Angkor Wat History The Great Khmer Empire

Hi everyone. Welcome to the world of V-discoveryToday, I will tell you the story of Angkor Wat. Angkor WatWe call it Wugeku in Chinese. It is located in the north west of Cambodia. It means the 'Temple of Pishinu' and it was recorded asthe 'Temple with Fragrance of Mulberry'in Chinese ancient books. It is the best-preserved temple of theAngkor historical sites and famous for themagnificent constructions and exquisite reliefs. It is also the biggest temple in the world. Angkor Wat was recognized as aworld cultural heritage by the UN in 1992. The tourists around the world have been increasingand reached 2 million in 2007 fromless than 10,000 in 1993. Angkor Wat has become a popular tourist attraction in Cambodia. Countries around the world have invested largeamounts of money on maintainingAngkor, so as to protectAngkor Wat during the last century. It has become the symbol of Cambodiaand appears on the Cambodian national flag. Angkor Wat is the peak of the art ofKhmer classical architectures. It combines two basic layouts of the architectureof Khmer temple, which are altar and corridor. The altar is composed of the three-story rectangularSumeru units surrounded by corridors,which symbolize the Sumeru Mountain atthe centre of the world in Indian mythology. Five pagodas stand on the top of the altar in quincunx,which symbolize the five peaks of Semeru Mountain. The temple is surrounded by a city moat,which symbolizes the Aral Sea thatsurrounds Semuru Mountain. Angkor Wat is basically built by stones. Suryavarman II, the king of Chenla set Angkor asthe capital in the middle of the 12th century.
He embraced Pishinu and the lord priestof Brahman who crowned him designed thisnational temple for him to enshrine and worship Pishinu. So, Angkor Wat is called the temple of Pishinu. It took 30 years to build. Angkor Wat became the temple of Mahayana Buddhismin the middle of the 14th centurybecause the king of Chenla, Jayavarman VIIembraced Mahayana Buddhism as the nationalreligion in the 13th century. Siam invaded Angkor at the beginningof the 15th century and Angkor Wat became thetemple of Theravada Buddhism becauseit is the religion of the Siam. From then on,Angkor Wat continued to be thetemple of Theravada Buddhism until now. Siam captured Angkor, the capital of Chenla in 1431 BCand Chenla had to move the capital to Phnom Penh. In the next year,Angkor Wat was abandoned by the Khmer,and was gradually covered by the forests. Later, Some Khnorian hunters went into the forestto hunt and discovered the great temple by accident. Some local Buddhists built their house and livednear the temple so as to worship conveniently,but the heritage of Angkor Wat stillwasn’t known by the world. In 1586, the traveler Antonio da Magdalena travelled Angkorand reported what he had seen tothe Portuguese historian Diogo do Couto. However, his report was laughed off bythe world and treated as a ridiculous tale. In 1857, the French missionary Charles Emile Bouillevauxwho stationed in Battambangwrote a book named Travelling to India,Annan and Cambodia from 1848 to 1856. He described the situation in Angkor,but the world still didn’t pay attention to it. In January 1861, the French biologist Henri Mouhotaccidentally discovered the astonishing great heritageof the temple when he was searching for the tropical animalsin the primeval forest. He published A Trip to Siam, Cambodia and Laoswith descriptive words and vivid picturesand the world began to look at Angkorwith a completely new attitude. The experts have been doing archaeological researchesof Angkor Wat and discovered that the Angkor Watwas built for imperial mausoleum of king Suryavarman II,but it still remained in argumentation. The evidences including:1.  Most of the temples in Angkor face east for sunrise,but Angkor Wat faces west for sunset. According to the research from theNetherland archaeologist Bosch,following the funeral traditions,all the tombs in India and Java face westand the temples for sacrifice face east. 2.  The reliefs in the gallery are arranged anti-clockwise,which is the circling direction in the funeral of Hinduism. 3.  The portrait of Suryavarman II in the gallery of Angkor Watlooks like Pishinu and it implies that Suryavarman IIwill become Pishinu when he passes andgoes to heaven, he will stay inin the temple of Pishinu permanently. It is even proved by the Chinese ancient books that Temür,the second king of Yuan Dynasty sent Daguan Zhouon a diplomatic mission to Chenla. The whole group of envoys started the trip from Wenzhouand landed on Angkor after theyhad sailed across the Qizhou SeaDaguan Zhou and his group of envoys had stayedin Angkor for one year and he recordedthe local conditions and customs of Angkor in his reportNotes from Chenla when he came back. The architectures and daily life of Angkorwere vividly recorded in his report in detail,especially the extravagant royal progress with escortsin front and behind was very impressive. However, the most important information was Angkor Watwas called the “tomb of Luban” in Notes from Chenla. It was said that the king was buried in the pagoda,so Angkor Wat was originally the imperial mausoleum. Perhaps the history of Angkor Wat remains in discussion,but the value of it's art is beyond dispute. When Suryavarman II passed away,Angkor was in chaos and the flames of wars ragedacross the nation, devastating the whole country. Jayavarman VII expelled the invaders and ascendedthe throne in 1181 BCfor more than 30 years. Jayavarman VII, which means Shengkai in Chinese,was born in 1125 and passed away in 1218,He was the most famous ruler of the ancient Cambodian. His father is Dharanindravarman II,His Queen was Sri Jayarajacudamni. After the Queen passed away,he married the Queen's sister Indradevi. Both sisters were devout Buddhists. So Jayavarman VII becamethe only Buddhist Emperor and this hada direct impact on the Kingdom. Jayavaram spent his early yearsaway from the Khmer capital. Jayavarman is Sanskrit for 'Victorious Warrior',with Jaya being Sanskrit for 'Successful'. In 1177, the emperor of Cham , Jayavarman IV ,invaded and killed the ruler and looted the capital. The 60 year old prince, Jayavarman VIIstarted an army to fight the troops of Cham. He used to live in Cham for many years,among the chaos of Khmer, the prince went back to Chenlait was claimed that he was more than one hundred kilometerseast of the capital recruiting soldiers and buying horses. With his strong soldiers and horses, the troop attacked city. The Prince completely expelled the army of Cham out of Chenla,after his victory, he ascended the throne in 1181. In 1190, Jayavarman IV invaded Chenla again. Jayavarman IV appointed the Prince of Cham,Vidyanandana, as the General, he led the army and repelled the attack. He won the battle and captured the capital city of Chamthen massacred and looted the city. Jayavarman IV was captured. In 1203, Jayavarman VII occupied Cham again,making it a province and then opened up Chenla. Under his reign, the capital of Khmer dynasty was finally built,The current historical sites of Ankor were mostly built by him. When Jayavarman VII ’s ruling was closed to an end, he rebuilt Bayon. He rebuilt the Angkor Thom.  Angkor Empire was inits prime during the rule of Jayavarman VIIand constructed the talland solid walls and the broad city moat. The Bayon Temple was another masterpiece of Angkor Watwhich was famous for the “smile of Khmer”of the Erawan Shrine,which was carved on the base of the face of Jayavarman VII. The “smile of Khmer” is typical inthe art of sculpture of Angkor Wat. It is mainly on the front gates ofAnkor Thom and Bayon temples. Daguan Zhou also described these sculptureson his Notes from Chenla. “There were five giant heads of Buddha facingthe four directions on the gates of Angkor Watand the one in the centre was decorated by gold. ”It illustrates that five heads of Buddha werecarved on the gates, but we can only see the four of them. 49 giant stone pagodas stand insidethe Bayon Temple of Angkor Thom. Each pagoda was carved with the four-face Buddhain nearly 45 metres height and 5 metresin distance with each other. They look like dense forest and every touristwill be shocked by its magnificence. Their half closed eyes slightly look down in peace,their serene mystery and smile bringspeople into broader and peaceful mind. The typical facial expression of these giant heads of Buddhais called “the smile of Khmer”,which symbolizes the art of sculpture in Angkor Watand the culture of Cambodia. The relief of the Bayon Temple of Ankor Thomis another major type. It represents the life of people,the militaries and natural environments in ancient Cambodia. This type of relief is characterized in integrating thesculptures of multi-angles, multi-styles, multi-spacesinto the same layer. They are ingeniously and uniquely designedwith unconventional but reasonable expressions in art. As for carving techniques,the heaven, the earth, the water, the spaceand the time are delicately combined to presentthe paradise originated from the men’s world. As for the composition of the picture,different images are in different groupsand the carving outlines are sleek and graceful. The techniques within resemble that of modernismand the perspectives of the reliefscompose sections of multi-layers. The sculptures which capture motions and emotions of life,are similar to that of Egyptian Frontality and the outlinesare more for decoration. The ancient artists applied their understandingand attitude of life to the works of bas-relief,showing the Indian mythologies and customs of Cambodia. The reliefs are embellished by vivid and delicateimages of animals and plants. To the Cambodians,Angkor Wat is not only the name of a place,a tourist attraction,a piece of history,but also the highland of their spirits andmore importantly, their soul. The pattern of Cambodian national flagis the pagoda of Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat is a piece of history,a book of culture,so it is superficial to regard it as merely a tourist attraction. The information revealed by the exquisite architectures andreliefs include diverse contents,such as mythologies and legends,art of religion, scenes of wars, social manners and customs,imperial ruling and life of citizens. Walking into Angkor Wat is like opening an encyclopediawhich has been forgotten by the worldfor many years and the early civilizationsof ancient Khmer become vivid and clear. Thank you for watching V-discoverySee you next time.