Nanditha Krishna

The last time I visited Cambodia was in 1990, in the middle of a vicious civil war. In the midst of this was a band of brave young Indians from the Archaeological Survey of India, struggling to restore one of the greatest monuments ever built, the temple of Angkor Wat at Siem Reap. With no
local skilled workmen or equipment except a crane, they saved Angkor Wat from the ravages of nature and man's neglect and greed.

Cambodia is still desperately poor and struggling to survive, but it has done so gracefully. India, France, Japan, Germany, Italy, China, Switzerland and Unesco's World Monuments Fund and International Coordinating Committee for the Safeguarding and Development of Historic Sites of
Angkor have all stepped in, each taking up a temple or two for restoration. It is a wonderful example of international cooperation for the conservation of culture, to save some of the greatest creations of all time. The Cambodians are contributing their mite. The roads and public toilets are
spotlessly clean; all the new constructions, including hotels built by international chains, are mandatorily built with the traditional sloping tiled roofs.

And the tourists are arriving in hordes. There is a lesson for us there. With little or no money, by keeping their surroundings clean and preserving their ancient culture, buildings and precincts, Cambodians are earning good money from tourism - and conserving their heritage.

Angkor - the French version of the Cambodian Nogor, meaning city - was a result of the same urbanization movement that engulfed ancient and medieval South India. Covering an area of 200 square kilometers in northwest Cambodia, it lies in the basin created by the Tonle Sap Lake, on the Mekong
River. The river, unable to cope with the volume of the melting Himalayan snows, backs up during the monsoon season (May to October), leaving behind rich alluvial soil that was responsible for the Khmer (from Khambuja, hence Kampuchea and Cambodia) choice of Siem Reap for the Angkors.

Around the second century AD, Indians arrived in Funan (South Cambodia-Vietnam), and a Brahmin named Kaundinya married the daughter of the local Naga king and introduced Hindu religion and culture and Sanskrit to the region. The power center shifted to Angkor from the ninth to fifteenth centuries A.D. The founder of the first Angkor at Rolous (ancient Hariharalaya) and the Devaraja or god-king cult was Jayavarman II. His descendant Indravarman I built the first temple-mountain or Mount Meru at Bakong and a temple tank or Indratataka, both of which were to define Angkorean temples of the future. Three other Angkorean sites were Phnom Bakheng on a natural hill, Yashodharapura where the king Suryavarman II built the great Angkor Wat, and the mysterious Angkor Thom.

This great culture was destroyed by the Thais in the 14th century, but limped along till it was abandoned and the capital shifted to Phnom Pen in the 15th century. Meanwhile, Theravada Buddhism of Sri Lanka had embarked on an aggressive evangelical mission to South East Asia, so the Hindu and Mahayana Buddhist temples of Angkor were forgotten and covered by the rich tropical forest till Henri Mouhot, a French naturalist, aroused French interest in the 19th century. The restoration of this rich heritage then commenced, but has never been completed.

Cambodia achieved what the Indian subcontinent never could: the confluence of Hindu cults and regional cultures. The culture is frozen in time, limited to concepts from the Vedas, Ramayana and Mahabharata, unlike temples in India that are Puranic. Every temple recreates the ancient concept of
jambudvipa with Mount Meru at the center, as a tall multi-tiered pyramid. The garbagriha at the top of Meru is a literal recreation of the womb of the universe, and the deity within is the source of creation, something we forget when we enter crowded sanctum sanctorums in India. The outside walls
are decorated with the gods, dvarapalas and beautiful apsaras with whom the local women identify.

The main object of veneration may be Shiva or Vishnu or Buddha, but the walls would contain stories of Rama, Krishna and the ascetic Shiva on a hill. The most popular motif is the samudra manthana, the churning of the ocean by the devas and asuras for the divine nectar, where the tortoise is the
base on which Mount Meru is placed and churned, unlike later Indian literature where Vishnu is identified with the tortoise. There are several Sanskrit inscriptions written in Pallava Grantha.

Surrounding the Angkor temples is the temple tank or Indratataka, a typically South Indian feature wrongly described as a moat by Europeans. The tall spires are Dravida (terraced), but there are elements of Gupta, Pallava, Chola and Oriya in the sculpture and architecture of the temples. The
early temples at Roluos were made of brick, clay and stucco. Later, laterite and sandstone were preferred, materials susceptible to weathering and vegetation growth.

Phnom Bakheng, the first Angkor city-temple, has the best view of Angkor Wat, particularly at sunset. Angkor Wat is truly a wonder. It occupies about 500 acres bounded on all four sides by a wall and an enclosed tank. The causeways, flanked by enormous nagas and lions, represent rainbows. The temple is 65 metres high, made up of three platforms, progressively smaller, with covered galleries defining the borders, and is a replica of the cosmos. The first level contains 1200 square metres of carved sandstone galleries illustrating scenes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata. The precision and excellence of the carvings are unrivalled, particularly the churning of the ocean for amrita. There are rare scenes such as the Hindu heaven and hell presided over by Yama with Chitragupta keeping score, the Kurukshetra war, and Suryavarman's own battles with the Chams, his army made up of Thais and Khmers. There are four sanctums, now containing images of the Buddha placed therein by Theravada Buddhists, but down below are four enormous Vishwaroopa Vishnus that were once worshipped by Suryavarman II in the 12th century.

Angkor Thom, the "great city" and last capital, is unique, made up of 360 acres surrounded by a wall and an outer moat 100 metres wide. It is entered by five gopuras or gateways; in the center is the Bayon temple, made up of 54 towers with four faces each, the whole suggesting a massive sculpture rather than a work of architecture. Who these faces represent is a mystery - Brahma, Shiva, an Avalokiteshvara or Vishnu?

There are countless temples around Siem Reap that deserve to be visited. Among the important ones are Banteay Srei, an exquisite pink sandstone structure with triple superimposed frontons and intricate carving; Ta Prohm ("grandfather Brahma") with huge trees growing out of the temple like
something out of Rudyard Kipling; Srah Srang, the artificial tank (like a Tamil yeri), and several others, each with a distinctive feature which brings alive ancient Hinduism. This time I went on a trek through the Kulen mountains to Kabal Spean where, under the clear waters of a flowing river,
were carved an enormous Anantapadmanabha-Narayana lying on the snake Ananta with the lotus holding a seated Brahma issuing from his navel - and 1000 Lingas. It was a wonderful sight.

It is a pity India has forgotten the Angkors. A visit to Siem Reap is essential to understand Hinduism and to appreciate Indian art. There is a visible happiness in the deities that is rare in the more withdrawn imagery of India. The temples are mysterious and haunting as they brood over the
dark jungle, guarding secrets of an ancient people lost in time.

Till the arrival of Theravada Buddhism, there was great integration of various religions: Hindu, Buddhist and local animist. I shall never forget an ancient Shiva linga I saw in the museum on my earlier visit: it had four figures on four sides: Shiva, Vishnu, Brahma and the Buddha. How
wonderful!

Nanditha Krishna is Director, C P Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation and can be reached at
nankrishna@vsnl.com