POWER AS AMRIT in the Eternal Struggle between Hinduism and

Buddhism in Cambodia Dr Uday Dokras

Angkor Wat: an ancient city hidden in the jungle for over 400 years, abandoned by its
people, overtaken by trees. Imagine. A Hindu civilization that dominated Southeast Asia
for over 600 years, that built the largest religious temple in the world. Later on became
Buddhist. Gone>

Now, when the first tourists arrive at the wondrous temples of Angkor, and the
20 musicians — amputees, blind, scarred, all destitute — hope that by dusk
their playing will have earned them enough to sustain their families for another
day. Together, they support more than 100 children and wives.
The musicians' lives mirror Cambodia's agony: 3 million dead in three decades
of a savage war, American bombing, the Khmer Rouge reign of terror, a civil
conflict and now coping in a country where a third of the people earn less than
one dollar a day.

Several members of Ankor's two orchestras confess that they had teetered on
the verge of suicide before finding hope by banding together to play the music
of their ancestors.

The Khmer people were originally Hindu.  Surprising - given that Cambodia
is over 3,000 kilometres from India. Monsoon rains carried India traders to
Cambodia, along with their religion, art and architecture. The temple itself was
constructed by the Khmer king for the Hindu god Vishnu and converted to a
Buddhist temple in the 14th century, over 200 years later. Tenets of Buddhism
were already permeating the region by the end of the 12th century.  New
monuments featured Buddha and bodhisattvas. Old monuments were subtly
converted to Buddhist shrines, though Hindu imagery was left in place.

Resurgence: A brief resurgence of Hinduism came with one Khmer leader in

the 13th century, before it lapsed back into Buddhism a century later.
Religious upheaval in Angkor Wat is considered an important factor leading to
the collapse of this great civilization.

Suryavarman II practiced a form of Hinduism known as Vaishnavism, which

is devotion to the god Vishnu above all others. Although Hinduism is generally
regarded as a polytheistic religion by westerners, it is actually henotheistic,
meaning there is only one god with many different aspects. In a henotheistic
belief system, a single god is considered too immense to be grasped by the
human mind and so appears in a multiplicity of personalities all of which focus
on a single different aspect of human life.

In Hinduism, Brahma is the supreme deity who creates the world while, in his
form as Vishnu he preserves life and, as Shiva, takes life away and rewards
humans for their toil with death, which then continues the cycle of rebirth or
leads to union with the oversoul. Angkor Wat reflects the course of life, death,
and eternity according to Vaishnavism, removing Brahma as the supreme god
and replacing him with Vishnu.

Vishnu appears to human beings in many forms throughout the centuries as

avatars - like the popular Hindu god Krishna - to guide and instruct people.
The most famous example of this comes from the religious text Bhagavad-
Gita (“Song of God”) when Krishna visits Prince Arjuna on the battlefield of
Kurukshetra to explain the nature of existence and one's purpose in life. The
temple of Angkor Wat is designed to fulfill this same purpose through its
ornamentation which tells the story of the human condition, the immanence of
the gods, and how one is to best live one's life.

SURYAVARMAN II ELEVATED THE POSITION OF THE COMMON PEOPLE,

USING RELIGION, BY DECREEING THE WORSHIP OF VISHNU, A DEITY
WHO WAS A PROTECTOR OF ALL.

The rise of Vaishnavism in Cambodia was a direct result of the conflicts

between the Khmers and the neighboring Champa. Suryavarman I (r. c. 1006-
1050 CE) extended the frontiers of his realm into Thailand during his reign and
came into conflict with the cities of the Champa. The Champa's religion
was Buddhism (which was also the faith of the Khmer elite) which was viewed
with hostility by most Khmer who saw it as a threat to their faith. Vishnu, as a
protector-god, rose in popularity through these conflicts and the backlash
against Buddhism.

By the time of Suryavarman II's reign, the form of Hinduism known

as Brahmanism, which favored the elite, was growing more popular in the
region and Buddhism had also gained more adherents. Suryavarman II
elevated the position of the common people, using religion, by decreeing the
worship of Vishnu, a deity who was a protector of all, not the supreme creator
aspect nor the destructive aspect but the mediator between human beings and
the divine who had also proven himself a benevolent guardian.
One of the most popular stories of Vishnu's kindness and cleverness in the
interests of human beings is The Churning of the Ocean (also known as The
Churning of the Ocean of Milk) in which he tricks the demons into surrendering
the amrita (ambrosia) which will make the gods immortal and preserve eternal
order. This story is among the most famous bas-reliefs found at Angkor Wat
and supports the claim that the building was originally conceived of as a
temple of worship rather than a funerary site.
Stories in Stone

Angkor Wat is designed to represent Mount Meru, the spiritual and physical
nexus in Hinduism which is the center of all reality. The five peaks of Mount
Meru are represented by the five spires of the temple. Brahma and the Devas
(demigods) were thought to live on Mount Meru and it is famously referenced
in The Mahabharata when Yudhishthira and his brothers travel to the gates of
heaven. One by one the brothers die until only Yudhishthira and his faithful
dog are left. When they reach the border of heaven, the gatekeeper tells
Yudhishthira that he may enter for the worthy life he lived but that dogs are
not allowed in heaven. Yudhishthira rejects any paradise which does not
include dogs and turns away, but the gatekeeper stops him and reveals himself
as Vishnu who was only testing him one last time before allowing him
entrance.
1
The devas and asuras still exist in the form of gigantic sculptures of the
former Khmer Empire in Siem Reap province, Cambodia. They stand,
enormous legs braced on the ground, as they pull the serpent Vasuki as a
rope, and churn away at the Ocean of milk. They live in an eternal tug-of-
war in the temples of Angkor Wat, Banteay Samre, Bayon , the causeway
to Preah Khan. At Angkor Wat the depiction of the combat goes back to a
thousand years. It stretches on a wall 49 metres in length of this temple,
the largest religious site in the world, and a famed example of cultural
transfer. the huge image of the eight armed Vishnu — with the head
replaced by that of the Buddha after the country became Buddhist — is
still worshipped.

1. Gods and demons

Cambodia's Hinduism can be traced back to the Funan Kingdom which ruled
between 100BC and 500AD. During this period, kings worshiped Vishnu and
Shiva. When the Khmer Empire came to power, Hinduism remained the
dominating religion until Jayavarman VII (reigned 1181-1218).

How did Buddhism affect the Khmer empire? Well, in

Kampuchea, Buddhism became the transmitter of Khmer language and
culture. With the rise of Siam in the west and Vietnam in the east, the classical
Angkor empire disappeared and the beginning of present-day Cambodia began.
Cambodia became from this time forward a Theravada Buddhist nation. So did
Sanskrit Language the main official language in which all governmental and
religious activity was done. The maximum number of Sanskrit inscriptions is to
be seen in Cambodia rather than here. Siva linga pratishta (worship) is seen in
almost every village. A 500-year old inscription shows how the same
astronomical calculation practised in India was also practised in the Khmer
empire (Cambodia). In Khmer, they consecrated the Ramayana and the
Mahabharata — and the chapters were recited daily in the temples.

For us, Hindus, for the visitors to Angkor as well as for many others, the piece
de resistance at the Angkor Wat temple comprises the twin bas reliefs,
hundreds of metres long, depicting sculpted scenes from the Ramayana and
the Mahabharata. The chisel appears to have magically turned into a brush
that painted simian movements representing all the fury and the excitement of
the vanaras as they threw themselves into the great battle to help Rama. On
another wall, we are taken straight into the Kurukshetra war.

Scene Of Hell. Asuras Hitting People With Asuda/The other hell,handicap orchestra
Jayavarman was an indefatigable builder and the Bayon temple built by
him is grand and unique. More than 200 colossal heads, said to be of the
Boddhisatva Avalokitesvara, the compassionate one, crown the towers on
all sides making sure the temple is never forgotten by anyone who sets
eyes on it. It is thought the heads were fashioned to resemble the ruler.
Bayon’s sculpted walls portray scenes of war and daily life and serve as
valuable records of the history of the empire. It was from the Elephant
Terrace outside Bayon that Jayavarman VII would watch his military
parades; there are huge elephants carved on the walls and their trunks act
as supporting pillars to the structure. A few metres’ walk bring us to the
apparently simple looking Terrace of the Leper King. But once you enter
the structure, it is like a maze with beautiful carvings of women, marine
life, and the gods on the walls. The leper king is believed to be
Yasovarman, who was afflicted by the disease. But some scholars think the
moss eroded figure of Yama, the God of Death, has given rise to this belief.

France, whose colony Cambodia was till 1953, has helped bring many of
these ancient temples to light, rescuing them from the forest like
wilderness. Numerous other countries have contributed to their
restoration, among them India, China, Japan, Poland and Germany.

Mural from
the museum of the white elephant at Phnom Phen
For, as we stand by the pond at Ankor Wat t
Seated outside many of the temples are musicians playing softly on their
instruments. They are all disabled landmine victims, bringing home to us the
harsh realities of the people who have survived war and a ruthless regime, the
Khmer Rouge. This is a land that forges a special bond with us Hindus. emple and
see its magnificence reflected in the water, we feel our own history, faith and
beliefs are reflected in it.

BUDDHISM; After the 14th century, the land turned to Buddhism owing to the
influence of Sri Lanka. Somewhere around the 13th to 14th century, some
Brahmanas went from Rameswaram to Cambodia. They took the Thevaram, Divya
Prabhandam and Pooja Vedas from here to Cambodia — some people say that
they came from Chidambaram. In Cambodia there are still such priests.

Hanuman is regarded as a god in Cambodia and the Hanuman dance is spellbinding.

There is so much evidence of our cultural impact in Cambodia that we need to study it
in great detail.Side by side with the Buddhas, the

Hindu scriptures live in an eternal tug-of-war in the temples of Angkor Wat, Vishnu

— with the head replaced by that of the Buddha after the country turned Buddhist
and the Bas Relief of Churning of the Oceans or Samudra Manthan. The most
important story represented at Angkor Wat is the samudra manthan (churning of
ocean), a story about the victory of good over evil. In the story that is depicted on the
wall, 88 devas are fighting 92 asuras (demons) in order to reclaim order and power for
the gods who have lost the battle

This story of Samudra Manthan (churning of the ocean) originates from Hindu
mythology and is described in the books like Bhagvata Purana, Vishnu Purana and
Mahabharata . All these books are considered as directional in Hinduism. The books
describe how the Devas (gods) and the Asuras (demons) churned the ocean under the
aegis of Vishnu, to produce the divine elixir of immortality ( Amruta). Hinduism spread
to many countries during the ancient times. and the depiction of  Samudra Manthan
story at Angkor Wat is a testimony to that.

Thiland Airport
The southern section of the east gallery of Angkor Wat adorns the Samudra
Manthan or the Churning of the Ocean episode. This carving depicts
88 asuras (demons) on the left, and 92 devas (gods), with crested helmets,
churning up the sea to extract from it the elixir of immortality (Amruta). The
demons hold the head of the serpent Vasuki and the Gods hold its tail. At the
centre of the sea, Vasuki is coiled around Mt Mandara, which turns and
churns up the water in the tug of war between the demons and the gods.
Vishnu, incarnated as a huge turtle, lends his shell to serve as the base and
pivot of Mt Mandara. Brahma, Shiva, Hanuman (the monkey God) and
Lakshmi (the Goddess of wealth and prosperity) all feature in the carvings.
Legend behind Samudra Manthan
Once Indra – the King of Gods, while riding on an elephant came across sage
Durvasa who offered him a special garland. Indra accepted the garland but put
it on the trunk of the elephant. The elephant was irritated by the smell and it
threw the garland on the floor. This enraged the sage as the garland was a
dwelling of Sri (fortune) and was to be treated with respect. Durvasa Muni
cursed Indra and all devas to be bereft of all strength, energy, and fortune. Post
this incident, devas lost all the battles to asuras and the asuras gained control
of the universe.

Devas sought help from Lord Vishnu who told them that the only way to get
back their power is through consuming holy nectar which lies under the ocean.
The holy nectar can be brought out only by churning the ocean. Since devas
were bereft of any power they approached the asuras to jointly churn the ocean
for the nectar of immortality. Devas, however, already had an understanding
with Lord Vishnu that the holy nectar will be handed over to them.

Samudra Manthan (Churning of the Ocean)

The churning of the milk – ocean was an elaborate process. Mount Mandara
was used as churning rod and Vasuki, the King of Serpents, became the
churning rope. Lord Vishnu himself had to intercede in so many ways to aid
the process. But as the pole entered the water it kept sliding into depths of the
ocean. To stop this, Vishnu took the form of a tortoise and placed the
mountain on his back. This image of Vishnu as the tortoise was his second
avatar called ‘Kurma.’ Once the pole was balanced, it was tied to the gigantic
snake, Vasuki, and the gods and demons started pulling it from either side. All
kinds of herbs were cast into the ocean and many creatures and objects were
produced from the ocean which were then divided between asuras and devas.
Asura , Devas participating in the Samudra Manthan (photo from Angkor Thom
city Cambodia)Vasuki , the serpent was used as the rope for Churning the
Ocean

Power as the Amrit in Angkor

Hala-hal : The Poison: During the Samudra Manthan, The churning of the
oceans by both Gods and demons to retrieve the Amrit the elixir of life, hala-
hal, a pot of lethal poison also came out of the ocean instead. It was supposed
to be so toxic that it could have wiped out the entire creation. Lord Shiva drank
the poison to save others. However, Parvati – Lord Shiva’s wife squeezed his
neck so that the poison does not get into his stomach. Thus, it stayed in his
throat neither moving up nor going down and Shiva remained unharmed.

The poison was so potent that it changed the color of Lord Shiva’s neck to blue.
For this reason, Lord Shiva is also called Neelakantha where ‘Neela’ means
blue and ‘Kantha’ means neck.Towards the end of the churning Dhanvantri
( god of medicine) appeared with the pot of holy nectar. Once the amruta was
out, the demons forcefully took it away which was followed by a war between
the devas and the asuras.
Finally, Vishnu disguised as the enchanting Mohini (danseuse) tricked the
demons and recovered the nectar pot and handed it over to the devas. This
story is known to almost everyone in India. The Samudra Manthan story at
Angkor Wat raises a lot of questions in our mind about the erstwhile
Kingdoms, relationship between India and Cambodia during ancient time,
battle for expansion and faith.

From The Samudra Manthan story at Angkorwat, Rashmi S  https://beyonder.travel/south-

east-asia/cambodia/the-story-of-samudra-manthan/
Why did the Khmer empire change to Buddhism?

In the early days of Angkor, the worship of Vishnu  or Vaishnavism was

secondary to that of Shiva. Here also there was a tug – a push and Pull
between Vishnu and Shiva. The relationship seems to have changed with the
construction of Angkor Wat by King Suryavarman II as his personal
mausoleum at the beginning of the 12th century. The central religious image of
Angkor Wat was an image of Vishnu, and an inscription identifies
Suryavarman as "Paramavishnuloka," or "he who enters the heavenly world of
Vishnu." Religious syncretism, however, remained thoroughgoing in Khmer
society: the state religion of Shaivism was not necessarily abrogated by
Suryavarman's turn to Vishnu, and the temple may well have housed a royal
lingam.
Furthermore, the turn to Vaishnavism did not abrogate the royal personality
cult of Angkor. by which the reigning king was identified with the deity.
According to Angkor scholar Georges Coedès, "Angkor Wat is, if you like, a
vaishnavite sanctuary, but the Vishnu venerated there was not the ancient
Hindu deity nor even one of the deity's traditional incarnations, but the king
Suryavarman II posthumously identified with Vishnu, consubstantial with him,
residing in a mausoleum decorated with the graceful figures of apsaras just
like Vishnu in his celestial palace."[62] Suryavarman proclaimed his identity
with Vishnu, just as his predecessors had claimed consubstantiation with
Shiva.

Face towers of the Bayon represent the king as the Bodhisattva Lokesvara.

Mahayana Buddhism
In the last quarter of the 12th century, King Jayavarman VII departed radically
from the tradition of his predecessors when he adopted Mahayana Buddhism
as his personal faith. Jayavarman also made Buddhism the state religion of his
kingdom when he constructed the Buddhist temple known as the Bayon at the
heart of his new capital city of Angkor Thom. In the famous face towers of the
Bayon, the king represented himself as the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara moved
by compassion for his subjects. Thus, Jayavarman was able to perpetuate the
royal personality cult of Angkor, while identifying the divine component of the
cult with the bodhisattva rather than with Shiva
There were several obvious reasons, to start. Climatic change brought a great
drought to the area. Increased maritime trade weakened the Khmer people's
economic stronghold. Society was caught in religious upheaval as most
converted to Theravada Buddhism. The presence of Phnom Phem as a maritime
port robbed the Angkor of its importance and trade and commerce began to be
centered there, hence Angkor lost its importance and people naturally migrated
to where there was livelihood. Some historians believe that the mass
conversion to Theravada Buddhism—by undermining the Hindu and
Mahayana Buddhist institutions underpinning the state and by encouraging
through its doctrines a more-individualistic attitude among believers—
contributed to the decline and gradual abandonment of Angkor.

Increased maritime trade weakened the Khmer people’s economic

stronghold. Society was caught in religious upheaval as most converted to
Theravada Buddhism. War was raging with neighbouring countries. Today the
main port in Cambodia is Sihanoukville Autonomous Port

French: Port autonome du Sihanoukville, PAS which is a government agency and

state corporation of Cambodia and Sihanoukville that operates and governs the
country's sole deep water port. Cambodia has in total 105 ports, of which 78 are river
ports located along the Mekong, Tonle Sap, Tonle Basac and in provinces, and 27
others are sea port.
PHNOM.PENH.PORT

The initial settlement of Phnom Penh is believed to have been established since the
5th century AD, according to the discovery of ancient kiln site in Choeung Ek
commune of Dangkao district, southern part of central Phnom Penh in early 2000s.
Choeung Ek archaeological site was one of the largest kiln pottery center in Cambodia
and the earliest known kiln sites in Southeast Asia to produced the ceremonial vessels
known as kendi from 5th to 13th century. Archaeologist stated that a large community
is surrounded by a circular earthwork structure that is 740 metres in diameter and 4
metres high, built in the 11th century. In addition, there are remnants of other
ancient village infrastructure, irrigation system, inscription, Shiva linga as well as an
ancient brick temple foundation and its ornate remains which dated back
to Funan era.
First recorded a century after it is said to have taken place, the legend of the founding
of Phnom Penh tells of a local woman, Penh (commonly referred to as Daun
Penh ("Grandmother Penh" or "Old Lady Penh") in Khmer), living at Chaktomuk, the
future Phnom Penh. It was the late 14th century, and the Khmer capital was still at
Angkor near Siem Reap 350 km (217 mi) to the north. Gathering firewood along the
banks of the river, Lady Penh spied a floating koki tree in the river and fished it from
the water. Inside the tree she found four Buddha statues and one of Vishnu.
Phnom Penh was founded in 1434 to succeed Angkor Thom as the capital of the
Khmer nation but was abandoned several times before being reestablished in 1865 by
King Norodom. The city formerly functioned as a processing centre, with textiles,
pharmaceuticals, machine manufacturing, and rice milling. Phnom Penh depends on
access via the Mekong through the delta area of Vietnam. The Phnom Penh port is the
country's traditional river port, accessible to vessels from the South China Sea
through Vietnam.Phnom Penh port is located in-the city, on the Sap river some 3-4
km from its junction with the Mekong. It is some 330 km from the mouth of the
Mekong of which about 100 km is in Cambodia and the rest in Vietnam. The distance
from Singapore is about 1450 km. Vessels of up to 2,000 dwt-can use the route
without difficulty, and 5,000 dwt boats can pass the entrance to the Mekong (the
'Main bottleneck) on favourable tides.

The Port of Phnom Penh succeeded Angkor Thom (after Siam captured it) as the
Khmer Empire's capital in 1434, but it was abandoned many times. Japanese
immigrants moved to the outskirts of the Port of Phnom Penh in the 1600s. In 1865,
King Norodom I re-established the Port of Phnom Penh and the permanent capita

Encyclopedia Britannica states that ‘the decline of Angkor began after

Jayavarman’s death (about 1220), when only a few stone monuments were
erected at Angkor, and only a few inscriptions were incised. Little by little,
the Khmer empire began to contract. Jayavarman’s campaigns
neutralized Champa as a threat to Angkor, but, by the early 13th century,
vigorous new kingdoms in what is now northern Thailand—centring on the city
of Sukhothai—became powerful enough to throw off Angkorean domination, as
did some Tai principalities in the south. In the mid-13th century, Tai armies
even raided Angkor. For the next 200 years, however, Angkor remained a
glittering, crowded, and wealthy city. It impressed a Chinese visitor, Zhou
Daguan, who arrived there with a diplomatic mission in 1296. Zhou’s account
is the longest and most-detailed extant description of the Khmer capital,
supplementing the bas-reliefs of the Bayon. He left a picture of a bustling city
in which the king still went forth in great pomp and ceremony.

Zhou also saw monks of the Theravada school of Buddhism at Angkor. The

more-orthodox and austere school flourished in kingdoms to the west of
Cambodia and contrasted sharply with the lavish and elitist rituals associated
with Hinduism and Mahayana Buddhism. When Zhou visited Angkor,
Theravada Buddhism was still one religion among many. Soon afterward,
however, it began to benefit from royal patronage, and the conversion of the
majority of the population probably followed the conversion of members of the
elite. Those disadvantaged by the change included the high-ranking Hindu and
Mahayana priestly families who had built and maintained the temples at
Angkor.

Some historians believe that the mass conversion to Theravada Buddhism—by

undermining the Hindu and Mahayana Buddhist institutions underpinning the
state and by encouraging through its doctrines a more-individualistic attitude
among believers—contributed to the decline and gradual abandonment of
Angkor, which certainly accompanied the conversion in the 14th and 15th
centuries. That view, however, has been challenged by those who, doubting
that Theravada Buddhism by itself could have had such a disintegrating
influence, note that Thailand, even though it followed Theravada Buddhism,
remained united and vigorous enough to conduct repeated military attacks on
Angkor and carry away hundreds and perhaps thousands of Cambodians into
captivity in Thailand. According to that opposing view, those Tai military
campaigns offer a more credible explanation for the collapse of Angkor than
does an interpretation identifying Theravada Buddhism as the primary cause.
Yet a third explanation that has been proposed as for why Angkor declined is
based on archaeological work on the site done in the late 20th and early 21st
centuries that found evidence that serious environmental degradation may
have undermined the region’s vital irrigation system.

Recorded Tai attacks on Angkor occurred in 1369, 1389, and 1431, and there

undoubtedly were other attacks as well. In 1351 a Tai kingdom whose court
modeled itself culturally on Angkor was founded at Ayutthaya (Ayudhya, or
Siam), not far from present-day Bangkok. The Tai capital remained at
Ayutthaya for the next 400 years. It is likely that a transfusion of
elite culture from Angkor to the more-prosperous, more-secure Tai court began
sometime in the mid-14th century. Many of the Khmer who remained at
Angkor were probably drawn southward to the vicinity of Phnom Penh (which
is thought to have been founded in the mid-15th century) by the region’s
commercial possibilities. In any case, the smaller, outward-looking Khmer
kingdom that had replaced Angkor in the south by the 16th century earned its
wealth primarily from trade rather than from intensive rice cultivation and the
mobilization of labour for public works.
Tai and Vietnamese hegemony

The little that is known of Khmer history in the years following the

abandonment of Angkor is a confusing mixture of uncertain dates, mythical
figures, and complex dynastic rivalries. Cambodian chronicles for that period,
composed several centuries afterward, are impossible to verify against
inscriptions or other primary sources. Between the mid-14th century and the
end of the 16th, while Angkor was still inhabited, the Tai court of Ayutthaya
was most likely absorbing some of its culture and prestige, and the political
centre of Cambodia was shifting to the south. Relations between the Tai and
the Khmer remained uneasy.’

Ying Yang of Power: In the late 16th century, a period of Tai weakness
following wars with Myanmar (Burma) coincided with a time of Cambodian
prosperity, and a Khmer monarch, Chan I (ruled 1516–66), reoccupied the
Angkor area briefly, restoring some of the temples, adding some bas-reliefs to
those at Angkor Wat, and leaving several new inscriptions. When the Tai
recovered their strength in the 1590s, however, they invaded Cambodia in force
and sacked the Khmer capital at Lovek, north of Phnom Penh, ushering in a
period of Cambodian weakness vis-à-vis its neighbours that has endured to the
present day.

Cambodian political history from the beginning of the 17th century until the
establishment of the French protectorate in 1863 is indeed a sorry record of
weak kings being undermined by members of their families and forced to seek
the protection of their stronger neighbours, Siam (Thailand) and Vietnam. That
Cambodia survived at all can be attributed to the fact that in the 18th century
the Tai and the Vietnamese had other preoccupations. In the 1750s and ’60s,
Tai energies were taken up by wars with Myanmar, whose armies sacked and
destroyed Ayutthaya in 1767. Between 1603 and 1848, 22 monarchs occupied
the Cambodian throne. By seeking Tai or Vietnamese protection against their
rivals in the royal family and against the foreign power temporarily out of
favour, they lost territory and sovereignty.

Soon afterward the Nguyen rulers of southern Vietnam were engaged in a

prolonged campaign to regain power from the usurping Tay Son rebels.
Fighting spilled over from Vietnam into Cambodia, and the Cambodian royal
family fled to Thailand. By the end of the century, a powerful Tai dynasty had
established the kingdom of Siam and had installed itself in its new capital in
Bangkok, and at the beginning of the 19th century, the Nguyen founded a
dynasty that governed all of Vietnam.

Angkor becomes Vietnamese: A confrontation between the two powers in

Cambodia was inevitable. In 1794, in exchange for placing a refugee
Cambodian prince, Eng, on the Cambodian throne, the Siamese appropriated
two Cambodian provinces, Bătdâmbâng (Battambang) and Siĕmréab (Siem
Reap)—the latter including the ruins of Angkor. Those provinces remained in
Siamese hands until 1907. When Eng died after a short reign, he was replaced
by his young son, who ruled as Chan II under the protection of Thailand.
Chan II’s reign confirmed Cambodia’s dual vassalage to Thailand and Vietnam.
With three rebellious younger brothers and demanding patrons at the Siamese
court, he sought assistance from Vietnam; the Siamese supported his brothers,
who took refuge in Bangkok. The uneasy calm that ensued, with Chan
acknowledging Siamese and Vietnamese suzerainty, ended with Chan’s death
in 1835. Vietnamese pressure was strong enough to ensure that a powerless
princess named Mei was then enthroned, permitting the Vietnamese to control
most of the country. Not until 1841, when Chan’s brother Duong (Duang; ruled
1848–60) returned from exile in Bangkok supported by Siamese troops, were
the Cambodians able to exercise a small degree of independence. Fighting
between the Siamese and the Vietnamese continued in Cambodia for several
years. Duong was crowned only after Vietnamese troops agreed to leave the
country. Cambodia again became a Siamese protectorate. Duong tried hard to
revitalize the kingdom’s institutions, but his resources were desperately
limited, and his reign was marred by several rebellions. When he died, he was
succeeded by his son, Norodom, but conditions were too unstable in the
kingdom for Norodom to be crowned.

My, how the mighty fall. The city was abandoned and its resources frittered
away, disappearing into the jungle. And yet the Khmer people left behind a
great legacy – arguably the greatest architectural legacy in a world, recognized
by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site: Angkor Wat. However Angkor was never
really lost, it disappeared, fair enough. No one lived there for a very long time.
But the Khmer people knew of its existence even after the kingdom broke
down. For untold numbers of years, many of the temples were used by
fisherman and farmers in the area. The number of stones it took to build the
temple at Angkor Wat is estimated to be between five and ten million – more
than the Great Pyramid of Khufu – many of which are covered in carvings.

The world’s largest religious monument, it is as high as the Notre Dame

Cathedral in Paris: over 64 metres. It is surrounded by five towers and a five
kilometre long,190 meter wide moat.

One of the things that makes the temple so astounding is that it took only 32
years to build. Much smaller buildings in Europe took three or four hundred
years to construct, and contained far less stone. Even considering the fifty
thousand workers that built it, the speed at which the temple was completed is
astounding.
Though scientists and historians have tried for years to explain the speed with
which this temple was built, there is no generally accepted theory. Millions of
large stones would have been ferried down an 87 kilometre canal. Although a
shorter 35 kilometre route has since been discovered, this miracle of
construction is still shrouded in mystery.

They were vicious warriors. The history of the Khmer people is carved into
the walls of Angkor Wat: wild boar fights, construction of temples, women in
the marketplace, etc. Thanks to this visual archive, historians have a good idea
of the daily life of the Khmer.A journal by a foreign diplomat in Angkor Wat
casts a wary eye on their military capabilities. Though they did not have any
great weaponry, these masters of combat fought with a ferocity that alarmed
the visiting diplomat. Significantly, the entire population was required to
participate in the Khmer Empire’s ongoing war with the Ayutthaya Kingdom.

Today- One of the biggest threats to Angkor Wat today is the jungle not
Hinduism or Buddhism. Many of the great temples have begun to recede into
the jungle. Enormous, hundreds of year old trees are growing around and
through the great temples of Angkor Wat, in some cases making the structures
impenetrable to visitors. Perhaps more seriously, its millions of stones are
being weathered away by rain, wind and sun. Without constant restoration
work, Angkor is set to blow away in the wind. Literally.New information about
Angkor Wat appears in the news yearly. Our fascination with this legendary
place continues unabated.

Here’s the thing about history: there are no such thing as facts. The deeper
historians dig, the more it becomes clear how little we actually know.

phnom phem 1832