita.
The
whole area was so influenced by India, that according to a European scholar who
wrote in 1861, that "the Indian countries situated beyond the Ganges hardly
deserve the attention of History." The various states established in this
region can therefore be called Indianized kingdoms. Invasion nor proselystism
was by no means the main factor in the process of Indianization which took place
in the Indian Archipelago. International trade was very important.
Angkor Wat indeed deserves to play the leading part not only because of its
exceptional artistic and architectural achievements but also on account of the
hydrological, agricultural and ecological problems solved there.
Angkor
wat is
often hailed as one of the most extraordinary architectural creations ever
built, with its intricate bas-reliefs, strange acoustics and magnificent soaring
towers.
Angkor
Wat, originally named Vrah
Vishnulok
- the sacred abode of Lord Vishnu, is the largest temple in the world. It was
built by King Suryavarman II in the 12th century.
The Sanskrit Nagara (capital) was modified by the Cambodian tongue to Nokor
and then to Angkor.
The word Angkor is derived from the Sanskrit word 'nagara' meaning 'holy city'.
Vatika is Sanskrit word for temple. "The city which is a
temple," Angkor Wat is a majestic monument, the world's largest religious
construction in stone, and an architectural masterpiece. The
Khmers adhered to the Indian belief that a temple must be built according to a
mathematical system in order for it to function in harmony with the universe.
Distances between certain architectural elements of the temple reflect numbers
related to Indian mythology and cosmology. The
sheer size of the place leaves visitors in awe and the complex designs
illustrate the skills of long gone priest architects. Every spare inch has
been carved with intricate works of art.
The sculptures of Indian icons produced in Cambodia during the 6th to the
8th centuries A D are masterpieces, monumental, subtle, highly sophisticated,
mature in style and unrivalled for sheer beauty anywhere in India says Philip
Rawson. The scale of Angkor Wat enabled
the Khmer to give full expression to religious symbolism. It is, above all else,
a microcosm of the Hindu universe.
It is frequently said that Angkor
was 'discovered' by the Europeans but this is patently nonsense and simply
reflects a Eurocentric view. The Khmer never forgot the existence of their
monuments. French naturalist Henri Mouhot
stumbled across the city complex of Angkor Wat while on a zoological expedition.
He
was overwhelmed by the magnificence of these ruins hidden in the jungle and
wrote:
“One of these temples – a rival to that of Solomon, and erected by some
ancient Michael Angelo - might take
its place besides our most beautiful buildings – Grander than anything left to
us by Greece or Rome …it makes the traveler forget all the fatigues of the
journey, filling him with admiration and delight, such as should be experienced
on finding a verdant oasis in the sandy desert."
The
grandeur of this ancient civilization is truly astounding. Covering an area of
one square mile, Angkor Wat is one of the largest temple complex in the world.
The temple is dedicated to the Lord Vishnu from whom the king was considered a
reincarnation. Essentially a three-layered pyramid, Angkor Wat has five
distinctive towers, 64 meters high. On the outer wall are eight panels of
bas-relief depicting scenes of Hindu epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. These
relics of past grandeur bear mute testimony tone of the least known yet most
glorious chapters in the history of mankind: that of the classical culture of
‘Greater India.’
Unlike
other countries, Cambodia does not minimize Indian influence on the local
culture. On the contrary, the people of the country generously acknowledge it.
Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia recalled the close cultural ties that have
existed for two thousand years between India and Cambodia. He said: "When
we refer to 2000 year old ties which unite us with India, it is not at all a
hyperbole. In fact, it was about 2000 years ago that the first navigators,
Indian merchants, and Brahmins brought to our ancestors their gods, their
techniques, their organization. Briefly India was for us what Greece was for the
Latin Occident."
Indra's
heaven: Stupendous architecture
Splendid Sculpture
Conclusion
***
For
the rest of the chapter refer to the links listed below:
Sacred Angkor
Sacred Angkor
Part 2
Sacred Angkor
Part 3
Indra's
heaven: Stupendous architecture
Robert
Joseph Casey
(1890 - 1962) a reporter with Chicago Daily News, writing in his book Four
faces of Shiva in 1926 wrote:
"Angkor
vat, supreme architectural effort of this culture, not only the most grandiose
temple of the group but probably the most stupendous undertaking attempted by
man since the corner-stone was laid for the tower of Babel.
Lord Harihara of
Phnom Da.
In this image
of the deity who combines the qualities of Shiva and Vishnu the two halves of
the face are subtly differentiated. The stern half is Shiva, on the proper
right, with the tangled locks. The gentle, sublime half Vishnu, wearing a mitre,
is on the proper left.
(image
source: The
Art of Southeast Asia - By Philip
Rawson).
***
Here
at Angkor was the finest metropolis in Asia – a town whose splendor is
permanently embossed in temple wall and tower and terrace. The people were
called the Khmer and were either of Hindu extraction or
the diligent pupils of Hindu teachers. There is mention of a kingdom
under Hindu direction, if not domination, in Indo-China as early as the year 238
AD and there is evidence that the Khmer flourished during the 13th
and possibly into the 14th century."
"One
looks upon it through misty eyes and with an odd constriction of the throat, for
there is only one Angkor. There is no such monument to vanished people anywhere
else in the world. It seems futile to record its grandeur. One doesn’t
describe an Angkor. One just gazes at it in silence and amazement. "
"The
emotional reaction to the stupendous beauty of Angkor is that we have seen it
before. It is a matter of psychological stimulus through senses that cannot
comprehend the legerity, the delicacy of so terrific a mass.”
On
experiences the same sensation as one gazes at the Grand Canyon or the
loveliness of the Taj Mahal. It seems to be the concomitant of emotional
surprise….which may explain why the doctrine of reincarnation appealed to so
many races of the age that produced Angkor.”
It
rises to its heights in a steady masterful sweep. Heat waves give it a shivery
unreality, and the eye has difficulty in focusing on its pinnacles.
 
On a square
terrace at the heart and the summit of Angkor wat, five towers enclose the
temple's principal sanctuary.
(source:
Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris).
***
The
towers are loftier than the tallest palms of the jungle but they are lifted
still higher by tricks in perspective that form the most interesting part of
their design. In the mass Angkor is as impressive as the great pyramids of
Egypt, more striking as an artistic ensemble than even the Taj Mahal.”
Monsieur
Pierre Furneau,
one of the French road engineers, said:
“That
is Angkor vat for you. It is no ruin. The carvings on the galleries are
complete. The roofs still turn the rains. The walls are as solid as they were
when the Khmer masons put them there without binder or cement. And one can not
but feel that only a few hours ago it was palpitating with life. …companies of
priests were in the galleries chanting the rituals. ..”
 
A depiction
of Royal polo at
Angkor near the Elephant Terrace.
(image
source: Splendors
of the Past: Lost Cities of the Ancient World - National
Geographic Society. p.186-190).
***
Angkor
vat is the apotheosis of the Khmer people. If nothing else remained of all their
works it would be enough to mark them as one of the great races that time has
produced.”
Jean
Commaille
(1868-1916) first Conservative of Angkor expressed it:
“Angkor
vat is isolated like an island in the middle of a lake."
"The
façade of the temple proper is five times as wide as the Cathedral of Notre
Dame de Paris. The central tower is more than two hundred feet high. The
construction of the pyramids of Egypt was a task of minor importance compared
with the building of Angkor vat. For the works of Ghizeh it was necessary to
haul the stone only across the valley of the Nile from the quarries beyond the
present city of Cairo. Some of the rock used in Angkor vat is believed to have
come from points more than forty miles distant, part of it by water, much of it
overland on rollers. And there is no group of structures in Egypt, not excepting
even Karnak, as intricately carved as this.”
***
"One
is conscious instantly of a strange combination of delicacy, finely wrought
detail and terrific immensity, a conception that is peculiarly typical of the
Khmer arts. Here is at once a rocky uplift, whose very bulk is potent
thaumaturgy, and a hanging garden whose banks of flowers are chiseled stone.
Never,
if one looks at it for an hour or for a day or repeatedly for weeks on end, does
Angkor vat seem real.
"The
architects of the great temple were masters of their craft, but first of all
they were close students of the human eye. They set out to build not only a
tremendous pyramid but an ensemble which would instantly seize upon the vision
of one who entered through West Gate and carry it irresistibly in a direct
unwavering line to the climax of the central tower.
Angkor
vat is built up from the fan of the multi-headed cobra at the end of the
causeway through a series of buildings of increasing importance and cumulative
effect.
With
profound faith and rich imagination, the Hindu religion adopted by the Khmer
endowed the Gods with varied manifestations, human or animal, sometimes both.
(image
source: Angkor: Splendors of the Khmer Civilization -
By Marilia Albanese p. 138).
***
Angkor
vat is built up from the fan of the multi-headed cobra at the end of the
causeway through a series of buildings of increasing importance and cumulative
effect. Without the twin libraries the eye might be distracted by the reaches of
open space on the side of the road of honor. With them it is caught and
centered. The pools that sparkle in the part are merely decorative fringes to a
picture whose essential values are never for a moment in doubt.
It
is one of the strangely fascinating features of Angkor vat that a person must go
about the work deliberately if he is to study the building in detail. So long as
he stands on the causeway before the first staircase he is conscious only of
what lies ahead of him, a vision so ethereal that it
might well be a mirage or a thing of moon-dust dropped from Indra’s heaven.”
(source: Four Faces of Shiva - By Robert
J Casey p. 270 - 277). For
more refer to chapter on Suvarnabhumi,
Seafaring
in Ancient India, War in
Ancient India and India
on Pacific Waves?
Top
of Page
Splendid
Sculptures
Most
of the elegant bronze statues in the temples have all but disappeared, except
portion of this huge statue of Lord Vishnu. It testifies to the excellent
workmanship of the Khmer. The smaller statues and ornaments found reveal a high
level of technical and artistic skill. They were made by the lost wax technique
and some parts were often cast separately and then riveted together. Some were
decorated with precious metals. Sadly none of the articles made of gold, silver
or alloys of precious metals referred to in the Khmer inscriptions, known as
samrit, have survived, apart from the magnificent Nandi, the bull ridden by Lord
Shiva.
Lord Ganesha now in Guimet Museum Paris. Besides the deities of
the Trinity, the Khmer royalty also worshipped Ganesha and Hanuman, who was a
devotee of Lord Rama.
Hinduism
bestows on the worshipper freedom to see God in any form: The
Indian artist did not hesitate to indicate the omnipresence of a God by giving
him several faces and forms.
As an
American professor Abraham Kaplan, in his book, The New World of Philosophy p.
207says:
“It
is paradoxical that we, (we in the West) who put so much emphasis on individualism in economics
and politics, have so little room for it in morality and religion, as compared
with Indian thought.”
***
Philip Rawson ( ? )
academic, artist, Keeper of the Gulbenkian Museum of Oriental Art and
archaeology at the University of Durham and author of The Art of Southeast Asia has
remarked:
"The sculptures of Indian icons
produced in Cambodia during the 6th century to the 8th
centuries AD are masterpieces, monumental, subtle, highly sophisticated, mature
in style and unrivalled for sheer beauty anywhere in India.
A number of Buddhist figures were carved in the same style.
None of the Buddhist images therefore attained the same sensuous suggestiveness
as those of the Hindu deities. Where a Hindu king would derive his royal
authority from a Hindu deity, a king who was a Buddhist would find it difficult
to derive similar authority from the Buddha himself, who was a humble mendicant."
“One of the most interesting pieces of all is a fragmentary
bronze bust, from the western Mebon, of the God Vishnu
lying asleep on the ocean of non-being. Head and shoulders and the two right
arms survive. It shows the extraordinary, delicate integrity and subtle total
convexity of surface, which these sculptors could achieve by modeling. Eyebrows,
moustache and eyes seem to have been inlaid, perhaps with gold, silver or
precious tone, though the inlay is gone and only the sockets remain. This
was one of the world’s great sculptures. "
Lord Shiva and Uma
from Banteay Srei. 10the century, sandstone.
The chief iconic image from the site is a splendid sculpture of
Shiva
seated, holding his wife Uma on his left
knee. The massive cubical forms give a grandiose impression of power.
***
Another magnificent bronze of Shiva,
from Por Loboeuk, suggests the wealth of metal art that once must have existed
in Cambodia (Kamboja) at the height of its power."
Indian
influences in early Khmer or Sambor art is so marked that some scholars have
suggested the artists came form India. The statues are extremely beautiful, but
only a few have survived. The most exquisite of these are the statues of
Harihara, Uma and Lakshmi in the Phnom Penh museum. The chief iconic image from the site is a splendid sculpture of Shiva
seated, holding his wife Uma on his left
knee. The massive cubical forms give a grandiose impression of power.
Harihara of
Kambuja.
Lord Ganesha:
symbolizes, Intellect, Wisdom and Learning.
Watch Ganapati
Om Kirtan - By Dave Stringer.
(image
source: Angkor: Splendors of the Khmer Civilization
-
By Marilia Albanese p. 25).
***
Lord Shiva:
From Hariharalaya with Broken arms.
Nandi: Lord
Shiva's vahana.
(image
source: webmaster's own collection of photos taken
during a recent visit).
Varun: Lord
of Sea. 10th century. Phnom Penh Musuem.
The image of
Lord Vishnu is reproduced 1,020 times on the sides of the monument found in
Preah Khan, now in the Guimet Museum, Paris.
(image
source: Angkor: Splendors of the Khmer Civilization -
By Marilia Albanese).
***
Head of Lord
Shiva from Por Loboeuk, Siem Reap. 11th century, gilded bronze. This life-size
head once had glazed and colored inlays which would have given vivid expression
on the face.
Lord Brahma -
12th century.
***
 Silver
head of Lord Vishnu, region of Wat Phu (Laos) (8th century) now in mutilated condition. Discovered
more than ten years ago by two companions who tried to share it between them by
dividing it into two with an axe. It entered the collection of the Princes of
Champassak in this mutilated condition. The
eyes must have been inlaid; gold leaf still covers the lips. From under his
cylindrical mitre Vishnu's curly hair covers the nape of his neck. The very
gentle face is lit by an ineffable smile. *** No
one knows in which of the temples in Wat
Phu in Laos, the silver statue of Lord
Vishnu was worshipped, only its head has been found in
the waters of a little stream, near the Lingaparvata. This
exquisite piece is probably of 8th century date. The
sumptuous material, the fine workmanship, the nobility of the
features and more than all else the infinite sweetness of its
smile make this image, sadly mutilated though it is, one of the
most extraordinary masterpieces of southeast Asia. It bears
witness to the piety and splendor of the princes of Chenla from
whom all the Khmer kings were to proclaim their descent. (source:
The Civilization of Angkor – by
Mideline Giteau
p. 80 – 82).
For
more on The Glorious Hindu Legacy: Indic influence in Southeast
Asia refer to the chapter under Glimpses
XII to Glimpses
XIX
Top
of Page
Conclusion
Angkor
Wat, the greatest of Khmer temples, is a text in itself. The hundreds of reliefs
sculpted on its stones narrate the events from the Hindu Epics and the Puranas,
and symbolically communicate the fundamental religious, philosophical, ethical
and political principles of the Khmers at the time of Suryavarman. Varman was a
title given to Kings and Pandita was title given to Brahmins.
Philip Rawson
( ) academic,
artist, Keeper of the Gulbenkian Museum of Oriental Art and archaeology at the
University of Durham and author of The Art of Southeast Asia says that Angkor
Vat is the crowning work of Khmer architecture, carrying to their high point all
the features of earlier styles. But Rawson could not help noting ``the ultimate
foundations of the style remain what they always were, securely Indian,
reminiscent of the late Pallava and Chola art in south-eastern India.''
Kampuchea
in the national language of Khmer was the ancient Kambujadesa or Kambuja.
Chinese chronicles of the third century have recorded the rise of an Indian
state in the Mekong valley and named it Funan and by the fifth century it was
known as Kambuja as recorded by Sanskrit inscriptions there. Kambuja was one of
the many India-colonised states, which included Pagan in Burma, Srivijaya in the
Indonesian isles and Champa in Vietnam. From 802 AD to the end of the 14th
century there was continuity in Hindu and Buddhist kings ruling over the region
with their dynasties. The most famous of them were Suryavarman II and Jayavarman
VII who built the great Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom respectively in the 12th and
13th centuries.
The glory of Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom which
highlighted the perfection of the fusion of Indian and Khmer art and
architecture was unparalleled in those times when they were constructed. These
temple complexes included the palaces of the kings and dwelling places for
numerous others.
Lord Krishna
Govardhan of Wat Koh style of the Phnom Da style, 6th century. National Museum,
Phnom Penh.
The statue
represents Krishna, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, in the act of raising Mount
Govardhan to provide shelter for flocks and shepherds during a raging storm
unleashed by the God Indra. The curly hairdo and Krishna's garment reveal the
influence of Indian sculpture of the post-Gupta period.
Recently
an Ancient
statue of Lord Vishnu
has been found in Russian town of the
Volga region.
For
more on The Glorious Hindu Legacy: Indic influence in Southeast Asia refer to
the chapters Suvarnabhumi
and Glimpses XII to
Glimpses XIX.
***
The
bas-reliefs in the temples depicting the epics of the Ramayana and the
Mahabharata are without compare. The apsaras of Angkor who number 1850 are rare
specimens of art and no two are alike. Many western explorers and historians
have written eloquently on these monuments:” “Undeniably an expression of
the highest genius”.
“Its beauty and state of
preservation are unrivalled. Its mightiness and magnificence bespeak a pomp and
luxury surpassing that of a Pharaoh or a Shah Jahan, an impressiveness greater
than that of the Pyramids, an artistic distinctiveness as fine as that of the
Taj Mahal” are some of their observations. The kings were Saivites,
Vaishnavites and Buddhists and true to the Indian tradition the entire pantheon
of gods and goddesses are there. The Kambuja kings were
contemporaries of Chalukyas, Guptas, Pallavas and
Cholas and they maintained close ties with them.
Every king added to the
construction of temples to commemorate his rule and the extensive building of
monuments over the years depleted the resources of the empire. The decline of
the Cambodian or Khmer Kingdom was brought about by wars with Thailand whose
kings defeated the Khmers and destroyed Angkor Thom. There was a long period of
lawless drift for about four centuries and by the early 19th century the French
colonisers had arrived and Cambodia became a French Protectorate in 1863. In the
post second world war phase, Cambodia gained her freedom in 1953. Inevitably
‘however, Cambodia got embroiled in the 20-year-long war which the Americans
unleashed in the neighbouring Vietnam.
Image of Angkor wat on the flag
of Cambodia.
To the Cambodians Angkor wat
symbolizes the soul of the nation.
***
King
Norodom Sihanouk tried to maintain a neutral posture which was a red rag to the
Americans who manoeuvred to get him ousted and install a puppet regime headed by
Lon Nol in 1970. The Americans carried out bombing
raids in the eastern region of Cambodia, apart from Laos, to
obliterate the famous Ho Chi Minh trail, which was the lifeline of the Vietcongs.
It is estimated that the US bombings killed up to four
lakhs of Cambodians.
(source:
The
glory and the agony of Cambodia - By
T. V. Rajeswar - tribuneindia.com). For
more refer to chapter on
Suvarnabhumi,
Seafaring
in Ancient India, War in
Ancient India and
India
on Pacific Waves?
The
culture is frozen in time, limited to concepts from the Vedas, Ramayana and
Mahabharata, unlike temples in India that are Puranic. Every temple recreates
the ancient concept of jambudvipa with Mount Meru at the center, as a tall
multi-tiered pyramid. The garbagriha at the top of Meru is a literal recreation
of the womb of the universe, and the deity within is the source of
creation."
The
outside walls are decorated with the gods, dvarapalas and beautiful apsaras with
whom the local women identify. Indra on Airavata, Krishna lifting Govardhana,
the Vali-Sugriva battle and Ravana shaking Kailasa are among the popular
subjects. Often, Rahu and Ketu are carved on lintels, a rare sight in India.
The
main object of veneration may be the Shiva Linga or Vishnu or the Buddha, but
the walls would contain stories of Rama, Krishna and the ascetic Shiva on a
hill. The most popular motif is the samudra manthana, the churning of the ocean
by the devas and asuras for the divine nectar, where the tortoise is the base on
which Mount Meru is placed and churned, unlike later Indian literature where
Vishnu is identified with the tortoise. There are several Sanskrit inscriptions
written in Pallava Grantha.
Surrounding the Angkor
temples is the temple tank or Indratataka, a typically South Indian feature
wrongly described as a moat by European.
(source: The
Temples of Angkor - By Nandita Krishna).
Stones
that speak a story
Goddess Lakshmi.
(image source: Musee
Guimet, Paris).
***
It
is surprising that the Hindu temples and traditions in Cambodia are so meagerly
mentioned while discussing the Hindu history in India and in the West.
If
stones can speak, the sculptures in Cambodia will tell the story of glory, when
Hindu kings built grandiose temples, the times when the precincts were crowded
with devotees, art lovers and the sad tale of loot and plunder and mining they
are subject to now.
The Hindu temples were built in Cambodia between the ninth and 12th Century and
are strikingly similar to the temples in Tamil Nadu and Kalinga (Orissa) areas,
in India. It is surprising that the Hindu temples and traditions in Cambodia are
so meagerly mentioned while discussing the Hindu history.
The ‘reverse-reclining’ Vishnu, i.e, Vishnu whose head is on the right
(commonly it is on the left) and the eight-armed Vishnu are found in abundance
in Cambodia. These two figures are prominent in the three temples—Vaikunta
Perumal, Tiru Vekha and Asahta-bhujakaram—in Kanchipuram. According to Dr Vasudha, the eighth century three-storied Vaikunta Perumal
temple is the prototype for the 12th century three-storied west-facing temple at
Angkor Wat, built by Suryavarman II.
West-facing
temples are not common in Cambodia. But there are several in Tamil Nadu. The 12
Bhakti saints of the Vaishnava sect called Azhvars have sung in great devotion
about these shrines. Most Hindu temples are built in accordance with the
astronomical calculations. The Angkor Wat is a classical example of this
architectural grammar. On certain days of the year, like the spring equinox, the
sun rises over the central tower of the temple. At another spot, the sun falls
on the carving of Bhisma, on the day of
Uttarayana, when he gave up his mortal
body, using his boon for death on desire.
The similarities do not end here.
The tradition of carving Vishnu, in the sayana
posture in the open is seen in Kalinga as well as Cambodia.
(source:
Stones
that speak a story - By Vaidehi Nathan
-
organiser.org).
Cambodian
Appreciation
Unlike
other countries, Cambodia does not minimize Indian influence on the local
culture. On the contrary, the people of the country generously acknowledge it.
 In
a similar vein of appreciation, Norodom
Sihanouk, Head of
the State of the Royal Government of Cambodia
(1954-1970 and, again, since 1993) had on the occasion of the inauguration of
the Jawaharlal Nehru Boulevard in
Phnom Penh, on 10 May 1955, traced the cultural evolution in Southeast Asia to
the pervasive Indian cultural influence:
“When
we refer to thousand year old ties which unite us with India, it is not at all a
hyperbole. In fact, it was about 2000 years ago that the first navigators,
Indian merchants and Brahmins brought to our ancestors their gods, their
techniques, their organization. Briefly
India was for us what Greece was to Latin Orient. “
(source: The
Fossilized Indian Culture of Southeast Asia - By Y Yagama Reddy).
For
more on The Glorious Hindu Legacy: Indic influence in Southeast Asia refer to
the chapter under Glimpses
XII to Glimpses
XIX
Today's
Cambodia
Although in the Khmer language
there are many words meaning "king", the word officially used in Khmer
(as found in the 1993 Cambodian Constitution) is preahmâhaksat
(Khmer regular script:
which literally means: preah-
("sacred", cognate of the Indian word Brahmin) -mâha- (from Sanskrit,
meaning "great", cognate with "maha-" in maharaja)
-ksat
("warrior, ruler", cognate of the Indian word Kshatriya).
Garuda: Lord
Vishnu's mount.
***
On the occasion of HM King Norodom Sihanouk's retirement in October 2004, the
Cambodian National Assembly coined a new word for the retired king: preahmâhaviraksat
(Khmer regular script:
where vira comes from Sanskrit vīra, meaning "brave
or eminent man. Preahmâhaviraksat is translated into English as
"King-Father", although the word "father" does not appear in
the Khmer noun.
As preahmâhaviraksat,
Norodom Sihanouk retains many of the prerogatives he formerly held as preahmâhaksat
and is a highly respected and listened-to figure. Thus, in effect, Cambodia can
be described as a country with two heads of state: an official one, the preahmâhaksat
Norodom
(source:
Cambodia
- wikipedia.org).
Head from
Bantay Srei with the third eye, an attribute of Lord Shiva.
To Siva, to the Lord of the eternal thoughts, to the One
Being who,
To gratify himself by creating, conserving and destroying, divided
himself into three supreme gods:
He who was born from the lotus, Brahma;
He who has the eyes of the lotus, Vishnu;
He who has three eyes, Siva;
Three supreme gods on whom the Powers repose.
To him whose knot of hair adorned with the new moon,
saluted as
greater than the three Vedas, is the seed which brings forth Brahma,
Hari and Isvara when it divides into three according to its elements;
Whom the saints call the manifestation of the Absolute, only to be
understood by ecstasy; to the blessed Siva let homage be paid.
May he bring you prosperity!
(text and
image source:
Angkor: Art and Civilization – By
Bernard Groslier
p. 24 and cover).
For a
documentary on Hindu temples, refer to The
Lost Temples of India.
***
Visitors thoughts on seeing Angkor wat:
An
American visitor, in her enthusiasm for Angkor, made the request that her ashes
be scattered on the causeway of Angkor Wat - a satisfaction granted to her at
the beginning of 1936. Such a gesture symbolises the extraordinary power which
these ancient ruins have on peoples' imagination.
"The size and scale of things is
remarkable - ruins extend for miles; each is big and there are so many!"
"The Angkor Wat temple is the symbol of present day Cambodia.
It is depicted on the national flag and on the current 500 Riel banknote, whose
value is about US$ 0,20.
"
"Angkor
wat and the surrounding wonder world of temples and sites. Coming from New
Zealand this is the first real taste of human history I’ve been able to come
face to face with on such a huge scale. It completely blew me away. I’ve never
been moved by a work of art, so colossal and serene. So detailed and rich, full
of stories and characters, carved immaculately and so peacefully beautiful. The
relics of a people who built temples as cities.. The smiling of bayon temple,
the old temples now with towering trees and jungle growing over them, through
them, with them, testimony to their age and the movement of time. Next to these
things I was lost, such a speck.specktate."
"I've
seen the Pyramids in Egypt, the Parthenon in Athens, the Great Wall of China,
and the Rome Colleseum, but I think the Temples of Angkor Wat beat them all.
"Think
of the world in the 8th to 15th century, when they were burning witches in
Britain, and Australia and America hadn't been discovered."
***
Timeless
yet timeworn, grand but intimate, oblivious to the passing centuries even as the
jungle devours its huge stone walls, Cambodia’s Angkor Wat and the scores of
temples that surround it hint at eternity, only to remind us that nothing is
eternal.
To the casual eye the stone of Angkor may seem permanent, but
it has only lasted longer than its builders. These great temples to the Hindu
Gods are at the mercy of the ultimate destroyer named in The
Mahabharata:
“Time (Kala) ripens the creatures,
Time rots them.”
***
Symbols
of Hindu deities. Angkor 7th century.
This
stele dating from 7th century, engraved with the symbols of the deities of the
Hindu Trimurti or Triple form adopted by the Divine to emanate, control and
dissolve the universe. The rosary, jug of water, lotus blossom on the left, are
associated with Lord Brahma, the trident in the center is the emblem of Lord
Shiva, and the shell, sunburst disc, and mace on the right character Lord
Vishnu. Now in Musee Guimet, Paris.
(image
source: Angkor: Splendors of the Khmer Civilization -
By Marilia Albanese).
***
Note
to Visitors: Go
visit Angkor
Editor's
Note: I
had an opportunity to visit Angkor Wat in the Winter of 2006.
It
has been a life long dream to visit this magnificent and grand
architectural monument to the creative impulses that emanated from ancient
India. Angkor Wat represents a combination of Indic influence
and achievements which were accomplished without
setting out to conquer or subjugate any races or countries.
Angkor
wat is a spectacular
structure of astronomical significance that has ever been built
in the world. Astronomy and Hindu
cosmology are inseparably entwined at Angkor Wat.
Nowhere is this more evident than in the interior colonnade, which
is dedicated to vast and glorious carved murals, bas-reliefs
illustrating the scenes from the Hindu epics the Ramayana
and Mahabharata.
Rarely
in history has any culture given rise to a structure that so
elaborately and expansively incorporates its concept of the
cosmos. Angkor Wat stands as a striking and majestic monument in
honor of the Universe and our place in it.
I
urge Hindus and non-Hindus to take their children to visit this
marvel of the ancient world, as simply standing in front of the colonnade of intricate and exquisitely
carved walls and reliefs from the Sanskrit epics of Ramayana and
Mahabharata provides one with the true meaning of Eternity.
(image
source: Angkor: Splendors of the Khmer Civilization -
By Marilia Albanese).
***
For
the rest of the chapter refer to the links listed below:
Sacred Angkor
Sacred Angkor
Part 2
Sacred Angkor
Part 3
***
Books
and Images used for this chapter:
-
Heaven's
Mirror: Quest for the Lost Civilization - By Graham Hancock and Santha Faiia
-
Saving Angkor - By C M Bhandari
-
Four Faces of Shiva - By
Robert
J Casey
-
India and World Civilization – D P
Singhal
-
Angkor
Wat and cultural ties with India - By K M Srivastava
-
Angkor:
Splendors of the Khmer Civilization - By Marilia Albanese
-
The
Cultural History of Angkor - By Henri Stierlin
-
Ancient
Cambodia - By Donatella Mazzeo
-
Ancient
Angkor - By Michael Freeman
-
Sacred
Angkor - By Vittorio Roveda
-
Angkor:
The Hidden Glories - By Michael Freeman and Roger Warner
-
Angkor
the Magnificent
- By Helen Churchill Candee
-
The
spread of Indian culture in Southeast Asia
- By George Coedes
-
The
Indianized States of Southeast Asia - By George Coedes
-
Sacred
Places of Asia: Where Every Breath Is A Prayer - By Jon Ortner
-
Escape
with me – By Sir Osbert Sitwell
-
Greater
India - By Arun Bhattacharjee
-
The
Culture of South-East Asia - By Reginald Le May
-
The
Indian Colony of Siam - By Phanindra Nath Bose
-
Angkor
and the Khmer empire - By John Audric
***
Top
of Page
Did You
Know?
Ancient Thailand Shiva Temple To
Experience Rare Alignment with Sun
Phnom Rung on the
royal road between Angkor wat and Phimai, was built by Suryavarman
II.
(image
source: Angkor: Splendors of the Khmer Civilization -
By Marilia Albanese p. 274 - 275).
***
Chalermphrakiat district, Buri Ram province,
Thailand March 20, 2006:
Phnom Rung, on the
royal road between Angkor and Phimai, was built early in the reign
of Suryavarman II (1112-1152) by Narendraditya, a local ruler and
kinsman of the king. The east-facing axial temple is built upon a
hill ("phnom" means "hill" in the Khmer
language). The temple is approached by a long east-west causeway
(160m, or 530') that is lined with lotus-bud posts.
In Hindu and Buddhist cosmology, mountains are
believed to be homes to the Gods. Prasat
Hin Khao Phanom Rung, a magnificent temple sanctuary
set on the summit of Phanom Rung Hill,
was built between the 10th and 13th centuries. According to the
stone inscriptions in Sanskrit and Khmer found at the site, the
original name of the temple complex is Phanom Rung, Khmer words
meaning "big mountain."
Shiva Nataraja:
doing his cosmic dance and Shiva as a yogi. ©
Michael Freeman
***
A religious sanctuary
dedicated to the Hindu God, Siva, Prasat Hin Khao Phanom Rung
symbolizes Mount Kailasa, the heavenly abode of Siva. Phanom Rung
Hill rises 350 metres above the surrounding plain.
Astrologers have predicted that an extraordinary
astro-archaeological phenomenon will occur at sunrise during the
April 3-5 period this year. The doors of the temple sanctuary are
so perfectly aligned that during this period, at sunrise on a
cloudless day with clear blue skies, the sun's rays will shine
through all fifteen doorways of the sanctuary in a single shaft of
light.
 These magnificent man-made sandstone sanctuaries,
often referred to as palaces of the Gods, sit atop hills rising
above the high plains of I-san and still bear witness to the half
millennium from the 9th to 14th centuries during which a powerful
Khmer state flourished in the region, including what is today
northwestern Cambodia. These extraordinary towers comprise
elements of temple architecture meant to symbolise Mount Meru, the
mythical peak at the center of the Hindu-Buddhist universe.
Sometimes referred to as "high
Cambodia," the provinces of Buri
Ram, Surin, Nakhon Ratchasima and
Sisaket were a perfect setting for the development of
these Meru microcosms.
Although Thai folk belief once held that the
larger, cruciform-plan monuments served as palaces for Angkor's
all-powerful kings, in fact these buildings were designed as
temporary abodes for Siva, Vishnu,
Maitreya and other Deities called to earth via religious ritual.
To the east of I-san's temple-dotted plateaus lay the river
valleys of "low Cambodia," the heartland of Angkorean
civilization where its kings resided.
A sacred "superhighway" linked Prasat Phimai with
12th-century Angkor Wat, the largest and most complex of the Khmer
temples. Angkor rulers were at the time considered to be devaraja
or "god-kings," and to maintain that vaunted status they
and their priests periodically travelled between key monuments to
perform complex ceremonies involving fire, water, and Sivalingam.
Monuments en route offered spiritual and temporal support along
these potentially arduous journeys, including 102 "houses
with fire" and 121 "hospitals" or "healing
stations" (arokayasala). These structures became so important
to the sanctity of the Angkor empire that some 300 Khmer shrines
were erected between the 7th and 13th centuries. Temple
construction reached its zenith in the 12th and 13th centuries.
(source:
Tourism
Authority of Thailand and Hinduism
Today and A
Guide to Khmer Temples in Thailand and Laos - By Michael
Freeman p. 168 - 195 and 238 - 240).
For more on Thailand, refer to chapter on Glimpses
XVI
For
the rest of the chapter refer to the links listed below:
Sacred Angkor
Sacred Angkor
Part 2
Sacred Angkor
Part 3
For
more refer to chapters on Suvarnabhumi,
Seafaring
in Ancient India, War in
Ancient India, Glimpses
XVI and India
on Pacific Waves?
For
more on The Glorious Hindu Legacy: Indic influence in Southeast Asia refer to
the chapter under Glimpses
XII to Glimpses
XIX
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of Page
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