So here I am, back from the exploration of an ancient Hindu temple recognized as the biggest religious complex in the world (even bigger than the Vatican) yet one that doesn't elicit recognition from 99% of Hindus!
Those of you who have been following my writings know the place am talking about but for others let me give you a short introduction - Angkor Wat is a 12th century grand temple complex situated in Siem Reap, the second biggest city in the Kingdom of Cambodia.
This place draws close to 2 million tourists every year yet very few of these are Indian. Blame it on our Nehruvian secularism or north-centric textbooks, the glory that the kings from southern part of India achieved by spreading Indian culture to distant seas is largely ignored in our historical narrative. Hardly any person I have met in India knows about the temple's existence and even fewer know that it was built in dedication to Lord Vishnu.
When I reveal these facts they are surprised to know Indian influence spread as far as Cambodia for we have never heard of these temples in all the years of growing up. For most shopping-obsessed Indian tourists, S-E Asia ends at Bangkok and Singapore and no one is really bothered to explore the region beyond even though Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia, is just about an hour's flight from most frequented destinations of KL, BKK and S'pore.
In order to do justice to the narrative, let me begin with the history of Indian/Hindu influence in this part of the world. The oldest records of a Hindu kingdom in the region come from the Chinese who called it the Kingdom of Funan. Indian texts refer to the same region as Suvarnabhumi and the Khmer Krom people of southern Vietnam believe that they originate from this golden land which covered Myanmar, Thailand, Lao, Cambodia, southern Vietnam, Malaya, Sumatra and some other parts of Indonesia!
Approximate extent of the Kingdom of Funan
Those Indians who have visited Bangkok must have wondered at some time why its International Airport is known as Suvarnabhumi (a Sanskrit name) and now you know the reason! Perhaps you may be even more surprised to know that Funan (Vnom in Khmer) had cities named Bhavapura, Aninditapura, Sreshtapura and Vyadhapura.
An inscription found in My Son region of Vietnam (which BTW used to be a large site of Shiva temples), talks about a Brahmin king Kaundinya who married a local Naga princess called Soma, and became the ruler of this empire by planting a spear he had obtained from Dronacharya's son Ashwatthama. All this is mentioned in the inscription dated to 648 CE and am surprised we in India have never heard of it!
Khmer legends talk of the Naga king giving the young couple his blessings and conferring on him the title of KAMBUCHEA THIPDEI (Kambuja-Adhipati in Sanskrit). Even today, many such inscriptions from Vietnam as well as Cambodia survive in their museums that have been written in the Grantha script popular in ancient South-India to write Sanskrit. Before I forget, I must recommend a visit to the museum in Siem Reap for a look at some magnificent specimens of ancient Hindu-Cambodian Art!
Larger than life statues of Lord Vishnu, Shri Raam and Balraam at National Museum
Sanskrit inscription in the southern Grantha script
The story of Kaundinya is very similar to that of a man named Huntian whom Chinese records mention as arriving from the southern lands and marrying a local princess to become the king of the land so many scholars believe the two to be the same person. To cut the long story short, this Brahmin from India (who might very well have belonged to the Pallava Dynasty) is credited to have changed the rules in his adopted kingdom to confirm to the system followed in ancient India. Sanskrit, the official language in the Indian kingdoms of yore was made the official state language in Funan as well.
The affect of all this influence was that even after Kaundinya, various Hindu dynasties began taking shape and after the last ruler of Funan, Rudravarman died in 545 CE, the Khmer (ethnic Cambodian) Kingdom of Chenla took over. Its kings had names such as Bhavavarman and Viravarman, the most famous queen of the dynasty was Jayadevi and the biggest inhabited city was Ishanpura (Ishan is an epithet of Lord Shiva).
By now you must have understood the solid Indian influence on the region and archaeologists have found considerable effect of not only Pallavas but also the northern Gupta Dynasty. This mixed Indian influence is perhaps most evident in the architectural marvels, especially the temples that show the typical North-Indian Nagar style of architecture though the cardinal entrances retain decent-sized Gopurams like South-Indian temples. The name Angkor itself is derived from the Sanskrit word Nagar and the city in which it was constructed was earlier known as Yashodharapura.
Angkor Wat located in the city of Yashodharapura
Though archaeological evidence shows the continuity of civilization in the region from at least 4th century BCE, these particular temples were commissioned by King
Suryavarman II in early 12th century in honour of his patron deity
Lord Vishnu and is one of the rare west-facing temples in the world. The five spires of Angkor Wat depict the central mountain of
Meru, surrounded by its subsidiary peaks widely considered the holiest mountain in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain mythologies, somewhat akin to the Greek concept of Olympus {for more on Meru read this post -
Heaven at the North Pole}.
Construction of Angkor Wat
Spread in an area of 1626000 sq. km the temple sports more than a thousand Apsaras and scenes from various battles mentioned in Hindu scriptures including the Ramayan, Mahabharat, Deva-Asur sangram and even the Samudra-manthan. Local legends talk about it being constructed in a single night by the divine architect Vishwakarma on the orders of Lord Indra!
Angkor Wat Temple
Surrounded by its massive moat, the temple survived encroachment by the jungle and is the best preserved of the lot though referring to my previous post I must say that till date I haven't seen any Hindu temple from the ancient period as beautifully preserved as the
Khajuraho group of temples in Madhya Pradesh (Read
Khajuraho - Jewel of Indian architecture). Perhaps the biggest attraction of Angkor Wat is the prodigious size and to the chagrin of my co-travelers I was completely lost capturing every inch of its massive inscriptions.
Fellow travelers at the entrance to the temple
The best time to visit is the sunrise which is fabled to be mesmerizing but may or may not turn out to be that great depending on your luck and the scattering of clouds. Twice a year, at the time of summer and winter equinox, the Sun rises from right behind the center of the temple and for photography lovers it can turn out to be a great opportunity to click some lovely shots.
The fabled sunrise at Angkor
Entering from the west, you should take a darshan of the Lord Vishnu idol which was most likely at the center of the temple before it was turned into a Buddhist shrine. Like many other Vishnu idols in Cambodia, this one is also 8-handed and is clothed in yellow, that being the favorite color of the God (Pitambar-dhari).
Lord Vishnu idol at Angkor Wat
After the darshan we walked the considerable distance to the inner gallery which is at a higher level than the outer one and contains massive relief work on its walls. We turned right, watching battle scenes from the Mahabharat on the southern side of the western wall, followed by scenes from the life of Krishna on the southern wall that merged into a grand procession of the king Suryavarman II who had commissioned the temple, followed by the depiction of numerous Heavens and Hells in Hindu mythology.
Inscriptions on the western wall
Arjun and Krishna in the battlefield
The Eastern wall shows a massive relief of the Samudra-manthan with 92 Asuras & 88 Devas trying their luck at extracting the elusive Amrit from the ocean by churning it using Mandar Parvat and serpent-king Vasuki. Lord Vishnu oversees the entire process standing in the middle and helping the process while Indra flies above, trying to stabilize the mountain which is supported by the Kurma Avatar of Lord below..
Lord Vishnu in the middle of the Churning of the Ocean
The walk through the massive galleries is pleasurable and gives a respite from the fierce sun outside but be prepared to slug a lot since there is a lot of space to cover before you even get to the central shrine. The maximum amount of carvings that you want to see are in this middle gallery itself so once you are done with this you have more or less covered the major historical engravings of Angkor. The northern wall shows various Deva-Asur battles and shows Lord Vishnu repeatedly on the back of Garud while vanquishing the forces of evil. In one particular depiction Krishna is shown riding the Garud instead of Vishnu and fighting with demon Banasur who has a thousand hands.
Lord Vishnu on Garuda leading Devas in a battle with Asuras
Banasur riding a chariot pulled by three lions
Coming back to the western wall we gaze at the northern portion of it (that we had skipped earlier by turning right at the entrance) and find a heated battle scene from the Ramayan where Lord Raam is fighting Ravan perched on the shoulders of Hanuman to get a vantage point against the demon's massive chariot while the Asuras and Vanars engage in an intense skirmish. Due to the reflected light and differing shades of stone used, some of the carvings are not that easily decipherable and it requires some amount of patience OR a good guide to give you a sense of what they portray.
Shri Raam fighting Ravan perched on Hanuman's shoulders
After you are done with the outer gallery (100m x 115m), you shall be completely exhausted especially if you are not too used to walking. The weather in Siem Reap stays hot most of the months and its advisable to carry your water bottles during the circumambulation or parikrama. Once you have finished it, there's not much to explore in the innermost gallery except the ubiquitous Apsaras and we headed straight to the queue (yes, there's a long queue for entrance on most weekends) for entry into the sanctum sanctorum which is at a still higher level.
The long queue for darshan
Unlike most Indian temples though, once you have climbed the steep stairs to reach the 65 m high central spire, you are given a leisurely 15-20 minutes time to explore it and trust me that's good enough to get a sense of how magnificent this central portion of the temple would have been in its heyday. The idol of Lord Vishnu now positioned in the outer gallery used to occupy the central part which now houses statues of Buddha. The view from above is majestic and you truly feel as if you are on the top of the world.
It is not difficult to imagine how impressive this temple would have been when it was built. One just wishes it could be maintained to a better level to reflect that grandeur but nevertheless the hours spent here are worth all the wait. Once your time is up, you shall be politely asked to leave so that others who are still in the queue can get an opportunity to climb up. Taking our leave from the numerous Apsaras thronging the walls of the temple, we stepped down and slowly walked out of the massive enclosure filled with a sense of restrained grandeur.
Apsaras on the balconies and windows
After finishing with the main temple, a lot of people rush to the other important temples of BAYON and TA-PROHM and my local friends wanted to do that as well but I wouldn't advise that! After all that walking and waiting in the sun, you should take a break and head to one of the eating joints behind the parking lot opposite to the temple. For the vegetarians, there is even an Indian restaurant there that serves quite good food and you can relax, drink mango lassi and cool down your body after the morning excursion.
After a hearty lunch, we headed to the temple of Bayon which is one of the most mesmerizing sights I have ever seen. A ten minute drive from Angkor Wat brings you to a road with tall trees and suddenly you encounter a gate with massive faces peering at you - this is the entrance to the ancient Angkor Thom, the capital city of King Jayavarman VII and the road leading to it again shows the Devas and Asuras in the churning mode.
Entrance to Angkor Thom
The temple of Bayon sits bang in the middle and as you get closer to it you realize how utterly amazing it would have been when first constructed! The temple spires are covered with a profusion of faces, smiling genially as if they are aware of some naughty secret.. as you stroll amidst these giant faces you can almost see the features move with the play of light and I could imagine what surreal effect this place would give in the night!
Surrounded by giant happy faces
A lot of speculation has gone in to figure whom the faces depict and most commonly cited is the name of Lokeshwara, a Bodhisattva who is given many forms in Mahayana Buddhism. To me it seems more likely that they portray the face of Shiva in a trance especially since the depiction of Lokeshwara seems to have evolved from Shiva as well. The Bodhisattva's female form is known as Chundi which is a direct play on Goddess Durga and its depiction with thousand arms holding weapons is a clear pointer towards the adoption of the Supreme Goddess in the Buddhist pantheon by turning her into a Bodhisattva. Also, I found in one of the shrines a stone Shiv-linga which kind of seals the deal for me!
A 12th Century Lingam
King Jayavarman worshipping Shiva
Art by Maurice Fievet
What is more interesting to note is that the faces actually resemble the bust of the king Jayavarman VII himself - clearly not the first king to show his people that he was a god-send for them. You should keep a couple of hours for this temple if you wish to truly absorb its atmosphere but if you don't have too much time on your hands, you can move to the next stop of Ta Prohm which is another fifteen minutes drive ahead.
Leaving from Bayon
If Bayon gives you a surreal feeling, Ta Prohm (Old Brahma) shall definitely appear like an other-world landscape! This place is completely run over by the jungle and is being restored in collaboration with the Indian govt. Gigantic trees rise 50-60 metes high spreading their roots like the tentacles of a giant octopus, steeping the whole place in an alien atmosphere.
The surreal landscape of Ta Prohm
The python like roots of the so-called Snake trees almost look alive and you can see that they are not done with the ruins yet. They are still spreading and gaining more ground to reclaim the land man had taken away from nature and you can see at multiple places pillars having been erected to support the ancient structure and counter their weight. Adding to the mystery of this place I found one more element of surprise.. a dinosaur like animal carved on the side wall of a doorway that also shows other mythical beings. Unlike the other animals though this one seems quite realistically close to a Stegosaurus!
Dinosaur at Angkor?
Modern science does not believe humans and dinosaurs have ever come in contact but is there a possibility that deep in the jungles of Asia, some species of dinosaurs survived till the emergence of man? No one knows for sure but this carving certainly adds more mystery to this already mysterious place!
Thinking of mysteries, I also remembered the time spent at the river of 1000 Lingas which is nothing more than a picnic spot for the locals though its true significance could be appreciated only by someone who is conversant with Hindu mythology. The mountain on which it exists was known in earlier times as Mahendra-Parvat and if you know the story of Parshu-Raam, the 6th incarnation of Lord Vishnu, you would remember that he was a disciple of Lord Shiva and after exterminating evil Kshatriyas 21 times, sat down to meditate on a mountain of the same name..
The river of 1000 Lingas
Driving back to the hotel I felt enthralled by all that I had seen during the day - a temple constructed in early 12th century in far-off Cambodia for a Hindu god brought to them by an Indian Brahmin who laid the foundation of the earliest economic giant of South-East Asia whose existence is known today through Chinese accounts. A citadel with smiling faces of an unknown god that bears witness to the caprices of human lives. And a magnificent ruin that was rapidly being reclaimed by Nature negating the efforts of thousands of artisans and demolishing the dreams that had been seen by one of the greatest rulers of the region..
Time turns everything into dust... slowly but surely.. Before these magnificent ruins are completely overrun by the jungle or destroyed by some zealots in the name of their own personal God, do visit the place to get a sense of how grand history was in this part of the world. Visit Cambodia and I promise you you'll come back feeling much closer to your own culture.
Happy Traveling :)
