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Nagara Jayasri |
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Cambodia Highlight: |
- Date:
Late 12th century 1191
- Reign of construction:
Jayavarman VII (1181-1220)
- Cult:
Buddhist Mahayanism
- Art Style:
Bayon
- Clearance work:
Henri
Machal 1927-1932
- Anastylosis:
M. Glaize 1939-1946
In 1191, five year after
the building of Ta Prohm, the king dedicated this temple to be the shelter
of the idol of his father, Dharnindravarman II, in the likeness of
Bodhisattva Lokesvara. The causeways lead to the temple are bordered by the
same figures carrying a Naga symbolized the Churning the Sea of Milk. This
architectural element was the mark of a royal city. It may have served as a
temporary residence of King Jayavarman VII while he was rebuilding the
capital after the Charms sacked Angkor in 1177. Preah Khan is the name of
the sacred sword, the safeguard of Cambodia, which is preserved in the
palace of Phnom Penh, it seems that there is a connection between this
precious arm and the name of the monument, a name which is not unique among
the temple of the country. It is among the largest monuments. It includes a
set of four concentric enclosures are longer to the east and west (800m by
700m, 7m high), giant Garudas and serpents are decorated every 50m around
the 3km long wall. The wall of central complex forms quadrilateral 250m by
175m with Gopuras or entrance pavilion - with three passages. The
avenues 250m long towards the entrances.
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Preah Khan |
The inscription
found in 1939 tells us: there were 430 images with 5,324 villages
totaling 97,840 tax payers of box sexes. The stele enumerates the
monuments attached to Preah Khan, including among other temples:
Krol Ko, Ta Som and the little Sanctuary - Neak Pean "an eminent
island, whose Charm lies in its surrounding ponds which cleans the
soil of sins from those who visit it". Among the many religious
foundation of the King listed on the stele of Preah Khan: Lopburi,
Supan, Ratburi, Pichburi and Muong Sing, all today in Thai
territory. Perhaps it was to house statues of this type that some ot
the provincial sanctuaries were built- Sanctuaries whose style
indicates that they belonged to the time of Jayavarman VII e.g. Wat
Nokor at Kompong Cham, and Ta Prohm at Bati. This stele mentions 121
resting house constructed along the roads that fanned out over the
kingdom:
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Apsaras
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57 on the road from
Angkor to the capital of Champa
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17 on the road from
Angkor to Phimai (200km)
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46 leading to some
cities which we still do not know
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one at Phnom Chisor.
They were spaced from 12 to
15km apart; we know 8 of the 17 which bordered the road from Angkor to
Phimai. Beng Mealea, Ta Prohm, Preah Khan, Banteay Chmar, each has its own,
constructed in the temple enclosure to the East entrance. This system was
still in existence a century later as Chinese envoy Chou Ta Kuen wrote in
his account of his voyage: "A long the important roads there are resting
places similar to our posting houses".
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library with round column |
In 1191 after only ten
years of the reign, when the program was not yet completed, according to the
stele at Preah Khan, there were more than 20,000 idols in gold, silver,
bronze and stone spread all over the kingdom. The service of their cult
required 306,372 servitors, living in 13,500villages and consuming 38,00
tons of rice yearly.
The creation of these
resthouse went hand in hand with a widespread campaign for sanitation which
evidenced by the 102 hospitals scattered over the country. These shelters
for the sick were certainly built of light materials. We know the location
of 33 hospitals of Jayavarman VII, that is a third. The foundation steles
give us the interesting in formation about their organization; the
inscription tells us that the hospital is placed under the auspices of
Buddha- the healer, Bhaisaj Yaguru Vaiduryaprabha "the master of remedies,
with the shinig beryl" whose statue was one of the most popular Buddha and
still is today in China and Tibet.
The four castes
could be cared for in these hospitals. There were:
2 doctors, each assisted by
a man and 2 women, 2 store-keepers with the job of giving of the fuel and
water as well as for cleaning the temple, 2 servitors to prepare the
offerings for Buddha, 14 hospital attendants, 6 women to heat the water and
to grind the medicines, 2 women to pound the rice. The total number of
workers who were housed was 33. Besides them there were 66 lodged at their
own expense, making a total of 99.
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Apsara |
Rice for offerings to the
divinities was fixed at a bushel a day, and the leftovers were given to the
patients. The list of provisions taken three times a year in the Royal
stores included:
Honey, sugar, camphor,
sesame, spices, black mustard, cumin, nutmeg, coriander, fennel, cardamon,
ginger, cubed, vetiver, cinnamon, myrobalan, jujube, vinegar, the quantities
of each of which are exactly stated.
Besides the provincial
hospitals whose management we have just described there were also a certain
number of more important establishment in the big center, especially at
Angkor. The stele says: The government health service consumed 11,192 tons
of rice annually, produced by 838 villages with a population of 81,640
people. The hospital 3,402kg nutmegs, 48,000 febrifuges, 1,960 boxes of
salve for hemorrhoids and so on in proportional amounts.
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