Secrets of the Khmer Empire

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Since prehistoric times, the Indo-Chinese peninsula has been inhabited by the Mon-Khmer peoples, who, most likely, themselves came here at an even earlier period from Indonesia and Polynesia. The territory of their settlement was much wider than the area of present-day Cambodia, and occupied the south of present-day Myanmar, almost all of Thailand, southern Laos, all of Cambodia and most of Vietnam. These peoples were at a very high stage of development.

The Khmer empire, which grew on Indian culture, existed for almost 500 years, before, obeying mysterious circumstances, unexpectedly collapsed under the onslaught of enemies.

The fall of such a powerful state continues to haunt the minds of researchers who name various possible reasons: the destruction of the perfect irrigation system as a result of a series of powerful earthquakes, salinization of mercilessly exploited soils, endless exhausting wars, massive popular demonstrations, the consequences of catastrophic droughts and destructive typhoons that replaced them, which befell this region in period 1362-1392 and 1415-1440

Most likely, it was the totality of all the circumstances that led to the fact that Angkor fell, was plundered and abandoned by its rulers in the middle of the 15th century. But the abandonment of the capital did not mean the death of the nation, and there were still 400 years of struggle for survival, during which it was really not about the independence of the country, but the physical destruction of the people inhabiting it.

The beginning of French colonization proved to be a boon for the people of Cambodia, who escaped total extinction. Having received a little help from France, which put an end to the claims of neighbors to their territory, having a clear idea of the great past of their ancestors, the Khmers very soon regained their own self-esteem.

Thanks to the preservation of their main values - language, traditions and religion - the people revived their culture and statehood.

By the middle of the XX century. Cambodia gains independence and again goes its own way, under the leadership of Prince Norodom Sihanouk, starting the construction of the People's Socialist Community "Sangkum" (Hope), based on the principles of Khmer Buddhist socialism.

But this plan was not destined to come true. The coming to power of the bloody regime of Pol Pot in 1975 marked the beginning of the most terrible chapters in the history of Cambodia.

In an attempt to eradicate "outdated" moral and ethical norms and instill new socialist values, the bearers of traditions, culture and religion, such as teachers, clergymen, and representatives of the intelligentsia, were outlawed.

Never before has the genocide of one's own people led to the death of more than a quarter of the country's population in such a short time. Almost all libraries and educational institutions were destroyed, monasteries and churches were ravaged.

For 3, 5 years of the "cultural revolution" Cambodia was thrown far back, having suffered colossal damage, including in relation to its historical heritage.

Over the centuries that have passed since the fall of Angkor, in the fate of Cambodia you can hardly count several decades of calm, peaceful life, but terrible, fatal blows have not been able to break its people.

Despite all the hardships, the inhabitants of this country are still full of optimism, and they always smile openly and sincerely in response to a smile.

It's amazing how tenacious the ridiculous myths are. The history of Angkor abounds in tales of a city lost in the impenetrable jungle, accidentally discovered by Europeans at the end of the 19th century, full of countless treasures and wild monkeys.

Sometimes it may seem that describing the history of these places, the authors compete with each other in ridiculous inventions. To be fair, there are monkeys in Angkor, but there is no trace of the jungle, and all of it, in fact, is a precious treasure, which, however, has never been lost.

Angkor Wat is located 5.5 km north of the modern city of Siem Reap, the capital of the province of Cambodia of the same name, and is part of a temple complex built in the area of the ancient capital of the Khmer state, the city of Angkor.

Angkor covers an area of 200 square kilometers; recent studies indicate that its area could be about 3000 square meters. km, and the population reached half a million inhabitants, thanks to which it was one of the largest human settlements of the pre-industrial era.

Despite the fact that direct descendants of the builders of Angkor lived in Cambodia, who had the deepest respect for the titanic deeds of their ancestors, a supernatural explanation of the origin of the monuments was adopted in the West for a long time. They were ready to attribute their authorship to anyone: Atlanteans, Hindus, Romans, Alexander the Great, but not the Khmers.

In his book, which was published after his death, Henri Muo (1826-1861) describes his impressions of his meeting with Angkor as follows: with any monuments preserved from ancient times.

I have never felt so happy as I do now in this gorgeous tropical setting. Even if I knew that I would have to die, I would never trade this life for the pleasures and comforts of the civilized world."

But even the official science and history of art are unable to provide a rational explanation for the origin of architectural masterpieces, for a long time they bypassed them in silence and, moreover, characterized them as very mediocre in their design and implementation.

Small forms of sculpture that came to France, represented mainly by figurines of deities, aroused admiration for the impeccable execution of details, but not for the general artistic design. Khmer art was taken as a primitive imitation of Indian models.

The issue of perception of Khmer art was part of a general problem associated with a lack of understanding of the scale and scope of construction in this region.

The clearing of the monuments, which began by Jean Commay only in 1907, after Siam returned the northern provinces of Battambang, Siem Reap and Sisophon, and continued intermittently until the mid-60s, gradually revealed their grandiose grandeur and uniqueness.

Parks, canals, artificial lakes and magnificent buildings could be seen as a prelude to the concepts of André Le Nôtre and many other famous modern landscape designers. With their majesty, clarity of plan, harmony, proportionate proportions, thoughtfulness of architectural details, general consonance, many of Angkor's monuments could easily withstand comparison with the finest creations of classical Western architecture.

Here, for example, what Henri Marshal wrote about Angkor Wat: "The century of Louis XIV would gladly accept these lawns, pools, wide avenues in front of the main temple, the silhouette of which looms more and more clearly as we approach it."

Through India, the Khmers adopted many themes of Greek, Roman and Egyptian art, with some reminiscences of Arabic or medieval European art.

China also had a certain influence. In turn, you can find some Khmer notes in the style of the Renaissance, Baroque or Rococo.

Angkor Wat is the most expressive example of the architecture of the Khmer Empire, the first temples of which were erected in the 6th century. This gigantic temple complex was built by the ruler Suryavarman II (1113-1150).

Neither the capsule, laid down at the beginning of construction, nor modern inscriptions referring to the temple have been found. Therefore, its original name is unknown. But perhaps the temple was known as the Location of Saint Vishnu.

One of the first western visitors to the temple was Antonio da Madalena (Portuguese monk who visited it in 1586). He said that “this is such an unusual structure that it is impossible to describe it with a pen, especially since it is unlike any other building in the world. …

It has towers and decorations and all the subtleties that a human genius can only imagine. However, the temple was previously visited by another Portuguese - the merchant Diogo do Coutu, whose travel notes were published in 1550.

The complex was "opened" to European civilization in 1860 by the French traveler Henri Muo, although it is known that there were Europeans in these places before him. So, about five years earlier, the French missionary Charles-Emile Buyevo visited Angkor, who described his observations in two books

In the 70s. some structures and sculptures of the complex have suffered from acts of vandalism by Pol Pot's soldiers. In 1992, along with other structures of the city of Angkor, it was taken under the auspices of UNESCO and is the main tourist attraction in Cambodia.

It must be said that Khmer temples were not a place of gathering of believers, but served as a dwelling place for the gods, and access to their central buildings was open exclusively to representatives of the religious and political elite. Angkor Wat is distinguished by the fact that it was also intended for the burial of kings.

The architecture of Angkor Wat is organically combined with its sculptural design. Sculptures play an architectonic role here. On three tiers of the temple's bypass galleries, there are bas-reliefs on the themes of Hindu mythology, the ancient Indian epics "Ramayana" and "Mahabharata", as well as on the theme of Khmer history.

The most remarkable are eight huge panels on the first tier with compositions "Churning of the Milky Ocean", "Battle of Kurukshetra" and others, the total area of which is 1200 sq. M. The walls of the second tier are decorated with about 2000 figures of heavenly maidens - apsare.

The stones that make up the structure are extremely smooth, almost like polished marble. The laying was carried out without mortar, while the stones are so tightly fitted to each other that sometimes it is impossible to find the seams between them.

Stone blocks sometimes do not have any connections and are held only by their own weight.

Historians speculate that the stones were set in place using elephants, which served as a lift in the block mechanism. A. Muo noted that most of the stones have holes with a diameter of 2.5 cm and a depth of 3 cm, and the larger the stone block, the more holes on it. The exact purpose of the holes is unknown.

Some researchers suggest that the holes were intended to connect stones to each other using metal rods, others that temporary pins were inserted into these holes, which served to facilitate control of the movement of the stone during installation.

For the construction of the complex, a huge amount of sandstone was used, comparable to the amount that went into the construction of the Khafre pyramid in Egypt (more than 5 million tons).

Sandstone was brought from the quarries to the Kulen plateau by rafting along the Siem Reap River. Such transportation had to be done with great care to avoid overturning an extremely heavy load.

According to modern estimates, such a construction in our time would take more than one hundred years.

However, Angkor Wat was started shortly after the accession of Suryavarman II to the throne, and finished soon after his death, that is, after no more than 40 years.

Currently, Angkor and the temple complexes that make up it are a historical reserve.