THE GLOBAL AFRICAN COMMUNITY
T R A V E L N O T E S
|
THE MIGHTY MONUMENTS OF ANGKOR
(Part 2)
December 12, 1999
From RUNOKO RASHIDI
I came away from my November 1999 trip to Southeast Asia with the belief that the temples and monuments of Cambodia are about as impressive, with the clear exceptions of Egypt and possibly India, as any that currently exist. Enshrouded as they are by massive jungle growth, the monuments of Angkor are simply splendid to look upon and reflect the sustained creative genius of Black people.
The initial kingdoms of Southeast Asia emerged by the third century C.E. The region attracted Indian attention as a rich source of coral, forest and mineral products, all of which were extremely valuable. In order to secure regular access to these products, small colonies of Indian merchants were gradually established at strategic points throughout the area. With these Indians came their ideas about government and administration, literature and religion, architecture and engineering and the introduction of new technologies. Through the impetus of these Indian colonies (including strong Dravidian elements) and the native genius of the indigenous Mon-Khmer people, both of which were highly Africoid and numerically significant, came the first known Southeast Asian monarchies. There is no evidence of large-scale migrations, armed invasions or forced conversions.
THE HIGH STATUS OF WOMEN AND INTELLECTUALS IN KHMER SOCIETY
The women of Angkor occupied an exceptionally high position in Khmer society, with upper-class women spending much of their time in intellectual pursuits. Not only were the genealogies of Angkor generally matrilineal in character, they repeatedly reveal the names of the grandmothers, mothers, wives, sisters, daughters and granddaughters of the king. Christopher Pym, an Angkor scholar, pointed out that:
"Women occupied a dominant place in Khmer life, but the influence of upper-class women was marked. Usurpers of the Khmer throne had to show their relationship to previous kings through intermarriage. In priestly families descent and inheritance followed the female line."
Each Angkor temple possessed two library buildings. Manuscripts were abundant and scholars were highly regarded. The reign of Jayavarman V (969-1001), in particular, reflects a period of great intellectual prowess and the high stature of women in Khmer society. Lawrence Palmer Briggs, one of the most important modern chroniclers of the history of early Southeast Asia, wrote that:
"There is probably no reign in the history of the ancient Khmers in which more distinguished ministers, scholars, dignitaries are mentioned in the inscriptions. The exalted trust to Prana by the king, the praises of Indralakshmi in the inscriptions and her erection of an image of her mother, and the foundations of Jahnavi, show the high social and political positions held by the women of Cambodia at this time. Chinese writers praise the women of Cambodia for their knowledge of astrology and government, and say the women of the royal family sometimes held high political posts, including that of judge."
KING JAYAVARMAN VII: ANGKOR'S GREATEST MONARCH AND MOST PROLIFIC BUILDER
The reign of Jayavarman VII (1181 to 1219) marks the height and the beginning of the decline of the kingdom of Angkor. The earlier kings of Angkor had been Hindus but Jayavarman was a devout Buddhist monarch whose second wife, Indradevi (described as "intelligent my nature, scholarly, very pure, devoted to her husband"), became chief lecturer at a Buddhist foundation. Jayavarman VII was a militarist and a colossal builder comparable in stature to king Usemare Ramses II (Ramses the Great) of pharaonic Egypt. Altogether he lived more than nine decades, also like Ramses II, and ruled with strength and wisdom. When he was past sixty he embarked on a series of military campaigns that extended the Khmer empire to Malaysia in the south, to the borders of Myanmar in the east and to Laos in the north. Indeed, Jayavarman VII was so successful in his wars with Vietnam that during the last period of his reign central Vietnam was essentially an Angkor province. In Sanskrit the word varman means armor; jaya means victory. Jayavarman thus represented the "protector of victory."
The major monuments of Angkor are dominated by Jayavarman VII with nearly half of them credited to him. In 1181, Jayavarman VII was proclaimed king in the battle-scarred and essentially war devastated Khmer capital, and many of the monuments of Angkor reflect his reconstruction efforts and seemingly ceaseless building projects. Indeed, as magnificent as it is, Angkor Wat is only one of 215 sites in the immediate region. Other famous sites include the Bayon, the sculptured stone mountain at the center of the six-square-mile walled city of Angkor Thom (about a mile northeast of Angkor Wat) and the capital of the Khmer empire from the late tenth through the early thirteenth century. To protect Angkor Thom, Jayavarman constructed a moated stone wall around the city, with five monumental bridges. The city and its environs must have had a considerable population. It is more spacious than any of the walled cities of medieval Europe, and could have easily contained the Rome of Nero's day.
The Bayon is my favorite Angkor temple. From a distance it seems a mere mass of stone. But as one approaches the temple in its park-like setting, you are immediately struck by the hundreds of huge African looking faces that dominate the building. The Bayon, a temple second in size only to Angkor Wat, is an intricate, eight hundred-year-old shrine celebrated for the gigantic stone faces of its builder, Jayavarman VII. In 1297, a Chinese merchant named Chou Ta-kuan described the Bayon as shining with gold and exclaimed that "On the eastern side is a golden bridge, on each side of which are two golden lions, while eight golden Buddhas are placed at the base of the stone chambers." An inscription on the Bayon temple pertaining to Jayavarman states that, "He suffered from he sicknesses of his subjects more than from his own: for it is the public grief which makes the grief of kings and not their personal grief."
Ta Prohm and Preah Khan, monuments almost has large as Angkor Wat, were also erected by the prolific Jayavarman, and were designed by him as mausoleums for his mother and his father respectively. The inscription of Ta Prohm reveals that there were 102 hospitals in the Khmer empire when Jayavarman VII reigned. The medical personnel in each hospital consisted of two doctors, two pharmacists, fourteen guardians, eight male nurses, six female nurses, six orderlies, two cooks, two clerks and sixty general assistants.
The Preah Khan temple, a genuine labyrinth of pavilions, halls and chapels, immerses about a square mile of ponderously wooded land just north of the enclosed city of Angkor Thom. According to the dedicatory stele dating to 1191, the site sheltered 515 pietistic portraits which were embellished with immense quantities of silk veils and golden jewelry set with diamonds, emeralds and pearls.
Copyright © 1998 Runoko Rashidi. All rights reserved.
Revised: November 04, 2000.
Webpage design: Kenneth Ritchards