The Kmer Empire
The earliest date for the first Cambodian King Jayavarman 1 was 657CE. His was a peaceful kingdom that lasted about thirty years. His fall during the eighth century split Cambodia. During this time period the Kmer kings saw an increase of power. These included territories of Funan. The major Hindu sects of India coexisted in Cambodia. This includes Shaivite and Vaishnava sects. These would play important parts during the Angkor period. Also important was the cult of Harahari, a form of Shiva and Vishnu combined. There was very little trace of Buddhism in this period. As to social structure maternal descent was of key importance.
After the year 706 Cambodia split into two. This occurred with the fall of Funan and the early Kingships of Chenla. Chenla then split into two parts: Land Chenla and Water Chenla. The apparent cause of this was the death of Jayavarman 1 who did not leave a male heir. Little is known about the two Chenlas.
During the eighth century Land Chenla sent out several embassies to China. Meanwhile at Water Chenla various monuments to Mahayana Buddhism were constructed.
— Reuben Rutledge, author, philosopher, photographer, and doctoral student from the San Francisco Bay Area. He may be reached at rutledreub@aol.com
With the liberation of Cambodia from Java completed, King Jayavarman II (802-850 CE) was able to found Angkor. He was only distantly related to the previous kingdoms of Cambodia. He was unique among the Cambodians for not leaving any inscriptions. Jayavarman II returned from Java about year 800. This was due to the weakening of the Sailendras on Java. At the time Cambodia was in a state of anarchy. He established himself in Indrapura where he became the Devaraja (God-King). He moved from Indrapura to a site north of Tonla Sap where Angkor would be founded a century later. The Hindu cults in Farther India developed at a further tendency than those in India. These eventually became royal cults. The essence of royalty resided in a linga at the center of the royal city. This linga, the sacred phallus of Shiva, was thought to have been obtained from Shiva himself. This also corresponds to the first dwelling of the Devaraja. The establishment of his city was seen as a beginning of a new era. Jayavarman II died in the year 859 after forty-eight years of sovereignty.
Indravarman came to power in the year 877. At Indrajakata he established a giant artificial lake. This was a continuation of the tradition set up by his predecessors. His reign was short and peaceful.
Yasovarman I had a building program that would serve as a model to his successors. He had about a hundred monasteries built throughout the region. In 893 he constructed a sanctuary next to the artificial lake that his father constructed. He also constructed a great linga on a nearby mountain. Shaivite temples were also constructed at Preah Vihear. This site was to remain the capitol until the fiftieth century. Yasovarmans reign ended in they 900. Little is known of his two sons.
Jayavarman IV built his residence near a lake that he designed. He set up monuments surrounding this. Of the monuments was a five stepped pyramid on which was displayed a royal linga.
Rajrendravarman sought to restore the sacred city of Yasodharapuri. This was followed by the construction of the temple known as the Eastern Mebon. The amount of the monuments he constructed was numerous. High-ranking Brahmans sponsored most. The end of his reign was 968. Jayavarman V, his son, was also very young when taking office. He reigned about thirty years. His new residence had a golden mountain in the enclosure. Even though he was Shaivite, Buddhism flourished during his regime. He died in 1001.
Jayavarman V first appears as king between the years 1003 to 1006. He claimed to be descended from Indravarman but this cannot be verified.
Suryavarman established his reign in 1010. His sponsoring of Buddhism did not affect his cult of Devaraja. During his reign several temples were built. Each of these was associated with the names of certain Brahman scholars. His westward expansion was to reclaim lost territory, which resulted in the creation of numerous villages that served the temples. The Kmer occupation of the lower Menem occurred during the eleventh century. In this region Buddhism dominated in the same way as it did in Dvaravati. Suryavarman I died during the year 1050.
Udayadityavarman II succeeded him. He decided to create a mountain temple for the royal linga that was more beautiful than his predecessors. This was the Baphuon. He constructed a golden mountain in the center of the city. On top of the mountain he erected a golden temple that housed the golden linga. At the same time he constructed a huge artificial lake west of the city. In the center of the Western Baray he built a temple with a statue of Vishnu sleeping on the ocean on the outside of it. During his reign he had to put down three internal rebellions, which were successfully accomplished. In 1066 he died and was succeeded by Harshvarman III.
The king did not rule as a despot, but by a set of rules of the princely cast and the laws of royal conduct. The king is the protector and preserver of the religion. He was less than an administrator and more as a god on Earth. Each king if he had the time and the means would build a temple-mountain built in his capitol. Members of the royal family ran the government itself, and high priestly families did the religious functions. The Brahmanic castes intermarried with the royal families often. The religion of the ruling classes was never consistent. Saivism predominated. Vaisnavism was also powerful along with Buddhism. Most of the great monuments were dedicated to the royal cult. They did not originate from the populous.
Harshavarman III became king in 1066. He started his kingdom by rebuilding ruins that occurred under the previous regime’s wars. Jayavarman VI succeeded him in 1080. Little is known of his reign. It is unsure that he ever lived in Angkor.
In 1113 Suryavarman II took the throne. He had taken to the idea of unifying a divided nation. He renewed relations with China. He also led the Kmer armies further then before. The occupation of the northern part of Champa ended in 1149. Eventually the Cham defeated the Kmer and restored Vijaya. In 1150 Suryavarman II sent armies to attack the Dai Viet and was defeated by the elements. No combat occurred. He was endowed with the construction of numerous temple complexes. The most important of these is Angkor Wat. The temple contained a image of Vishnu. Vishnu was very popular in the court. The death of Suryavarman II remains obscure and the date is unknown.
In 1177 the Cham invaded Cambodia. Jayavarman VII took on the responsibility of undoing the misfortune. Date unknown, Jayavarman VII left Cambodia and invaded Champa. This attack rid the country from the invaders. 1181 the Kmer Empire was freed from the Cham and Jayavarman VII took the throne. He then proceeded to restore the capital primarily Angkor Thom. After attaining neutrality with Dai Viet he again attacked Champa. The capital Vijaya was seized and Jaya Indravarman was taken prisoner. Champa became a divided nation. From 1203 to 1220 Champa was a Kmer province. Later he also extended the Kmer borders to the north and the west. Cambodia now had territories in Chenla and parts of Burma and the Malay Peninsula. Jayavarman VII ruled until 1218. During his reign various Buddhist and Shaivite monuments were built. These include work on Angkor Thom and the Bayon.
In 1216 and 1218 Kmer armies attacked Nghe-an through Champa. They were defeated and had to withdraw. In 1220 they evacuated Champa, restoring the throne to Vijaya. This was all a result of the death of Jayavarman VII. Also during this period saw the expansion of the Thai.
During the reign of Jayavarman VIII the Mongols made their appearance. In 1268 the emperor of Dai Viet complained to Kublai Khan about attacks from Champa and the Kmer. In 1285 the Kmer sent tribute to Kublai Khan. In 1296 a war with the Thai ravaged the country. One of the sons of Jayavarman VII went to study in Sri Lanka. As a result Sinhalese Buddhism entered the country.
King Srindravarman remained in power until 1307. At this date he decided to retire and enter the forest as a yogi. Srindrajayavarman replaced him. He sent diplomats to both Dai Viet and China. In the middle of the Fourteenth century the first king of Siam left Angkor in ruins.
Cambodia during the middle of the fourteenth century was one of the few states that still held their ancient capital. In 1352 the Thai set siege to Angkor. A year later the city was captured and a Thai prince took the throne as king. In 1357 the Kmer were able to reconquer the city. In 1392 the Thai once again invaded and captured Angkor. In 1431 the capital was abandoned.
In Cambodia, Brahmanism was more unitary than in India. This is because it lacked the great currents that occurred in India during the eleventh century. The cult of Shakti and the Bhakti movement did not occur. Also the Kmer were not so into intellectual movements that left part of doctrine in conflict, but rather they practiced syncretism that tolerated new doctrines such as including various animistic practices found in the indigenous cultures. The Kmer had a more limited pantheon. Female deities such as Shakti were not worshiped. These deities were generally seen as consorts of male deities, The Trimurti was successful in that it inspired religious cults. Of the three, Shiva was the most important of the forms practiced in Cambodia. The exception was Vishnu during the eleventh century in displacing Shiva.
Shaivism was practiced in Cambodia since the fifth century. It remained popular because of its abilities to absorb local beliefs. He was known as Bhadeshvara. The king was to perform ceremonies to him. The rites include ascending the sacred mountain and performing human sacrifices. There were two sects: the Pasupata (seventh century) and the Shaiva (ninth century). Shaivism included yoga and ascetic practices. Shiva was mainly represented by a linga. Anthromorphic representations were rare. The linga was the center of religious cult of Jayavarman II. The prosperity of the kingdom was tied to the linga.
The Pancaratra sect represented the cult of Vishnu. By the tenth century all the followers of Vishnu were designated Vaishnava, Pancaratra, and Bhagavata. Yasovarman I dedicated the monastery at Prasat Komnap to them. Rites were performed five times a day. There were also the beliefs in the five elements and the four avatars of Vishnu. These had supernatural as opposed to natural qualities. Vishnu is identified with the absolute Brahman, and from him emanated the Trimurti. He is the cause of creation, continuance and dissolution of the Universe. He is unique, transcendent, and immanent. He is usually represented with four arms holding a disc, mace, conch, and an Earth globe. Occasionally he is represented with eight arms. Although Shiva and Vishnu were assigned the same position, Shiva as considered more important. Vishnu was still defined as an absolute. Harihara was a fusion of Vishnu and Shiva. He was popular early on, but declined with the onset of Angkor. Angkor Wat was created as a Vishnu temple.
Buddhism was introduced about the same time as Hinduism. They existed in a more or less tolerant way during the Kmer period. From seventh century inscriptions it can be known that both Theravada and Mahayana existed. They persisted in a low key way until the twelfth century when Jayavarman VII made the Mahayana the state religion. Mahayana deities such as Vajrapani are mentioned in the tenth century. In the eleventh century Vajrayana existed in the central shrines. Buddhist images focused on Bodhisattvas. With the throne of Jayavarman VII Buddhism flourished and became the state religion. The greatest point in its popularity reached in the end of the twelfth and the beginning of the thirteenth centuries. The Buddha was shown as the victor over suffering. The Bodhisattva Lokeshvara became the model of the king. Buddhism comprised as worship the trinity of Lokeshvara, Buddha, and Prajnaparamitra. Kirtipandita, the royal guru of Jayavarman V, in it’s usual and secret forms. Secret is a reference to tantric practices for gaining enlightenment in a single lifetime. The bell and the vajra along with mantras and mudras were used. At Phimai (1108) Vajrapani was worshiped in his ten-armed form. At Bantay Chmar four headed and four-armed Vairocana and multi-armed Lokeshvara were worshiped. The role of Hevajra is not clear.
Under Jayavarman VIII Shaivism flourished again. Many Buddhist images were destroyed. A century later Buddhism returned in the form of Sinhalese Theravada. Angkor Wat became a Buddhist monastery.
The Kmer had a relaxed attitude towards religious beliefs. This is due to their eclecticism and syncretism. The main unifying factor was the cult of the royal linga. This was seen as a symbol of power, divine authority, and unity. This was most true when Jayavarman VII installed a Buddha instead of a linga in the central shrine of Bayon. Also during this time there was a fusion of Shiva with the Buddha, commonly known as Shiva-Buddha. Excluding the reign of Jayavarman VII there was little Buddhist art displayed. This was because even though the king was Buddhist it was not the state religion. Hindu iconography and epics were more in tune with the Kmer ascetic. Also images of Shiva were scant compared to Vishnu.
For the Kmer population the everyday religion was animism and ancestor worship, their rituals tended to be limited to the individual or the community. Very little is known about these beliefs. Today these beliefs are well integrated into Theravada Buddhism. They are very powerful, and every community has its ancestral spirit. They become the patron saints of the community. Little is known of these divinities. The majority of the inscriptions were dedicated to the Hindu gods and were in Sanskrit.
Reuben L. Rutledge