29 septembre 2007
Bantey Kdai
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At the temple’s western entrance, one finds another example of the spirit of confusion, although less so than at Ta Prohm and Prah Khan, that is characteristic of the monuments built, transformed or completed by Jayavarman VII - and of the crowding of the sacred enclosure, which here is 63 metres by 50, set within a vast overall enclosure (700 metres by 500). At least two different styles are evident, relating to the periods of Angkor Wat and the Bayon, and the additions are clear, in many places masking the already existing sculptures. The various sanctuary towers were also apparently joined only after their construction by a system of galleries and vestibules which exploit the use of the cloister to its extreme. The scheme is reduced to an ensemble on a single level, in the usual manner of the Buddhist monastery, and consists, within two successive enclosure walls, of two concentric galleries from which emerge a veritable profusion of towers, preceded to the east by a crossing cloister.
The ruin is quite advanced, as much due to the numerous defects inherent in the buildings of this period as to the low-grade, friable sandstone that has a tendency to fail. One does not have information concerning the dedication of this temple, and so we are ignorant of its consecration. An inscription found in the western gopura of the second enclosure has been recognised as having been sculpted on re-used stones. Dating from the reign of Rajendravarman in the 10th century, it would seem to have come from the neighbouring temple of Kutisvara, and contains an invocation to Shiva. It also mentions the placing of two statues - Brahma and Vishnu.
The frontons and lintels of this Mahayanist monastery are interesting and of reasonable craftsmanship. Some have escaped destruction during the religious altercations of the 13th century. Until clearing work began there was still a pagoda on the site.
DESCRIPTION
The external laterite enclosure wall (fourth enclosure) has four gopuras which are exactly the same as those at Ta Prohm - an upper tower with the four faces of Lokesvara and corner motifs with garudas. They are evidently of the Bayon period, like the narrow cruciform terrace which, on the west side - at 200 metres from the entrance - crosses the moat and is decorated with lions and naga-balustrades with straddling garudas. 
The gopura of the third enclosure is cruciform in plan, has internal pillars and is covered with a crossing of vaults. It appears to be older and has three passageways - those at either extremity are independent and adjoin the 320 metre by 300 metre laterite wall. Their walls are sculpted quite crudely with foliated scrolls enlivened with small figures and with large devatas standing in niches. In the internal courtyard is a frieze of Buddhas which have been defaced by the iconoclasts.
Another pavement bordered with nagas leads to the gopura of the second enclosure, formed as a gallery with a wall to the exterior and an internal double row of sandstone pillars opening onto the courtyard. Some parts of this have been walled in, leaving only the lower side for covered circulation. The gopura, which is flanked by two secondary doors cut in the wall at the back of the gallery, forms a tiered tower. The ornamentation is in the style of the Bayon, with balustered false windows with lowered blinds and devatas with head dresses in the form of small flaming discs set in a triangle.
The vault of the galleries, since constructed in both laterite and sandstone, has lost all homogeneity and so in places has collapsed. The four gopuras of the first enclosure, like the corner towers, form prominent tiered towers linked by galleries. This ensemble would seem to be earlier than the style of the Bayon. The central sanctuary, which still carries some traces of sculpture, must have been hacked in order to receive a plaster covering. It has four avant-corps and a square sanctuary chamber where there still remain, resting on the cornice, traces of a wooden ceiling. The galleries and halls linking it in a cross to the four gopuras seem to be additions. One should notice the fine fronton with banded scenes on the eastern side of the first western gopura - and also the one on the south side of the first northern gopura, where one can see a sitting Buddha above a figure standing between two elephants.
The two small western courtyards, formed by the crossing of the galleries, each contain one of the isolated standing pillars with a top tenon which, like those in Ta Prohm and Prah Khan, must have supported some altar or lantern in light-weight materials. In the two other courtyards, two buildings opening to the west - the so called “libraries” - are in the style of the Bayon and were found to shelter in their main section - which forms a tower - two admirable female statues with neither heads nor arms, probably of the 10th century and originating from some other monument. With rounded breasts, a markedly “hipped” stance and flat buttocks, they have their torso naked and wear a long skirt with fine vertical pleats. The north-east and south-east corner towers of the first enclosure have been joined to the second gallery where one can see, forming a silhouette, a statue of a sitting Buddha, framed impressively against the sky beyond. Further on is the vast rectangle of a crossing cloister forming four smaller courtyards which served perhaps as a hall for ritual dance or as a “palace”. The pillars, like those at the entrances to the Bayon, are animated with charming apsaras - dancing individually or in pairs - sculpted in slight relief on the surface of the stone. Dvarapalas treated in bas-relief precede the entrance, surrounded by devatas. The upper sections have disappeared.
To the north of the pavement which follows, one can find the same hall of large, closely set columns which are also to be found in the two temples mentioned above. Although their function is unknown, they must have carried some light-weight upper storey. In the gopura of the third enclosure is the statue of Buddha sitting in meditation - previously described - which is reasonable in craftsmanship. One crosses the moats again on a large terrace that has its cruciform central area is slightly raised. The naga-balustrades here are again in the style of the Bayon, while the lions, which are quite squat, have their hind legs treated in an unusually decorative manner. Symmetrically placed to the north and the south of the principal axis stand the remains of two buildings in laterite and sandstone, formed of a central square room between two vestibules and opening to the east and the west. The southern one is the more imposing - its central crossing section and the joining of its two lateral wings being more developed. These must have been small sanctuaries, and one can see, reconstructed on the ground at the foot of the northern one, a fronton depicting the “Grand Departure” with the divinities supporting the horse’s hooves with their hands.
One leaves the temple by the east gopura of its fourth enclosure, whose tower with faces is better preserved than are the wings - its corner garudas remaining almost intact.
28 septembre 2007
Ta Prohm
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Even though the relentless force of the vegetation is the cause of so much damage, the École Française d’Extrême-Orient felt obliged to leave at least one temple in Angkor as an example of the “natural state” that so marvelled the early explorers, while also showing by comparison the importance of the effort already achieved in its work to safeguard these ancient stones. It chose Ta Prohm - one of the most imposing and the one which had best merged with the jungle, but not yet to the point of becoming a part of it - as but one specimen typical of a form of Khmer art of which there were already
other models. The concession to the general taste for the picturesque could be made, therefore, with not too much reluctance, in order to enable each to give free rein to their own imagination and emotion.
Ta Prohm is a Buddhist monastery typical of the last formula of the Khmer temples in which the ensemble, laid out on a single plane, no longer followed the principle of multiple levels, but where the notion of elevation was rather expressed by the rising of the towers and predominant central sanctuary from within an arrangement of concentric galleries. Here these number three, and the principal east-west axis, formed by a succession of towers and passages, gives a sort of ‘sacred vista’ straight to the heart of the monument. The “horror of the void”, a sentiment particular to the Khmer, has unfortunately favoured the proliferation on this framework of numerous parasitic buildings which, particularly to the east, either enhance or detract without any apparent logic.
The overall site is enclosed by two successive walls, the outer of which measures 600 metres by 1000. It may seem surprising that the temple as such with its three concentric galleries, consisting of all the elements of a grand composition, has been crowded into a meagre square of 100 metres each side which is itself lost in a park of 60 hectares. One should not forget, however, that - if one is to believe the inscription - there were 12,640 people living within the interior of the enclosure, including 18 high priests, 2,740 officiants, 2,232 assistants and 615 dancers...
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While for some time all the various temples in the style of the Bayon were attributed to a single king - Jayavarman VII - during his twenty or so years reign, today it seems more likely that he could not, in such a short time, have done more than just transform, extend or complete already existing religious establishments with his mark. A monument as intricate as Ta Prohm was not built in a single throw, and shows traces of numerous alterations and adjustments. Some parts, in terms of style, are quite close to Angkor Wat, while others are to the Bayon.
The stele of Ta Prohm is inscribed on its four sides and was found in a part of the gallery preceding the eastern gopura of the second enclosure. It gives the date of 1186, later by five years than the accession of Jayavarman VII, and describes the placing of a statue of the king’s mother in the form of Prajnaparamita, the “Perfection of Wisdom”, considered as “mother of the Buddhas”, so classifying Ta Prohm in the category of temples consecrated to the glory of deified parents. After a listing of ancestors and the description of a victorious expedition to Champa, it attributes to the prince the setting of 260 statues of divinities, as well as the one of his “guru” or spiritual master, and the construction of 39 pinnacled towers, 566 groups of stone habitations, 286 in brick, and 2,702 metres of laterite enclosure wall.
3,140 villages and 79,365 people were involved in the service of the temple, whose particulars the text lists with a great delight for detail – including notably the existence of 5 tons of gold plates, 512 silk beds and 523 parasols. After defining the celebration of certain festivals it then also describes the foundation in the kingdom of 102 hospitals.
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DESCRIPTION
Only the western of the four gopuras relating to the external laterite enclosure is well preserved - except for its corner motifs with large garudas which have almost entirely disappeared. It is, clearly in the style of the Bayon, a tower with four faces of Lokesvara on a crown of devatas in prayer, with two smaller wings to either side. From here, a 350m track through the forest leads to the fourth gopura.
This is preceded by a cruciform terrace forming a causeway across the moat, on which are the remains of some lions, dvarapalas and of naga-balustrades in the style of the Bayon with their straddling garudas. The laterite and sandstone building is itself badly ruined, but the areas of wall which remain standing give an indication of its original grandeur.
With the view to the internal courtyard that follows, one is plunged into a surreal world. On every side, in fantastic over-scale, the enormous pale trunks of the silk-cotton trees soar skywards under a shadowy green canopy, their long spreading skirts trailing the ground and their endless roots coiling more like reptiles than plants. A cruciform paved terrace with nagabalustrades in the style of the Bayon, serving some of them as a base, leads to the next enclosing gallery - which is the third from the centre of the monument.
A single dvarapala armed with a club guards the axial entrance to the gopura. This has three towered passageways and extends considerably inbreadth with walls abundantly decorated and sculpted with devatas. Turning to the right, one enters the gallery that has a double row of columns to the exterior and its interior wall, which remains without openings, decorated with large images of the Buddhist trinity sheltered in shallow niches - which have been systematically destroyed during the religious reaction of the 13th century. The light under these vaults - which are admirably preserved and show clearly the technique used by the Khmer of successive corbelling on horizontal beds - is a gentle, serene green.
Returning to the southern lateral entrance of the third gopura, one emerges to the right in a large surrounding courtyard with vegetation-capped towers, and, circulating around the narrow verge formed by the projecting base plinth of the building’s east side, one returns to the axis where, from the west, one enters the sanctuary wherein lies a reclining Buddha. Then descending the few steps of its southern stairway, one crosses the rightangled courtyard of the south-west quarter. Through the southern tower, atits eastern extremity, one can penetrate to the internal courtyard of a small ensemble, enclosed by galleries, whose centre is marked by a sanctuary tower preceded by a long room to the east. Opposite is a fine fronton showing a group of divinities holding the hooves of the future Buddha’s horse in order to muffle their sound during the “Grand Departure”.
Returning to the right-angled courtyard, one enters the small door that pierces the southern part of its western side to pass through the laterite and sandstone gallery of the second enclosure, with its double row of pillars towards the interior. These are held by the roots of a tree growing on the vaultitself which so appears to be suspended - held aloft by its grasping tentacles that hang to the ground like the limbs of a massive, slumbering beast.
Turning again towards the axis one enters - by its western door - the western gopura of the first enclosure which one follows to the right towards the south, to then exit by the second opening - which is preceded by a small portico - into the central courtyard of the temple. This measures 24 metres each side. Here one can see that an excavation carried out in the south-west corner revealed a 1m.10 high sculpted base plinth, completely buried, which must previously have considerably lightened the composition. Here stands a solitary square pillar with a top tenon, supporting no doubt some small lightweight altar, while a “library”, opening to the west with a vestibule, is set in the south-east corner. The walls of the gallery are covered in sculpture, like a continuous embroidery, and while the execution is perhaps a little crude, the decor remains nonetheless charming, with its frieze of pendants, its foliated scrolls animated with figurines and its devatas sheltered in niches - their hairstyles, with small flaming discs set in a triangle, are in the style of the Bayon.
The vault itself is channelled to represent false tiles and decorated with a repeating vertical motif. Forming a quincunx with its corner towers strongly accentuated, the shapeless mass of the central sanctuary, which one traverses from the north to the south, seems incongruous in its undecorated form - the stone has been hacked in order to receive a plaster covering, some traces of which remain, that must have been painted or gilded. Internally, the regular small holes suggest the existence of a lining in wood or metal.
Leaving the northern part of this courtyard by its eastern gallery – after having first stopped to admire the finesse of the devatas on its walls – one passes through a door that is eerily framed by the roots of a gigantic tree.
Then turning left into the gloom of the first gallery, one emerges at the north door of its north-eastern corner tower to turn right into the second gallery, with its lower side-aisle on doubled pillars, which one leaves towards the east by a small avant-corps.
Finding oneself in the large courtyard of the third enclosure in front of a lone sanctuary tower, one turns left towards the north to take a look at the small group of structures with a surrounding gallery and central tower which is symmetrical to the one already encountered on the south side of the main axis. Returning towards this axis, one passes between two rows of matching towers - and just by the one which has the west fronton sculpted with a row of feminine figures with naga heads, one squeezes into a tight passageway leading to the stele, which is found in part of a gallery close by, not far from which is a fronton showing, under a palace scene, a figure taming a horse.
Emerging from the same narrow opening, one climbs over some fallen blocks to walk through to the third gallery. Here one passes through a vestibule joining the central mass of its gopura to its northern wing. On the main axis a young tree has grown on the frame of the eastern entrance, enveloping each of its jamb stones in its roots with perfect symmetry.
In front, the main entrance opens to a large rectangular enclosure of 20 metres by 30, surrounded by high walls decorated only to the north and south with magnificent false doors. This forms an internal cloister with four small courtyards formed by a crossing of galleries with side-aisles. The composition, situated outside the sacred enclosure and quite different to the other buildings of the monument, perhaps related to the “
In the north-west corner one can see a curious freak of nature; - a tree, having dislodged the stone pillars, has substituted instead one of its roots which supports the whole weight of the galleries architrave. Passing through this unfortunately badly ruined crossing cloister from end to end, one arrives at the imposing eastern gopura of the fourth enclosure. Cruciform in plan with internal pillars, four wings and two lateral passageways, the enormous capping stone at the crossing of the roof vaults has fallen to the ground - where it still lies, intact.
Restrained in style and fairly close to that of Angkor Wat, this gopuras s decorated on two sides along its lateral passageways with remarkable panels of bas-reliefs. To the north, beyond a laterite wall, one can see a hall of closely placed pillars - similar to the ones at Prah Khan and Banteay Kdei - which must have carried an upper storey in light-weight materials. Its use remains a mystery. Further beyond, all the way around the inside of the fourth enclosure wall, stand the remains of small rectangular cells.
The moats are crossed by a vast sandstone-paved terrace, whose central area is cruciform in plan and slightly raised. It was decorated with lions and with naga-balustrades of which the hoods, without garudas, are certainly earlier than the style of the Bayon. Further - to the north of the axis - is a typical shelter for pilgrims. Half collapsed, it has its thick walls decorated with windows that have a double row of balusters. Its central sanctuary must have been consecrated to the bodhisattva Lokesvara, represented on the south fronton. A shaded path leaves the temple, whose fifth and final enclosure is encountered 400 metres towards the east; - its gopura is similar to the one to the west, but is reduced to some sections of wall where there still remain traces of the corner garudas.
27 septembre 2007
Terrace of Elephants
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The terrace of the Elephants in its present form extends in length for over 300 metres -from the Baphuon to the terrace of the Leper King - though the two extremities remain imprecise in their layout and the terrace itself shows evidence of additions and alterations.
Along the square it presents five perrons, three of which dominate. The southern of these is framed by motifs, already found on the gates of Angkor Thom, of three elephant heads with trunks forming pillars tugging at lotuses.
The same arrangement can be seen on the two secondary stairways which frame the central perron. As the most imposing, this has its side walls - as well as the walls of the terrace itself up to the secondary stairways - sculpted with lions and garudas “as atlantes”. Above, the various changes in level are marked with lions sculpted in the round and naga-balustrades on blocks with garudas on their hoods, clearly in the style of the Bayon - except for a few earlier ones that have no garuda.
The northern extension has, rather than an axial stairway, two steep symmetrically arranged stairs. Another stairway on the northern façade is, like that on the southern, sculpted partly with garudas and lions “as atlantes”, partly in a bas-relief of horizontal bands representing scenes of sport, wrestling, chariot racingand polo - which originated from India.
The other panels have been sculpted for their entire length in a high relief of elephants mounted with drivers. Represented in profile and almost full in size, they are depicted with some realism in hunting scenes and surmounted by a naga-balustrade on blocks.
The upper terrace - from where one can see the enclosure walls and the eastern gopura below of the earlier Royal Palace - has two levels with a four metre wide border towards the square and an upper platform of 10 metres, with a base sculpted with “Hamsas” (sacred geese). It certainly occupied by light-weight palatial pavilions, whose nature one can only guess at. The remains of some laterite blockwork lie just in front of the northern end which must have been clad with sandstone bas-reliefs.
An excavation undertaken just in front of this blockwork showed that the layout of this area had been altered. One can see - effectively in a kind of pit - a panel sculpted in high relief that can only have been part of an ancient façade, with expressive craftsmanship showing some remarkable modelling. It represents a horse with five heads - the king’s horse sheltered under tiered parasols - surrounded by apsaras and menacing genies armed with sticks who chase some terrified smaller figures.
On the second southern stairway of the central group, another excavation has revealed some superb garudas and lions “as atlantes” in perfect preservation and aligned with the front of the main façade. This would seem to prove that this stairway was an addition.
26 septembre 2007
Leper King Terrace
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The terrace of the Leper King lies just to the north of the Terrace of the Elephants, aligned with it but standing separate. As a mound of masonry about 25 metres across by 6 high, it forms a redented bastion with sides that are lined in sandstone and entirely sculpted with figures in a high relief, juxtaposed and separated in seven registers - the uppermost of which has almost entirely disappeared. Although now standing isolated - joined only at its north and south by the start of some returning walls - it is probable that this motif was previously but one element in a vast composition, perhaps complemented with pools, that has evidently undergone some later alteration.
The clearing work has revealed the existence, at two metres behind the outer face and following its line, of a second system of walls, also sculpted in bas-reliefs that are identical in composition - the void between them was filled with laterite that had to be extracted by pick. The fact that some of the sculptures on the internal wall remain in rough form and that the start of its north-south return towards the Elephant Terrace seems to align with it leads one to suspect that there must have been a simple modification to the plan, perhaps decided during the course of the work by a sovereign who was little concerned with practicalities of construction. It is not impossible, however, that this curious arrangement was a response to some symbolic preoccupation with the concept of Mount Meru, - with the buried wall representing theunderworld of the cosmic mountain, balanced by its volume visible in elevation.
Whatever the reason, both the internal and external bas-reliefs are intentionally monotonous in presentation. They show only lines of seated figures, apparently representing the various fabulous characters - Naga, Garuda, Kumbhanda - which haunt the flanks of Mount Meru, shown as giants (sometimes with multiple arms), sword or club bearers, and women with bare torsos whose costume and triangular head dress with flaming discs relate to the style of the Bayon. To appreciate the exterior reliefs, ond should not forget to examine the north side - the best preserved - and its northern return that runs parallel to the road, where the start of some palace scenes are treated in quite a different spirit. One can see here in particular a sword swallower and some followers wearing a curious side-chignon.
Returning to the south side, one enters the internal corridor where the decor, set on a lower frieze of fish, elephants and the representation of a river running vertically, follows with the same elements as the exterior but is here enhanced with apsaras. Long protected, the sculpture remain very well preserved. At the end of the scene some laterite steps allow access to the upper level of the terrace.
Surrounded by three smaller decapitated statues carrying clubs on their right shoulders, the “Leper King” sits in the Javanese manner with his right knee raised. Resting on a simple stone slab just where he was found and which perhaps corresponds to his original position, he offers the peculiarity that he is entirely naked - a unique phenomenon in Khmer art - though with no indication of any genitalia. He also has no sign of leprosy other than a few patches of lichen - his celebrity being more literary than artistic. Uninspired in craftsmanship and a little foppish in nature, he must rank amongst average works without attaining the first order.
The statue of the “Leper King”, held by some to be a representation of “Shiva ascetic” is perhaps, in fact - if one is to believe a short 15th century inscription on the base - a “Dharmaraja”. This name is sometimes given to Yama and sometimes to one of his assessors - “the Inspector of Qualities and Faults” - the supreme judge in the hour of judgement. Coedes considers that the hair-style - which is quite particular to this individual and formed of thick coils starting from the front and covering the nape of the neck - emphasises, like the two “fangs” near the corner of the lips, his demonic character.
The Terrace of the Leper King with its superimposed levels of fabulous figures is without doubt a representation of the ‘Meru’, and the fact that it occupies an area to the north of the Royal Palace - the area in Phnom Penh as in Bangkok reserved still now for royal cremations known as ‘Val Prah Men’ (the name of the pavilion prepared there for the funeral pyre) - leads one to suspect that the Terrace of the Leper King was none other than a permanent Men, which would explain why, at a time when this cult was still remembered, images of Dharmaraja, the ‘god of the Dead’, were placed there.
25 septembre 2007
Bayon Faces
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24 septembre 2007
Bayon
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Separated by less than a century, the Bayon is the antithesis of Angkor Wat. While this latter sits at ease in its successive enclosure walls, realising according to a spacious plan a vast architectural composition through the harmonious equilibrium of its towers and its galleries, the Bayon, enclosed within the rectangle of 140 metres by 160 that constitutes its third enclosure (the gallery of the bas-reliefs), gives the impression of being compressed within a frame which is too tight for it. Like a cathedral built on the site of a village church, its central mass is crammed into its second gallery, of 70 metres by 80, in a jumbled confusion of piled blocks.
The Bayon is not so much an architectural work as the translation to reality of the spiritual beliefs of a grand mystic - the Buddhist king Jayavarman VII - with the four faces of each tower looking to the four cardinal points signifying the omnipresence of the bodhisattva Lokesvara, the kingdom’s principal divinity. If the towers corresponded to the different provinces of the kingdom – then their multiplication becomes symbolic of the radiant power of the god-king flooding the country.
However, the masked towers were also sanctuaries which can be considered as emanations of the bodhisattva Lokesvara. In the central tower was the idol itself of the kingdom - the “Buddha-king”, corresponding to the royal linga or “Devaraja” of the Brahmanic temple mountains. Sitting on the coils of a naga, the features probably represented king Jayavarman VII himself.
The origin of the faced towers, a motif which did not in any case survive Jayavarman VII, remains to be discovered. The theme in fact is the same - that of the omnipresent god.
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DESCRIPTION
In its present form the temple is composed of:
- the level external gallery of the third enclosure, with four corner pavilions and four gopuras,
- a surrounding courtyard containing, to the east, two high libraries,
- the gallery of the second enclosure at varying levels with four corner towers and
three intermediate towers on each side, the central of which forms a gopura,
- a system of galleries forming a redented cross with corner towers and four
small square courtyards,
- an upper terrace, the outline of which follows at a slight distance the plan of the cross-formed galleries below, which it clearly dominates,
- and a circular central mass, whose peak towers 43 metres above the surrounding city ground level and which is ringed with an arrangement of loggias, preceded to the east by a series of small halls and vestibules and, finally, flanked on each of its other axes by a high tower.
Approaching the monument from the eastern terrace, one reaches the pillars of the cruciform gopura of the third enclosure, on which one can see the delightful motifs, sculpted in bas-relief within poly-lobed niches and set on a background decorated “in tapestry”, of groups of two or three apsaras dancing on lotus flowers. From here, turning to the left, one enters the gallery of the bas-reliefs that one should follow according to the ritual manner of “pradakshina” (keeping the monument constantly to one’s right) until reaching the south gopura.
This gallery is formed by a nave bordered to one side by a 4m50 high wall - 3m.50 of which is sculpted - and to the other side by a double row of pillars forming a side-aisle. All the surrounding vaults have disappeared, as have those of the cruciform corner pavilions and gopuras.
The visitor with limited time should at least examine the reliefs in this south-east quarter gallery - the most interesting - pausing in front of each opening to the internal courtyard to enjoy the composition from different viewpoints.
From the south gopura, where there stood a curious statue of a hunchback and still is a delightful frieze of large apsaras above the north door, one enters the surrounding courtyard which one crosses to gain access to the axial tower-gopura, forming part of the system of galleries on varying levels.
The general north-south axis of the Bayon is considerably offset to the west, leaving the rectangle of the second enclosure wider to the east. Here, the external section of the galleries, while simulating a half-vault on their exterior, have on their inner side a full vault covering a series of bas-reliefs whose continuity is broken by each tower.
Turning right at the centre of the tower-gopura one follows, towards the east, the internal gallery with a side-aisle. At its far end - in the south-east corner tower situated at a lower level - one can see a statue of Buddha sitting sheltered by naga heads, set clearly against a background of light.
Bearing to the north, at the first encountered tower, one continues through the gallery of the redented cross that is bordered by a half-vaulted side-aisle. From here the view is blocked in less than a metre by the retaining wall of the upper terrace, added as an afterthought and which exactly follows its line, so completely masking the tympanums with scenes on each of the corner frontons. One descends to the small square courtyard of the southeast corner and gains - by the southern tower of the group of three which mark the eastern side of the second enclosure - the first stairs on the left, which lead up to the large terrace. This route gives a clear idea of the jumbled complication of the Bayon’s plan and of its countless alterations. The courtyards which must have existed in the initial form of the monument have been reduced to gloomy passageways without light or air, and one feels a long way from the elegant simplicity of Angkor Wat.
On the upper terrace, mystery reigns. Wherever one wanders, the faces of Lokesvara follow and dominate with their multiple presence, always countered by the overwhelming mass of the central core. These towers, rising everywhere to varying heights, are not in fact heads with four faces which could have been taken for some representation of Brahma, but simply a variation on the theme of the square “prasat”, with four upper tiers and a crowning lotus, - but sculpted on each axis with human faces, varying from 1m75 to 2m40 in height, within the rising of the first two tiers.
Composed of a structure with a central chimney that had generally remained intact, and with facing blocks that are simply placed without any bonding in a manner that offers no resistance to roots, the towers appeared, after clearing, to be cracked from top to bottom - their vertical joints, stacked without any overlapping, having caused the mass of stones to split like an over-ripe fruit. Dismantled and reconstructed according to the process of anastylosis and now held together by invisible iron cramps, the composition was just saved from the imminent ruin that threatened it.
The central mass is - a rare thing in Khmer building - circular in plan (in fact slightly oval) measuring over 25 metres in diameter at the base.
Above its moulded plinth, small triangular or rectangular loggias open to little porticoes with frontons forming a peristyle. Higher still is another level of small chambers, without access and lit by balustered windows, and then, marking the four cardinal points and their intermediaries, eight towers with faces - of which only a single face stands out in entirety - surrounded by a kind of circular walkway.
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THE BAS-RELIEFS
The Bayon is the only temple to have two concentric galleries sculpted with bas-reliefs; - the internal gallery is complete in its ornamentation and was almost exclusively reserved for mythological subjects of Brahmanic inspiration, while the outer gallery, accessible to the mass of the faithful, was dedicated both to scenes of everyday life and to certain historic episodes - processions and battles - from the reign of Jayavarman VII. Remaining incomplete, these were to have shown scenes of contemporary mythology under the aegis of Lokesvara, of whom the deified king himself was but an emanation, given life by the sculptor’s chisel.
The Bayon bas-reliefs are less stylised and more deeply incised than those of Angkor Wat, and although often quite crude in execution and simplistic in form, they provide a source of documentation which is remarkable, both for the care taken in the representation of the smallest detail and for the qualities of observation which they show - and it is practically the only source we have that gives an idea of the customs and conditions of life in ancient Cambodia.
They are sculpted in superposed registers, with the lower panel representing, for the ancient Khmer who were ignorant of the laws of perspective, the foreground, and the upper panel the horizon. Starting from the eastern entrance, we begin with the southern section of the eastern side, keeping the monument to our right in accordance with the rite of “pradakshina”.
1 OUTER GALLERIES (3rd ENCLOSURE)
EAST GALLERY, SOUTHERN PART
Here, in three highly accomplished registers, is a military procession marching from the south to the north. The soldiers are armed with javelins and shields, and most have short hair and bare heads, while a group on the lower register wear goatee beards and strange hair styles pierced at the top.
Musicians accompany them, with a small dancing figure beating an enormous gong with two sticks. They are flanked by cavaliers riding with neither saddle nor stirrups, while the chiefs are armed with bows or javelins and surrounded by parasols and banners in a forest setting. They sit on elephants guided by their drivers who brandish the usual hooks.
Towards the end of the line, enlivened with charming everyday scenes, one can see the army suppliers - the covered carts with axle-skates are exactly the same as those still in use today. On the upper panel, three princesses pass by, carried in rich palanquins. At the other end is the ark of the sacred flame, also to be found in the “historical gallery” of Angkor Wat.
Passing the door to the courtyard the direction of the march is reversed. The upper register, where one can see interior scenes and a few ascetics, has only its lower area remaining and shows again the same nature of procession, but where the elephants are only ridden by their drivers. The coconut-palms are treated in realistic fashion, while one can see to the extreme left of the upper register, tied to a tree, an ox probably destined for sacrifice.
Beyond, in four tiered panels, follow scenes of interiors. The roofs of the houses are shown with their finialed ridges on which several birds are perched. The particular nature of the hair-styles, the costumes and the objects suspended from the ceiling lead one to suspect that the figures represent some Chinese merchants in business discussion.
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SOUTH EAST CORNER PAVILION
The sculptures of this gallery remain unfinished, with the first panel giving a good indication of the working methods of the Khmer. Passing a wall that has first been prepared (and of which one should note the unlikely bonding), they proceed with the direct sculpting first drawn in sketch, - then slightly relieved, - then given volume - and finally finished. Two charming apsaras dance to the right, while to the left are outlined three towers surmounted by a trident. The central shelters a linga. The other panels are dedicated to nautical scenes.
SOUTH GALLERY EASTERN PART
This section, which is one of the best, relates to a naval combat that took place in the last quarter of the 12th century between the Khmer (whose hair is cut short) and the Chams (coiffed with a sort of upturned lotus flower).
It shows a conflict of battleships with richly ornate prows - like galleys – where the line of oarsmen’s heads is dominated by warriors armed with javelins, bows and shields. Bodies are thrown overboard, some to be devoured by crocodiles.
The larger king is sitting in his palace to the extreme right, presiding over preparations and giving orders, while below him a gambolling figure recalls the buffoons who rouse the oarsmen during water festivals in Phnom Penh. Numerous species of fish are shown, often amongst the trees – since the forest becomes flooded during the rainy season - faithfully reproducing the features of those that one can still find in the Great Lake today.
On the banks of the lake, as a lower register, events from everyday life are shown, depicted with much candour and humour; - market scenes, scenes of open-air cooking, of hunting or of attack by wild animals. A woman picks lice from one figure, while another plays with her children and a further mourns an invalid who lies in her arms. To the extreme left, a hunter, preparing to shoot a buffalo, holds his crossbow - similar to the weapon still favoured in present day Cambodia.
Past the door is a fishing scene showing casting nets - a junk, apparently mounted by Chinese, displays the curious arrangement of its anchor and pulley - while the occupants of another, which is flatter, amuse themselves with various games. At the base are more familiar scenes including a cock fight that is superbly composed with a great intensity of expression.
Then come palace scenes - princesses surrounded by their servants, dances, conversations, games of chess - with wrestlers, gladiators and a wild boar fight below. The whole scene is surmounted by the faint outline of a larger reclining figure - this could perhaps be the king taking possession of his palace according to the rite, still in use, of the coronation ceremony. The battle continues. At the bottom we can see the Chams arriving in their battle junks. They land and, above, they battle against the Khmer who, in the form of giants with short hair and their bodies coiled in ropes, clearly dominate. Peace returns and the king, sitting in his palace, celebrates victory amidst his subjects who perform their various trades - as carpenters, blacksmiths, cooks - in preparation for a banquet.
To the far left, next to the last door that one passes, a narrow panel shows three registers with scenes of conversation above scenes of wrestling.
22 septembre 2007
Ta Som
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From the eastern Mebon, Ta Som appears on the right, a little after the 13th kilometre marker stone, as a tower with four faces of Lokesvara entwined within the roots of a giant Ficus tree that crowns it perfectly. Several of the roots have pierced the vault and descend straight to the ground, obstructing part of the passageway.
Cruciform in plan, this gopura is flanked by two small rooms and adjoins the 200 by 240 metre laterite wall of the external (the third) enclosure. Its western lintel shows the standing bodhisattva surrounded by worshippers. There is a similar gopura to the east with the same fronton, preceded externally by a small terrace bordered with naga-balustrades - the temple having a double entrance.
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Ta Som lies on the extension of the Prah Khan-Neak Pean axis, and must represent, in its diminutive size, a single unified development typical of the monuments appearing in the last period of the style of the Bayon. It appears to be exactly like the external enclosures of Ta Prohm and of Banteay Kdei. In all its parts the same elements recur - false windows with lowered blinds, small devatas - which are rough and rustic - and an embroidery of organic decoration on a background of foliated scrolls in profusion on the walls.
In an advanced state of ruin, the various buildings which still stand have been the object of some provisional consolidation and basic clearing work. The internal courtyard remains littered with fallen blocks and the ensemble is, in its verdant setting, quite charming. After the first gopura, a pavement bordered by nagas with large garudas crosses the moat. The laterite wall of the second enclosure is divided to the east and west by cruciform sandstone gopuras, each with small wings to either side and open only to the outside with balustered windows. Preceded by porticoes, they are covered by a crossing of barrel-formed vaults.
The first enclosure is formed by a gallery of 20 metres by 30. These are built in laterite and sandstone, as are the corner pavilions with their crossing vaults and moulded false doors. The four gopuras, entirely in sandstone, are in the form of a tower with two reducing upper tiers topped with a crowning motif. The plan remains the same as the other enclosures, as does the mural decoration.
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Walking around the exterior one passes successively the north-west and north-east corners – the latter of which has completely collapsed - to gain access to the internal courtyard by the small door in the gallery, situated on the south side between the south-east corner and the gopura.
Climbing over the fallen blocks, one will see the two “library” type buildings on the right, opening to the east - the northern of which is badly ruined - and then the imposing mass of the central sanctuary, cruciform in plan with four vestibules. The sanctuary chamber, which is open on its four sides, has an ornate cornice and is decorated “in tapestry” at the base of the walls.
The tympanums of the gopuras, sculpted with banded scenes, are not without some interest - particularly that on the south side of the north gopura, where four figures in prayer frame a fifth who stands. Defaced at the time of the 13th century Brahmanic reaction he was carried, as are the others, on a lotus and surmounted by flying figures. In the south-west and north-west corners of the courtyard stand two sandstone pillars with a top tenon that are similar to those at Prah Khan, Ta Prohm and Banteay Kdei.
21 septembre 2007
Neak Pean
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Just beyond Krol Ko, the 300 metre route leads to the small island of Neak Pean. This is the “Mebon” of the Prah Khan baray (the “Jayatataka” of the inscription) measuring 3,500 metres by 900 - the two monuments being aligned on the same axis. The island, of 350 metres each side, was defined by a system of laterite steps with pavements set on the axes. Small elephants must once have stood at the four corners since there is still one in place - to the north-east.
King Jayavarman VII placed the “Jayatataka” - the “
The symbolic character of Neak Pean is so established. Already in 1877 Delaporte saw there a building consecrated to the Buddha attaining the glory of Nirvana, with a series of pools cleansing the pilgrims of their sins and lifting them to supreme perfection. In the central basin lies a replica of lake Anavatapta, to be found in the region of the Himalaya at the summit of the world and venerated in India for the healing powers of its waters. It is the source of the four large rivers of the Earth that flow through as many sculpted gargoyles, corresponding to the four cardinal points, which one can also find here with some slight variation.
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In the middle of the now dry northern baray, Neak Pean itself is but a series of “srahs” (pools) – some with stone surrounds - whose outlines were found within the limits of the laterite enclosure. In plan, a large square pool of 70 metres each side is bordered by steps and has at its centre - surrounded by similar steps - a circular island of 14 metres in diameter on its upper level with a small sanctuary. Four secondary pools of 25 metres each side flank it on the axes, marked by four chapels set into the common surrounding bank.
Two nagas surround the base of the circular island with their tales entwined to the west - from where derives the name Neak Pean. Their heads - separated in order to allow passage to the east - are treated in the manner of the naga Mucilinda which shelters the statues of the Buddha. These are, with their axial head coiffed with a “mukuta”, a representation of the two large Nagarajas - Nanda and Upananda - often associated in Indian literature with lake Anavatapta.
The upper platform appears as the enormous corolla of a lotus blossom, a motif repeated at the base of the prasat by a row of 16 opposing petals, undercut with a groove and particularly pleasing. The Buddhist sanctuary, although the idol had disappeared, has two upper tiers crowned with a lotus and frontons dedicated to the life of the Buddha, - the “Cutting of the Hair” to the east, - the “Grand Departure” to the north, - and Buddha (defaced) meditating under the Bodhi tree to the west - while the southern tympanum has been defaced. The plan is cruciform with an east door – the three others having been walled in and then sculpted with three fine panels containing large images of Lokesvara, the compassionate bodhisattva.
It appears that the sanctuary itself, originally open to the four cardinal points, had its entrance stair enlarged to form a cross - with a banal decoration of devatas - and was rounded by the addition in the inward corners of the three headed elephant which one also finds at the gates of Angkor Thom, but here surmounted with a rearing lion instead of the figure of Indra.
In similar fashion, on the circular island, an earlier system of steps in laterite and sandstone with a perron to the east was covered with the present surfacing, which is ornate and all in sandstone. It is possible that these additions and alterations corresponded to a change in cult or destination. Neak Pean, though dedicated to the Buddha at the time of its construction, would have been avowed to Lokesvara only towards the end of the reign of Jayavarman VII, at the time when the pools were arranged for healing ablution or purification.
Whatever the reason, the ornamentation of the initial prasat – and notably of its pilasters and frontons - places it in that part of the 12th century subsequent to Angkor Wat, while the unity of style and conception of the monument confines it to a limited period.
The four chapels are set into the steps of the central pool just to the base of their frontons, and are all similar. Each is open to the secondary pool, with the line of the opening arch following the full tympanum of the gable end wall. Composed of a continuous nave whose oval formed corbelled vault is decorated internally with lotus coffers and with, at the back, a mid height platform serving as a base for a mascaron gargoyle and a plinth for an idol, each has the external appearance of a groin-vaulted central core, square in plan and surmounted by a pinnacle, which is extended, on its main axis, by two gable ended avant-corps - the whole then flanked laterally on each side by three similar but less dominant projections.
The four buildings served for the ablution of the pilgrims who, to judge by the motifs on the frontons, hoped to be cured of their illnesses or afflictions. Crouched on a circular lotus base bearing the imprint of two bare feet, and thus elevated symbolically above the level of their physical reality, they showered themselves with water flowing from the gargoyle that was fed from the exterior by a channel. This channel terminates at the large pool in a sort of ornamental stone bowl, also in the form of a lotus blossom, surmounted with a feminine bust with her back to the steps, where the officiant would have practised the rites.
The mascaron gargoyles - in the form of an elephant’s head to the north, a horse’s head to the west and lion’s to the south - are mediocre in execution - with the exception of the human head to the east, which is truly a work of real craftsmanship.
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Sculpted images must once have embellished four axial platforms forming redents at the base of the island. Only to the south has it been possible to identify some blocks of lingas in a multiple setting - no doubt part of the “thousand lingas” described in the inscription of Prah Khan - while to the east is the horse Balaha. It is a form taken by Lokesvara, as the saviour of men. Heading towards the sanctuary as if to safety, the flying animal - the major part of whose body is unfortunately missing - carries the merchant Simhala and his companions in misfortune who, hanging to its flanks, are being rescued from their shipwreck on the island of the rakshasis (Ceylon), where the resident ogresses were in the habit of awakening their obliging hosts of the previous night with their gnashing fangs. The group, hanging from the tail of the horse, is remarkable in its composition and craftsmanship.
Until it was damaged by a storm in 1935, the central sanctuary of Neak Pean was crowned by an enormous Ficus, the sacred tree. In an extraordinary arrangement, its overhanging branches gave a haunting charm to the composition of the monument. Having become its living skeleton, it had formed a rigid foundation with the sinews of its roots framing the sculpted panels and overshadowing the water - but in return, however, managing to crumble much of the superstructure and dislodge that which remained.
20 septembre 2007
Prah Kan
The large ensemble of Prah Khan, forming a rectangle of 700 metres by 800 surrounded by moats, covers an area of 56 hectares. It is, like Ta Prohm with which it has many analogies, an example typical of the formula adopted by Jayavarman VII:
- all the elements of a vast composition compressed into a relatively small space (the third enclosure contains all of its buildings in only 175 by 200 metres),
- the transformation of an elegant initial plan into a veritable architectural chaos by the multiplication of additional buildings placed at random
- all then enclosed within a vast habitation zone that was probably covered with huts and timber houses.
The jambs of the sanctuary door openings give proof in short inscriptions of the multiplicity of the pious foundations - naming the idols which represent as many deified dignitaries and giving the monument the character of a kind of temple of remembrance, rather like a necropolis. A stele discovered in 1939 reveals that it was here the king won victory (personified in the name of Jayasri) and founded a city of the same name: “Nagara- Jayasri”. It is also quite likely that Prah Khan was a city.
In contrast to Ta Prohm or Banteay Kdei - other foundations of Jayavarman VII - the four access paths crossing the moats are here bordered by the same lines of giants holding the naga. At Prah Khan, as in the distant city of Banteay Chmar where they can again be found, this element was the mark of a royal city, further confirmed by the planning of the entrances that are set on level ground, in contrast to the usual arrangement, in order to allow the passage of carts and elephants. Prah Khan, where one finds no faced towers like those at the Bayon, or outer enclosures as at Ta Prohm, Banteay Kdei, Ta Som or Angkor Thom – and which must therefore have preceded them - quite probably served as the provisional residence of Jayavarman VII during the reconstruction of his capital, devastated by the Chams in 1177.
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Prah Khan, like most other temples of Jayavarman’s reign, is not uniform in style. It shows evidence of numerous alterations and additions - and although a Buddhist monastery, there is nonetheless an abundance of Brahmanic iconography.
It has two concentric galleries and, similarly, two enclosures formed by simple walls - the closest to the centre containing important groups of galleries and sanctuaries on the axes which, as a crossing cloister to the east, become veritable temples in reduction in the other orientations. From the east to the west, as from north to south, is a long line of door openings, vestibules, rooms and galleries.
The temple was previously overrun with a particularly voracious vegetation and quite ruined, presenting only chaos.
The external gopura of the fourth enclosure has three towers, the central of which has four upper tiers and forms a clear passage at ground level, so dominating the two others which have only two tiers and secondary doors. Here one can clearly see all the characteristics of the Bayon style - the general decoration of the walls that are embroidered on a base of foliated scrolls, small devatas and false windows with partially lowered blinds. Large garudas brandishing the naga, over five metres in height, stand with their backs to the laterite wall on each side of the building - a motif that is repeated every fifty metres along the surrounding three kilometre external enclosure.
At the corners they are more developed, and stand in their full glory – we would particularly draw attention to the one in the north-east corner, which has been fully restored and is accessible from the north gate by skirting the outside of the wall. One of the finest works of Khmer statuary, a kneeling Prajnaparamita with a divine purity of expression, was found in this gopura during the clearing works.
To the north of the forest track leading to the third enclosure and still practically intact stands the “house of fire” for the pilgrims, mentioned in the inscription. It is similar to the one at Ta Prohm, with particularly thick walls and windows with a double line of balusters. Its multiple corbelled vault, which undulates like the framing line of a fronton, allows the principal room an exceptional width of 4m70 overall.
A vast terrace on two levels with lions and naga-balustrades in the style of the Bayon allows access to the five-doored gopura, which aligns its three towers and its two extreme pavilions on a front of nearly a hundred metres, the whole being linked by galleries with pillars to the outside and a rear wall ornate with false windows with balusters towards the courtyard. To the south of the axis, a pair of large trees, resting on the vault itself of the gallery, frame its openings and brace the stones in substitute for pillars in a caprice of nature that is as fantastic as it is perilous.
From here to the interior of the third enclosure, contained within a laterite wall, there is the usual cruciform court forming four small courtyards surrounded by galleries with side-aisles on pillars. Certain elements of the half vaults, carefully coursed and dressed, are still in place, with their ornamentation of lotus blossomed coffers. Above the openings, the presence of several remarkably fine apsara friezes confirms the probable use of this area as a hall for ritual dance.
Leaving by the north one can see, to the side of a pavement bordered with nagas, the curious arrangement of massive closely set pillars which also exists at Ta Prohm and Banteay Kdei - with the exception that here they stand as large cylindrical columns - the only example in Angkor in this dimension. They serve to support a first floor in masonry, whose window frames have been reconstructed on the ground, though no trace of any access stair has been found. Opposite is a long raised terrace with laterite retaining walls.
Returning to the principal east-west axis of the monument, one then passes through the ritual dance hall, which one leaves by a courtyard enclosing two “libraries” within its walls, opening to the west, and a pseudogopura that forms a tower.
The cruciform gallery that follows seems to be slightly later. Its ornamentation is excellent, with the dvarapalas and devatas in high relief framing the openings, its frieze of sculpted - though defaced – Buddhas separated by gracious winged figurines and its corner garudas. Up at the back, barely visible in the half-light, the eastern fronton on the gopura of the first enclosure is quite particular in nature with its palace door motif framing two figures - male and female - mounted on a base and elegantly dressed.
To the left, the first small courtyard has been cleared. It must have been delightful, with its surrounding cloistered gallery ornate with gracious devatas - until one of the towers, still in rough form, came as an unfortunate addition to obstruct its near totality.
The stele, discovered miraculously intact under a pile of rubble, has been replaced in its original location in the western vestibule of the first gopura. Practically identical to that at Ta Prohm and of the same size, it is inscribed on each of its four sides with 72 lines of angular writing that is characteristic of the late 12th century.
Two minuscule “libraries” with a particularly dense ornamentation frame the western door, whose imposing fronton - consecrated to the glory of the triumphant king - has been repositioned. Surrounded by large trees which so far it has been possible to spare, a vast cruciform hall with pillars separates the north-east and south-east quarters from the internal courtyard which, not yet cleared, is choked with more or less ruined buildings. Its walls are peppered with small holes and it must once have been covered, like the interior of the central sanctuary that follows, with wooden or metal panels. The sanctuary is clearly offset to the west and so divides the court into two unequal parts.
The main tower is cruciform in plan and has four avant-corps, and externally would seem to have been sculpted and then pitted to receive a covering of mortar. Within its eastern vestibule was erected a large statue of a standing Lokesvara with eight arms that would seem to correspond to the “Lokesa called Shri Jayavarmesvara”. According to the foundation stele this should have been found in the main tower, and is in the image of the father of Jayavarman VII. Clearly in the style of the Bayon, the countenance is inspired with the same serene spirituality as the statue of the kneeling deified princess represented in the aspect of the Prajnaparamita - the two seeming to be by the same artist. The whole effect is concentrated in the expression of the face that glows with an imperceptible smile and an intense vitality. The simply modelled body stands firmly on oversized legs and has the peculiarity of being “irradiating” - it is covered with tiny figures of the Buddha from the toes, ankles and wrists to the chest, shoulders and the small curls of the hair. The only two hands which remained holding the disc and the rosary were broken off and stolen in 1945, during the Japanese occupation. The central sanctuary is now occupied by the crowning motif of a stupa, the elements of which were found in the rubble of the sanctuary chamber. From here, the four lines of rooms and galleries which stretch to the four cardinal points can be viewed with their delightful play of shadow and light.
Taking one of the monumental galleries with double side-aisles which leave it on three of its axes, the visitor with a little time can explore either to the south, where from the avenue of giants (which no longer stand), the perspective stretches through a clearing in the forest to the moats of Angkor Thom - or, better, to the north, where the chains of devas and asuras have been re-established on either side of the pathway leading to the 8th kilometre of the Grand circuit.
The third gopura north is surrounded by some delightful trees, the “sralaos” with their white channelled trunks, which frame it beautifully. Its principal entrance is preceded by two enormous dvarapalas and a cruciform terrace, and has an interesting fronton; - it shows a lively scrum which is probably an episode from the battle of Lanka (Ramayana). Passing through the small cloister that forms a complete temple between the second and third gopuras, one can find a Ganesha in the central tower and, on its eastern axial gallery, two superb frontons of Brahmanic inspiration - the “Reclining Vishnu” and “Shiva between Vishnu and Brahma”.
Leaving the central sanctuary towards the west, one should visit the north-west and south-west quarters of the internal courtyard of the first enclosure with their numerous buildings sited without order and sometimes juxtaposed. Some of them are vaulted, unusually, with a cloistered arch. The centre of the courtyard is marked by one of the isolated standing pillars with a top tenon, similar to those in other temples of the same period and which perhaps carried a miniature wooden temple containing some offerings. Each corner of the first enclosure gallery is marked by a high tower with reducing upper tiers - the one to the southwest has been reconstructed. It is interesting that, on the walls of the two symmetrical pavilions closest to the central sanctuary, the ascetics in arches on the north-western quarter remain unscathed, while on the south-western, the images of the Buddha have all been defaced. Passing the first and second gopuras and continuing through the small temple in reduction with cloistered galleries like those encountered to the north and south, one can see a fronton representing “Krishna raising mount Govardhana” to shelter the shepherds and their flocks. It should be noted that all the tympanums with scenes in this part of the temple are dedicated to Vishnu and his various manifestations, in accordance with the convention for images of this god, so closely associated with the west.
The large gopura of the third enclosure has its central core formed in a crossing of aisles with groined vaults supported on pillars, with half vaulted side-aisles. It is quite close in style to Angkor Wat, though the external decoration, crowded with numerous figurines on a base of foliated scrolls that covers the entire surface of its panels, is very much in the style of the Bayon.
Among the fine frontons one can see; - to the east, on a royal embarkation, the “chess players” which one can also find in the south-west gallery of the bas-reliefs at Angkor Wat - and to the west, an episode from the battle of Lanka (Ramayana). The western door is found with its two dvarapalas and its access terrace guarded by lions, once again practically intact.
A long cutting through the forest creates a dramatic vista that accentuates the monumental character of the composition and finally allows one to exit the temple through the three towered gopura of its fourth enclosure - whose restoration intervened just in time to save the ruin of its crumbling structures whose vaults only remained in place by a miracle of balance. The pavement bordered with giants that crosses the moat was restored to its original condition, with complete success on the side of the asuras, as was the avenue of decorative bornes with defaced Buddhas that joins the road of the Grand circuit at its seventh kilometre.
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19 septembre 2007
Pre Rup
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An impressive work of impeccable proportions, constructed almost entirely of warm coloured materials (laterite and brick) at a time when sandstone was only used sparingly, Pre Rup needs to be visited either early in the morning or at sunset. Its relatively recent clearing required particular attention, the brick monuments needing special care in the removal of the soil, the fallen materials and the entangling roots.
Later by a few years than the eastern Mebon and identical in style, Pre Rup is the last realisation of the “temple-mountain” that preceded the advent of the continuous surrounding galleries - which had their antecedent in the line of long rooms around the base. This is the “Meru” in the form of a pyramid, crowned with a quincunx of towers and dedicated to the deified nobility, with twelve small sanctuaries sheltering lingas on each of the tiers, as at Bakong. The inscription, after listing the genealogy of Rajendravarman, gives the foundation date (961) and names the monument as Rajendrabhadresvara, after the linga placed in the central sanctuary. There is then the designation of the statues placed in the corner towers - their cult corresponding to that of the king himself (Shiva) - identified as one of his maternal ancestors (Vishnu), his maternal aunt (Uma) and his half brother, king Harshavarman (Shiva), the son of this maternal aunt. The text explains that the royal essence or “spirit” of the sovereign was incorporated in his image, which was erected during his lifetime.
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Axial on the Eastern Mebon and dominating the wide cultivated plain irrigated by the baray, the temple-mountain of Pre Rup was certainly the centre of an important settlement - the “eastern City” that developed on the return of the capital city from Koh Ker, to where it had moved between 921 and 944.
It is not known why the Cambodians have always attributed a funerary character to this temple. The name Pre Rup (“to turn the body”) recalls one of the cremation rites, where the silhouette of the corpse in its bed of cinders is successively turned to different orientations. A large tank at the base of the east stair to the pyramid is considered by some to have been used in such ceremonies - and the funerary link continues in the legend of the careless King whose passion for sweet cucumbers caused his untimely death at the hands of his gardener.
Architecturally, Pre Rup is composed of two enclosures, each with four gopuras, and a pyramid of three narrow tiers, conceived as a simple pedestal for the five towers of the upper platform. The eastern part of the last enclosure is occupied, unusually, by two groups of three towers aligned symmetrically with respect to the axis, set on a common plinth. One of these - the first to the north of the entrance - remains un-built, although its base platform has been prepared - unless perhaps the bricks have been re-used elsewhere following its demolition. The central tower of each group of three predominates and is more developed than usual, with a square sanctuary chamber of 5 metres each side and upper tiers which reduce slightly but are particularly high - their colossal dimension causing the upper sections of brickwork to crack, and in places collapse. The bricks are larger than normal and laid as usual without mortar but with a thin vegetal adhesive placed in the horizontal joints after the bricks had first been ground together.
These towers are not mentioned in the inscription and are presumably subsequent since they remained unfinished. The false doors in sandstone, surmounted by their lintels, remain in rough form with only some outline traces of decoration. The most complete lintel is on the east side of the southern tower, showing Vishnu in his manifestation as a lion clawing the king of the Asuras, who had claimed the same honour as the god. The octagonal colonnettes with four bands give a forceful impression of strength. Approaching from the road, the badly ruined access gopura is
preceded by a small lion in the style of the Bayon, brought from some other monument. Its central brick section between two sandstone vestibules is formed of three adjacent rooms flanked by two independent passageways.
The enclosure wall, of 120 metres by 130, is in laterite, and the surrounding courtyard has preserved but a few remains of the long rest rooms accessible to the pilgrims. Constructed with sandstone pillars in the eastern part and laterite walls with variously arranged balustered windows elsewhere, these were roofed in wood and tiles.
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