1

Yearning for Immortality

Behind the raison d'être for Khmer
Architecture
Dr Uday Dokras

2
3
 I N T R O D U C T I O N

Ever since Jayavarman II's consecration as king on top of Mahendraparvata (Phnom Kulen)
in 802, the Khmer Empire, which he founded, laid the foundation for the Angkor period and
the subsequent rise of a powerful civilization in what is now Cambodia.

Jayavarman II's ritual on Mahendraparvata, where he was proclaimed a "God-king"

(Devaraja) and "Lord of the Universe" (Chakravartin), marked the beginning of the Khmer
Empire and the Angkor period. This sacred mountain, now known as Phnom Kulen, is the
site where Jayavarman II conducted the consecration ceremony.

The title "Devaraja" (God-king) signifies the divine status attributed to the Khmer
monarchs, reinforcing their authority and legitimacy. Jayavarman II founded Hariharalaya
near present-day Roluos, the first settlement in what would later become the Khmer
Empire. The term Hariharalaya means the abode of Hari. Hari (Sanskrit: हरि) is among
the primary epithets of the Hindu preserver deity Vishnu, meaning 'the one who takes away'
(sins). Either he meant that he was Hari or that his God Vishny lived there as he benefactor.

The Khmer Empire, under Jayavarman II and his successors, expanded its influence across
the region, encompassing parts of modern-day Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The Khmer Empire left behind a rich cultural and architectural legacy, most notably the
temples of Angkor, including the famous Angkor Wat, which were built during the period.
The Khmer Empire eventually declined due to various factors, including foreign invasions,
internal conflicts, and economic problems, culminating in the capture of Angkor by the
Thais in 1431.

The great Khmer temples were not products of popular faith, like Christian cathedrals of
Europe. They were princely buildings for the worship of kings and members of their
entourage, deified in the form of one of the Hindu or Buddhist gods. It would be a serious
mistake to think of these temples as similar to a modern church or pagoda. If the people were
sometimes admitted to them on great occasions, it was not to offer prayers or sacrifices for
divine mercy, but rather to prostrate themselves before the image of the god-king or the
Buddha-king or other deified dignitaries. Coedes, Angkor, pp. 31-32.

In her Chapter Title: The Devarāja Cult and Khmer Kingship at Angkor Chapter Author(s):
Nidhi Aeusrivongse (Book Title: Explorations in Early Southeast Asian History Book
Subtitle: The Origins of Southeast Asian Statecraft Book Editor(s): Kenneth R. Hall, John K.
Whitmore Published by: University of Michigan Press, University of Michigan Center for
South East Asian Studies. (1976) Stable URL: [Link]
states:

Chou Ta-kuan (the monk who travelled to Angkor )preserved for us a form of the intermediary
role of the king as well as the king’ s mystical power as perceived by the people of that great
empire when he reported that the king had to have intercourse with a spirit formed like a
serpent with nine heads, which is Lord of the entire kingdom, every night for the prosperity of
the realm.
Chou Ta-kuan ws a member of a a Chinese embassy sent to Cam¬bodiain1296 on a mission
lasting [Link] wrote the only eye witness account known to exist of the Khmer
kingdom at the height of its splendour.

4
Angkor Wat, located in Cambodia, is one of the largest and most iconic religious
monuments in the world. Originally built in the early 12th century by the Khmer
King Suryavarman II, it was intended to be a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord
Vishnu. The temple is an architectural marvel, blending elements of Khmer
temple architecture with rich Hindu symbolism.
Primary Deity: Unlike most temples in the region, which are dedicated to Lord
Shiva, Angkor Wat was originally built to honor Shri Vishnu, the preserver and
protector in the Hindu trinity (Trimurti). This signifies a unique devotion, as
Vishnu was chosen to be the primary deity of the temple.
Vishnu Iconography: Various depictions of Vishnu can be found throughout the
temple, particularly in the form of large bas-reliefs. The temple features
numerous sculptures and carvings that illustrate Vishnu in his different avatars
(incarnations), most notably as Krishna and Rama.
Central Image: In the central tower of the temple, there was once a large statue
of Vishnu, though it was later moved to another part of the complex. In this
depiction, Vishnu is shown holding his traditional attributes: the chakra (discus),
shankha (conch), gada (mace), and padma (lotus).
Vishnu in Battle: One of the most striking bas-reliefs at Angkor Wat depicts the
famous Hindu epic, the Churning of the Ocean of Milk (Samudra Manthan), where
Vishnu takes center stage. In this scene, the gods and demons churn the cosmic
ocean in search of amrita (the nectar of immortality), with Vishnu guiding them.
Symbolism and Architecture
Angkor Wat’s entire layout symbolizes Mount Meru, the mythical mountain at the
center of the universe in Hindu and Buddhist cosmology. Vishnu's association
with cosmic order and preservation is mirrored in the temple's symmetrical
design, massive scale, and sacred geometry. Orientation: Unlike most Khmer
temples, which face east, Angkor Wat faces west, a direction associated with
Vishnu. Some scholars believe this westward orientation is due to its dedication
to the god, while others suggest it may have funerary significance for King
Suryavarman II.
Transition from Hindu to Buddhist Worship
Though initially dedicated to Vishnu, Angkor Wat gradually became a Buddhist
temple as Theravada Buddhism spread through Cambodia in the late 12th
century. Despite this, Vishnu’s influence remains, and his images and sculptures
are still venerated alongside those of the Buddha.
Today, Angkor Wat stands as a remarkable symbol of both Hindu and Buddhist
traditions, with Vishnu’s presence forming an essential part of its rich spiritual
and cultural legacy.

5
Shri Vishnu Bhagwan at the Angkor Wat Mandir

6
 The 7-Headed Naga at Angkor Wat temple, Cambodia. Built by the Khmer King
Suryavarman II in the early 12th century.
The Seven-Headed Naga numerologically associated with masculine energy, as
all odd numbers are believed to be masculine. Odd-headed Naga symbolise the
Male Energy, Infinity, Timelessness, & Immortality.
A detailed Chakra in the middle of the naga, symbolising Bhagwan vishnu's most
powerful weapon.

Cambodia has only one Khmer dynasty, the Varman dynasty of Cambodia since the first
century to present. Only Khmer King who protected Khmer people and Cambodia can have
the Varman posthumous name when the King died. The last King of Cambodia who had the
Varman posthumous name was King Norodom Sihanouk: Born: October 31, 1922, Died:
October 15, 2012 (90 years old).

Angkor Wat complex in Cambodia was designed and built by the Khmer King Suryavarman
II in the first half of the 12th century, around the year 1110-1150 Started by the Khmer King
Suryavarman II and completed by the Khmer King Jayavarman VII

Khmer kings built magnificent temples like Angkor Wat to legitimize their power,
demonstrate their divine authority, and create a visual representation of the Hindu cosmos,
specifically Mount Meru.
Here's a more detailed explanation:
 Legitimizing Power:
The construction of grand temples served as a powerful symbol of the king's
authority and connection to the divine, solidifying their rule and establishing a
religious foundation for their reign.
 Divine Authority:

7
 Khmer kings often portrayed themselves as god-kings, and temples were built to
reflect this divine status, with the temples representing the abode of the gods,
Mount Meru.

 Hindu Cosmology:
Khmer architecture, particularly Angkor Wat, reflects Hindu beliefs, with the
temple's design intended to recreate Mount Meru, the mythical home of the gods,
with its five peaks and surrounding seas represented by ponds and moats.
 State Temples and Mausoleums:
Temples like Angkor Wat served not only as places of worship but also as state
temples and mausoleums for the kings, solidifying their legacy and ensuring their
place in the afterlife.
 Examples:
 Angkor Wat, built by Suryavarman II, was a state temple and his eventual mausoleum.
 Jayavarman VII built Angkor Thom and the Bayon temple, showcasing his power and
religious patronage.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

8
 I
Khmer architecture (also known as Angkorian architecture, is the architecture produced
by the Khmer during the Angkor period of the Khmer Empire from approximately the later
half of the 8th century CE to the first half of the 15th century CE.

The architecture of the Indian rock-cut temples, particularly in sculpture, had an influence
on Southeast Asia and was widely adopted into the Indianised architecture
of Cambodian (Khmer), Annamese and Javanese temples (of the Greater India).[1][2] Evolved
from Indian influences, Khmer architecture became clearly distinct from that of the Indian
sub-continent as it developed its own special characteristics, some of which were created
independently and others of which were incorporated from neighboring cultural traditions,
resulting in a new artistic style in Asian architecture unique to the Angkorian tradition. The
development of Khmer architecture as a distinct style is particularly evident in artistic
depictions of divine and royal figures with facial features representative of the local Khmer
population, including rounder faces, broader brows, and other physical characteristics. In any
study of Angkorian architecture, the emphasis is necessarily on religious architecture, since
all the remaining Angkorian buildings are religious in nature. During the period of Angkor,
only temples and other religious buildings were constructed of stone.

Non-religious buildings such as dwellings were constructed of perishable materials such as

wood, and so have not survived. The religious architecture of Angkor has characteristic
structures, elements, and motifs, which are identified in the glossary below. Since a number
of different architectural styles succeeded one another during the Angkorean period, not all of
these features were equally in evidence throughout the period. Indeed, scholars have referred
to the presence or absence of such features as one source of evidence for dating the remains.

Periodization

Sambor Prei Kuk/ Pre Rup

1. Banteay Srei
2. Thommanon
3. Bayon

9
Many temples had been built before Cambodia became the powerful Khmer Empire which
dominated a large part of mainland Southeast Asia. At that time, Khmer was known as
the Chenla kingdom, the predecessor state of the Khmer empire.

Latest research reveals that the Khmer already erected stone buildings in
the protohistoric period, which they used for the worship of mighty tutelary spirits. This
earliest extant architecture consists of relatively small cells made from prefabricated
megalithic construction parts, which probably date at least to the second century BC.

There are three pre-Angkorean architectural styles:

 Sambor Prei Kuk style (610–650): Sambor Prei Kuk, also known as Isanapura, was the
capital of the Chenla Kingdom. Temples of Sambor Prei Kuk were built in rounded, plain
colonettes with capitals that include a bulb.
 Prei Khmeng style (635–700): structures reveal masterpieces of sculpture but examples
are scarce. Colonettes are larger than those of previous styles. Buildings were more
heavily decorated but had general decline in standards.
 Kompong Preah style (700–800): temples with more decorative rings on colonettes which
remain cylindrical. Brick constructions were being continued.
Scholars have worked to develop a periodization of Angkorean architectural styles. The
following periods and styles may be distinguished. Each is named for a particular temple
regarded as paradigmatic for the style.

 Kulen style (825–875): continuation of pre-Angkorean style but it was a period of

innovation and borrowing such as from Cham temples. Tower is mainly square and
relatively high as well as brick with laterite walls and stone door surrounds but square
and octagonal colonettes begin to appear.
 Preah Ko style (877–886): Hariharalaya was the first capital city of the Khmer empire
located in the area of Angkor; its ruins are in the area now called Roluos some fifteen
kilometers southeast of the modern city of Siem Reap. The earliest surviving temple
of Hariharalaya is Preah Ko; the others are Bakong and Lolei. The temples of the Preah
Ko style are known for their small brick towers and for the great beauty and delicacy of
their lintels.
 Bakheng Style (889–923): Bakheng was the first temple mountain constructed in the area
of Angkor proper north of Siem Reap. It was the state temple of King Yasovarman, who
built his capital of Yasodharapura around it. Located on a hill (phnom), it is currently one
of the most endangered of the monuments, having become a favorite perch for tourists
eager to witness a glorious sundown at Angkor.
 Koh Ker Style (921–944): during the reign of King Jayavarman IV, capital of Khmer
empire was removed from Angkor region through the north which is called Koh Ker. The
architectural style of temples in Koh Ker, scale of buildings diminishes toward center.
Brick still main material but sandstone also used.
 Pre Rup Style (944–968): under King Rajendravarman, the Angkorian Khmer built the
temples of Pre Rup,East Mebon]] and Phimeanakas. Their common style is named after
the state temple mountain of Pre Rup.
 Banteay Srei Style (967–1000): Banteay Srei is the only major Angkorian temple
constructed not by a monarch, but by a courtier. It is known for its small scale and the
extreme refinement of its decorative carvings, including several famous narrative bas-
reliefs dealing with scenes from Indian mythology.

10
 Khleang Style (968–1010): the Khleang temples, first use of galleries. Cruciform
gopuras. Octagonal colonettes. Restrained decorative carving. A few temples that were
built in this style are Ta Keo, Phimeanakas.
 Baphuon Style (1050–1080): Baphuon, the massive temple mountain of
King Udayadityavarman II was apparently the temple that most impressed the Chinese
traveller Zhou Daguan, who visited Angkor toward the end of the 13th century. Its unique
relief carvings have a naive dynamic quality that contrast with the rigidity of the figures
typical of some other periods. As of 2008, Baphuon is under restoration and cannot
currently be appreciated in its full magnificence.
 Classical or Angkor Wat Style (1080–1175): Angkor Wat, the temple and perhaps the
mausoleum of King Suryavarman II, is the greatest of the Angkorian temples and defines
what has come to be known as the classical style of Angkorian architecture. Other
temples in this style are Banteay Samre and Thommanon in the area of Angkor,
and Phimai in modern Thailand.
 Bayon Style (1181–1243): in the final quarter of the 12th century, King Jayavarman
VII freed the country of Angkor from occupation by an invasionary force from Champa.
Thereafter, he began a massive program of monumental construction, paradigmatic for
which was the state temple called the Bayon. The king's other foundations participated in
the style of the Bayon, and included Ta Prohm, Preah Khan, Angkor Thom, and Banteay
Thom. Though grandiose in plan and elaborately decorated, the temples exhibit a
hurriedness of construction that contrasts with the perfection of Angkor Wat.
 Post Bayon Style (1243–1431): following the period of frantic construction under
Jayavarman VII, Angkorian architecture entered the period of its decline. The 13th
century Terrace of the Leper King is known for its dynamic relief sculptures of demon
kings, dancers, and nāgas.
Materials
Angkorian builders used brick, sandstone, laterite and wood as their materials. The ruins that
remain are of brick, sandstone and laterite, the wood elements having been lost to decay and
other destructive processes.

Brick
The earliest Angkorian temples were made mainly of brick. Good examples are the temple
towers of Preah Ko, Lolei and Bakong at Hariharalaya, and Chóp Mạt in Tay Ninh.
Decorations were usually carved into a stucco applied to the brick, rather than into the brick
itself.[8] This was because bricks were a softer material, and did not lend themselves to
sculpting, as opposed to stones of different kinds such as the Sandstones or the Granites.
However, the tenets of the Sacred Architecture as enunciated in the Vedas and the Shastras,
require no adhesives to be used while building blocks are assembled one over the other to
create the Temples, as such bricks have been used only in relatively smaller temples such as
Lolei and The Preah Ko. Besides, strength of bricks is much lesser as compared to the stones
(mentioned here-in) and the former degrade with age.

Angkor's neighbor state of Champa was also the home to numerous brick temples that are
similar in style to those of Angkor. The most extensive ruins are at Mỹ Sơn in Vietnam. A
Cham story tells of the time that the two countries settled an armed conflict by means of a
tower-building contest proposed by the Cham King Po Klaung Garai. While the Khmer built
a standard brick tower, Po Klaung Garai directed his people to build an impressive replica of
paper and wood.

11
Sandstone
The only stone used by Angkorian builders was sandstone, obtained from the Kulen
mountains. Since its obtainment was considerably more expensive than that of brick,
sandstone only gradually came into use, and at first was used for particular elements such as
door frames. The 10th-century temple of Ta Keo is the first Angkorian temple to be
constructed more or less entirely from Sandstone.

Laterite
Angkorian builders used laterite, a clay that is soft when taken from the ground but that
hardens when exposed to the sun, for foundations and other hidden parts of buildings.
Because the surface of laterite is uneven, it was not suitable for decorative carvings, unless
first dressed with stucco. Laterite was more commonly used in the Khmer provinces than at
Angkor itself. Because the water table in this entire region is well high, Laterite has been
used in the underlying layers of Angkor Wat and other temples (especially the larger ones),
because it can absorb water and help towards better stability of the Temple.

Preah Ko, completed in 879 CE, was a temple made mainly of brick/Ta Keo, a temple built
in the 10th century, was constructed more or less entirely from sandstone.

Prasat Prang Ku in Sisaket, Thailand, was built with laterite./ The central prang of Angkor
Wat temple symbolizes the mount Meru.

12
 Structures
Central sanctuary
The central sanctuary of an Angkorian temple was home to the temple's primary deity, the
one to whom the site was dedicated: typically Shiva or Vishnu in the case of
a Hindu temple, Buddha or a bodhisattva in the case of a Buddhist temple. The deity was
represented by a statue (or in the case of Shiva, most commonly by a linga). Since the temple
was not considered a place of worship for use by the population at large, but rather a home
for the deity, the sanctuary needed only to be large enough to hold the statue or linga; it was
never more than a few metres across. Its importance was instead conveyed by the height of
the tower (prasat) rising above it, by its location at the centre of the temple, and by the
greater decoration on its walls. Symbolically, the sanctuary represented Mount Meru, the
legendary home of the Hindu gods.

Prang
The prang is the tall finger-like spire, usually richly carved, common to much Khmer
religious architecture.

Enclosure
[edit]
Khmer temples were typically enclosed by a concentric series of walls, with the central
sanctuary in the middle; this arrangement represented the mountain ranges
surrounding Mount Meru, the mythical home of the gods. Enclosures are the spaces between
these walls, and between the innermost wall and the temple itself. By modern convention,
enclosures are numbered from the centre outwards. The walls defining the enclosures of
Khmer temples are frequently lined by galleries, while passage through the walls is by way of
gopuras located at the cardinal points.

Gallery

A cruciform gallery separates the courtyards at Angkor

Wat.
A gallery is a passageway running along the wall of an enclosure or along the axis of a
temple, often open to one or both sides. Historically, the form of the gallery evolved during
the 10th century from the increasingly long hallways which had earlier been used to surround
the central sanctuary of a temple. During the period of Angkor Wat in the first half of the
12th century, additional half galleries on one side were introduced to buttress the structure of
the temple.

13
Gopura

A gopura leads into the 12th-century temple compound at Ta Prohm. Many of the gopuras
constructed under Jayavarman VII toward the end of the 12th century, such as this one
at Angkor Thom, are adorned with gigantic stone faces of Avalokiteshvara.
A gopura is an entrance building. At Angkor, passage through the enclosure walls
surrounding a temple compound is frequently accomplished by means of an impressive
gopura, rather than just an aperture in the wall or a doorway. Enclosures surrounding a
temple are often constructed with a gopura at each of the four cardinal points. In plan,
gopuras are usually cross-shaped and elongated along the axis of the enclosure wall.

If the wall is constructed with an accompanying gallery, the gallery is sometimes connected
to the arms of the gopura. Many Angkorian gopuras have a tower at the centre of the cross.
The lintels and pediments are often decorated, and guardian figures (dvarapalas) are often
placed or carved on either side of the doorways.

Hall of Dancers
[edit]
A Hall of Dancers is the structure of a type found in certain late 12th-century temples
constructed under King Jayavarman VII: Ta Prohm, Preah Khan, Banteay Kdei and Banteay
Chhmar. It is a rectangular building elongated along the temple's east axis and divided into
four courtyards by galleries. Formerly it had a roof made of perishable materials; now only
the stone walls remain. The pillars of the galleries are decorated with carved designs of
dancing apsaras; hence scholars have suggested that the hall itself may have been used for
dancing.

House of Fire
House of Fire, or Dharmasala, is the name given to a type of building found only in temples
constructed during the reign of late 12th-century monarch Jayavarman VII: Preah Khan, Ta
Prohm and Banteay Chhmar. A House of Fire has thick walls, a tower at the west end and
south-facing windows.

Scholars theorize that the House of Fire functioned as a "rest house with fire" for travellers.
An inscription at Preah Khan tells of 121 such rest houses lining the highways into Angkor.
The Chinese traveller Zhou Daguan expressed his admiration for these rest houses when he
visited Angkor in 1296 CE.[ Another theory is that the House of Fire had a religious function
as the repository the sacred flame used in sacred ceremonies.

14
 Unusually, the libraries at Angkor Wat open to both the
East and the West.
Library
Structures conventionally known as "libraries" are a common feature of the Khmer temple
architecture, but their true purpose remains unknown. Most likely they functioned broadly as
religious shrines rather than strictly as repositories of manuscripts. Freestanding buildings,
they were normally placed in pairs on either side of the entrance to an enclosure, opening to
the west.

Srah and baray

Srahs and barays were reservoirs, generally created by excavation and embankment,
respectively. It is not clear whether the significance of these reservoirs was religious,
agricultural, or a combination of the [Link] two largest reservoirs at Angkor were the West
Baray and the East Baray located on either side of Angkor Thom. The East Baray is now dry.
The West Mebon is an 11th-century temple standing at the center of the West Baray and
the East Mebon is a 10th-century temple standing at the center of the East Baray. The baray
associated with Preah Khan is the Jayataka, in the middle of which stands the 12th-century
temple of Neak Pean. Scholars have speculated that the Jayataka represents the Himalayan
lake of Anavatapta, known for its miraculous healing powers.

Temple mountain

The Bakong is the earliest surviving Temple Mountain at

Angkor.
The dominant scheme for the construction of state temples in the Angkorian period was that
of the Temple Mountain, an architectural representation of Mount Meru, the home of the
gods in Hinduism.[19] Enclosures represented the mountain chains surrounding Mount Meru,
while a moat represented the ocean. The temple itself took shape as a pyramid of several
levels, and the home of the gods was represented by the elevated sanctuary at the center of
the temple.

15
The first great temple mountain was the Bakong, a five-level pyramid dedicated in 881 by
King Indravarman I.[20] The structure of Bakong took shape of stepped pyramid, popularly
identified as temple mountain of early Khmer temple architecture. The striking similarity of
the Bakong and Borobudur in Java, going into architectural details such as the gateways and
stairs to the upper terraces, strongly suggests that Borobudur might have served as the
prototype of Bakong. There must have been exchanges of travelers, if not mission, between
Khmer kingdom and the Sailendras in Java. Transmitting to Cambodia not only ideas, but
also technical and architectural details of Borobudur, including arched gateways
in corbelling method.

Other Khmer temple mountains include Baphuon, Pre Rup, Ta Keo, Koh Ker,
the Phimeanakas, and most notably the Phnom Bakheng at [Link] to Charles
Higham, "A temple was built for the worship of the ruler, whose essence, if a Saivite, was
embodied in a linga... housed in the central sanctuary which served as a temple-mausoleum
for the ruler after his death...these central temples also contained shrines dedicated to the
royal ancestors and thus became centres of ancestor worship".

Elements
Bas-relief
Bas-reliefs are individual figures, groups of figures, or entire scenes cut into stone walls, not
as drawings but as sculpted images projecting from a background. Sculpture in bas-relief is
distinguished from sculpture in haut-relief, in that the latter projects farther from the
background, in some cases almost detaching itself from it. The Angkorian preferred to work
in bas-relief, while their neighbors the Cham were partial to haut-relief.

Narrative bas-reliefs are bas-reliefs depicting stories from mythology or history. Until about
the 11th century, the Angkorian Khmer confined their narrative bas-reliefs to the space on
the tympana above doorways. The most famous early narrative bas-reliefs are those on the
tympana at the 10th-century temple of Banteay Srei, depicting scenes from Hindu
mythology as well as scenes from the great works of Indian literature, the Ramayana and
the Mahabharata.[24]

By the 12th century, however, the Angkorian artists were covering entire walls with narrative
scenes in bas-relief. At Angkor Wat, the external gallery wall is covered with some 12,000 or
13,000 square meters of such scenes, some of them historical, some mythological. Similarly,
the outer gallery at the Bayon contains extensive bas-reliefs documenting the everyday life of
the medieval Khmer as well as historical events from the reign of King Jayavarman VII.[24]

16
A bas-relief in a tympanum at Banteay Srei shows Indra releasing the rains in an attempt to

extinguish the fire created by Agni.

The Battle of Kurukshetra is the subject of this bas-relief at Angkor Wat. This scene from the
outer gallery at the Bayon shows Chinese expats negotiating with Khmer merchants at an
Angkorean market.
The following is a listing of the motifs illustrated in some of the more famous Angkorian
narrative bas-reliefs:

 bas-reliefs in the tympana at Banteay Srei (10th century)

 the duel of the monkey princes Vali and Sugriva, and the intervention of the human
hero Rama on behalf of the latter
 the duel of Bhima and Duryodhana at the Battle of Kurukshetra
 the Rakshasa king Ravana shaking Mount Kailasa, upon which sit Shiva and
his shakti
 Kama firing an arrow at Shiva as the latter sits on Mount Kailasa
 the burning of Khandava Forest by Agni and Indra's attempt to extinguish the flames
 bas-reliefs on the walls of the outer gallery at Angkor Wat (mid-12th century)
 the Battle of Lanka between the Rakshasas and the vanaras or monkeys
 the court and procession of King Suryavarman II, the builder of Angkor Wat
 the Battle of Kurukshetra between Pandavas and Kauravas
 the judgment of Yama and the tortures of Hell
 the Churning of the Ocean of Milk
 a battle between devas and asuras
 a battle between Vishnu and a force of asuras
 the conflict between Krishna and the asura Bana
 the story of the monkey princes Vali and Sugriva
 bas-reliefs on the walls of the outer and inner galleries at the Bayon (late 12th century)
 battles on land and sea between Khmer and Cham troops
 scenes from the everyday life of Angkor
 civil strife among the Khmer
 the legend of the Leper King
 the worship of Shiva
 groups of dancing apsaras

17
 This blind door at Banteay Srei is flanked by colonettes.
Above the door is a lintel, above which is a tympanum with a scene from the Mahabharata.
Blind door and window
Angkorean shrines frequently opened in only one direction, typically to the east. The other
three sides featured fake or blind doors to maintain symmetry. Blind windows were often
used along otherwise blank walls.[25]

Colonnette
Colonnettes were narrow decorative columns that served as supports for the beams
and lintels above doorways or windows. Depending on the period, they were round,
rectangular, or octagonal in shape. Colonnettes were often circled with molded rings and
decorated with carved leaves.

Corbelled arch at the south gate of Angkor Thom

Corbelled hallway at Ta Prohm

Corbelling
Angkorian engineers tended to use the corbel arch in order to construct rooms, passageways
and openings in buildings. A corbel arch is constructed by adding layers of stones to the walls

18
on either side of an opening, with each successive layer projecting further towards the centre
than the one supporting it from below, until the two sides meet in the middle. The corbel arch
is structurally weaker than the true arch. The use of corbelling prevented the Angkorian
engineers from constructing large openings or spaces in buildings roofed with stone, and
made such buildings particularly prone to collapse once they were no longer maintained.
These difficulties did not, of course, exist for buildings constructed with stone walls
surmounted by a light wooden roof. The problem of preventing the collapse of corbelled
structures at Angkor remains a serious one for modern conservation.

Lintel, pediment, and tympanum

A lintel is a horizontal beam connecting two vertical columns between which runs a door or
passageway. Because the Angkorean lacked the ability to construct a true arch, they
constructed their passageways using lintels or corbelling. A pediment is a roughly triangular
structure above a lintel. A tympanum is the decorated surface of a pediment.

Lintel and pediment at Banteay Srei; the motif on the

pediment is Shiva Nataraja.
The styles employed by Angkorean artists in the decoration of lintels evolved over time, as a
result, the study of lintels has proven a useful guide to the dating of temples. Some scholars
have endeavored to develop a periodization of lintel [Link] most beautiful Angkorean
lintels are thought to be those of the Preah Ko style from the late 9th century.

Common motifs in the decoration of lintels include the kala, the nāga and the makara, as well
as various forms of vegetation. Also frequently depicted are the Hindu gods associated with
the four cardinal directions, with the identity of the god depicted on a given lintel or pediment
depending on the direction faced by that element. Indra, the god of the sky, is associated with
East; Yama, the god of judgment and Hell, with South; Varuna, the god of the ocean, with
West; and Kubera, god of wealth, with North.

List of Khmer lintel styles

 Sambor Prei Kuk style: inward-facing makaras with tapering bodies. Four arches joined
by three medallions, the central once carved with Indra. Small figure on each makara. A
variation is with figures replacing the makaras and a scene with figures below the arch.
 Prei Khmeng style: continuation of Sambor Prei Kuk but makaras disappear, being
replaced by incurving ends and figures. Arches more rectilinear. Large figures sometimes
at each end. A variation is a central scene below the arch, usually Vishnu Reclining.
 Kompong Preah style: high quality carving. Arches replaced by a garland of vegetation
(like a wreath) more or less segmented. Medallions disappear, central one sometimes
replaced by a knot of leaves. Leafy pendants spray out above and below garland.
 Kulen style: great diversity, with influences from Champa and Java, including the kala
and outward-facing makaras.

19
 Preah Ko style: some of the most beautiful of all Khmer lintels, rich, will-carved and
imaginative. Kala in center, issuing garland on either side. Distinct loops of vegetation
curl down from garland. Outward-facing makaras sometimes appear at the ends. Vishnu

on Garuda common. Rich-carved decoration of Preah

Ko lintel
 Bakheng style: continuation of Preah Ko but less fanciful and tiny figures disappear.
Loop of vegetation below the naga form tight circular coils. Garland begins to dip in the
center.
 Koh Ker style: center occupied by a prominent scene, taking up almost the entire height
of the lintel. Usually no lower border. Dress of figures shows a curved line to
the sampot tucked in below waist.
 Pre Rup style: tendency to copy earlier style, especially Preah Ko and Bakheng. Central
figures. Re-appearance of lower border.
 Banteay Srei style: increase in complexity and detail. Garland sometimes makes
pronounced loop on either side with kala at top of each loop. Central figure.
 Khleang style: less ornate than those of Banteay Srei. Central kala with triangular tongue,
its hands holding the garland which is bent at the center. Kala sometimes surmounted by
a divinity. Loops of garland on either side divided by flora stalk and pendant. Vigorous
treatment of vegetation.
 Baphuon style: the central kala surmounted by divinity, usually riding a steed or a Vishnu
scene, typically from the life of Krishna. Loops of garland no longer cut. Another type is
a scene with many figures and little vegetation.
 Angkor Wat style: centered, framed and linked by garlands. A second type is a narrative
scene filled with figures. When nagas appear, they curls are tight and prominent. Dress
mirrors that of devatas and apsaras in bas-reliefs. No empty spaces.
 Bayon style: most figures disappear, usually only a kala at the bottom of the lintel
surmounted by small figure. Mainly Buddhist motifs. In the middle of the period the
garland is cut into four parts, while later a series of whorls of foliage replace the four

divisions. The stairs leading to the inner enclosure

at Ankor Wat are daunting.
Angkorean stairs are notoriously steep. Frequently, the length of the riser exceeds that of
the tread, producing an angle of ascent somewhere between 45 and 70 degrees. The reasons
for this peculiarity appear to be both religious and monumental. From the religious
perspective, a steep stairway can be interpreted as a "stairway to heaven", the realm of the
gods. "From the monumental point of view", according to Angkor-scholar Maurice Glaize,

20
"the advantage is clear – the square of the base not having to spread in surface area, the entire
building rises to its zenith with a particular thrust".[27]

Motifs
Apsara and devata

Apsaras (left) and a devata (right) grace the walls at Banteay Kdei./Two apsaras appear on
this pillar at the 12th-century Buddhist temple the Bayon.
Apsaras, divine nymphs or celestial dancing girls, are characters from Indian mythology.
Their origin is explained in the story of the churning of the Ocean of Milk, or samudra
manthan, found in the Vishnu Purana. Other stories in the Mahabharata detail the exploits of
individual apsaras, who were often used by the gods as agents to persuade or seduce
mythological demons, heroes and ascetics. The widespread use of apsaras as a motif for
decorating the walls and pillars of temples and other religious buildings, however, was
a Khmer innovation. In modern descriptions of Angkorian temples, the term "apsara" is
sometimes used to refer not only to dancers but also to other minor female deities, though
minor female deities who are depicted standing rather than dancing are more commonly
called "devatas".

Apsaras and devatas are ubiquitous at Angkor, but are most common in the foundations of the
12th century. Depictions of true (dancing) apsaras are found, for example, in the Hall of
Dancers at Preah Khan, in the pillars that line the passageways through the outer gallery of
the Bayon, and in the famous bas-relief of Angkor Wat depicting the churning of the Ocean
of Milk. The largest population of devatas (around 2,000) is at Angkor Wat, where they
appear individually and in groups.

21
 This dvarapala stands guard at Banteay Kdei.
Dvarapala
Dvarapalas are human or demonic temple guardians, generally armed with lances and clubs.
They are presented either as a stone statues or as relief carvings in the walls of temples and
other buildings, generally close to entrances or passageways. Their function is to protect the
temples. Dvarapalas may be seen, for example, at Preah Ko, Lolei, Banteay Srei, Preah
Khan and Banteay Kdei.

Gajasimha and Reachisey

The gajasimha is a mythical animal with the body of a lion and the head of an elephant. At
Angkor, it is portrayed as a guardian of temples and as a mount for some warriors. The
gajasimha may be found at Banteay Srei and at the temples belonging to
the Roluos [Link] reachisey is another mythical animal, similar to the gajasimha, with the
head of a lion, a short elephantine trunk, and the scaly body of a dragon. It occurs at Angkor
Wat in the epic bas reliefs of the outer gallery.

Garuda

22
 In this 9th century lintel, now on display at the Musée
Guimet, Garuda bears Vishnu on his shoulders.
Garuda is a divine being that is part man and part bird. He is the lord of birds, the
mythological enemy of nāgas, and the battle steed of Vishnu. Depictions of Garuda at Angkor
number in the thousands, and though Indian in inspiration exhibit a style that is uniquely
Khmer. They may be classified as follows:

 As part of a narrative bas relief, Garuda is shown as the battle steed of Vishnu or Krishna,
bearing the god on his shoulders, and simultaneously fighting against the god's enemies.
Numerous such images of Garuda may be observed in the outer gallery of Angkor Wat.
 Garuda serves as an atlas supporting a superstructure, as in the bas relief at Angkor Wat
that depicts heaven and hell. Garudas and stylized mythological lions are the most
common atlas figures at Angkor.
 Garuda is depicted in the pose of a victor, often dominating a nāga, as in the gigantic
relief sculptures on the outer wall of Preah Khan. In this context, Garuda symbolizes the
military power of the Khmer kings and their victories over their enemies. Not
coincidentally, the city of Preah Khan was built on the site of King Jayavarman VII's
victory over invaders from Champa.
 In free-standing nāga sculptures, such as in nāga bridges and balustrades, Garuda is often
depicted in relief against the fan of nāga heads. The relationship between Garuda and the
nāga heads is ambiguous in these sculptures: it may be one of cooperation, or it may
again be one of domination of the nāga by Garuda.
Indra
In the ancient religion of the Vedas, Indra the sky-god reigned supreme. In the
medieval Hinduism of Angkor, however, he had no religious status, and served only as a
decorative motif in architecture. Indra is associated with the East; since Angkorian temples
typically open to the East, his image is sometimes encountered on lintels and pediments
facing that direction. Typically, he is mounted on the three-headed elephant Airavata and
holds his trusty weapon, the thunderbolt or vajra. The numerous adventures of Indra
documented in Hindu epic Mahabharata are not depicted at Angkor.

23
Kala

A kala serves as the base for a deity at the 10th-century

Hindu temple Banteay Srei.
The kala is a ferocious monster symbolic of time in its all-devouring aspect and associated
with the destructive side of the god Siva. In Khmer temple architecture, the kala serves as a
common decorative element on lintels, tympana and walls, where it is depicted as a
monstrous head with a large upper jaw lined by large carnivorous teeth, but with no lower
jaw. Some kalas are shown disgorging vine-like plants, and some serve as the base for other
figures.

Scholars have speculated that the origin of the kala as a decorative element in Khmer temple
architecture may be found in an earlier period when the skulls of human victims were
incorporated into buildings as a kind of protective magic or apotropaism. Such skulls tended
to lose their lower jaws when the ligaments holding them together dried out. Thus, the kalas
of Angkor may represent the Khmer civilization's adoption into its decorative iconography of
elements derived from long forgotten primitive antecedents.

Krishna
Scenes from the life of Krishna, a hero and Avatar of the god Vishnu, are common in the
relief carvings decorating Angkorian temples, and unknown in Angkorian sculpture in the
round. The literary sources for these scenes are the Mahabharata, the Harivamsa, and
the Bhagavata Purana. The following are some of the most important Angkorian depictions of
the life of Krishna:

 A series of bas reliefs at the 11th-century temple pyramid called Baphuon depicts scenes
of the birth and childhood of Krishna. Numerous bas reliefs in various temples show
Krishna subduing the nāga Kaliya. In Angkorian depictions, Krishna is shown
effortlessly stepping on and pushing down his opponent's multiple heads.
 Also common is the depiction of Krishna as he lifts Mount Govardhana with one hand in
order to provide the cowherds with shelter from the deluge caused by Indra.
 Krishna is frequently depicted killing or subduing various demons, including his evil
uncle Kamsa.[44] An extensive bas relief in the outer gallery of Angkor Wat depicts

24
 Krishna's battle with the asura Bana. In battle, Krishna is shown riding on the shoulders
of Garuda, the traditional mount of Vishnu.
 In some scenes, Krishna is depicted in his role as charioteer, advisor and protector
of Arjuna, the hero of the Mahabharata. A well-known bas relief from the 10th-century
temple of Banteay Srei depicts the Krishna and Arjuna helping Agni to burn down
Khandava forest.
Linga

This segmented linga from 10th century Angkor has a square base,
an octagonal middle, and a round tip.
The linga is a phallic post or cylinder symbolic of the god Shiva and of creative power.[45] As
a religious symbol, the function of the linga is primarily that of worship and ritual, and only
secondarily that of decoration. In the Khmer empire, certain lingas were erected as symbols
of the king himself, and were housed in royal temples in order to express the king's
consubstantiality with Siva. The lingas that survive from the Angkorean period are generally
made of polished stone.

The lingas of the Angkorian period are of several different types.

 Some lingas are implanted in a flat square base called a yoni, symbolic of the womb.
 On the surface of some lingas is engraved the face of Siva. Such lingas are
called mukhalingas.
 Some lingas are segmented into three parts: a square base symbolic of Brahma, an
octagonal middle section symbolic of Vishnu, and a round tip symbolic of Shiva.

25
Makara

The corner of a lintel on one of the brick towers

at Bakong shows a man riding on the back of a makara that in turn disgorges another
monster.
A makara is a mythical sea monster with the body of a serpent, the trunk of an elephant, and a
head that can have features reminiscent of a lion, a crocodile, or a dragon. In Khmer temple
architecture, the motif of the makara is generally part of a decorative carving on a lintel,
tympanum, or wall. Often the makara is depicted with some other creature, such as a lion or
serpent, emerging from its gaping maw. The makara is a central motif in the design of the
famously beautiful lintels of the Roluos group of temples: Preah Ko, Bakong, and Lolei.
At Banteay Srei, carvings of makaras disgorging other monsters may be observed on many of
the corners of the buildings.

Nāga

Mucalinda, the nāga king who shielded Buddha as he sat

in meditation, was a favorite motif for Cambodian Buddhist sculptors from the 11th century.
This statue is dated between 1150 and 1175 CE.
Mythical serpents, or nāgas, represent an important motif in Khmer architecture as well as in
free-standing sculpture. They are frequently depicted as having multiple heads, always
uneven in number, arranged in a fan. Each head has a flared hood, in the manner of a cobra.

26
 This multi-headed nāga is part of a decorative lintel from
the end of the 9th century.
Nāgas are frequently depicted in Angkorian lintels. The composition of such lintels
characteristically consists in a dominant image at the center of a rectangle, from which issue
swirling elements that reach to the far ends of the rectangle. These swirling elements may
take shape as either vinelike vegetation or as the bodies of nāgas. Some such nāgas are
depicted wearing crowns, and others are depicted serving as mounts for human riders.

To the Angkorian, nāgas were symbols of water and figured in the myths of origin for the
Khmer people, who were said to be descended from the union of an Indian Brahman and a
serpent princess from Cambodia.[47] Nāgas were also characters in other well-known legends
and stories depicted in Khmer art, such as the churning of the Ocean of Milk, the legend of
the Leper King as depicted in the bas-reliefs of the Bayon, and the story of Mucalinda, the
serpent king who protected the Buddha from the elements.[48]

Nāga Bridge

Stone Asuras hold the nāga Vasuki on a bridge leading

into the 12th century city of Angkor Thom.

27
Nāga bridges are causeways or true bridges lined by stone balustrades shaped as nāgas.

In some Angkorian nāga-bridges, as for example those located at the entrances to 12th
century city of Angkor Thom, the nāga-shaped balustrades are supported not by simple posts
but by stone statues of gigantic warriors. These giants are the devas and asuras who used the
nāga king Vasuki in order to the churn the Ocean of Milk in quest of the amrita or elixir of
immortality. The story of the Churning of the Ocean of Milk or samudra manthan has its
source in Indian mythology.

Quincunx

A linga in the form of a quincunx, set inside a yoni, is

carved into the riverbed at Kbal Spean.
A quincunx is a spatial arrangement of five elements, with four elements placed as the
corners of a square and the fifth placed in the center. The five peaks of Mount Meru were
taken to exhibit this arrangement, and Khmer temples were arranged accordingly in order to
convey a symbolic identification with the sacred mountain. The five brick towers of the 10th-
century temple known as East Mebon, for example, are arranged in the shape of a quincunx.
The quincunx also appears elsewhere in designs of the Angkorian period, as in the riverbed
carvings of Kbal Spean.

Shiva
Most temples at Angkor are dedicated to Shiva. In general, the Angkorian Khmer represented
and worshipped Shiva in the form of a lingam, though they also fashioned anthropomorphic
statues of the god. Anthropomorphic representations are also found in Angkorian bas reliefs.
A famous tympanum from Banteay Srei depicts Shiva sitting on Mount Kailasa with his
consort, while the demon king Ravana shakes the mountain from below. At Angkor
Wat and Bayon, Shiva is depicted as a bearded ascetic. His attributes include the mystical eye
in the middle of his forehead, the trident, and the rosary. His vahana or mount is the
bull Nandi.

Vishnu
Angkorian representations of Vishnu include anthropomorphic representations of the god
himself, as well as representations of his incarnations or Avatars,
especially Rama and Krishna. Depictions of Vishnu are prominent at Angkor Wat, the 12th-
century temple that was originally dedicated to Vishnu. Bas reliefs depict Vishna battling
with against asura opponents, or riding on the shoulders of his vahana or mount, the gigantic
eagle-man Garuda. Vishnu's attributes include the discus, the conch shell, the baton, and the
orb.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

28
 II
Evolution of Khmer Style of Architecture

An Apsara carving at Angkor Wat./ A scene from the Ramayana at Angkor.

The Khmer were known for their building skills. They constructed large temples, many
dedicated to the Hindu gods Shiva and Vishnu. These temples include Angkor Wat in
present-day Cambodia. It was originally dedicated to Vishnu, although it was soon converted
(and is still in use as) a Buddhist temple. The building of temples by Khmer kings was a
means of legitimizing their claim to political office and also to lay claim to the protection and
powers of the gods. Hindu temples are not a place for religious congregation; instead, they
are homes of the god. At its peak, the Empire was larger than the Byzantine Empire, which
existed around the same time. The beginning of the Khmer Empire is conventionally dated to
802, when Khmer prince Jayavarman II declared himself chakravartin ( lit. 'universal ruler', a
title equivalent to 'emperor') in the Phnom Kulen mountains. Hinduism has been said to be
present in Cambodia from c. 500 AD through the trade routes and networks by traders from
India and expansion of Greater India. The main religion adhered to in Khmer kingdom was
Hinduism, followed by Buddhism in popularity. Initially, the kingdom followed Hinduism as
its main state religion. Vishnu and Shiva were the most revered deities worshiped in Khmer
Hindu temples.

The Khmer Empire was a Hindu-Buddhist empire in Southeast Asia, centered

around hydraulic cities in what is now northern Cambodia. Known as Kambuja by its
inhabitants, it grew out of the former civilisation of Chenla and lasted from 802 to 1431.
Historians call this period of Cambodian history the Angkor period, after the empire's most
well-known capital, Angkor. The Khmer Empire ruled or vassalised most of mainland
Southeast Asia and stretched as far north as southern China. At its peak, the Empire was
larger than the Byzantine Empire, which existed around the same time.
The beginning of the Khmer Empire is conventionally dated to 802,
when Khmer prince Jayavarman II declared himself chakravartin (lit. 'universal ruler', a title
equivalent to 'emperor') in the Phnom Kulen mountains. Although the end of the Khmer
Empire has traditionally been marked with the Fall of Angkor to the Siamese Ayutthaya
Kingdom in 1431, the reasons for the empire's collapse are still debated amongst scholars.
[7]
Researchers have determined that a period of strong monsoon rains was followed by a
severe drought in the region, which caused damage to the empire's hydraulic infrastructure.
Variability between droughts and flooding was also a problem, which may have caused

29
residents to migrate southward and away from the empire's major cities.

The site of Angkor is perhaps the empire's most notable legacy, as it was the capital during
the empire's zenith. The majestic monuments of Angkor, such as Angkor Wat and the Bayon,
bear testimony to the Khmer Empire's immense power and wealth, impressive art and culture,
architectural technique, aesthetic achievements, and variety of belief systems that it
patronised over time. Satellite imaging has revealed that Angkor, during its peak in the 11th
to the 13th centuries, was the most extensive pre-industrial urban complex in the world.
Researchers have also concluded that the Khmer Empire invented the world's first healthcare
system, which included 102 hospitals.
Khmer sculpture is the stone sculpture of the Khmer Empire, which ruled a territory based
on modern Cambodia, but rather larger, from the 9th to the 13th century. The most celebrated
examples are found in Angkor, which served as the seat of the [Link] of the sculpture is

30
religious, reflecting the mixture of Hinduism and Buddhism followed in the empire. Large
resources were devoted by the state to the erection of grand and highly decorated religious
complexes, which often also serve to glorify the monarch.
There are several recognisable specific art styles of the Angkorian period.

1. Kulen style (c.825-875)

2. Koh Ker style (941-944)
3. Baphuon style (1010-1080)
4. Angkor Wat style (1100-1175)
5. Bayon style (late 12th to early 13th century)

Movement away from Indian models

Earlier Khmer art was heavily influenced by Indian treatments of Hindu subject. By the 7th
century, Khmer sculpture begins to drift away from its Hindu influences – pre-Gupta for the
Buddhist figures, Pallava for the Hindu figures – and through constant stylistic evolution, it
comes to develop its own originality, which by the 10th century can be considered complete
and absolute. An example of Khmer style that totally departed from Indian sculpture tradition
is the wholeness of its figure, which bears similarities to ancient Egyptian sculpture.
Unlike most Indian and Javanese Hindu-Buddhist stone sculptures, which were carved
in high relief, or stelae supported by slabs at the figure's back, Khmer statues are carved
wholly in the round. Khmer stone sculpture did not employ any stelae on the back of the
figure to support it, as the result broken arms, hands or ankles vividly attest to the
vulnerability of this format. Nevertheless, Khmer sculptors seems to wish their works to be
seen from all sides in the garbagriha or sanctuary shrine in the center of the temple. Khmers
attempted to make free-standing statues, supported by an arch or by an attribute of the
divinity such as a piece of clothing or a hand-held object.
Khmer sculpture soon goes beyond religious representation, which becomes almost a pretext
in order to portray court figures in the guise of gods and goddesses. But furthermore, it also
comes to constitute a means and end in itself for the execution of stylistic refinement. The
social context of the Khmer kingdom provides a second key to understanding this art. But we
can also imagine that on a more exclusive level, small groups of intellectuals and artists were
at work, competing among themselves in mastery and refinement as they pursued a
hypothetical perfection of style.
The gods we find in Khmer sculpture are those of the two great religions of
India, Buddhism and Hinduism. Priests supervised the execution of the works, attested to in
the high iconographic precision of the sculptures. Nonetheless, unlike those Hindu images
which repeat an idealized stereotype, these images are treated with great realism and
originality because they depict living models: the king and his court. The true social function
of Khmer art was, in fact, the glorification of the aristocracy through these images of the gods
embodied in the princes. In fact, the cult of the “deva-raja” required the development of an
eminently aristocratic art in which the people were supposed to see the tangible proof of the
sovereign’s divinity, while the aristocracy took pleasure in seeing itself – if, it’s true, in
idealized form – immortalized in the splendour of intricate adornments, elegant dresses and
extravagant jewelry.

31
 A relief from Angkor
The sculptures are images of gods, royal and imposing presences with feminine sensuality,
giving impressions of figures at the courts with considerable power. The sculptures represent
the chosen divinity in the orthodox manner and succeeds in portraying, with great skill and
expertise, high figures of the courts in all of their splendour, in the attire, adornments and
jewelry of a sophisticated beauty.
Some of the details of the sculptures include the double arc drawn by the eyebrows on the
foreheads, evoked below by the wisely sketched curve of the noses and further down, by the
double arc which masterfully outlines the lips and the double chin. Following a hypothetical
vertical line down still further, we find another double arc outlining the breasts, and then,
continuing down from the waist all along the skirts and ending in the ankles, we find almost
at the bottom, a twisted double arc intended to represent the other side of the skirts. This
detail serves, above all, to eliminate a certain hieratic fixedness, which was relatively
common in the Khmer statues of lesser quality.

32
 Decorative styles of Khmer Architecture PART I

Classical or Angkor Wat Style (1080–1175): Angkor Wat, the temple and perhaps the
mausoleum of King Suryavarman II, is the greatest of the Angkorian temples and defines
what has come to be known as the classical style of Angkorian architecture. Cambodian
architecture has become synonymous with Khmer architecture and more precisely to the
iconic constructions of Angkor temples during the growth and peak of Khmer Empire.
The architecture and construction field in Cambodia is a main priority and a basic foundation
of social development.

Angkor Wat is the prime example of the classical style of Khmer architecture—the Angkor
Wat style—to which it has given its name. By the 12th century Khmer architects had become
skilled and confident in the use of sandstone (rather than brick or laterite) as the main
building material. Angkor Wat is a religious temple complex in Cambodia. At 402 acres, it is
the largest religious monument in the world, and is considered to be the finest classical
example of Khmer architecture, a building tradition that spanned the 9th and 15th centuries
AD during the reign of the Khmer Empire. According to Maurice Glaize, a mid-20th-century
conservator of Angkor, the temple "attains a classic perfection by the restrained
monumentality of its finely balanced elements and the precise arrangement of its proportions.
It is a work of power, unity and style."

The most obvious and popular interesting fact about Cambodia is, of course, Angkor Wat.
Angkor Wat is the main reason tourists flock in their numbers to Cambodia. It is the world's
largest religious building and considered one of the wonders of the world.
The sovereign state of Cambodia has a population of over 15 million. ... The kingdom is an
elective constitutional monarchy with a monarch, currently Norodom Sihamoni, chosen by
the Royal Council of the Throne as head of state.
What is Cambodia Most Famous For?
 Angkor Wat.
 The Bayon.
 Ta Prohm.
 Tonlé Sap Lake.
 Apsaras Dance Performance.
 Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum & Choeng Ek Memorial.
 Phnom Penh Royal Palace & Silver Pagoda.
 Koh Rong.

Art Styles

Art historians studying the architectural and decorative styles of Khmer architecture over two
hundred years have agreed upon a chronology of style dating back to the 4th century AD.

33
 Period Year Style
Funan 300-450 Funan
450-540 Phnom Da
Chenla 600-650 Prei Kuk
700-750 Prasat Andet
706-825 Kompong Preah
Angkorian 802-875 Phnom Kulen
875-893 Preah Ko
893-925 Bakeng
921-945 Koh Ker
947-965 Pre Rup
946-1000 Banteay Srei
965-1010 Khleang
1010-1080 Bapuon
1100-1175 Angkor Wat
1177-1230 Bayon
1230-1431 Post-Bayon

The architecture of the Indian rock-cut temples, particularly the sculptures,

were widely adopted in South Indian, and Indianised architecture
of Cambodian, Annamese (Khmer) and Javanese temples (of the Greater India). In any study
of Angkorian architecture, the emphasis is necessarily on religious architecture, since all the
remaining Angkorian buildings are religious in nature. During the period of Angkor, only
temples and other religious buildings were constructed of stone.
Non-religious buildings such as dwellings were constructed of perishable materials such as
wood, and so have not survived. The religious architecture of Angkor has characteristic
structures, elements, and motifs, which are identified in the glossary below. Since a number
of different architectural styles succeeded one another during the Angkorean period, not all of
these features were equally in evidence throughout the period. Indeed, scholars have referred
to the presence or absence of such features as one source of evidence for dating the remains.
Many temples had been built before Cambodia became a powerful Kingdom of Khmer
Empire which dominated most of the Indochina region. At that time, Cambodia was known
as Chenla kingdom, the predecessor state of Khmer empire. There are three pre-Angkorean
architectural styles :[5]

 Sambor Prei Kuk style (610–650): Sambor Prei Kuk, also known as Isanapura, was the
capital of the Chenla Kingdom. Temples of Sambor Prei Kuk were built in rounded, plain
colonettes with capitals that include a bulb.
 Prei Khmeng style (635–700): Structures reveal masterpieces of sculpture but examples
are scarce. Colonettes are larger than those of previous styles. Buildings were more
heavily decorated but had general decline in standards.
 Kompong Preah style (700–800): Temples with more decorative rings on colonettes
which remain cylindrical. Brick constructions were being continued.
Scholars have worked to develop a periodization of Angkorean architectural styles. The
following periods and styles may be distinguished. Each is named for a particular temple
regarded as paradigmatic for the style.

34
 Kulen style (825–875): Continuation of pre-Angkorean style but it was a period of
innovation and borrowing such as from Cham temples. Tower is mainly square and
relatively high as well as brick with laterite walls and stone door surrounds but square
and octagonal colonettes begin to appear.
 Preah Ko style (877–886): Hariharalaya was the first capital city of the Khmer
empire located in the area of Angkor; its ruins are in the area now called Roluos some
fifteen kilometers southeast of the modern city of Siem Reap. The earliest surviving
temple of Hariharalaya is Preah Ko; the others are Bakong and Lolei. The temples of the
Preah Ko style are known for their small brick towers and for the great beauty and
delicacy of their lintels.
 Bakheng Style (889–923): Bakheng was the first temple mountain constructed in the area
of Angkor proper north of Siem Reap. It was the state temple of King Yasovarman, who
built his capital of Yasodharapura around it. Located on a hill (phnom), it is currently one
of the most endangered of the monuments, having become a favorite perch for tourists
eager to witness a glorious sundown at Angkor.
 Koh Ker Style (921–944): During the reign of King Jayavarman IV, capital of Khmer
empire was removed from Angkor region through the north which is called Koh Ker. The
architectural style of temples in Koh Ker, scale of buildings diminishes toward center.
Brick still main material but sandstone also used.
 Pre Rup Style (944–968): Under King Rajendravarman, the Angkorian Khmer built the
temples of Pre Rup, East Mebon and Phimeanakas. Their common style is named after
the state temple mountain of Pre Rup.
 Banteay Srei Style (967–1000): Banteay Srei is the only major Angkorian temple
constructed not by a monarch, but by a courtier. It is known for its small scale and the
extreme refinement of its decorative carvings, including several famous narrative bas-
reliefs dealing with scenes from Indian mythology.
 Khleang Style (968–1010): The Khleang temples, first use of galleries. Cruciform
gopuras. Octagonal colonettes. Restrained decorative carving. A few temples that were
built in this style are Ta Keo, Phimeanakas.
 Baphuon Style (1050–1080): Baphuon, the massive temple mountain of
King Udayadityavarman II was apparently the temple that most impressed the Chinese
traveller Zhou Daguan, who visited Angkor toward the end of the 13th century. Its unique
relief carvings have a naive dynamic quality that contrast with the rigidity of the figures
typical of some other periods. As of 2008, Baphuon is under restoration and cannot
currently be appreciated in its full magnificence.
 Classical or Angkor Wat Style (1080–1175): Angkor Wat, the temple and perhaps the
mausoleum of King Suryavarman II, is the greatest of the Angkorian temples and defines
what has come to be known as the classical style of Angkorian architecture. Other
temples in this style are Banteay Samre and Thommanon in the area of Angkor,
and Phimai in modern Thailand.
 Bayon Style (1181–1243): In the final quarter of the 12th century, King Jayavarman
VII freed the country of Angkor from occupation by an invasionary force from Champa.
Thereafter, he began a massive program of monumental construction, paradigmatic for
which was the state temple called the Bayon. The king's other foundations participated in
the style of the Bayon, and included Ta Prohm, Preah Khan, Angkor Thom, and Banteay
Chmar. Though grandiose in plan and elaborately decorated, the temples exhibit a
hurriedness of construction that contrasts with the perfection of Angkor Wat.
 Post Bayon Style (1243–1431): Following the period of frantic construction under
Jayavarman VII, Angkorian architecture entered the period of its decline. The 13th

35
century Terrace of the Leper King is known for its dynamic relief sculptures of demon
kings, dancers, and nāgas.

Angkor Kings and Monuments-

Ruler Dates Monuments

Jayavarman II 802-835 Rong Chen (Phnom Kulen)
Jayavarman III 835-877
877- Hariharalaya (Roluos): Bakong
Indravarman I
886/889 , Indratataka Baray, Preah Ko
889-
Yasovarman I Lolei, Bakheng, East Baray
900/915
900/915 - Baksei Chamkrong, Prasat
Harshavarman I
922/923 Kravan
c.923 -
Isanavarman II
c.928
c.928 -
Jayavarman IV Koh Ker
941/942
941/942-
Harshavarman II
944
Pre Rup, East Mebon, Banteay
Rajendravarman 944-968 Srei, Baksei Chamkrong
(restoration)
968-
Jayavarman V Ta Keo
1000/1001
Udayadityavarman I 1001-1002
Jayaviravarman 1002-1010 North Khleang (Angkor Thom)
South Khleang (Angkor
Thom), Preah
Suryavarman I 1002-1049 Vihear, Phimeanakas/Royal
Palace (Angkor Thom), West
Baray
Udayadityavarman II 1050-1066 Bapuon, West Mebon
1066/7-
Harshavarman III
1080
Jayavarman VI 1080-1107 Phimai
Dharanindravarman I 1107-1113
1113- Angkor Wat, Banteay
Suryavarman II
c.1150 Samre, Phnom Rung
c.1150-
Yasovarman II Bakong (central tower)
c.1165
Tribhuvanadityavarma c.1165-
n 1177

36
 Ta Prohm, Preah Khan, Neak
1181- Pean, Jayatataka Baray, Ta
Jayavarman VII
1215/1220 Som, Banteay Chhmar, Angkor
Thom, Hospital Chapels
1215/1220-
Indravarman II
1243
Anti-Buddhist iconoclasm and
Jayavarman VIII 1243-1295 other revisions to Jayavarman
VII monuments
Srindravarman 1295-
Preah Palilay
(Indravarman III) 1307/1308
1307/1308-
Srindrajayavarman
1327
Jayavarman
1327-?
Paramesvara

Dates - Details by Author

(Freeman
(Jessup &
Ruler & (Coe)
Zephir)
Jacques)
802-after
Jayavarman II 790-835 802-835
830
after 830 -
Jayavarman III 835-877 c.835-877?
at least 860
Indravarman I 877-c.886 877-889 877-c.889
889-early
Yasovarman I 889-c.915 889-c.900
10th c.
c.912- c.900-
Harshavarman I c.915-923
c.922 c.923
c.923-
Isanavarman II 923-c.928 c.925
c.928
c.928-
Jayavarman IV 921/8-942 c.928-941
c.941
Harshavarman II c.941-944 942-944 941-944
Rajendravarman 944-968 944-968 944-968
968- 968-
Jayavarman V 968-c.1000
c.1000 1000/1001
Udayadityavarman I 1001-1002 1002 1001-1002
Jayaviravarman 1002-1010 1002-1010
Suryavarman I 1002-1049 1002/1010 1002-1049

37
 -1049
Udayadityavarman II 1050-1066 1050-1066 1050-1066
1066/7- c.1066-
Harshavarman III 1066-1080
1080 1080
1080-
Jayavarman VI 1080-1107 1080-1107
c.1107
Dharanindravarman I 1107-1112 1107-1113 1107-1113
1113- 1113-at 1113-
Suryavarman II
c.1150 least 1145 c.1150
c.1150- after 1150- 1150-
Yasovarman II
1165 1165 c.1165
Tribhuvanadityavarma c.1165-
1165-1177
n 1177
1181- 1181- 1181-
Jayavarman VII
c.1220 1218(?) c.1215
c.1220- c.1215-
Indravarman II 1219-1242
1243 1243
c.1243-
Jayavarman VIII 1243-1295 1243-1295
1295
Srindravarman
1295-1307 1296-1297 1296-1308
(Indravarman III)
Srindrajayavarman 1307-1327 1308-1327
Jayavarman
1327-? 1327-?
Paramesvara

Sources for dates:

(1) Michael Freeman and Claude Jacques, Ancient Angkor, River Books, 1999, p.12
(2) Helen Ibbitson Jessup and Thierry Zephir (editors), Millennium of Glory, Thames and Hudson,
1997, [Link]-xxxi
(3) Michael D. Coe, Angkor and the Khmer Civilization, Thames and Hudson, 2003, p.225

History of the Decorative Styles: The history of the decorative styles is closely
linked to the historical development of cambodia

The kingdom of Angkor dates from the beginning of the 9th century until the mid-15th
century but its roots go much further back in time and are the subject of much controversy.

38
Little is known of early Angkorian prehistory with only a handful of sites having been
excavated. Therefore, our understanding of the emergence of the complex polities of
Cambodia is limited. It is clear that the people who erected the temples in Cambodia inherited
a sophisticated political and religious system, one that was, undoubtedly influenced by ideas
from India. There can be no doubt that India and her culture had a profound effect on ancient
Cambodia, but it is increasingly clear that the relationship between these ancient cultures was
more symbiotic than previously assumed.

Funan: The earliest recognised polity in the region is Funan, the Chinese name for the
political power centred in the lower Mekong River region. It is unclear who the people of
Funan were, they may have been Khmer but the evidence is far from conclusive. Whatever
their ethnicity the polity prospered as traders from both China and those coming from India
were obligated by the monsoon winds to stop in areas controlled by Funan. Once in the
region traders would take advantage of the natural products of Southeast Asia and stock
supplies for the rest of the voyage.

These factors helped make Funan powerful and Chinese accounts indicate that the 'kingdom'
controlled settlements as far away as the Isthmus of Kra. By the 3rd century the king of
Funan was sending ambassadors to the Chinese court. The cultural inspiration appears to
have been derived from India as the rulers are noted to have been Brahman and much of the
art of the period celebrates Hindu deities.

Based on the surviving literary sources and more recent archaeological work it appears that
Funan was very prosperous prior to the 4th century. Even if trade were the driving force of
Funan, agriculture played a major role as well. This agricultural exploitation may have been
the basis for the political organisation and the following territorial expansion of the Funanese.
Aerial photographs attest the complexity of the system imposed. A huge web of
interconnecting canals stretch from the Bassac River to the sea. It is possible that as well as
providing transportation routes the canals helped to drain the land for agriculture and may
have aided in desalinising the soil. Central to this network of canals were the population
hubs, which must have been the important trade centres. The Chinese records indicate that the
Funanese cities were surrounded by walls and a moat.

Most of the evidence we have of Funan comes from a site called Oc-Eo. Here limited
archaeological work has revealed to us the structure of the settlement and some very
important artefacts. Most of the buildings at Oc-Eo were built on piles, the remains of which
can be seen is some places as post moulds. Some buildings at Oc-Eo were made of more
durable material and it is likely that these were used as religious sanctuaries.

Óc Eo or 'Glass Stream' or 'Crystal Stream' is an archaeological site in Thoại Sơn

District in southern An Giang Province, Vietnam, in the Mekong River Delta. Óc Eo may
have been a busy port of the kingdom of Funan between the 2nd century BC and 12th century
AD.
Scholars use the term "Óc Eo Culture" to refer to the archaeological culture of the Mekong
Delta region that is typified by the artifacts recovered at Óc Eo through archeological
investigation.
Óc Eo is also one of the modern day communes of Vietnam.

39
map shows the locations of archeological sites associated with Óc Eo culture. It is located at the Museum
of Vietnamese History, Ho Chi Minh City.

Excavation at Óc Eo began on February 10, 1942, after French archaeologists had

discovered the site through the use of aerial photography. The first excavations were led
by Louis Malleret, who identified the place as the Cattigara of Roman merchants in the first
centuries of the Roman empire. The site covers 450 ha.
Óc Eo is situated within a network of ancient canals that crisscross the low flatland of
the Mekong Delta. One of the canals connects Óc Eo to the town's seaport while another goes
68 kilometres (42 mi) north-northeast to Angkor Borei. Óc Eo is longitudinally bisected by a
canal, and there are four transverse canals along which pile-supported houses were perhaps
ranged.
Archaeological sites reflecting the material culture of Óc Eo are spread throughout
southern Vietnam, but are most heavily concentrated in the area of the Mekong Delta to the
south and west of Ho Chi Minh City. The most significant site, aside from Óc Eo itself, is at
Tháp Muời north of the Tien Giang River, where among other remains a stele with a 6th-
century Sanskrit text has been discovered.
Aerial photography in 1958 revealed that during the Funan period a distributary of the
Mekong entered the Gulf of Thailand in the vicinity of Ta Keo, which was then on the shore
but since then become separated by some distance from the sea as a result of siltation. At that
time, Ta Keo was connected by a canal with Oc Eo, allowing it access to the Gulf. [4] The
distributary of the Mekong revealed in the aerial photography was
probably the Saenus mentioned in Ptolemy’s Geography as the western branch of the
Mekong, which Ptolemy called the Cottiaris.[ The Cattigara in Ptolemy's Geography could be
derived from a Sanskrit word, either Kottinagara (Strong City) or Kirtinagara (Renowned
City).
The remains found at Óc Eo include pottery, tools, jewelry, casts for making jewelry, coins,
and religious statues.[7] Among the finds are gold jewellery imitating coins from the Roman
Empire of the Antonine period.

40
[Link] of Visnu, Hindu deity of Indian-origin religion, from the 6th or 7th century AD was found in
Óc Eo and is now housed in the Museum of Vietnamese History.
Roman golden medallions from the reign of Antoninus Pius, and possibly his
successor Marcus Aurelius, have been discovered at Óc Eo, which was near Chinese-
controlled Jiaozhou and the region where Chinese historical texts claim the Romans first
landed before venturing further into China to conduct diplomacy in 166.[10] Many of the
remains have been collected and are on exhibition in Museum of Vietnamese History in Ho
Chi Minh City.
Among the coins found at Óc Eo by Malleret were eight made of silver bearing the image of
the hamsa or crested argus, apparently minted in Funan.

The archeological site of Gò

Cây Thị, Ba Thê Óc Eo

Óc Eo has been regarded as belonging to the historical kingdom of Funan ( 扶 南 ) that

flourished in the Mekong Delta between the 2nd century BC and the 12th century CE. The
kingdom of Funan is known to us from the works of ancient Chinese historians, especially
writers of dynastic histories, who in turn drew from the testimony of Chinese diplomats and
travellers, and of foreign (including Funanese) embassies to the Chinese imperial courts.
Indeed, the name "Funan" itself is an artifact of the Chinese histories, and does not appear in
the paleographic record of ancient Vietnam or Cambodia. From the Chinese sources,

41
however, it can be determined that a polity called "Funan" by the Chinese was the dominant
polity located in the Mekong Delta region. As a result, archeological discoveries in that
region that can be dated to the period of Funan have been identified with the historical polity
of Funan. The discoveries at Óc Eo and related sites are our primary source for the material
culture of Funan.
The Vietnamese archaeologist believe that with knowledge we have now, it is impossible to
demonstrate the existence of a Funan culture, widely spread from the Mekong Delta through
the Chao Praya delta to Burma, with Óc Eo as the typical representative: the presence of
similar artefacts such as jewelry and seals from sites in those areas was simply the result of
trade and exchange, while each of the sites bore the signs of their own separate cultural
development. He supported the view of Claude Jacques that, in view of the complete lack of
any Khmer records relating to a kingdom by the name of Funan, use of this name should be
abandoned in favour of the names, such
as Aninditapura, Bhavapura, Shresthapura and Vyadhapura, which are known from
inscriptions to have been used at the time for cities in the region and provide a more accurate
idea of the true geography of the ancient Khmer territory. Hà Văn Tấn argued that, from the
late neolithic or early metal age, Óc Eo gradually emerged as an economic and cultural centre
of the Mekong Delta and, with an important position on the Southeast Asian sea routes,
became a meeting place for craftsmen and traders, which provided adequate conditions for
urbanization, receiving foreign influences, notably from India, which in turn stimulated
internal development.[
Funan was part of the region of Southeast Asia referred to in ancient Indian texts
as Suvarnabhumi, and may have been the part to which the term was first applied.
The Swedish yachtsman and writer Bjorn Landström also concluded, from the sailing
directions given by the ancient merchant and seafarer Alexander, that Cattigara lay at the
mouth of the Mekong.
The "father of Early Southeast Asian History", George Coedès, has said: "By the middle of
the 3rd century Fu-nan had already established relations with China and India, and it is
doubtless on the west coast of the Gulf of Siam that the furthest point reached by Hellenistic
navigators is to be found, that is the harbour of Kattigara mentioned by Ptolemy". [ A.H.
Christie said in 1979 that "the presence of objects, however few in number, from the Roman
Orient" added some weight to the conjecture that Óc-eo was the Ptolemaic Kattigara. The
distinguished German classical scholar, Albrecht Dihle, supported this view, saying:
From the account of the voyage of Alexander referred to by Ptolemy, Kattigara can actually
be located only in the Mekong delta, because Alexander went first along the east coast of the
Malacca peninsula, northward to Bangkok, from thence likewise only along the coast toward
the south east, and so came to Kattigara. We hear nothing of any further change of course. In
addition, at Óc Eo, an emporium excavated in the western Mekong delta, in the ancient
kingdom of Fu-nan, Roman finds from the 2nd century after Christ have come to light.

Angkor Wat is a religious temple complex in Cambodia. At 402 acres, it is the largest
religious monument in the world, and is considered to be the finest classical example of
Khmer architecture, a building tradition that spanned the 9th and 15th centuries AD during
the reign of the Khmer Empire.

King Suryavarman II began the construction after ascending to the throne in 1113. It is not
known who the architects or designers were. Originally, it was built as a Hindu temple of the
god Vishnu. Reflecting this, the temple faces west in contrast with many of the other temples

42
at Angkor. However, towards the end of the 12th century it was transformed into a Buddhist
temple.

Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat is a religious temple complex in Cambodia. At 402 acres, it is the largest
religious monument in the world, and is considered to be the finest classical example of
Khmer architecture, a building tradition that spanned the 9th and 15th centuries AD during
the reign of the Khmer Empire.

King Suryavarman II began the construction after ascending to the throne in 1113. It is not
known who the architects or designers were. Originally, it was built as a Hindu temple of the
god Vishnu. Reflecting this, the temple faces west in contrast with many of the other temples
at Angkor. However, towards the end of the 12th century it was transformed into a Buddhist
temple.

Over the course of the 20th century, Angkor Wat became more well-known globally as
a symbol of Cambodia, and today it is the country’s main tourist attraction.

43
Design and construction

The temple complex is surrounded by a 190m-wide moat forming a 1.5km by 1.3km

rectangle. A sandstone causeway crosses the moat on its western side.
The stylistic elements of the complex are characteristic of Khmer architecture and include the
ogival, lotus bud-shaped towers, half-galleries, axial galleries, connecting enclosures and
cruciform terraces.
The main pyramid takes the form of three stepped terraces with covered galleries bordering
all sides of each step. The corners of the second and third steps are punctuated by towers, the
highest of which rises to 55m.
At the time of its construction, Khmer architects were proficient in the use of sandstone as
a building material, and the complex was constructed using 5-10 million sandstone blocks,
each weighing up to 1.5 tons. These blocks were quarried from the mountain of Phnom
Kulen, more than 50km away, and were floated on rafts down the Siem Reap River.
Inscriptions record that the construction involved 300,000 workers and 6,000 elephants.
The sandstone blocks form the most visible elements of the structure, while a type
of clay local to the area, laterite, was used for the outer wall and concealed structural
elements. The precise binding agent for the blocks is unknown, although it is believed to be
natural resin or slaked lime.
Internally, the smooth stones were laid with very tight joints without mortar, held together
instead by mortise and tenon joints, or by dovetails and gravity. It is believed
the blocks were assembled using a combination of elephants, coir ropes and pulleys,
and bamboo scaffolding.
Angkor Wat is famous for its vast array of symbolic detailing. Nearly 2,000 sq.m of bas
reliefs are intricately carved into the sandstone,as well as extensively
carved lintels, friezes and pediments, and nearly 2,000 depictions of apsaras (celestial
dancers).

44
Post-construction

After King Suryavarman II’s death, the temple was converted to Buddhist use by King
Jayavarman VII. Western interest in the temple only really began with the writings of the
French naturalist Henri Mouhot in the 1860s.
Conservation work was started by the French in the early-20th century and continued over the
decades in an attempt to preserve the structure from damage. Ancient builders had
used brick, sandstone, laterite and wood as their materials. The ruins that remain are of brick,
sandstone and laterite, the wood elements having been lost to decay and other destructive
processes.

Brick
The earliest Angkorian temples were made mainly of brick. Good examples are the temple
towers of Preah Ko, Lolei and Bakong at Hariharalaya. Decorations were usually carved into
a stucco applied to the brick, rather than into the brick itself. This because bricks being softer
material do not lend itself to sculpting as opposed to stones of different kinds such as the
SandStones or the Granites. However, the tenets of the Sacred Architecture as enunciated in
the Vedas and the Shastras, require no adhesives to be used while building blocks are
assembled one over the other to create the Temples, as such bricks have been used only in
relatively smaller temples such as Lolei and The Preah Ko. Besides, strength of bricks is
much lesser as compared to the stones (mentioned here-in) and the former degrade with age.

Angkor's neighbor state of Champa was also the home to numerous brick temples that are
similar in style to those of Angkor. The most extensive ruins are at Mỹ Sơn in Vietnam. A
Cham story tells of the time that the two countries settled an armed conflict by means of a
tower-building contest proposed by the Cham King Po Klaung Garai. While the Khmer built
a standard brick tower, Po Klaung Garai directed his people to build an impressive replica of
paper and wood. In the end, the Cham replica was more impressive than the real brick tower
of the Khmer, and the Cham won the contest.

45
Sandstone
The only stone used by Angkorian builders was sandstone, obtained from the Kulen
mountains. Since its obtainment was considerably more expensive than that of brick,
sandstone only gradually came into use, and at first was used for particular elements such as
door frames. The 10th-century temple of Ta Keo is the first Angkorian temple to be
constructed more or less entirely from Sandstone.
Laterite

Angkorian builders used laterite, a clay that is soft when taken from the ground but that
hardens when exposed to the sun, for foundations and other hidden parts of buildings.
Because the surface of laterite is uneven, it was not suitable for decorative carvings, unless
first dressed with stucco. Laterite was more commonly used in the Khmer provinces than at
Angkor itself. Because the water table in this entire region is well high, Laterite has been
used in the underlying layers of Angkor Wat and other temples (especially the larger ones),
because it can absorb water and help towards better stability of the Temple.

Preah Ko, completed in 879 CE, was a temple made mainly of brick

Ta Keo, a massive unfinished mountain temple built in the 10th century, was constructed
more or less entirely from sandstone

46
 Prasat Prang Ku in Sisaket, Thailand, was built with laterite
Central sanctuary

The central prang of Angkor Wat temple symbolizes the mount Meru.

The central sanctuary of an Angkorian temple was home to the temple's primary deity, the
one to whom the site was dedicated: typically Shiva or Vishnu in the case of
a Hindu temple, Buddha or a bodhisattva in the case of a Buddhist temple. The deity was
represented by a statue (or in the case of Shiva, most commonly by a linga). Since the temple
was not considered a place of worship for use by the population at large, but rather a home
for the deity, the sanctuary needed only to be large enough to hold the statue or linga; it was
never more than a few metres across. [11] Its importance was instead conveyed by the height of
the tower (prasat) rising above it, by its location at the centre of the temple, and by the
greater decoration on its walls. Symbolically, the sanctuary represented Mount Meru, the
legendary home of the Hindu gods.

Prang
The prang is the tall finger-like spire, usually richly carved, common to much Khmer
religious architecture.

47
Enclosure
Khmer temples were typically enclosed by a concentric series of walls, with the central
sanctuary in the middle; this arrangement represented the mountain ranges
surrounding Mount Meru, the mythical home of the gods. Enclosures are the spaces between
these walls, and between the innermost wall and the temple itself. By modern convention,
enclosures are numbered from the centre outwards. The walls defining the enclosures of
Khmer temples are frequently lined by galleries, while passage through the walls is by way of
gopuras located at the cardinal points.
Gallery
A gallery is a passageway running along the wall of an enclosure or along the axis of a
temple, often open to one or both sides. Historically, the form of the gallery evolved during
the 10th century from the increasingly long hallways which had earlier been used to surround
the central sanctuary of a temple. During the period of Angkor Wat in the first half of the
12th century, additional half galleries on one side were introduced to buttress the structure of
the temple.
Gopura

A gopura leads into the 12th-century temple compound

at Ta Prohm.

Many of the gopuras constructed under Jayavarman VII toward the end of the 12th century,
such as this one at Angkor Thom, are adorned with gigantic stone faces of Avalokiteshvara.
A gopura is an entrance building. At Angkor, passage through the enclosure walls
surrounding a temple compound is frequently accomplished by means of an impressive
gopura, rather than just an aperture in the wall or a doorway. Enclosures surrounding a
temple are often constructed with a gopura at each of the four cardinal points. In plan,
gopuras are usually cross-shaped and elongated along the axis of the enclosure wall.
If the wall is constructed with an accompanying gallery, the gallery is sometimes connected
to the arms of the gopura. Many Angkorian gopuras have a tower at the centre of the cross.
The lintels and pediments are often decorated, and guardian figures (dvarapalas) are often
placed or carved on either side of the doorways.

48
 Hall of Dancers
A Hall of Dancers is a structure of a type found in certain late 12th-century temples
constructed under King Jayavarman VII: Ta Prohm, Preah Khan, Banteay Kdei and Banteay
Chhmar. It is a rectangular building elongated along the temple's east axis and divided into
four courtyards by galleries. Formerly it had a roof made of perishable materials; now only
the stone walls remain. The pillars of the galleries are decorated with carved designs of
dancing apsaras; hence scholars have suggested that the hall itself may have been used for
dancing.
The West Gopura – Gateway to Angkor Wat
The importance of the West Gopura structure cannot be understated: this is the gateway to
Angkor Wat. Its west facade may have been the only part of the the temple that the vast
majority of the public ever saw. But even that statement assumes too much.
Privileged visitors crossing the rainbow bridge approach this building, which offers access to
Angkor Wat’s garden paradise within through three porticos (for those pilgrims on foot) and
two “elephant gates” at the north and south (for elephants and vehicles).

West Gopura devata portraits are

numbered from south to north. (In this photo, west is at the top)
Whatever Angkor Wat represented was promoted first and foremost by the West Gopura.

Which brings us to the devata, the women of Angkor Wat’s West Gopura. There are 259
women on this entrance structure: 124 on the outside wall, 119 on the inside wall, and 8 in
each elephant gate entry chamber at the north and south.

49
Logically, the women featured on this prominent structure must be quite extraordinary for
some reason. For nearly 1,000 years they have seen every visitor to the temple. Are they
protecting the structure and the Temple of Heaven that lies within? or adorning the structure
with their beauty? Or are they being glorified by exhibiting their images in such an
auspicious place?

Allow yourself the freedom to consider this puzzle from all sides.

West Gopura devata are numbered from South to North (left to right)

Meeting these women face to face will help you decide. The following album shows the faces
of the women of the outside (West) wall of the West Gopura. The women who have greeted
every visitor to Angkor for nearly 1,000 years…[Link]
gopura-entrance-devata-goddess-portraits-facing-west/#.YMjbQtIzbIU

House of Fire
House of Fire, or Dharmasala, is the name given to a type of building found only in temples
constructed during the reign of late 12th-century monarch Jayavarman VII: Preah Khan, Ta
Prohm and Banteay Chhmar. A House of Fire has thick walls, a tower at the west end and
south-facing windows.
Scholars theorize that the House of Fire functioned as a "rest house with fire" for travellers.
An inscription at Preah Khan tells of 121 such rest houses lining the highways into Angkor.
The Chinese traveller Zhou Daguan expressed his admiration for these rest houses when he
visited Angkor in 1296 CE. Another theory is that the House of Fire had a religious function
as the repository the sacred flame used in sacred ceremonies.
Library
Structures conventionally known as "libraries" are a common feature of Khmer temple
architecture, but their true purpose remains unknown. Most likely they functioned broadly as

50
religious shrines rather than strictly as repositories of manuscripts. Freestanding buildings,
they were normally placed in pairs on either side of the entrance to an enclosure, opening to
the west. Unusually, the libraries at Angkor Wat open to both the East and the West.
Srah and baray
Srahs and barays were reservoirs, generally created by excavation and embankment,
respectively. It is not clear whether the significance of these reservoirs was religious,
agricultural, or a combination of the two.
The two largest reservoirs at Angkor were the West Baray and the East Baray located on
either side of Angkor Thom. The East Baray is now dry. The West Mebon is an 11th-century
temple standing at the center of the West Baray and the East Mebon is a 10th-century temple
standing at the center of the East Baray.[17]
The baray associated with Preah Khan is the Jayataka, in the middle of which stands the 12th-
century temple of Neak Pean. Scholars have speculated that the Jayataka represents the
Himalayan lake of Anavatapta, known for its miraculous healing powers.
Temple mountain
The Bakong is the earliest surviving Temple Mountain at Angkor.
The dominant scheme for the construction of state temples in the Angkorian period was that
of the Temple Mountain, an architectural representation of Mount Meru, the home of the
gods in Hinduism.[19] The style was influenced by South indian temple architecture.
Enclosures represented the mountain chains surrounding Mount Meru, while a moat
represented the ocean. The temple itself took shape as a pyramid of several levels, and the
home of the gods was represented by the elevated sanctuary at the center of the temple.
The first great temple mountain was the Bakong, a five-level pyramid dedicated in 881 by
King Indravarman I. The structure of Bakong took shape of stepped pyramid, popularly
identified as temple mountain of early Khmer temple architecture. The striking similarity of
the Bakong and Borobudur in Java, going into architectural details such as the gateways and
stairs to the upper terraces, strongly suggests that Borobudur might have served as the
prototype of Bakong. There must have been exchanges of travelers, if not mission, between
Khmer kingdom and the Sailendras in Java. Transmitting to Cambodia not only ideas, but
also technical and architectural details of Borobudur, including arched gateways
in corbelling method.
Other Khmer temple mountains include Baphuon, Pre Rup, Ta Keo, Koh Ker,
the Phimeanakas, and most notably the Phnom Bakheng at Angkor.
According to Charles Higham, "A temple was built for the worship of the ruler, whose
essence, if a Saivite, was embodied in a linga... housed in the central sanctuary which served
as a temple-mausoleum for the ruler after his death...these central temples also contained
shrines dedicated to the royal ancestors and thus became centres of ancestor worship."

51
Temple Mountains of Angkor

Part II
Analysis of the Site of Angkor
Understanding the Architectural Layers of Angkor

I am sure that before the plans were drawn up extensive consultations took place between
the Brahmis, Priests, The Emperor or Devaraja, his counselors,Design specialists and the
architect himself –identified today as King Suryavarman

Historians and archeologists are still not sure whether Angkor Wat was built as a
temple, shrine, mausoleum, observatory or all of some of the above. It looks like a temple.
But traditionally Hindu temples had their main entrance to the east. Angkor Wat has its
main gate to the west, which is associated with death. Whisch may or may not be true since
west is the direction of God Vishnu in whose homor it was built. Hence describing it as a
Funerary structure by certain European Archeologists is erroneous.

52
ANGKOR WAT: History, Architecture and Style

For those who are unfamiliar with this incredible location, this is a beautiful temple
built nearly 900 years ago. This is such a majestic and beautiful site that it has been

53
deemed as one of the seven Wonders of the World. Clearly this designation says a
whole lot about how incredibly beautiful this temple is.

There are 3 elements to the Angkorean SITE ANALYSIS

1. Hinduism
2. Climate and culture
3. Plain caused by Mountain Kulen
4. Water due to Lake Tonel Sap and corresponding rivers

HINDUISM

Angkor Wat is just one of dozens of extant Khmer temples in the Angkor area of
present-day Cambodia, but it represents the apex of a building tradition that spanned
five centuries, and the height of Khmer power and influence in the region. It is the
largest temple complex at Angkor, and intricate bas-relief sculptures line the
sandstone structures exemplify the apex of Khmer artistry. Although it has been in
continuous use since its construction in the twelfth century, aspects of its history
remain unknown. As archaeologist and anthropologist Charles Higham explains,
“Curiously, there are no direct references to it in the epigraphic record, so we do not
know its original name and controversy remains over its function and aspects of its
symbolic status.” Originally dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu, the complex was
later converted to Buddhist monasteries, and continues to be a site of religious
pilgrimage today.

King Suryavarman II began construction on Angkor Wat shortly after ascending to

the throne in 1113. Royal succession in the Khmer empire was typically a violent
affair, and Suryavarman's ascent was no exception. He killed his great-uncle in battle
to seize the throne. However, inscriptions detailing Suryavarman’s rise to power
describe him uniting two previously opposing factions, leading to a period of relative
unity and stability. He also continued the tradition of the previous kings, building
Angkor Wat, a new royal temple complex, distinct from those of his predecessors.
Although the names of any architects or designers are lost to history, it is likely that
Suryavarman’s chief priest and spiritual advisor Divakarapandita was highly
influential in the temple’s construction.

54
 Aerial view

In contrast with many of the other temples at Angkor, Angkor Wat faces west, a
reflection of its dedication to Vishnu, who rules over the western quadrant of the
compass. A wide rectangular moat surrounds the complex, and just inside the moat
an outer wall defines an area approximately 1,500 meters east to west, and 1,300
meters north to south–the largest temple area in Angkor. Some archaeologists suggest
that 90% of this area was originally occupied by a city surrounding the formal temple
precinct, including the royal palace, all built of wood. Today, all that remains are the
temple buildings, constructed of sandstone and laterite, a type of local clay that
hardens quickly when exposed to air and sun, used primarily for foundations and
internal structures.

From the western gateway of the outer wall, a long causeway leads to the main temple
precinct. Two small stone buildings, known as “libraries,” flank the causeway near
the midpoint. Despite their name, these buildings would have been shrines of some
kind, not storage for manuscripts.

Stepped Pyramid: The temple itself consists of two of the primary elements of
Khmer architecture: the pyramid, and concentric galleries.[The pyramid takes the
form of three stepped terraces, with each step bordered on all sides by covered

55
 galleries. At each level gateways in the galleries indicate the pathway

to the central shrine, and towers punctuate the corners. The pyramid culminates in
five towers–an indication of the temple's central shrine.

The entire complex symbolizes the Hindu beliefs enshrined within. It is a microcosm of the
Hindu universe. The moat represents the mythical oceans surrounding the earth and the
succession of concentric galleries represent the mountain ranges that surround Mount Meru,
the home of the gods. The towers represent the mountain’s peaks, and the experience of the
ascent to the central shrine is, maybe intentionally, a fairly convincing imitation of climbing a
real mountain. To further emphasize the Hindu symbolism, the galleries are lined with bas-
relief sculpture carved into the sandstone. In total, Angkor Wat contains nearly 2,000 square

56
meters (20,000 square feet) of bas-relief, in addition to the extensively carved lintels, friezes,
and pediments, and the nearly 2,000 apsaras (celestial dancers who entertain the gods)
carved throughout the complex. The majority of the sculptures depict the Hindu
epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. The bas-reliefs at Angkor Wat also include a series on
Suryavarman II, the first known depiction of a Angkorian king and his court. In addition to
the intricate carvings, remnants of paint, and even gold leaf indicate an even more dazzling
appearance (although it is not known if these elements were original or added later).

In the decades following Suryavarman II’s death, King Jayavarman VII brought Buddhism to
Angkor, and converted many of the temples, including Angkor Wat, to Buddhist use. The
temples at Angkor are often depicted as the ruins of a failed society, but in reality the rise of
Theravada Buddhism led to the construction of wooden temples that have not survived, and
as Freeman and Jacques put it, “The Khmers never forgot the existence of their monuments,
and even if they neglected the majority of their temples, Angkor Wat always remained
occupied and a place of worship.”

The notes of French naturalist Henri Mouhot, published in 1863, aroused Western interest in
Angkor, and the Ecole Francaise d’Extreme-Orient began leading conservation efforts in the
early 20th century.[18] Although the Cambodian Civil War and the reign of the Khmer Rouge
halted conservation efforts for two decades, Angkor became a UNESCO World Heritage
Site in 1992, and today teams from around the world are working to stabilize and preserve the
monuments.

Henri Mouhot's drawing of Angkor Wat

The Angkor Wat is not only the largest temple in Cambodia, but is actually the largest
religious monument in the entire world. The temple monument covers 1,600,000 square
meters and was originally built as a Hindu monument during the Khmer Empire. In less than
100 years this temple site would be transformed into the largest Buddhist monument on the
planet, and still exists in this fashion [Link] site of the monument seems odd to many
tourists and visitors because it is deeper within the Cambodian nation, however it needs to be
understood that in the early 12th century Angkor was the capital city of the Khmer Empire.
The work on this temple began under King Suryavarman II, but he would die long before the
project was completed. It would later be finished under King Jayavarman VII.

This incredible monument began as to showpiece for the Khmer Empire, but is now become
one of the most important monuments in all of Cambodia. Millions of people come to see this
site each year, and it is used in much of the tourist literature to attract visitors to the nation.

57
Beaches and scuba diving may be a key factor of why so many people want to come to this
country on vacation, but Angkor Wat is the real highlight for any vacationer.

Angkor (LEFT) Ta Prohm (RIGHT)

The purpose of the temple was to become the new palace for PrechaKetMeelea, the son of
Indra. According to the Chinese traveler Daguan Zhou, the temple was supposed to have been
built in one single night as part of the divine intervention of the Hindu gods. This same
traveler also proposed a story of the temple being built for the King son.

According to historical records the temple began to be constructed during the reign of
Suryavarman II around the year 1113. It was dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu and was
built to be the kings personal temple and headquarters for his new capital city.

Much of the early history related to Angkor Wat has come from word-of-mouth or documents
from other civilizations speaking about the temple. There are no legal documents remaining
from the early decades when the construction began, with the exception of references being
made about it being dedicated to Vishnu. From what historians have been able to surmise,
construction of the temple area ended shortly after the death of Suryavarman. This may have
been due to the city being sacked by the enemies of the Khmer, the Chams, which left the
Empire in disarray for quite some time.

For nearly 27 years the temple complex remained dormant, as construction completely ended
in the Empire was looking to try to regain its prior prominence. When King Jayavarman came
to power he rebuilt the Khmer Empire, but decided to move his temple and capital city a few
miles north from Angkor Wat. This led to the construction of Angkor Thom, however, he did
decide to complete the building of the temple. This led to the final appearance of Angkor
Wat, to include its decoration, carvings, and [Link] enough, despite the fact that the
temple had been completed, there was still no real use for it within the Hindu faith of the
region. With the new temple being built in Angkor Thom the one in Angkor Wat became
virtually unnecessary. This allowed for it to move from a center of Hindu worship into one
used by Buddhists. This is still true [Link] centuries after its completion, it was used as a
Buddhist temple, but not one that was widely known about. This meant that a small number
of monks maintained the structure, but large numbers of people did not flock to the temple
for prayer or [Link] its massive size, the world was quite oblivious to the 12th
century temple complex, that is until 1586. In that year, Antonio da Madalena, a monk from
the nation of Portugal, came to Cambodia and became the first known westerner to lay his
eyes on the complex. He was truly captivated by grandeur of the complex, and documented

58
his discovery. Of the temple complex he wrote, “it is of such extraordinary construction that
it is not possible to describe it with a pen, particularly since it is like no other building in the
world. It has towers and decoration and all the refinements which the human genius can
conceive of.”

His description did not inspire many to come to see this beautiful complex, and so for nearly
100 years Angkor Wat was a temple used by Buddhists, but was largely abandoned for the
most part. The temple seemed destined to become one of the greatest man-made inventions
that no one knew about. That is until 1632. That year a group of Buddhists from the country
of Japan came to visit the historic site. They chose to celebrate the Khmer New Year at
Angkor Wat making it the largest celebration at the temple complex in over 400 years.

In the 1800s the cat was finally out of the bag. The great French explorer Henri Mouhot came
to the site and published a series of notes and drawings depicting how spectacular the temple
site was. Within 10 years of his discovery photographers came capturing images for the entire
world. It had been wondered if this beautiful wonder of the world would lay unrecognized by
most of the world, but that rapidly came to an end with the pictures drawn by Mouhot.

As an interesting side note, it was his discovery that led the French government to determine
that they wanted to make Cambodia one of their protectorates. The government found this
site to be of such universal importance that they wanted to prevent invading armies and
thieves from Siam from taking the treasures or destroying the temple area. On August 11,
1863, the French named Cambodia as one of their protectorates nations, and dispatched an
armed garrison to protect the temple complex and its treasures. A French colonial flag flew
over the temple for over 90 years before Cambodia gained its independence from France on
November 9, 1953.

A Description of the Site and Its Architecture

Angkor Wat is located in a mountainous area of Cambodia. In fact, the primary temple of the
complex is located at the peak and is intended to honor Mount Meru, the mythical temple of
the Hindu gods. The central geometric pattern was to symbolize the five peaks of this mount,
while the walls in the moat surrounding the temple complex were to represent mountain
ranges in the ocean where the gods lived.

During the early years that the temple existed all were welcome to enjoy the entire complex
and to pray or meditate anywhere within the complex itself. It was built with the idea that all
would be welcome despite the fact that the king chose to build this complex as a way to
please the gods and to leave a long lasting legacy to himself. Over the years, certain portions
of the complex, especially the upper areas of the temple have been restricted so that only the
highest members of the Buddhist faith were allowed in while the laity were only allowed in
the lower levels.

The Style of Angkor Wat

This incredible religious site is a prime example of the Khmer architecture. In fact, this style
has become so synonymous with the temple area that the classical style is now referred to as
Angkor Wat style. The architects of the time were quite skilled in using sandstone, thus the

59
majority of the structure is built out of this material. As a biding agent they used natural
resins and slaked lime.

From an architectural standpoint, the building uses a wide variety of different structures,
including such things as redented towers that looks very much like lotus buds, half galleries
that brought them into passageways, axial galleries that were used to connect various
enclosures, and cruciform terraces which are built along the main axis of the temple. Angkor
Wat is a truly spectacular architectural innovation, making it easy to see why it is considered
one of the great Wonders of the World.

Wat is the Khmer name for temple (the French spelling is "vat "), which was probably
added to "Angkor "when it became a Theravada Buddhist monument, most likely in the
sixteenth century. After 1432 when the capital moved to Phnom Penh, Angkor Wat was
cared for by Buddhist monks. Most scholars believe Angkor Wat was a funerary temple
for King Suryavarman II and oriented to the west to conform to the symbolism between
the setting sun and death. The bas-reliefs, designed for viewing from left to right in the
order of Hindu funereal ritual, support this function.

Most scholars agree that the temple itself, like other Angkor temples, is a representation
of Hindu cosmology. The central towers symbolize the peaks of Mt. Meru. The outer
wall represents the edge of the universe, and the moat symbolizes the oceans around the
Hindu universe. Many scholars believe the temple linked King Suryavarman II with the
Hindu gods and was intended to boost to his divine status.

Angkor Wat originally was the center of royal phallic cult dedicated to the Hindu god
Shiva. A linga (the phallic symbol of Shiva) was installed in the temple’s main
sanctuary. Later Vishnu became the most important Hindu god and his image was placed
in the sanctuary at Angkor Wat. In the Angkor era, people who visited the temple walked
down the causeway over the moat and made offerings to sacred Hindu statues at the
entrance before entering the temple compound. Walking along the hallway toward the
central tower they passed a cuneiform pavilion, where temple dancers sometimes
performed. Located under the main tower, in the sanctuary, was a shrine dedicated to
Vishnu. It once held a statue of Vishnu and was regarded as the cosmic vortex of the
temple and its universe. Climbing up the steep stairs to the main sanctuary was regarded
as an act of separating oneself from the world.

Angkor Wat Architectural Features

There is a great deal to like about this beautiful complex. It starts with the outer wall, which
has dimensions of over 1000 m by over 800 m wide, with a wall that is over 15 feet high.
Stretching out from the outer wall is a moat that is 620 feet wide and in circles around the
beautiful complex. Wooden bridges are placed strategically across the mode at several places
allowing tourists the opportunity to enter the temple area and view the true majesty of this
complex.

There are beautiful galleries that run between the towers. The access to these galleries is
provided by large gates, referred to as the elephant dates, which were large enough to allow
animals to be able to enter the complex. The ceiling of the temple is decorated with lotus
rosettes, and the West face of the wall with a series of dancing figurines. On the east face of
60
the wall are spectacular and enormous windows, decorated with dancing male figures on
prancing animals.

The central area of the temple stands on a terrace that raises the level of the temple higher
than the city itself. Constructed of three rectangular galleries which rise to display the central
tower, the architects design this so that each level is higher than the previous. The Hindu gods
Brahma and Vishnu are centrally displayed in the central tower and are important figures
within the Hindu faith. Interestingly enough, when Buddhist monks took over the temple area
they did not find it necessary to remove these depictions or statues from the Hindu faith.

Angkor Wat occupies a rectangular area of about 208 hectares (500 acres) defined by a
laetrile wall. The first evidence of the site is a moat with a long sandstone causeway
(length 250 meters, 820 feet; width 12 meters, 39 feet) crossing it and serving as the
main access to the monument. The moat is 200 meters (656 feel) wide with a perimeter
of 5.5 kilometers (3.4 miles).

Angkor Wat is influenced by the Hindu temple architecture of southern India,

which combines harmony and symmetry with a high degree of outer adornment. The five
beehive-shaped domes that rise impressively from the center of the temple are adorned
with rows of lotuses and are designed to look like lotus buds. The temple is conceived so
that all five domes are visible when the temple is viewed from certain angles.

The largest dome sits over the main sanctuary. Four slightly smaller domes are organized
in a square plan around the central dome. The five domes represent the five peaks of Mt.
Meru, arranged in the shape of a lotus blossom. What makes the towers and Angkor Wat
as a whole so beautiful are the way the small details harmonize and mix with the massive
architecture. The dome-topped main sanctuary is surrounded by halls, arranged together
in a square plan, with lower walls and ceilings, and smaller temples on their corners that
represent the mountains on the edge of the world. The galleries, corridors and halls are
aligned with directions of the compass.

The wall that surrounds Angkor Wat is 5/8th of a mile long on each side; the central
tower is eight stories (213 feet) high; the square moat around the compound is three
miles long; and the causeway that leads across the moat to the temple is 1,500 feet long.
The sandstone blocks at Angkor Wat were quarried from at least 50 different quarries at
the foot of Mt. Kulen 32 kilometers to the northeast. They are believed to have been
transported by canals visible today with satellite imagery.

Architectural Plan of Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat is a miniature replica of the universe in stone and represents an earthly
model of the cosmic world. The central tower rises from the center of the monument
symbolizing the mythical mountain, Meru, situated at the center of the universe. Its five
towers correspond to the peaks of Meru. The outer wall corresponds to the mountains at
the edge of the world, and the surrounding moat the oceans beyond. [Source: Tourism of
Cambodia]

The plan of Angkor Wat is difficult to grasp when walking through the monument
because of the vastness. Its complexity and beauty both attract and distract one's
attention. From a distance Angkor Wat appears to be a colossal mass of stone on one
61
 level with a long causeway leading to the center but close up it is a series of elevated
towers, covered galleries, chambers, porches and courtyards on different levels linked by
stairways.

The height of Angkor Wat from the ground to the top of the central tower is greater than
it might appear: 213 meters (699 feet), achieved with three rectangular or square levels
(1-3) Each one is progressively smaller and higher than the one below starting from the
outer limits of the temple.

Covered galleries with columns define the boundaries of the first and second levels. The
third level supports five towers –four in the corners and one in the middle and these is
the most prominent architectural feature of Angkor Wat. This arrangement is sometimes
called a quincunx. Graduated tiers, one rising above the other, give the towers a conical
shape and, near the top, rows of lotuses taper to a point.

The overall profile imitates a lotus bud, Several architectural lines stand out in the profile
of the monument. The eye is drawn left and right to the horizontal aspect of the levels
and upward to the soaring height of the towers. The ingenious plan of Angkor Wat only
allows a view of all five towers from certain angles. They are not visible, for example,
from the entrance. Many of the structures and courtyards are in the shape of a cross. The.
Visitor should study the plan on page 86 and become familiar with this dominant layout.
A curved sloping roof on galleries, chambers and aisles is a hallmark of Angkor Wat.
From a distance it looks like a series of long narrow ridges but close up from identifies
itself. It is a roof made of gracefully arched stone rectangles placed end to end. Each row
of tiles is capped with an end tile at right angles the ridge of the roof.

The scheme culminates in decorated tympanums with elaborate frames. Steps provide
access to the various levels. Helen Churchill Candee, who visited Angkor in the 1920s,
thought their usefulness surpassed their architectural purpose. The steps to Angkor Wat
are made to force a halt at beauteous obstruction that the mind may be prepared for the
atmosphere of sanctity, she wrote In order to become familiar with the composition of
Angkor Wat the visitor should learn to recognize the repetitive elements in the
architecture. Galleries with columns, towers, curved roofs, tympanums, steps and the
cross-shaped plan occur again and again.

It was by combining two or more of these aspects that a sense of height was achieved.
This arrangement was used to link one part of the monument to another. Roofs were
frequently layered to add height, length or dimension. A smaller replica of the central
towers was repeated at the limits of two prominent areas-the galleries and the entry
pavilions. The long causeway at the entrance reappears on the other side of the entry
pavilion.

proper SiteAnalysisisa must.

During the more than four centuries between the demise of the ancient city and the beginning
of the modern period (i.e., from the mid-15th century to the late 19th century), interest in
Angkor was largely focused on Angkor Wat, which, having been taken over and kept largely
intact by Theravada Buddhist monks, became one of the most important pilgrimage sites
in Southeast Asia. Even during this period, however, a number of early European visitors
to Cambodia showed a strong curiosity concerning the “lost city,” and, when the French

62
colonial regime was established (1863), the entire site became the focus of intense scholarly
interest and concern. Working at first independently and then, in the first half of the 20th
century, under the aegis of the government-sponsored École Française d’Extrême Orient
(French School of the Far East), a group of French archaeologists and philologists initiated
a comprehensive program of research, which yielded much of the knowledge now possessed
about the history of the city and the sophisticated religious and political system that informed
and guided its life. Archaeologists also carried through an arduous and painstaking program
of reconstruction, through which the ancient complex of temples, reservoirs, and canals was
partially restored.

Angkor, Cambodia: elephant taxi

Angkor Wat as Temple Mountain

An aerial view of Angkor Wat demonstrates that the temple is made up of an expansive
enclosure wall, which separates the sacred temple grounds from the protective moat that
surrounds the entire complex (the moat is visible in the photograph at the top of the page).
The temple proper is comprised of three galleries (a passageway running along the length of
the temple) with a central sanctuary, marked by five stone towers.

63
The five stone towers are intended to mimic the five mountain ranges of Mt. Meru—the
mythical home of the gods, for both Hindus and Buddhists.

The temple mountain as an architectural design was invented in Southeast Asia. Southeast
Asian architects quite literally envisioned temples dedicated to Hindu gods on earth as a
representation of Mt. Meru. The galleries and the empty spaces that they created between one
another and the moat are envisioned as the mountain ranges and oceans that surround Mt.
Meru. Mt. Meru is not only home to the gods, it is also considered an axis-mundi. An axis-
mundi is a cosmic or world axis that connects heaven and earth. In designing Angkor Wat in
this way, King Suryavarman II and his architects intended for the temple to serve as the
supreme abode for Vishnu. Similarly, the symbolism of Angkor Wat serving as an axis mundi
was intended to demonstrate the Angkor Kingdom’s and the king’s central place in the
universe. In addition to envisioning Angkor Wat as Mt. Meru on earth, the temple’s
architects, of whom we know nothing, also ingeniously designed the temple so that
embedded in the temple’s construction is a map of the cosmos (mandala) as well as a
historical record of the temple’s patron.

Angkor Wat as a Mandala

According to ancient Sanskrit and Khmer texts, religious monuments and specifically temples
must be organized in such a way that they are in harmony with the universe, meaning that the
temple should be planned according to the rising sun and moon, in addition to symbolizing
the recurrent time sequences of the days, months and years. The central axis of these temples
should also be aligned with the planets, thus connecting the structure to the cosmos so that
temples become spiritual, political, cosmological, astronomical and geo-physical centers.
They are, in other words, intended to represent microcosms of the universe and are organized
as mandalas—diagrams of the universe.

Quincunx of towers: Angkor Wat is a powerful possession of the Khmer empire, a

quincunx of towers facing the west setting the stage for a dramatic sunrise behind its
tradition-rich spires. Let us hop onto a tuk-tuk and explore this beautiful heritage site to
experience its magic and magnitude.

In 1994 the Angkor area was scanned by radar from the U.S. space shuttle Endeavour. This
and subsequent remotely sensed images (in 1996) revealed the presence of theretofore
uncharted buildings and hydrological structures. Using that information and further

64
archaeological investigation, it was proposed in the early 21st century that Angkor’s demise
may have been the result of environmental degradation: it is thought that deforestation and
other overuse of the land increased flooding and siltation, which eventually undermined the
region’s vital system of irrigation canals.
In a Joint research project titled as THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE WATER
MANAGEMENT SYSTEM OF ANGKOR: A PROVISIONAL MODEL Roland Fletcher et
al by, Department of Archaeology, University of Sydney, EFEO Siem Reap and Finnish
Environmental Institute and Helsinki University , extensive area survey of Angkor was made
which brough to light how a comprehensive and consistent data collection procedure can help
to clarify the approach to a major interpretative issue that of Angkor water challenges, both
then and now.

A water management network with three distinct interconnected operational zones for
control, storage and distribution was present in ancient times. “ The old debate about whether
or not there was a functional water management network in Angkor that could have assisted
flood control and irrigation is at an end, replaced, fortunately, by further developing issues
about the role of system, its development and its relationship to the demise of Angkor. The
magnitude of the features that make up the network relates to the use of sand with a small
admixture of clay as a means to control water – a remarkable feat of engineering. The vast
scale and extreme stability of the infrastructure is an intriguing corollary of its technology
and might itself help to explain how the continuity and order of Khmer society endured
despite the inherent instability of the medieval Khmer state prior to the 13th century.”
Additions to the water management systems post 12 th Century resulted in disposal of water
resulting in having to cope with and try to manage increased water flow from the northern
catchments.

II. CLIMATIC ISSUES & Culture as part of and Site Analysis Challenges
Climate of Cambodia
Cambodia’s climate is governed by the monsoon winds, which define two major seasons.
From mid-May to early October, the strong prevailing winds of the southwest monsoon bring
heavy rains and high humidity. From early November to mid-March, the lighter and drier
winds of the northeast monsoon bring variable cloudiness, infrequent precipitation, and lower
humidity. The weather between these seasons is transitional. Maximum temperatures are high
throughout the year, ranging from about 82 to 83 °F (28 °C) in January, the coolest month, to
about 95 °F (35 °C) in April. Annual precipitation varies considerably throughout
the country, from more than 200 inches (5,000 mm) on the seaward slopes of the
southwestern highlands to about 50–55 inches (1,270–1,400 mm) in the central lowland
region. Three-fourths of the annual rainfall occurs during the months of the southwest
monsoon.

People-Ethnic groups
The Khmer (Cambodians) account for the vast majority of the population, producing
a homogeneity unique in Southeast Asia that has encouraged a strong sense of national
identity. Ethnic minorities include Chinese, Vietnamese, Muslim Cham-Malays, Laotians,
and various indigenous peoples of the rural highlands.

65
Cambodia: Ethnic compositionEncyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
The Khmer, who belong to the Mon-Khmer ethnolinguistic group, are concentrated in the
lowland regions surrounding the Mekong River and the Tonle Sap, on the transitional plain,
and along the coast. The product of centuries of intricate cultural and ethnic blending, the
Khmer moved southward before 200 BCE into the fertile Mekong delta from the Khorat
Plateau of what is now Thailand. They were exposed to successive waves of Indian influence
and, in the 8th century CE, to Indo-Malayan influence, perhaps including immigration
from Java. Immigrations of Tai peoples occurred from the 10th to the 15th century, of
Vietnamese beginning in the 17th century, and of Chinese in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Among the ethnic minorities in Cambodia before 1975, the Chinese were the most important,
for they controlled the country’s economic life. They were shunted aside in the communist-
led revolution of the 1970s and made to become ordinary peasants. Those who did not seek
refuge abroad after 1975 and others who subsequently returned regained some of their former
influence as urban centres were revived.
The Vietnamese minority occupied a somewhat lower status than the Chinese, and most of
them fled or were repatriated to Vietnam after 1970. In the 1980s, however, a large number
of Vietnamese migrants, many of them former residents of Cambodia, settled in the country.
Centuries of mutual dislike and distrust have clouded Vietnamese-Khmer relations, and
intermarriage has been infrequent.

The most important minority in the early 21st century was the Cham-Malay group. Known in
Cambodia as Khmer Islam or Western Cham, the Cham-Malay group also maintained a high
degree of ethnic homogeneity and was discriminated against under the regime of Democratic
Kampuchea. Receiving only slightly better treatment than the Khmer Islam during that period
were the smaller communities of indigenous peoples. These communities, known collectively
as Khmer Loeu (“Upland Khmer”), include the Katu, Mnong, Stieng, Jarai, and Rhadé,
among others, and inhabit the sparsely populated northeastern provinces bordering Vietnam
and Laos.

Languages
The Khmer language is one of the major tongues of the Mon-Khmer subfamily of the
Austroasiatic language family and is spoken by nearly all people in Cambodia, including the
Cham-Malay. Historically, a small number of people in Cambodia spoke Vietnamese and
Chinese. The Katu, Mnong, and Stieng speak Mon-Khmer languages, while the Jarai and
Rhadé speak languages of the Austronesian language family.
Religion of Cambodia
Most ethnic Khmer are Theravada (Hinayana) Buddhists (i.e., belonging to the older and
more traditional of the two great schools of Buddhism, the other school being Mahayana).
Until 1975 Buddhism was officially recognized as the state religion of Cambodia.

66
Cambodia: Religious affiliation

The “hydraulic city” of Angkor, the capitol of the Khmer Empire in Cambodia, experienced
decades-long drought interspersed with intense monsoons in the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries that, in combination with other factors, contributed to its eventual demise. The
climatic evidence comes from a seven-and-a-half century robust hydroclimate reconstruction
from tropical southern Vietnamese tree rings. The Angkor droughts were of a duration and
severity that would have impacted the sprawling city’s water supply and agricultural
productivity, while high-magnitude monsoon years damaged its water control infrastructure.
Hydroclimate variability for this region is strongly and inversely correlated with tropical
Pacific sea surface temperature, indicating that a warm Pacific and El Niño events induce
drought at interannual and interdecadal time scales, and that low-frequency variations of
tropical Pacific climate can exert significant influence over Southeast Asian climate and
society.
IV. Water
IV. Water is crucial for every civilisation and human settlement. Safe and reliable access to
clean water throughout the year is fundamental for sustainable population growth and
development. The monsoon climate has for a long time challenged human kind to store water
for the dry season (e.g. Barker and Molle, 2004) and/or to find reliable sources of water that
are available year-round, such as easily accessible groundwater. The city of Angkor, the
capital of the Khmer empire from the 9th to 15th century CE, developed an extensive water
management system over hundreds of years in order to meet these challenges.

Angkor was, at its peak, the most extensive pre-industrial lowdensity urban complex in the
world. It is located in the vicinity of Tonle Sap Lake in present-day Cambodia and by the
12th century, the Khmer empire ruled most of the mainland of Southeast Asia. Angkor is
famous for its monumental religious constructions, such as Angkor Wat and Bayon. The
temples are, however, just a part of the whole city structure. The French archaeologist
Bernard-Philippe Groslier was among the first to recognise that Angkor had an extensive
hydraulic system based on channels and reservoirs. He proposed an integrated programme of
archaeological research that took into account both the ‘vertical’ dimension (e.g. traditional
excavation techniques) and the ‘horizontal’ dimension, exemplified by his time-sequence
series of maps derived from aerial survey. He was, however, unable to complete the
programme due to unstable conditions in Cambodia from the early 1970s to the beginning of
1990s. Recent research has uncovered an even more extensive hydraulic network stretching
across 1000 km2 by using more sophisticated remote sensing techniques than those available
to Groslier.

___________________________________________________________________________
1. Climate as a contributing factor in the demise of Angkor, Cambodia
Et al, [Link] March 29,
2010 | 107 (15) 6748-6752

[Link] Kummu. 2009. Water management in Angkor: Human impacts on hydrology and
sediment transportation. Journal of Environmental Management, volume 90, number 3, pages
1413-1421. © 2008 Elsevier Science Reprinted with permission from Elsevi

Although Angkor’s hydrology and hydraulic system are probably not as well understood as
its religious architecture, it has been argued that they may have played an important role in

67
the operation of the city. The large water management features, such as channels and baray
(large water reservoirs), seem to represent the boundary of the city during the Angkor era.
Groslier’s hydraulic thesis, however, has attracted criticism and contradictory theories have
been proposed

The monsoons dominate the climate conditions in the Angkor area. This led to the
development of a systematic and extensive water management network in the city of Angkor
over hundreds of years, and which probably served multiple functions (e.g. a store for water
for the dry seasons, or the mitigation of wet-season floods). This paper describes the present-
day hydrology and main water sources in the Angkor area, specifically, natural rivers,
groundwater and the Tonle Sap Lake. The article aims to describe how water management
impacted on these natural sources of water during the Angkorian era. The location of Angkor
was, from a water management point of view, very convenient for many reasons. Firstly,
groundwater was close to the surface throughout the year. Secondly, Tonle Sap Lake offered
an excellent transport link to the riparian provinces and the Mekong River and, at the same
time, secured part of the food supply and maintained a fertile floodplain to cultivate rice.
Thirdly, natural rivers originating in the Kulen Hills meandered across the plain. A drawback
was the long dry season for which water needed to be stored. Therefore the Angkorian
engineers built an extensive water management network of channels and baray around and
within the main temple area covering an area of approximately 1200 km2

. the intensive human impact on natural waterways during the Angkorian era, it also proved
to be necessary to divide the area into water management levels and zones. The three levels
include: (a) household level, (b) village level and (c) city level, based on the typical water
management structures in the Angkor area. The zoning is based on elevation and the latest
archaeological mapping, and is intended to simplify the cultural water management of the
area and assist in understanding the large-scale water management functions of Angkor. The
zones can be divided into three principal types:

(A) collector zone,

(B) aggregator and holding zone (temple zone), and
(C) drainage and dispersal zone.

Each zone has the characteristics typical of each water management function. It has also
been discussed within the paper whether this simplification, presenting a synchronic view of
the water management system, has real value in understanding the functional hydraulics and
management of the area. An evolving, diachronic classification of the water management
zones would possibly be more nuanced and better reflect the complexity of the system. The
classification presented in the paper is, therefore, the first iteration for these water
management zones. Future research on more detailed chronological information on the water
management features, such as channels and water reservoirs, is needed for diachronic zoning.
The extensive water diversion from the natural rivers to the channels in the collector zone has
had a major impact on the catchments, breaking the original Puok catchment into two: the
Siem Reap and the new Puok catchments. This changed the natural hydrology significantly
and led to problems with erosion and sedimentation in the channels. Over time, these
problems may have challenged the functionality of the hydraulic network and caused possible
problems in the overall water management scheme in Angkor. The results suggest that
modern water management concerns, and particularly impacts of different types of human
actions such as water diversions and reservoir constructions, on hydrology and sediment
transportation – and further on ecosystems and people’s livelihoods – should be examined

68
with a much longer-term perspective than is presently employed. At Angkor, for example,
human modification of the natural waterways from the 10th–11th centuries changed the
natural hydrology of the area permanently and the decisions made then are still clearly visible
in the landscape. The results of the paper also show that even small changes and disturbances
in the natural equilibrium might start a chain reaction that over time may alter the whole
natural system, as happened in Angkor when one off-take channel gradually evolved into a
new river. Present-day Cambodia, together with other countries in the Mekong region, is
currently facing rapid economic development, and the speed and scale of water management
projects, such as hydropower dams and irrigation schemes, are increasing. The assessment of
environmental impacts is, however, often overlooked or viewed from a short-term
perspective. This example from Angkor reminds us of the importance of comprehensive
impact assessment, preferably with multi- and cross-disciplinary approaches, and that impacts
of water management may be unforeseen or occur over hundreds of years.

Angkor is situated north of the Tonle Sap Lake (also known as Great Lake), in the northwest
of Cambodia in Southeast Asia (Figure 1). In the north the Kulen Mountain region sets a
boundary to the area and watersheds while from the south area is bounded by the Tonle Sap
Lake, the biggest fresh water lake in Southeast Asia. The plain terrain between Lake Tonle
Sap and Kulen mountains is very shallow with the average slope of 0.1 % while the elevation
varies from 3 to 60 meters above the mean sea level (a.m.s.l.). The Kulen Mountains rise to
heights between 300 m and 400 m from the mean sea level having the highest point is at the
elevation of 487 m (or 494 m, depends the source). Figure 1 Map of Cambodia (Modified
from Encarta, 2001: ref Keskinen, 2003) The main temple area around Angkor Wat and
Angkor Thom is situated approximately 20 km north of the Tonle Sap Lake (Figure 2) and
the elevation varies between 20 and 30 m a.m.s.l. To the south of the temples, the area is
bounded by the lake and the 8-12 km wide floodplain. The floodplain reached up to some 11
m a.m.s.l. The level of the lake ranges between 1 m at the end of the dry season and 6 – 10 m
a.m.s.l. at the peak of the rainy season. The area of study region is around 2885 km2 and it is
situated between latitudes 13˚04 - 13˚44 and between longitudes 103˚36 - 104˚13.
Angkor water crisis

Have the Angkor Wat temple complex, and the city of Siem Reap, where it is based, become
victims of their own success? The tourism boom and an increasing population have resulted
in water shortages, forcing the authorities to tap into the groundwater, and dangerously
lowering the water table. This poses a threat to the preservation of terrestrial ecosystems and
is causing a subsidence of the soil on which the World Heritage Site of Outstanding
Universal Value stands. UNESCO, in consultation with international experts and local
authorities, is studying the possibility of pumping into the waters of the Tonlé Sap Biosphere
Reserve, to ensure sustainable management of water resources and to halt the sinking of the
ground on which the temples stand.

Angkor, one of the world’s most fascinating collection of monuments and temple ruins, is
spread over 400 square kilometres within the UNESCO-protected Angkor archaeological
park. It has attracted a growing number of tourists since it opened up less than 25 years ago.
More than four million visitors — 2.5 million of them foreign tourists — flocked to this
unique medieval settlement last year, putting tremendous strain on the area’s scarce water
resources.

69
The Angkor complex, which harbours 112 villages and forests within its boundaries, and the
burgeoning town of Siem Reap, a relatively recent development to cater to the booming
tourism industry, are in danger of becoming victims of their own success.
With its international airport and an ever-growing population of over one million, besides the
tourists that fuel its economy, the provincial capital of Siem Reap has morphed from a sleepy
backwater to a bustling town in less than two decades. The city boasts an international
airport, over a hundred hotels, restaurants, cafés, and markets full of shops. But the verdant
lawns of the five-star hotels and resorts, glitzy new buildings and a fancy golf course come at
a heavy price.

Dangerously low water tables

Siem Reap province has a deficit of about 300 million cubic metres of water per year. To
compensate for the unbridled development and water shortages, the Siem Reap Water Supply
Authority draws about 27,900 cubic metres of groundwater per day for domestic use.
Groundwater levels are further impacted by hotels and other businesses, many of whom have
sunk thousands of illegal private wells and pumps across the city to meet their water needs.

In Siem Reap, the groundwater is about five metres below the ground surface, and therefore
easy to access. This illicit use of water, for which no statistics are available, threatens the
stability of the temples and towers of Angkor. The archaeological treasures have been
designed to sit on a base of sand, kept in place by a constant supply of groundwater, which
rises and falls depending on the season.
Land subsidence is the lowering or sinking of the land surface, and could cause incalculable
damage to the temples that have withstood the vagaries of nature and war for a thousand
years. Common causes of land subsidence from human activities include the pumping of
groundwater underground reservoirs. The lowering of the land level is permanent, even if
groundwater levels are recharged. Though there have been no serious problems with
subsidence in Angkor yet, and no specific studies have been carried out on this, it could
plague the World Heritage Site one day.

Tourism accounts for more than 16% of Cambodia’s GDP, and has helped alleviate poverty
in the last two decades of peace, after 30 years of strife. Though there have been efforts to
curb the number of residents in the area, it is not feasible to restrict villagers from nearby
communities from taking advantage of the tourism-related jobs in the Siem Reap province.

In order to address the challenge of providing adequate water to the province, while assuring
the stability of the Angkor temples, UNESCO has partnered with stakeholders. These include
ICC-Angkor (International Coordinating Committee for the Safeguarding and Development
of the Historic Site of Angkor), a forum of technical experts in various fields; and
the APSARA(link is external) (Authority for the Protection of the Site and Management of
the Siem Reap-Angkor Region) National Authority, which runs Angkor Park. The work of
these stakeholders, charged with the sustainable development of the site, is beginning to yield
some positive results.

70
Tapping into Tonlé Sap
One suggestion to alleviate the water problem is to pump water from the nearby Tonlé
Sap (Great Lake). Part of the Tonlé Sap Biosphere Reserve, this is Southeast Asia’s largest
lake and one of the world’s most significant wetland ecosystems, due to its unique
environmental qualities and extraordinary biodiversity. The variety of fauna and flora of
Tonlé Sap is depicted in the bas-reliefs of Angkor’s Bayon Temple. Many of its plant species
are used for religious and medicinal purposes by Cambodians. Two million Cambodians also
depend on the bounty of the lake’s freshwater fisheries – one of the most productive in the
world, with an annual fish harvest of over 250,000 metric tons.

It is crucial for the Cambodian government to weigh the environmental impact before it
approves any project to pump water to Siem Reap. The biosphere, which is also the cradle of
the Tonlé Sap River, has enormous significance for Cambodians. It acts as a flood mediator
for the Mekong River, which flows through five other Southeast Asian countries, so its
significance reaches far beyond Cambodia.

Each year, during the rainy season, the Mekong water level rises and overflows into the
Tonlé Sap River which, instead of draining the lake as it does during the dry season, is forced
to change direction and flow back ‘up’ into the lake. This phenomenon makes the Mekong
the only major river in the world to flow in two directions at different times of the year. This
annual flood raises the lake level from 1 to 1.5 metres up to 8 to 10 metres, increasing its area
fivefold, as it spills out over the floodplain.
One of the world’s great conservation success stories, which includes the revival of several
species of endangered birds since protection efforts started in 1999, Tonlé Sap and its
floodplain have been listed as the Tonlé Sap Biosphere Reserve under UNESCO’s Man and
the Biosphere Programme (MAB).

The 20% year-on-year increase in tourism has also contributed to environmental pollution.
Waste control remains an ongoing problem, though many of the temples are swept and
cleaned ritually. Rubbish heaps are a common sight in Siem Reap, and tourists and locals
think nothing of dumping garbage and waste water directly into the river. Residents living
along the Siem Reap river have complained the water is too dirty to use or bathe in. They say

71
that twelve years ago, the water was so clean, they could use it in their homes. Today, the
river is dark and dirty, and the water stinks, according to residents.

While Phnom Kulen (“Mountain of Lychees”), twenty-five miles northeast of Angkor Wat, is
off the beaten track for the hordes of tourists that descend upon the temples each day, the ill
effects of deforestation have eaten into the lush tree cover there. Located upstream, water
from the Kulen mountain is another source that flows through the Siem Reap river basin and
runs into the Tonlé Sap lake. Here, illegal logging and the planting of cash crops such as
cashew trees and beans have adversely affected hydrological patterns in the entire ecosystem,
and impacted fish productivity.
UNESCO recently launched a pilot project: “Enhancing and Restoring Water Systems in
Angkor World Heritage Site and Siem Reap City(link is external)”. It uses the sustainability
science approach to propose solutions and initiate a sustainable transformation of socio-
environmental interactions in the river basin. Policy, legal and institutional frameworks are
strengthened through collaborative linkages, learning alliances and targeted interventions for
capacity-building at the pilot area, at the national, regional and community levels.

Real cooperation
The study includes a water campaign to make the residents of Siem Reap aware of the impact
on Angkor of the decline in groundwater and the effects of deforestation on the Tonlé Sap
Biosphere Reserve.
The sustainable development of water systems in Siem Reap province can be achieved if
there is real cooperation between the government, stakeholders and residents. For instance,
the government should strictly enforce the logging bans it has put in place on Kulen
mountain.

To resolve the critical issue of water management, exact data on basic information like
pumping rates, groundwater levels, recharging rates, etc., should be made available and
shared between the different local and national agencies involved. This would also enable
water-resource planning based on future predictions. Groundwater pumping data would help
the accurate prediction of groundwater use, and a groundwater level monitoring system
around Angkor could alert all pumping stations and private users to stop and wait for
groundwater recovery when critically low levels are reached.
Reviving old systems.

People should be educated not throw rubbish or waste into the river. Another initiative could
be the restoration of the Siem Reap river to create a tourist attraction and a surface water
supply in the future. The restoration of more temples around Angkor could also be used to
minimize the wear and tear of increased tourist traffic on the main site.

Recent research has shown that the ancient Khmers who built Angkor a thousand years ago
were masters of water engineering. The rulers — who like the administrators of modern cities
— had to protect inhabitants from floods in the rainy season, and provide water for domestic
use and farming in the dry season, built a range of hydraulic structures that sustained the
civilization for six centuries. The sophisticated waterworks included artificial ponds and
canals to collect and channel rainwater, barays (constructed reservoirs) to store water for
farming, moats, laterite weirs, bridges and dykes.

The Department of Water Management of the APSARA National Authority has conducted
theoretical and practical work over eight years, which will allow them to rehabilitate the

72
ancient hydraulic system of Angkor. For instance, the Angkor Thom and Angkor Wat moats
which surrounded the temples have been restored and refilled after hundreds of years.

73
74
75
76
77
 PART III
Inspiration to Contemporary Khmer Architecture
It has been found that Khmer rulers established a sequence of capitals in the Angkor region,
culminating in the walled complex of Angkor Thom built by Jayavarman VII (ruled 1181–
about 1218). Successive monarchs built temples and monasteries to honor their ancestors and
their own reigns—the monuments that visitors to Angkor see today. The ancient capital of the
Khmer people at Angkor, in northwest Cambodia, was once the heart of a large sphere of
influence that extended over much of mainland Southeast Asia. Khmer Kingdom can be
recognized not just by the Prasats, Gopuras, Nagas and bas-reliefs of dancing Apsaras and the
armies of monkey king Hanuman. The temple complexes around Angkor Wat, in Ko Ker,
Preah Vihear and Sambor Prei Kuk from the period of the Khmer Empire (802 – 1431)
represent only one important dimension in the history of architecture in Cambodia. After the
fall of Angkor and the decline of the Khmer civilization, the knowledge how to construct
stone buildings might have been lost. However, in the capitals to which the Royal court
moved after the fall of Angkor– to Lovek and to Uddong, among others – a new type of wood
architecture developed. While none of the wooden temples and palaces built between 1432
and 1863, the so-called “Dark Ages of Cambodia”, survived until today, they served as an
important inspiration for newer buildings like the Royal Palace, the National Museum in
Phnom penh. Just like its architecture that differed yet united, over time different Khmer
rulers endorsed one or more of the Indic religious systems of Brahmanism, or “Hinduism,”
Mahāyāna Buddhism, and local Cambodian religion, to their own advantage thus elevating
religion, especially India-derived ones as a key

Jayavarman VII (ca. 1120–1218) is one of the best known Cambodian “Angkor” leaders, in
part because he was able to unite the numerous small, fragmented Khmer Cambodian and
Cham kingdoms of the day. He ruled his consolidated Khmer kingdom from 1181–1218,
bringing the decentralized Khmer and Cham states together through political and military
alliances. Jayavarman VII was especially committed to Mahāyāna Buddhism, evidenced by
the remarkable extent of his support for Buddhist monuments, and attested in many hundreds
of Sanskrit inscriptions. This essay tells the story of Jayavarman VII, a political and military
leader who used Indian religious visions and prototypes as models to build a remarkable
cultural edifice.

Khmer religion does not fit any convenient category. It had beliefs and practices shared with
Mahāyāna Buddhism built on Buddhist monastic foundations, and with tantric elements, all
synthesized or assimilated into inherited local Khmer religious sensibilities. Brahmanical
religions, “Hinduisms,” were widely represented and supported at different times and places in
Khmer history, not always clearly divided from their Buddhist neighbors. In the end, Khmer
religions are perhaps best understood in a category of their own, a special type of Khmer
synthesis.-Nietupski, Paul. 2019. Medieval Khmer Society: The Life and Times of Jayavarman

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The
Life and Times of Jayavarman VII (ca. 1120–1218),Paul K Nietupski. ASIANetwork Exchange: A
Journal for Asian Studies in the Liberal Arts, 2019. Étude sur l'iconographie du Bayon , (Frontons et linteaux Arts
asiatiques v.19 no.1 , 1969 년, pp.123 - 167
component of Khmer society.. Medieval Khmer Society:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

78
He married a very religious and strong-minded princess named Jayarajadevi, who exerted an
important influence on him, both before he gained the throne and during the early years of his reign.
Following her death he married her older sister, a very pious and learned woman whom he had
previously installed as the head professor in an important Buddhist monastery.

Though practically nothing is known of Jayavarman’s childhood and youth, it is clear that during
his late 30s and early 40s he settled in the neighbouring kingdom of Champa, in what is now the
central region of Vietnam. At the time of the death of his father, King Dharanindravarman II (ruled
1150–60), Jayavarman was engaged in a military campaign in Champa, and, after the accession of
his brother (or possibly his cousin), Yasovarman II (ruled 1160–66), he chose to remain there,
returning to Cambodia only when he received word that a palace rebellion was in progress.
Although Jayavarman arrived at Angkor too late to prevent the murder of Yasovarman and the
accession of the rebel Tribhuvanadityavarman (ruled 1166–77), he decided to remain in his
homeland and to await an opportunity to assert his own claim to the throne.

Some 12 years later, when Jayavarman was in his late 50s, that opportunity came as a result of a
Cham invasion, which brought about the demise of Tribhuvanadityavarman, the sacking of Angkor,
and its subjection to foreign rule. In this situation Jayavarman organized a struggle for
independence and in less than five years’ time succeeded in driving out the invaders and
establishing his hegemony over all his Cambodian rivals. Finally in 1181, at the age of 61, he was
crowned king of a reconstituted Khmer empire and began a brilliant reign of more than 30 years,
during which he brought the empire to its zenith, both in terms of territorial expansion and of royal
architecture and construction.

79
Building program

During his reign Jayavarman continued his military activities, bringing Champa, southern Laos, and
portions of the Malay Peninsula and Burma under his control. But increasingly he devoted his
energies and organizational capacities to the kind of religious and religio-political construction
projects that had been carried on by his royal predecessors. He built a large number of awesome
new temples, including the Bayon, a distinctively Mahāyāna Buddhist central
pyramid temple designed to serve as the primary locus of the royal cult and also as his own personal
mausoleum; personal funerary temples of the Mahāyāna type, which were dedicated to his mother
and father; and a series of provincial temples, which housed reduced replicas of the Royal Buddha
—i.e., Jayavarman represented with the attributes of the Buddha, the original of which had been set
up in the Bayon. He rebuilt the city of Angkor, now known as Angkor Thom, and rebuilt and
extended the system of highways, which radiated outward from the Bayon and the royal palace and
reached far into the provinces. In addition, he constructed more than 100 rest houses along these
roads and built more than 100 hospitals, which he dispersed throughout his kingdom and placed
under the protection of Baiṣajyaguru Vaiḍūryaprabhā, the Great Buddha of Healing.

Jayavarman seems to have been obsessed with the need for rapid and extensive construction. For
example, the less than careful workmanship evident in the temples attributed to Jayavarman’s reign
vividly points to the great haste with which they were built. Some scholars have suggested that the
almost frantic sense of urgency associated with Jayavarman’s works derived from the fact that,
having begun his reign at a relatively advanced age, he felt that his time was short and had to be
utilized to the fullest. Others have suggested that Jayavarman’s concern to carry through such a vast
program of largely Buddhist-oriented construction was greatly encouraged by Jayarajadevi and her
sister, both of whom dedicated a tremendous amount of energy toward gaining support
for Buddhism and specifically for building Buddhist temples. And finally, if scholars are correct in
their surmise that Jayavarman suffered from the dread disease of leprosy, his concern to mitigate his
sin and suffering through the accumulation of great merit may have given a still further impetus to
his piety and zealousness. Whatever his true motivations, Jayavarman succeeded during his lifetime
in creating a legacy that few monarchs in history (Khmer or otherwise) have been able to equal; he
was more than 90 years old when he died.

Importance of Jayavarman VII

Despite the importance of Jayavarman VII in the history of the Angkor kingdom, no memory of
him was preserved in the later Cambodian chronicles. In modern times, however, as archaeological
studies generated popular interest in his reign, Jayavarman VII became a kind of paradigmatic
national hero, who was credited not only with establishing the full greatness of the Cambodian
nation but also with bringing into being a welfare state that was motivated by Buddhism and
dedicated to serving both the spiritual and the physical needs of the Cambodian people. Scholars,
however, have sought to maintain a more balanced view of Jayavarman, recognizing the obvious
immensity of his accomplishments but also taking account of the fact that the overweening
demands that he placed on the material and human resources of his kingdom may have been a
major factor in its subsequent loss of creativity and its eventual demise.

80
Detail of location of Angkor in southern Cambodia.
.
Angkor, archaeological site in what is now northwestern Cambodia, lying 4 miles (6 km) north of
the modern town of Siĕmréab. It was the capital of the Khmer (Cambodian) empire from the 9th to
the 15th century, a period that is considered the classical era of Cambodian history. Its most-
imposing monuments are Angkor Wat, a temple complex built in the 12th century by King
Suryavarman II (reigned 1113–c. 1150), and Angkor Thom, a temple complex built about 1200 by
King Jayavarman VII. The city of Angkor served as the royal centre from which a dynasty of
Khmer kings ruled one of the largest, most prosperous, and most sophisticated kingdoms in the
history of Southeast Asia. From the last decade of the 9th century, when King Yashovarman I made
Angkor his place of residence, until the early years of the 13th century, the kings of Angkor ruled
over a territory that extended from the tip of the Indochinese Peninsula northward to
modern Yunnan province, China, and from Vietnam westward toward the Bay of Bengal. During
this entire period, these rulers utilized the vast resources of labour and wealth at their disposal to
carry out a series of prodigious construction projects designed to glorify both themselves, their
gods, and their capital city. After the reign of King Jayavarman VII (1181–c. 1220), the power and
vitality of the kingdom gradually waned until finally, after the armies of the Tai state
of Ayutthaya (Ayudhia) captured and sacked Angkor in 1431, the city was partially abandoned.
There were many changes in architecture and artistic style at Angkor, and there was a religious
movement from the Hindu cult of the god Shiva to that of Vishnu and then to a Mahayana
Buddhist cult devoted to the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara.

Angkor was a centre for administration and for the worship of a divine monarch. The city was
planned and constructed on the basis of religious and political conceptions imported from India and
adapted to local traditions. From the time of Yashovarman I, who named the city Yashodharapura,
Angkor was conceived as a symbolic universe structured according to the model provided by
traditional Indian (Hindu) cosmology. The city was oriented around a central mountain or pyramid
temple (symbolic of Mount Meru, home of the gods) that was an architectural adaptation and
completion of the one natural hill in the area, the Phnom Bakheng. In a similar manner, the central
structure of each temple reflected the position of Mount Meru. The outer walls of each temple
recalled the mountains that were believed to ring the edge of the cosmos, or world. The vast system
of reservoirs, canals, and moats, which was one of the most notable features of Angkor, served

81
primarily as a means of water control and rice irrigation, although it also represented the waters of
the cosmos.

Bayon temple/Angkor Thom//Towers of Angkor Wat reflected in a pond, Angkor, Cambodia.

In the later history of the city, the central temples were completely architectural creations (i.e.,
pyramid temples), such as the Phimeanakas of Suryavarman I (reigned c. 1000–50);
the Baphuon of Udayadityavarman II (reigned 1050–66); and the Buddhist temple of Bayon, which
was the central temple built by Jayavarman VII when he gave the city, which was later known as
Angkor Thom, or “Great City,” its more or less final form.

Churning of the ocean of milk, with Vishnu (centre) pic above, surrounded by his turtle avatar
Kurma (below), asuras (left), devas (right), and apsaras and Indra (above), bas-relief, 12th century;
at Angkor Wat, Angkor, Camb.(more)
Many of the temples at Angkor, all of which gave expression to Indian cosmological and mythical
themes, were built in order to provide a locus for cults through which kings and other members of
the royal family could be assured of immortality by becoming identified with Shiva or one of the
other preeminent gods of the realm. For example, Angkor Wat, which is perhaps the greatest and
certainly the most famous of all the temples in the Angkor complex, was built by
King Suryavarman II in the 12th century as a vast funerary temple within which his remains were to
be deposited, thus symbolically confirming his permanent identity with Vishnu. Inside the third
enclosure at Angkor Wat are bas-reliefs running for hundreds of yards that depict scenes from
the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, as well as a scene of Suryavarman holding court. Hundreds of
statues of apsaras (angelic dancers) also adorn the temple.

In the late 13th century, according to a vivid account by the Chinese commercial envoy Zhou
Daguan, Angkor was still a large, thriving metropolis and one of the most magnificent capitals in
all Asia. Nevertheless, by then the great building frenzy that had peaked during the reign of

82
Jayavarman VII had clearly come to an end, the new and more restrained religious orientation
represented by Theravada Buddhism was on the rise, and the armies of Ayutthaya established in the
western sections of the empire were beginning to encroach on the Khmer heartland. By the 16th
century, when the next available firsthand description was written, the city was abandoned, and all
that remained were the jungle-covered remnants of the ancient temples and the ruins of the once-
magnificent system of reservoirs and waterways.

Angkor, Cambodia: elephant taxi

Elephant taxi at the Angkor Thom complex, Angkor, Cambodia.
During the more than four centuries between the demise of the ancient city and the beginning of the
modern period (i.e., from the mid-15th century to the late 19th century), interest in Angkor was
largely focused on Angkor Wat, which, having been taken over and kept largely intact
by Theravada Buddhist monks, became one of the most important pilgrimage sites in Southeast
Asia. Even during this period, however, a number of early European visitors to Cambodia showed a
strong curiosity concerning the “lost city,” and, when the French colonial regime was established
(1863), the entire site became the focus of intense scholarly interest and concern. Working at first
independently and then, in the first half of the 20th century, under the aegis of the government-
sponsored École Française d’Extrême Orient (French School of the Far East), a group of French
archaeologists and philologists initiated a comprehensive program of research, which yielded much
of the knowledge now possessed about the history of the city and the sophisticated religious
and political system that informed and guided its life. Archaeologists also carried through
an arduous and painstaking program of reconstruction, through which the ancient complex of
temples, reservoirs, and canals was partially restored.

During the political and military upheavals of the second half of the 20th century in Cambodia,
there was some war damage and thievery among the temples at Angkor, but the major problem was
one of neglect. Without adequate caretaking, the buildings became prey to engulfing vegetation and
eroding water and elements. In 1992 UNESCO designated Angkor a World Heritage site and added
it to the List of World Heritage in Danger (it was removed from the list in 2004). Subsequently,
internationally organized preservation efforts were undertaken, and several countries contributed to
the restoration of monuments at Angkor.

In 1994 the Angkor area was scanned by radar from the U.S. space shuttle Endeavour. This and
subsequent remotely sensed images (in 1996) revealed the presence of theretofore uncharted
buildings and hydrological structures. Using that information and further archaeological
investigation, it was proposed in the early 21st century that Angkor’s demise may have been the
result of environmental degradation: it is thought that deforestation and other overuse of the land
increased flooding and siltation, which eventually undermined the region’s vital system of irrigation
canals.

83
Early Life: Jayavarman was born into the royal family of Angkor. He married a very religious and
strong-minded princess named Jayarajadevi, who exerted an important influence on him, both
before he gained the throne and during the early years of his reign. Following her death he married
her older sister, a very pious and learned woman whom he had previously installed as the head
professor in an important Buddhist monastery.

Though practically nothing is known of Jayavarman’s childhood and youth, it is clear that during
his late 30s and early 40s he settled in the neighbouring kingdom of Champa, in what is now the
central region of Vietnam. At the time of the death of his father, King Dharanindravarman II (ruled
1150–60), Jayavarman was engaged in a military campaign in Champa, and, after the accession of
his brother (or possibly his cousin), Yasovarman II (ruled 1160–66), he chose to remain there,
returning to Cambodia only when he received word that a palace rebellion was in progress.
Although Jayavarman arrived at Angkor too late to prevent the murder of Yasovarman and the
accession of the rebel Tribhuvanadityavarman (ruled 1166–77), he decided to remain in his
homeland and to await an opportunity to assert his own claim to the throne.

Some 12 years later, when Jayavarman was in his late 50s, that opportunity came as a result of a
Cham invasion, which brought about the demise of Tribhuvanadityavarman, the sacking of Angkor,
and its subjection to foreign rule. In this situation Jayavarman organized a struggle for
independence and in less than five years’ time succeeded in driving out the invaders and
establishing his hegemony over all his Cambodian rivals.

Kingship at age 61

In 1177, heading an army of his own, the prince , as he then was,attacked Angkor and defeated the
Cham forces. The battles are vividly depicted in the bas-reliefs of his temple mountain, the Bayon.
To forestall further Cham attacks, Jayavarman annexed the Cham capital, and Angkor
controlled Champa until Jayavarman’s death.

When his campaign against the Chams was over, the future monarch worked to bring Cambodia
under his control. An inscription referred to the kingdom he encountered as being “shaded by many
parasols,” a metaphor for a multiplicity of rulers. In 1191, presumably when the process was
complete, Jayavarman finally settled in Angkor. He soon embarked on a program of building
and public works that was more extensive and grandiose than any in Angkorean history. According
to his inscriptions, hundreds of thousands of people were involved in those projects.

Finally in 1181, at the age of 61, he was crowned king of a reconstituted Khmer empire and began a
brilliant reign of more than 30 years, during which he brought the empire to its zenith, both in terms
of territorial expansion and of royal architecture and construction.

Jayavarman’s as a “BUDDHA?”
As a Mahayana Buddhist, he strategized himself as a true follower of this faith his declared aim
was to alleviate the suffering of his people. Central to Mahayana ideology is the idea of
the bodhisattva, one who seeks to become a Buddha. In contrast to the dominant thinking in non-
Mahayana Buddhism, which limits the designation of bodhisattva to the Buddha before his
awakening (bodhi), or enlightenment, Mahayana teaches that anyone can aspire to achieve
awakening (bodhicittot-pada) and thereby become a bodhisattva. For Mahayana Buddhism,
awakening consists in understanding the true nature of reality. While non-Mahayana doctrine

84
emphasizes the absence of the self in persons, Mahayana thought extends this idea to all things. The
radical extension of the common Buddhist doctrine of “dependent arisal” (pratityasamutpada), the
idea that nothing has an essence and that the existence of each thing is dependent on the existence
of other things, is referred to as emptiness (shunyata).

The bodhisattvas seek to understand this reality through wisdom (prajna) and to actualize it through
compassion (karuna). They realize that since no individual has a “self,” there can be no real
difference between themselves and others, and therefore their own liberation is not distinct from the
liberation of all beings. They are thus “self-less,” both philosophically, in the sense of
understanding the absence of self or essence in all things and persons, and ethically, since they act
for all beings without discrimination.

During his reign Jayavarman continued his military activities, bringing Champa, southern Laos, and
portions of the Malay Peninsula and Burma under his control. But increasingly he devoted his
energies and organizational capacities to the kind of religious and religio-political construction
projects that had been carried on by his royal predecessors. He built a large number of awesome
new temples, including the Bayon, a distinctively Mahāyāna Buddhist central
pyramid temple designed to serve as the primary locus of the royal cult and also as his own personal
mausoleum; personal funerary temples of the Mahāyāna type, which were dedicated to his mother
and father; and a series of provincial temples, which housed reduced replicas of the Royal Buddha
—i.e., Jayavarman represented with the attributes of the Buddha, the original of which had been set
up in the Bayon. He rebuilt the city of Angkor, now known as Angkor Thom, and rebuilt and
extended the system of highways, which radiated outward from the Bayon and the royal palace and
reached far into the provinces. In addition, he constructed more than 100 rest houses along these
roads and built more than 100 hospitals, which he dispersed throughout his kingdom and placed
under the protection of Baiṣajyaguru Vaiḍūryaprabhā, the Great Buddha of Healing.

Jayavarman seems to have been obsessed with the need for rapid and extensive construction.
For example, the less than careful workmanship evident in the temples attributed to Jayavarman’s
reign vividly points to the great haste with which they were built. Some scholars have suggested
that the almost frantic sense of urgency associated with Jayavarman’s works derived from the fact
that, having begun his reign at a relatively advanced age, he felt that his time was short and had to
be utilized to the fullest. Others have suggested that Jayavarman’s concern to carry through such a
vast program of largely Buddhist-oriented construction was greatly encouraged by Jayarajadevi and
her sister, both of whom dedicated a tremendous amount of energy toward gaining support
for Buddhism and specifically for building Buddhist temples. And finally, if scholars are correct in
their surmise that Jayavarman suffered from the dread disease of leprosy, his concern to mitigate his
sin and suffering through the accumulation of great merit may have given a still further impetus to
his piety and zealousness. Whatever his true motivations, Jayavarman succeeded during his lifetime
in creating a legacy that few monarchs in history (Khmer or otherwise) have been able to equal; he
was more than 90 years old when he died.

Modern reputation
In later Khmer Chronicles there is a void in recollecting the life of this King. In modern times,
however, as archaeological studies generated popular interest in his reign, Jayavarman VII became
a kind of paradigmatic national hero, who was credited not only with establishing the full greatness
of the Cambodian nation but also with bringing into being a welfare state that was motivated by
Buddhism and dedicated to serving both the spiritual and the physical needs of the Cambodian
people. Scholars, however, have sought to maintain a more balanced view of Jayavarman VII,
recognizing the obvious immensity of his accomplishments but also taking account of the fact that

85
the overweening demands that he placed on the material and human resources of his kingdom may
have been a major factor in its subsequent loss of creativity and its eventual demise.

Why do we know about Jayavarman VII more than about others?

Numerous temples, statues, stone bridges, and inscriptions in the Angkor region and elsewhere in
Cambodia testify to the vigour of Jayavarman VII’s long reign.

It is said that he rebuilt and refortified the city of Angkor Thom. He was a fervent Buddhist of
the Mahayana school; several larger-than-life-size statues of the monarch depict him in meditation.
Like most other Cambodian kings, however, he also tolerated and patronized Hinduism and local
ancestor cults. His extraordinary temple, the Bayon, with its multiple towers, each bearing faces of
divinities turned in the cardinal directions, is perhaps the most intriguing of the monuments at
Angkor. Like Yaśovarman I’s Bakheng, the Bayon stood at the centre of the royal city—which had
shifted since Yaśovarman’s time—and symbolized Mount Meru. Many Hindu gods and the Buddha
are depicted in the statuary of the temple, while the bas-reliefs depict scenes of ordinary life,
providing a picture of 12th-century Cambodians at work, rest, and play that fails to emerge from the
religiously oriented inscriptions or from carvings at other temples. The clothing, tools, houses, and
oxcarts in the bas-reliefs closely resemble those found in the Cambodian countryside today.
Jayavarman VII (ruled 1181–about 1218) decisively shifted the prevailing religious balance in
which the Buddha was worshipped alongside Hindu gods.

Re- Positioning of the SHIVA & Buddha

He positioned the Buddha at the apex of a system that included Hindu gods in subsidiary roles, and
the bronze images cast during his reign reflect this transformation. At the center of Jayavarman
VII's walled capital, Angkor Thom, he built the Bayon as his state temple; its central feature was a
towering stone sculpture of the Buddha protected by a nāga (multiheaded serpent). The other
principal monuments he built were the monastic complexes of Ta Prohm—dedicated to his mother
as the bodhisattva of wisdom, Prajñāpāramitā—and Preah Khan—dedicated to his father as the
bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokiteshvara.

86
 Jayavarman VII’s personal icon, frequently
replicated in bronze, was the triad of the nāga-protected Buddha flanked by Avalokiteshvara and
Prajñāpāramitā, as seen in the sculpture illustrated here. The king's appearance is known from
temple reliefs and portrait sculptures, and his features are reflected in the figures of the Buddha
and the Avalokiteshvara in this sculpture.

From the Sdok Kok Thom inscription it is clear that a Tantric performed the Chakravartin
ceremony of Jayavarman II on Mahendraparvata and that he was specially invited/brought/his
presence facilitated/ kidnapped and produced for the ceremony. Why a TANTRIC- we shall
never know however one can come to a conjecture….because as we see in case of Shivaji the
Maratha king, only Tantrics could invoke the Chakravartin Pooja Ceremony. That is why
even Shivaji brought a TaNTRIC the 2 nd time he crowned himself a Chakravarti.

Khmer Empire and Khmer Lands

The Khmer Empire the Angkorian Empire, is a term used by historians to refer
to Cambodia from the 9th to the 15th centuries, when the nation was a Hindu-
Buddhist empire in Southeast Asia. The empire grew out of the former civilizations
of Funan and Chenla, which at times ruled over and/or vassalised most of mainland Southeast
Asiaand parts of Southern China, stretching from the tip of the Indochinese
Peninsula northward to the modern Yunnan province of China, and from Vietnam westward
to Myanmar. At its peak, the Khmer Empire was larger than the Byzantine Empire (Eastern
Roman Empire), which existed around the same time.

That was the preface as well as the suffix of the beginning of a In the 9th century CE, a state
by which I mean a “Country” the birth of which started with the nomadic king Jayavarman II

87
who arrived from a place called Java but it was not the java we know. It could however, not
have been very far away. According to William Dalrymple:

“In 802, two years after Charlemagne declared the birth of the Holy Roman Empire on
Christmas day in St. Peters, on the remote hilltop of Phnom Kulen, the young Khmer Prince
Jayavarman II was declared chakravartin of what would become the great Empire of Angkor.
The Prince had been a hostage in Java, where he may have seen the building of the great
Buddhist pyramid- temple of Borobodur. But Jayavarman was no Buddhist. A passionate
Shaivite, around 770CE, aged around 20, he returned from exile, or possibly escaped to
Cambodia.
Here he declared himself independent, firmly rejecting the Buddhism of his neighbours and
Javanese enemies. One of his first actions, according to a tenth-century inscription, was to
perform a ceremony that “made it impossible for Java to control holy Cambodia.” He then
began a series of military campaigns and made alliances through marriages and grants of
land.

But surprisingly the ziggurat built by Jayavarman for his consecration has been forgotten by
modern Cambodia and lies now abandoned in a jungle dotted with Khmer Rouge
[Link] is not even a road leading to it and to get there I had to hitch a lift on the back of
a motorbike. I was driven along a dry water course and through miles of cashew orchards, and
found the first of the great Khmer step pyramids forgotten in the middle of nowhere. Abandoned
in the scrub, miles from the nearest tarmac road, stood the yoni-plinth on which the original
devaraja once rested, all that remained of temple where the Empire of Angkor was founded.

88
Further he says”Jayavarman went on to build the first Khmer capital on the plains at
Hariharalaya near Roluos, on the edge of the Tonle Sap, where he built the first large scale
dams and the Lolei resevoir, possibly on a Javanese model; his architecture also borrowed
from Javanese innovations. This river was further sanctified, and incorporated into Shaivism,
by having the river bed carved with a sculptural carpet of a thousand lingam, as well as
images of diverse Hindu Gods.”
The Kingdom whose corner stone was layed by Jayavarman II by a Tantric ritual rosein the
region of Angkor and a Kingdom was taking shape in what is today Cambodia and Northeast
Thailand. At this time the polity’s inhabitants, the Khmers, began to see themselves as
members of a community of territorial integrity and shared ethnic identity. This sense of
belonging, enshrined in the polity’s name, Kambujadeśa (i.e., Cambodia) or “the land of the
descendants of Kambu,” and it “represents one of the most remarkable local cultural
innovations in Southeast Asian history.”
Built of red sandstone and laterite, the temple is a prime example of a provincial seat of worship
during the empire's golden age. It is small by the standards of the major monuments in Angkor, the
empire's capital, but shares their basic design and religious symbolism. In its 11th century heyday
during the reign of King Udayādityavarman II, the temple was tended by its Brahmin patrons and
supported with food and labor by the people of surrounding rice-farming villages.
Scholars disagree as to the meaning of the name, which refers in Old Khmer to the temple's setting.
Translations include 'great reed lake', 'large reservoir with herons', and 'abundant reeds in a large
swamp.' The inscription (classified K. 235) is a 340-line composition, in both Sanskrit and
ancient Khmer, carved on a gray sandstone stele 1.51 meters high that stood in the northeast
corner of the temple's court. Dating to 8 February 1053, it recounts two and a half centuries
of service that members of the temple's founding family provided to the Khmer court, mainly
as chief chaplains to kings. In laying out this long role, the text provides a remarkable and
often poetically worded look at the faith, royal lineage, history and social structure of the
times.

89
 Sdok Kok Thom is an 11th-
century Khmer temple in present-day Thailand,
located about 34 kilometres (21 mi) northeast of
the Thai border town of Aranyaprathet. The
temple is in Khok Sung District, Sa Kaeo
Province, near the village of Ban Nong Samet. It
is regarded as the largest Khmer temple
in eastern Thailand. The temple was dedicated
to the Hindu god Shiva. Constructed by a
prominent priestly family, Sdok Kok Thom is
best known as the original site of one of the
most illuminating inscriptions left behind by
the Khmer Empire, which ruled much
of Southeast Asia from the end of the 9th
century to the 15th century.

Read the below papers for additionl details on

Jayavarman II

2 of them by the author Dr Uday Dokras

Central sandstone tower of Sdok Kok Thom, viewed from north. Photo c. 1980/ Court's eastern gate, or gopura,
exterior view. Note carved Naga heads at base of doorway. Holy image at left is from a later period. Photo c. 1980

90
Northeastern library. Photo c. 1980

The inscription is also key to understanding important events in Khmer history, such as
the late 9th Century relocation of the capital from the area around the present-day village of
Roluos. “Again, the skillful Vāmaśiva was the preceptor of Śrī Yaśovardhana, bearing as
king the name Śrī Yaśovarman,” the Sanskrit text states. “Invited by the king, he erected a
liṅga Mount Yaśodhara, which was like the king of mountains (Meru) in beauty.” French
scholars initially believed that Śrī Yaśodharagiri was the mountain-like Bayon temple. But it
is now established that the Bayon was built almost three centuries later than the event
described in the inscription and that the linga was in fact placed in the newly
constructed Phnom Bakheng temple, which stands about two kilometers south of the Bayon
atop a real hill.
The text also notes the relocation of the capital from Angkor to the site now known as Koh
Ker under Jayavarman IV, and turmoil during the times of King Sūryavarman I. He is
described as having dispatched soldiers against people who had desecrated shrines in the area
of Sdok Kok Thom. Historians generally believe that Sūryavarman fought his way to power,
eventually driving out of Angkor a king named Jayavīravarman (who significantly is not
mentioned in the inscription).
Elsewhere, the text provides myriad details of everyday existence in the empire—the
establishment of new settlements, the recovery of slaves who had fled a pillaged settlement,
payments given for land, such as gold, lower garments, goats and water buffaloes.
The text describes the creation of Sdok Kok Thom itself. The family was gifted the land by
Udayādityavarman II, it says. The final member of the line, now in his role as construction
chief, "erected a stone temple with valabhi [spire], dug a reservoir, built dikes and laid out
fields and gardens." The precise boundaries of its land and the size, duty schedules and male-
female breakdown of local work teams that maintained the temple are listed.
Khmer inscriptions were created in part to glorify heaven and the earthly elite. For that
reason, their value as factual records is often thrown into question. But many parts of this one
are confirmed by other texts, and some of the places it describes have been reliably located.
Moreover, many of its numbers and descriptions, particularly concerning land and its
ownership, read as if they have the full accuracy and authority of modern courthouse
documents. Overall, there is general consensus among scholars that the words chiseled out at
Sdok Kok Thom are perhaps the most important written explanation that the Khmer empire
provided of itself.

91
The inscription's author or authors are not named. Many scholars conclude firmly that
Sadasiva wrote it, at least his lineage; Sak-Humphry believes the text was likely drafted in
consultation with the Brahman, but was meant to represent declarations of his king,
Udayādityavarman II.

The architectural design of this temple is linked with the great khmer empire which ruled
for about 700 years. At the center of the temple is a sandstone tower, which served as the
main sanctuary, probably sheltering a linga, symbol of Shiva. The tower's door is on the east,
approached by steps; the other three sides have false doors. A few meters to the northeast and
southeast are two sandstone structures known as libraries, with large side windows and
laterite bases. Enclosing the tower and libraries is a rectangular courtyard measuring roughly
42 by 36 meters and having galleries on all four sides. On the court's eastern side is a gopura,
or gate, reflecting the temple's orientation to the east.
In various places in the temple, there is extensive carving on stone, including floral
decoration, Nāga serpents and a figure that appears to be the reclining Hindu god Viṣṇu.
A moat, likely representing the Hindu Sea of Creation, lies beyond each of the courtyard's
four sides. An avenue leads east from the gopura. A laterite wall standing approximately 2.5
meters high and measuring 126 meters from east to west and 120 meters south to north
provides additional enclosure to the entire complex. The midpoint of the eastern side of this
wall has an elaborate gopura, standing on a laterite base. About 200 meters to the east of this
gopura, along a laterite-paved avenue with free-standing stone posts on either side, is a baray,
or holy reservoir, measuring roughly 200 by 370 meters.

Prasaht Sdok Kok Thom, just outside Nong Samet Refugee Camp, May 1984.
Hinduism began to die out in the Khmer Empire starting in the 12th Century, giving way first
to Mahayana Buddhism, then to the Theravada form of the faith that today predominates in
Thailand and Cambodia. At an unknown time, Sdok Kok Thom became a place of Buddhist
worship.

92
The inscription's existence was reported to the outside world in 1884 by Étienne Aymonier.
In later writing, Aymonier gave a detailed physical description of the temple. In the 1920s,
the inscription stele was moved to the Thai capital Bangkok, where it entered the collection
of the national museum. On the night of November 9, 1960, it was severely damaged when a
fire swept through the museum, but museum staff were later able to reconstitute much of it.
In any case, rubbings had been made of the text prior to the fire, so the words were not lost.
Following the Vietnamese army's invasion of Cambodia in 1978 and the overthrow of
the Khmer Rouge government, the forested area around the temple became the site of a large
camp of Cambodian refugees, known as Nong Samet Camp or Rithysen. The camp was
controlled by anti-communist guerrillas known as Khmer Serei, who were opposed to the
Vietnamese presence in Cambodia. The camp eventually became an important source of
support for the Khmer People's National Liberation Front.
In 2002, with the Cambodian conflict long settled and the refugees gone, the Japan Alliance
for Humanitarian Demining Support, the Thailand Mine Action Center and the General
Chatichai Choonhavan Foundation began cooperating on a program to remove landmines and
other unexploded ordnance from the area. Local villagers were recruited and trained for this
work, which ended in 2004 after the removal of 76 mines and other pieces of ordnance.
Over the years, the temple had fallen into a grave state of disrepair, due to the passage of time
and plundering by art thieves. In the 1990s, the Thai government's Fine Arts
Department began an extensive restoration of the temple. Workers have cleared brush and
trees and excavated soil on the temple grounds down to its original level. Fallen stones have
been cataloged and returned to what experts believe to be their original positions; masons
have fashioned replacements for missing or severely damaged stones. Moats have been dug
out and refilled with water.
In modern times, Thailand and Cambodia have often disputed the precise location of their
common border, most notably in a World Court case that in 1962 awarded Preah Vihear,
another border-region temple of the Angkorian age, to Cambodia. In January 2003, the Thai
government disclosed a new development concerning the border issue, a letter from the
Cambodian government stating that it considers Sdok Kok Thom to be in Cambodian
territory. Some Cambodians have pointed to statements by various Thai officials in the 1980s
that the Khmer Serei-controlled Nong Samet (or Rithysen) refugee camp by the temple was
on the Cambodian side of the unmarked frontier. Many diplomats, however, viewed those
statements, which local Thai villagers contested at the time, as a temporary expedience
intended to allow Thailand to maintain that it was not involved in the Cambodian conflict and
was not hosting armed Cambodian guerrillas on its soil. Today Thailand argues that the
temple is unmistakably on its territory. The Thai government has built a number of roads in
its vicinity. Thai authorities have continued to administer the temple site and spend large
amounts of money on its restoration.

The word ‘temple’ is derived from the Latin word templum means
a sacred precinct. According to the definition, temple is a structure
reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or
analogous rites. Traditionally, the temple is a sacred structure and also an
indicative of abode of God. As we all know, temples are not only a place of
worship but they also play an important and dominant role in the cultural,
social and economic life of the people. Of all the constructional activities
of the early Cambodian temple building was the foremost. The money,
the energy, the skill, the education and the art of land were exhibited in

93
this singular religious activity. Temple is not only an abode of God, it is a
symbolic representation of the various social and cultural activities. Here,
not only the religious, but also the political, social and cultural aspects of
history are preserved in stones. When we have a glimpse of ancient
settlement we find that there was hardly any settlement without a temple.
When new settlements were established, the architects invariably made
provision for a temple by leaving proper site for it.

The dominant note in the Khmer culture has always been Kingship and
this was held together by religion and the characteristic expression of
religion has been worship of the king as well as the God or linked together
as Kings and Gods or God kings.

And temple culture has been a major dimension of Cambodian culture.

Generally temples elsewhere in India for example are public institutions
and they involve social organization. They are built by collective effort and
sustained by collective interest. Their size, complexity and opulence are
related to the effort and economy of the supporting community. There are
temples which are large and magnificent, aesthetically conceived and
elegantly executed, filled with ornamental carvings, sculptured panels and
decorative motifs on walls and pillars, and which are also richly endowed
and elaborately administered.

In all the ancient literature ‘temple’ is referred to as ‘Devalaya’,

‘Devayatan’, ‘Devakula’, ‘Devagiriha’ etc. which indicate that the ancient
temple was ‘house of the God’ The earliest temples in India are assigned
to the second and first centuries B.C. The Brahmi inscriptions of the
second century BCE found at Besnagar which commemorates the erection
of a religious column in honour of the ‘Vasudeva’ by the Heliodorus. An
inscription found at Ghosundi, recording the construction of a stone-
enclosure for the worship of ‘Sankarshana’ and ‘Vasudeva’ by a chieftain
named Gajayana, is ascribed to the first century BCE.
Kautilya’s Arthasastra (3,8) prescribes the building of temples on the
divisions of the vastu, not only for the site divinities (Vastu-Devata) but
also for deities like Aparajita, Jayanta, Siva and Vaisravana. Kharavela is
recorded to have repaired temples of different sects, for the ramparts and
towers had been flown away by wind. Gatha – Saptasati of Hala (1,64)
mentions the existence of temples in the second century. The Bilsad
inscription mentions a temple to Skanda–Mahasena. On the basis of above
evidences, we can easily conclude that temples were existed before six
century BCE in India.

The earliest group of Gupta temples dating from fifth century CE were of a
single celled sanctum with a portico-‘Mandapa’, resting on four pillar e.g.
Temple No.17, Sanchi, Tigwa (Distt. Jabalpur, M.P.) and Eran (Distt. Sagar,
M.P.) The earliest structural temple that has survived is the one at
Bhitargaon (Distt. Kanpur, U.P.), a remarkable brick structure, deeds of
Vishnu and Durga. Assigned to the fifth century, it is credited to the Gupta
dynasty. Another temple ascribed to the same period and same dynasty is

94
Dasavatara temple at Deogarh. Afterward, in the period of Chalukya,
Pallava, Rastrakuta, Chola, Pratihar and Parmar etc., temples were
constructed huge, lofty and magnificent.

Temple Culture in Ancient India

‘The temple was not merely a place of worship; it filled a large place in the
cultural and economic life of the people. Its construction and maintenance
offered employment to number of architects and craftsmen who vied with
one another in bold planning and skilful execution. The making of icons in
stone and metal gave scope to the talents of the best sculptors of the
country. The daily routine, especially of the larger temples gave constant
employment to number of priests, choristers, musicians, dancing girls,
florists, cooks and many other classes of servants. The periodical festivals
were occasions marked by fairs, contests of learning, wrestling matches
and every other form of popular entertainment. Schools and hospitals
were often located in the temple precincts and it also served often as the
town-hall, where people assembled to consider local affairs or to hear the
exposition of the sacred literature. The large endowments in land and
cash bestowed on each temple are successive generations of pious donors
tended to make it at once a generous landlord and a banker, whose aid
was always available to those that needed it. The practice of decorating
images particularly those used during processions with numerous jewels
set with precious stones encouraged the jeweler’s art to a considerable
extent.

And it is no exaggeration to say that the temple gathered around itself all
that was best in the arts of civilized existence and regularized them with
the humaneness born of the spirit of Dharma. As an agency of social well –
being, the medieval temple has few parallels.”As a cultural centre, the
temple witnessed the evolution of different schools of art, architecture,
sculpture, painting, music and dance in different parts of the country. It
had also provided inspiration to a number of poets, composers and artists
who have richly contributed to the Bhakti literature, music and dance. The
‘Ranga-Sala’ in the central part of the mandapa, as its name would imply,
has provided venue of dancing possibly so in the Khmer empire also.

Whereas in India temples were established as a significant centre of

religious and cultural activities by their standing also spoke of the
greatness of the Kings who built them and the majesty of the empire was
reflected. In this way, the temple, as a religious centre, represents the
culture of the particular region but also crystallized KINGSHIP.

As a main centre of public worship among the Hindus sections of society

visits and offers their prayers and worship to the deities [Link]
was well-known for philanthropy. They maintained Dharmasalas for
deeding the pilgrims and others. Travellers generally found refuge and
shelter anf food in the temple. Thus the fame of the temple and
consequently the Kings spread far and wide in tales of the travelers and

95
Pilgrims came to visit the sites from far knowing full well that it could well
be a subsideised vacation. Example is that od the Borobudur in Java.

Not only Hindu temples but also Buddhist and Jaina monasteries
concerned with the development of education in ancient and medieval
period besides the Hindu temples are the Ghatika, Matha, Agrahara,
Guhai, Salai . While the temple was a symbolic expression of the religious
feelings of the people, the educational institutions mentioned above stood
for the propagation of the religious ideals and philosophy. The temple
played a prominent role in the promotion of educational activities. Same
could well be said for the Khmer temples.

Monasteries of Indradevi

In Case of our Jayavarman VII, there is more evidence of royal sponsorship of monasteries in
the twelfth century. In her inscription at Phimānakas, Jayavarman VII’s second wife,
Indradevī, a devout and well educated Buddhist, sponsored the construction of numerous
statues around the kingdom, took in orphaned girls, sponsored their ordination and sustenance
as nuns, and was in general known for her ethical behavior. She was a teacher in three named
Buddhist nunneries (jinālaye). These typical Buddhist merit-making activities are proof that
there were monastic institutions at Angkor, including those for women.
The temple organized festivals occasionally where all section of society
was involved. The rich and the poor alike had the benefit of these
entertainments. During the festivities, pilgrims were given free food and
lodging in the rest houses attached to the temples.
The temple was flowed as a bank in medieval India. Temple was given
twelve to fifteen per cent as usual rate of interest per annum. Temple in
those days, used to give loans on interest. The temple played a prominent
role in mobilizing developmental funds within a region by giving loans to
the village assemblies for developmental purpose. Most of the loans were
given for productive activities such a cultivation, cattle-breeding and
trade. All this was done on religious grounds. The temple indirectly helped
in the promotion of trade and commerce in the village. Generally, various
articles needed to pilgrims and for the worship of the deity.
There was numerous servants in temple complex which broadly classified
into three categories such as those engaged in the purely spiritual
services, those employed in the administration of temple and those
appointed to render various kinds of other services. ‘Besides the regular
employees, the temple also provided job opportunity to large number of
people indirectly. Many persons were also hired by the temple temporarily
or on part-time basi. The temple was a major source of employment for
the people, for instance, the Kesava temple and Panchalingesvara
temple at Somanathapur had nearly one hundred fifty and ninety
servants. The Akkesvara Temple at Sundi in Dharwad, had one thousand
servants.

96
The administration was another significant aspect of temple which can be
classified into two systems, public and private broadly. The village
assemblies, it is interesting to note, used to manage temple affairs either
through direct involvement or through a full time manager duly appointed
by it. In the direct involvement the village assembly would elect every
year some elder persons from its own body to look after the management
of charities including the temple administration. If a village was a small
one, the temple managements and administration were taken care of by
the village headman himself. The priests were also allowed to take part in
the management of the temples. The main duty of the temple managers
were the disbursement and allotment of temple finances for various
activities of the temple and supervising the activities of the temple.

In Temple occupation and the tempo of collapse at Angkor Wat, Cambodia,Alison K. Carter et
al studied the historical sequence of change in dwellinds of the people around the
temples in order to uderstand the tempo of organizational change taking place during
Angkor’s collapse. According to them while the relocation of the city’s elite caused a
demographic change, the area was not completely abandoned and forgotten and the
Angkor temple remained a central place in 16th century royal inscriptions and
Cambodia’s historical imagination until contact with the French in the 19th century.

Modification of the Natural Environment

The Mauryan period saw a change in the economic structure of the society. The use of iron
resulted in surplus production, and the economy changed from being a simple rural
economy to a pattern of economy in which urban centres became important. It has been
generally argued that the use of Northern Black Polished Ware pottery is an indicator of
material prosperity in the period. The use of punch-marked silver coins and some other
varieties of coins, the conscious intervention of the State to safeguard trade routes and the rise
of urban centers point to a structural change in the economy, requiring adjustments in the
society. The commercial classes had come to the forefront of society. The emergence
of urban culture demanded a flexible social organization. The incorporation of tribes and
peoples from the outlying areas into the social fabric also presented a problem.
The response of the Brahmanical social order, which was based on the
fourfold varna division, was to make the caste system more rigid and deny a higher status to
the commercial class. The rigidity of the Brahmanical class system sharpened the divisions
within the society. The lower orders turned to various heterodox sects; this created social
tensions. It was this situation which emperor Ashoka inherited when he ascended to the
Mauryan throne.
The Brahmanical hold over society, assiduously built through the later Vedic period, was
coming under increasing attack. The privileges of the priests, the rigidity of the caste system
and the elaborate rituals were being questioned. The lower orders among the four
castes began to favour new sects. The Vaishyas, who were technically included in the higher
social category, were treated as inferior to both Brahmans and Kshatriya. The opposition of
the commercial class to Brahmanism was to give a fillip to the other sects of the society.
Buddhism began as schismatic movement from the mainstream outlook of Brahmanism. Its
basic tenet was an emphasis on misery and advocacy of the Middle Path. It was a set
of ethical principles. Buddhism opposed the dominance of the Brahmans and the concept of
sacrifices and rituals. It thus appealed to lower social orders and to emerging social classes.

97
The human approach to relations in society preached by Buddhism further attracted different
sections to itself.
Polity
The Mahajanapada of sixth century B.C. marked the beginning of the state system in many
parts of India. Only a small section of society came to have a monopoly of power, which they
exercised over the rest of the society. There were gana-samghas in which the rulers were a
group of hereditary Kshatriya or members of a clan. By the time Ashoka ascended the throne,
the state system had grown very elaborate. It was characterized by:

 The political supremacy of one region (Magadha) over a vast territory which comprised
many previous kingdoms, gana-samghas, and areas where no organised states had
previously existed;
 Existence within this vast territory of different faiths, beliefs and practices;
 Monopoly of force by a ruling class, of which the emperor was the supreme head;
 Appropriation by the ruling class of surpluses from agriculture, commerce, and other
sources.
The complexity of the state system demanded an imaginative policy from the emperor which
required minimal use of force in such a large empire having diverse forms of economy and
religions. It could not have been controlled by an army alone. A more feasible alternative was
the propagation of a policy that would work at an ideological level and engage all sections of
the society. The policy of Dharma was such an endeavor.
Edicts of Ashoka

Ashoka the great expounded his policy of Dhamma through his edicts. By engraving his
views about Dhamma on these edicts, Ashoka tried to directly communicate with his
subjects. These inscriptions were written in different years of his life. The inscriptions can be
divided into two categories. A small group of inscriptions reveal that the king was a follower
of Buddhism and were addresses to the Buddhist church—the Sangha. These inscriptions are
declarations of Ashoka's relationship with the Buddhist order. Inscriptions of the other
category are known as the Major and Minor Rock Edicts, which were inscribed on rock
surfaces. This larger group includes the Pillar Edicts inscribed on specially erected pillars.
All the sites of Ashokan inscription were chosen carefully to ensure that they were accessible
to large numbers of people. These edicts are proclamations to the public at large. They
explain the idea of Dhamma. One must make a distinction between Ashoka's policy of
Dhamma which stressed social responsibility and Ashoka's own commitment as a Buddhist.
There has been a tendency in the past among historians to study the policy of Dhamma and
Ashoka as Buddhist in the same context without making any distinction. An examination of
the inscriptions suggests that Ashoka declared his personal association with a Buddhist order
and on the other he tried to teach, through the policy of Dhamma, the importance of social
responsibility and tolerance amongst different members of the society.

The policy of Dhamma

The policy of Dhamma was an earnest attempt at solving some of problems and tensions
faced by a complex society. Ashoka's private empire were responsible for the formation of
the policy. The immediate social environment in which Ashoka grew up influenced him in
later years. The Mauryan kings adopted an eclectic outlook. Chandragupta took recourse

98
to Jainism in his later years and Bindusara favoured the Ājīvika. Ashoka adopted Buddhism
in his personal life, though he never imposed Buddhism on his subjects.
By the time Ashoka ascended the throne, the Mauryan imperial system had become complex,
encompassing various cultures, beliefs and social and political patterns. Ashoka had to either
maintain the structure by force—which would incur tremendous expenses—or to define a set
of social norms which would be acceptable to all social practices and religious beliefs. He
was aware of the tensions which the heterodox sects—Buddhism, Jainism and Ajivikaism—
had generated in society. They were all opposed to the domination of the Brahmans and had a
growing number of supporters. But Brahmans continued to control society and hostility was
inevitable. It was essential to bring about a climate of harmony and mutual trust. There were
many areas within the empire where neither the Brahmanical system or the heterodox sects
prevailed. Ashoka referred to the country of Yavanas, where neither Brahmanical
nor Sramanical culture were in vogue. In many tribal areas, people were unfamiliar with
Brahmanical or heterodox ideas. To make the empire survive and to bring some cohesion
within the empire in the midst of this diversity, some common patterns of behaviour and
common approaches to the society's problems were needed.
The principles of Dhamma were formulated to be acceptable to people belonging to
different communities and following any religion. Dhamma was not given any formal
definition or structure. It emphasized tolerance of people and the notion of showing
consideration towards slaves and servants; there is stress on obedience to elders; generosity
towards the needy, Brahmans and Sarmanas. Ashoka pleaded for tolerance of different
religious sects in an attempt to create a sense of harmony. The policy of Dhamma also laid
stress on non-violence, which was to be practiced by giving up war and conquests and also as
a restraint on the killing of animals. However, Ashoka realized that a certain display of his
political might may be necessary to keep the primitive forest-dwelling tribes in check. [36]
The policy of Dhamma also included other welfare measures, like the planting of trees and
digging of wells. Ashoka attacked ceremonies and sacrifices as meaningless. A group of
officers known as Dhamma mahamattas were instituted to implement and publicize the
various aspects of Dhamma. Ashoka made them responsible for carrying his message to
various sections of society, However, they gradually developed into a type of priesthood of
Dhamma with great powers and soon began to interfere in politics.

99
Human beings have been modifying the natural environment for many years. Humans clean
lands for their personal uses like agriculture or building their habitats. Cutting trees,
diverting waters and streams for their own use as well as for use of others. Not
only Cambodian but also indic Kings modified the environment as a way to
impress upon their subjects Another important aspect highlighted by
recent research is the sophistication of the hydraulic system, which led to
an impressive modification of the natural environment. It was organized
into three grand areas, with the major barays acting as central collectors
and with flow management systems towards the south. The barays and the
islands built inside them, The Mebons, served 2 purposes- both a practical and ritualistic
function as symbols of the [Link] attitude and perception of the ruling King determined his
outlook on use of temples. Construction of the temples was clearly considered mandatory to
demonstrate the prominence and spirituality of the king himselftheyb were the foundations of
power”. Motivated and inspired by the happenings in the so called Indian states to which the
Khmer has a connect a adoption of sacred architecture therefrom and concepts like Temple
Mountain ( Mount Meru) and sea of the Churning of oceans. But also the buildings were an
Horoscopical Instrument to please the planets by Astrological connotations as seen by studies

100
that highlight and underline the character of these structures that has a leaning towards
planatery positions and [Link] for example Archaeoastronomy in the
Khmer Heartland,GIULIO MAGLI, Politecnico di Milano, Italy. See alsp Nietupski, Paul.
2019. Medieval Khmer Society: The Life and Times of Jayavarman VII (ca. 1120–1218).
ASIANetwork Exchange, 26(1), pp. 33–74. DOI: [Link]

“Astronomical foundations of temples”

The temples all over India attract us not only for the awe- inspiring sculptures but for the
accuracy maintained in the buildings to such large dimensions as well. The architecture of the
temples have been well studied keeping in mind the impact of religion, culture and tradition.
The art associated with temples has been extensively studied (Brown, 1951; Kramarisch,
1994). When we look at the foundations of some temples which are not squares or rectangles,
we cannot help wondering at their knowledge of geometry. It is interesting to trace how the
geometrical pattern was executed so precisely. “Astronomical aspects associated with
temples,B. Shylaja,ttps://[Link]/publication/321949369

000000000000000000000000000000

101
Material, Monuments and architecture Illustrated Guide
History Of KHMER Architecture
NAME MATERIA LOCATION PICTORIAL REPRESENTATION
L
Candi Central Java
Mendut sandston
e

Angkor Wat 9 TH to 12 th
complex, sandston Century
began by e Angkor,
Suryavarman Cambodia
II

Candi Red Sumatra

Gumpung, bricks 13 th Cen.
Prajnaparami
ta temple

102
lintel 1113-1149, early
fragment, sandston Angkor style
"churning of e
the ocean of Prasat Phnom
milk" Da
(bhagavata
purana)

Borobudur Andesite 760-830

complex, Borobudur,
temple or Central Java
mandala?, 6
stepped
terraces, 3
circular
terraces
ontop, 432
buddhas (108
on each side
of 4
directions),
72 perforated
stupas on
circular
terraces (32,
24, 16)

Banteay Date: 13thC,

Chhmar sandston Byon style
Cambodia e temple or
mandala or
architectural
representation of
a statue,
Hevajra/Vajrasatt
va cults

Candi Central Java

Pawon, small sandston Date: 8-9thC
Buddhist e

103
Candi Jago, Singasari
Amoghapasa sandston Kingdom, East
cult e Java
Date: 13thC

What: Ashram Maha Rosei, pre angkorian

Material: basalt stone
Boat relief on Borobudur
Location: near foot of Phnom Da, Cambodia
Material: andesite
Date: 6-7thC
Location: Borobudur terraces
Date: 800-830

104
Baphuon started by Suriyavarman I and finished by Udayadityavarman II
Material: sandstone
Location: north of Bayon, Cambodia
Date: early to mid 11thC
- recline Buddha added in 16thC by Theravadin monks

105
 What: Bakong, Siva temple
Material: sandstone
Location: Hariharalaya city, Roluos,
Cambodia
What: Candi Sewu, Mahayana Date: 877-886, Indravarman I
Buddhist temple
Material: andesite
Location: Central Java
Date: 7-8thC

What: Candi Ceto, Hindu

temple
Material: sandstone
Bàt Cum, 1st Buddhist temple in Angkor, also 1st
Location: Mount Lawu,
temple by non-king : Kavindrarimathana
btwn Central and East
Material: laterite, sandstone, brick
Java
Location: Pre Rup complex
Date: 15thC
Date: (early 10thC) 953- dedication inscription

106
Vajrasattva/Hevajra in
Angkor
deity, Location: Bayon
temple
Material: sandstone and
laterite
Date: late 12-early13thC

Banteay Kdei, " What: Banh It (silver tower)

Material: brick and stone
Location: Champa, Vietnam
Date: 12thC

107
Ratnasambhava in Vara mudra
Material: andesite
Location: in situ @ Borobudur
Date: 800-830

11 headed, 32 arm
Lokesvara wall relief
Material: sandstone
Location: Banteay
Chhmar, Cambodia
Date:1200-1220

What: Prince
(Indrakumara) and
king
Material: sandstone
Location: Banteay
Chhmar, Cambodia
Date: 1200-1220

Yogini hall
Material: sandstone
Location: Bayon
temple, Angkor
Date: late12-
early13thC

Saiva temples
Material: sandstone
Location: Dieng
Plateau, Central
Java
Date: mid 7-8thC

108
 : Koh Ker
Material: laterite,
sandstone, brick
Location: jungle
valley btwn Dangrek
and Kulen
mountains,
Cambodia
Date: 921-944,
Jayavarman IV

single head w/ 6 arms, Lokesvara w/

Buddha universes turning in cosmic
wheel behind him, late Bayon style
Material: sandstone
Location:Banteay Chhmar
Date: 1200-1220

Dong Duong temple

Material: brick and sandstone
Location: Quang Nam, Vietnam
Date: late 9thC

Prasat Andet
Material: brick
Location: Sambor Prei Kuk
Date: 6-7thC, zhenla

Maitreya teaching Dharma

Material: andesite
Location: higher terraces @ Borobudur
Date: later 9thC

109
What: Po Nagar, holy shrine to Thien Y-A-na goddess (jade princess)
Material: brick and sandstone
Location: Nha Tang, Vietnam
Date: 7-8thC
What: Candi Sukuh
Material: andesite
Location: mount Lawu btwn Central & East Java
Date: 1416-1456, 1437 dedication inscription
What: Prasat Phnom Da
Material: brick and sandstone
Location: Ta Keo P, Angkor Borei, Cambodia
Date: early 12th, transition from Baphuon to Angkor style
What: Siva Luba and temple, "Mahendraparvata"
Material: sandstone
Location: Kulen, Cambodia
Date: early 9thC, Jayavarman II
What: Preah Khan, Jayavarman VII's temple dedicated to his father
Material: sandstone
Location: near Angkor Thom
Date: late12-early 13thC

110
What: My Son temple 1
Material: brick and sandstone
Location: Quang Nam, Vietnam
Date: 9thC

111
 What: Vairocana in dharmacakra mudra
Material: andesite
Location: in situ @Borobudur
Date: 800-830

What: Phimai complex, precursor to

Angkor Wat with pineapple towers
Material: red and white sandstone
Location: Phimai, Thailand
Date: 11-12thC

Preah Ko, siva temple

Material: brick and sandstone
Location: Hariharalaya city, Roluos,
Cambodia
Date: 877-886

large face towers, 4 crowned faces,

unknown deity
Material: sandstone
Location: Banteay Chhmar
Date: 13thC

112
 What: Pre Rup
Material: brick, laterite, sandstone
Location: Angkor P, Cambodia
Date: 944-968
What: goddess Thien Y-A-na
Material: sandstone
Location: Po Nagar shrine doorway,
Vietnam
Date: 7-8th C

What: high tin bronze bowls w/

architectural and clothing depicted
traceable to Shunga dynasty
Material: tin bronze
Location: found @ Khao Sam Kaeo,
Thailand, most likely imported from
Sunga Empire
Date: 2-3rdC

113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123