Angkor Wat contains 12th century portraits of 1,796 individual women. They were clearly part of a "social network". American researcher Kent Davis asks "Was this temple an ancient Facebook"?

Andrew Buncombe reports from Asia for the UK Independent

Angkor, Cambodia — Amid the splendour of the 12th-century temple of Angkor Wat, they stand and stare like silent sentinels, sensuous rather than erotic, carved with elegance and care. But exactly who are these 1,796 mysterious women and why, more than a century after Cambodia’s famed Hindu temple was rediscovered by Western archaeologists, did it take the efforts of an amateur researcher from Florida to push experts into trying to resolve the puzzle?

Researcher Kent Davis at Angkor Wat.

Though Kent Davis had lived in South-east Asia during the 1990s, he did not have an opportunity to see Angkor Wat until 2005. Like most visitors to the huge complex in the centre of the Cambodia, for many years cut off from the outside world because of the presence of the Khmer Rouge, he was mesmerised by the experience.

But he was also left with a flurry of questions. “I went to Angkor as a tourist and I was startled when I got there and saw these women,” said Mr Davis, 54, a publisher and writer who now lives near Tampa, Florida. “I was not prepared for it. The human element of them struck me and I wanted to know who they were. I asked one of the guides and he said they were there to serve the king after he went to heaven.”

Mr Davis’s interest was tweaked, so he wanted to know more. He vowed he would return to the US and investigate. Yet when he got home he found there was essentially nothing written about these women, who appear throughout the temple complex in full body carvings.

The women of Angkor Wat appear to include different Asian ethnicities.

Indeed, the only study of the female carvings he could find had been made in the early 20th century by Sappho Marchal, the daughter of Frenchman Henri Marchal, then the curator of the temple site. Frustrated but intrigued, he decided he would find out for himself. Five years and several trips to Angkor later, Mr Davis has slowly begun to get some answers.

MSU researchers plotted 130 identification points on each face.

In 2008, he asked for the help of computer experts from the University of Michigan. That team was able to conduct facial mapping experiments on digital photographs of the women, or devatas. The team, whose findings were presented last month at the International Conference on Pattern Recognition, an academic convocation in Istanbul, concluded that there were at least eight different facial types, perhaps reflecting a variety of ethnicities in the Khmer kingdom.

The results are to be examined further by archaeologists and more computer mapping is planned. But for all the effort that went into the mapping, the results of which were published in DatAsia magazine, many questions about the women remain unanswered.

“It’s a 12th century Facebook,
but no one has ever heard of this social network.”

“There are almost 1,800 faces there,” said Mr Davis, who now uses 65 separate characteristics to define the individual women in a devata database. “It’s a 12th century Facebook, but no one has ever heard of this social network. This was the biggest temple the Khmer people ever built. It is still the largest religious structure on Earth! It must have been important to them because they threw everything into it. They would have only put their most important images into it; these women must have been incredibly important to the kingdom.”

Mr Davis wrote to universities, pestered experts, and sought the opinions of people from around the globe who had worked at Angkor. Trude Jacobson, an assistant professor of history at the University of Queensland, Australia, and author of Lost Goddesses: Denial of Female Power in Cambodian History, said: “Kent is an enthusiastic researcher of a question that everyone assumed was settled long ago, or doesn’t matter.

Each of the 1,796 women at Angkor Wat is unique.

“The history of women in Cambodia, until very recently, has been one in which they were relegated to the shadows. His interest is infectious and has made others more interested in questions of gender in an otherwise heavily masculinised historical inquiry.”

What has struck Mr Davis as he has continued his enquiries, is that for all the women at Angkor there are relatively few male carvings.”Could these different women represent the different professions of the Khmer kingdom?” he said. “Could they be scholars, agriculturalists? I think they must represent the most important women in the kingdom.”

Dr Peter Sharrock, an expert on South-east Asia at London’s School of African and Oriental Studies, has studied the temples around Angkor for years. “We understand [the female carvings] little but they play a major role in the architectural sculpture of these temples, which must imply a major role in the beliefs of the ancient Khmers and in the rituals in their temples,” he said.

“Khmer descent was primarily matrilineal, and Khmer women were literate and powerful. Many were queens, and most kings base their genealogies and claims to the throne on their female ancestors. The ancient Khmers venerated the goddess Prajnaparamita in the most elaborate cult to her known anywhere in Asia. So there are fundamental questions here about an exceptional female religious and regal role in ancient Cambodia that remain unanswered.”

Despite 150 years of experts purporting that the women of Angkor Wat are imaginary, Davis contends that they are realistic, accurate portraits of actual women who were members of the royal Khmer court.

Professor Jacobson believes the images were part of a broader iconography relating to the supernatural world. “The devatas, placed either side of doorways, were guards who monitored who was permitted access from the mundane world to the supernatural,” she said.

“[Those] represented as flying or dancing, were responsible for leading the souls of the dead to the supernatural world from the battlefield. The models for the images at Angkor were doubtless members of the royal family.”

Despite the abundance of women at Angkor Wat, not a single man is honored with the same type of portrait carving.

Mr Davis said he was dedicated to trying to throw greater light on the mystery of the carvings by working with the team of researchers he has cultivated. At this point, he said, starting to analyse the images was like “being the first person to get a map to the British Museum and the keys to the front door”.

He added: “Once we define facial types more thoroughly, an incredibly exciting prospect appears. If these images are portraits of actual people, it’s logical to assume that they had children within this region, and that creates the possibility of using facial pattern recognition on people living in this area to see if facial shapes and types seen at Angkor still live here. We could actually find the descendants of some of the sacred women in the temple.”

Angkor Wat, the icon of Cambodia's Khmer Empire reflects in a sacred pond.

Angkor Wat – Symbol of a nation

• The sprawling temple complex of Angkor Wat, located amid dense jungle and close to the city of Siem Reap, was built in the early 12th century and is one of a series of stunning palaces and temples that were built over a 400-year period by the Khmer Kingdom.
• Today, the temples attract up to a million tourists a year, but for many years the remarkable buildings were unknown to the West, which only “rediscovered” them in the 19th century. During the 1970s and 1980s they were off-limits as a result of the presence of the Khmer Rouge, the Maoist-inspired rebels who ruled Cambodia from 1975-79 and who then engaged in a bitter civil war for the next two decades.
• Angkor Wat itself, the most impressive and best-preserved of the complexes, was built for King Suryavarman II in the early part of the 12th century and is dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu. It has since become a symbol of Cambodia, even appearing on its national flag.

Angkor Wat at dawn.

Angkor Wat central towers in Vizerra 3D model

By Kent Davis – Devata.org

Santa Clara, CA – Virtual reality innovators at 3DreamTeam dazzled DEMO conference attendees with 3D technology that brings the world’s most amazing heritage sites directly to your computer. The Cambodian temple of Angkor Wat is one of 20 initial projects for the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Sites.

The incredibly detailed Vizerra locations allow virtual visitors to walk through Angkor Wat, Machu Picchu, Petra, Red Square, Swayambhunath Stupa, Stonehenge, the Taj Mahal and more.

Vizerra's 3D model of Angkor Wat allows you to explore the entire site by air or on the ground.

In our 2009 article, “Virtual or Reality? 12 amazing 3D comparison photos of Angkor Wat”, side by side comparisons show the Vizerra reality almost identical to being at Angkor Wat. Since then, 3DreamTeam has continued refining their stunning Angkor Wat model using detailed photographs of devata (sacred female) portraits, surface textures and blueprints provided by Devata.org.

Vizerra's Angkor Wat model includes devata (sacred female) images. The technology will soon allow links to location specific data and high resolution photos.

3DreamTeam is now working directly with NVIDIA, the leading developers of 3D hardware technology. Games and movies comprise most 3D content now available but 3DreamTeam is expanding consumer and educational applications with its Vizerra technology.

NOTE: Vizerra software and location models are available as a free download to users worldwide:

System Requirements – Recommended

Intel Core 2 Duo / AMD 64 X2 5200+
GeForce 8800 GTX / ATI Radeon HD 4770
4Gb RAM
Broadband Internet connection (at least 2560 Kbit/s)

Minimum

Pentium 2.4 GHz / AMD Athlon XP 2500+
NVidia GeForce 6800 / ATi Radeon X850
2Gb RAM
2Gb free hard disk space
Internet connection (at least 30 Kbit/s)

Angkor Wat 3D Photos from Vizerra

Angkor Wat's West Gopura (Gate) viewed from the north in Vizerra's 3D model.

Angkor Wat in Vizerra 3D model, viewed from Southwest.

Angkor Wat's causeway facing east, with a library structure on the left.

Angkor Wat's cruciform gallery is accurately ringed with devata in Vizerra's 3D model

Vizerra is refining devata (sacred female) portraits in new versions of the software. In the future, the 3D model will show the carvings in accurate locations linked to a database.

The Northwest corner of Angkor Wat in Vizerra's 3D model.

Angkor Wat's bas relief galleries now show textures but will soon accurately render the artwork.

Khmer bronze yogini with clues to Southeast Asian Tantric rituals.

The Yogini, beautiful, wildly fierce females frequently shown dancing on corpses, derive their iconography from obscure Vedic, village, and tantric sources, and should not be confused with charming celestial females known as apsara, as will be discussed later.

Yoginis dance on corpses in a Tantric ritual at the Khmer temple in Pimai, Thailand.

Trained as ‘yogic-sexual assistants,’ yogini were indispensable in the Hevajra cult, resulting in a need for a significant number of women able to perform the necessary Tantric temple-rituals.* The Chinese Superintendent of Maritime Trade in thirteenth-century Guangzhou, Zhao Rukuo, mentions the presence of foreign women in Khmer temples.

“In Chenla [Cambodia], the people are devout Buddhists. In the temples there are 300 foreign women; they dance and offer food to the Buddha. They are called a-nan…”

Their description as a-nan (Skt. Bliss) suggests an erotic role in temple rituals.*

The Khmer Yogini dancer has distinctly foreign features.

Detail of Tantric yogini dancer with third eye marking.

Such a role attributed to yogini may not have resonated with Khmer women, resulting in the need for foreign women to fulfill the required Tantric temple-rituals.

Zhao’s statement may explain this unusual little bronze dancing yogini who is not Khmer but Negrito, confirming Zhao’s statement concerning foreign women in Buddhist temples. Negritos are known to have inhabited parts of Peninsular Thailand and the Malay Peninsula.

The Negrito yogini wears a sampot chang kben that dips low in front, is adorned with a pectoral with pendants front and back, and displays an empty socket in back for a butterfly bow, all characteristics of the second half of the eleventh century.

A third eye marking her forehead and her dance pose, in which the raised right foot touches the left thigh, are typical Tantric yogini characteristics.

To date, this is a rare image of an obvious foreigner in Khmer art.

* Citing the work of Dr Peter D. Sharrock, SOAS, including “The Yoginis of the Bayon” and “Garuda, Vajrapani and religious change in Jayavarman VII’s Angkor”. Please see the final publication for full citations.

Rear view of Khmer yogini bronze showing sampot chang kben.

Emmy Bunker

About the Author

Emma C. Bunker, a research consultant to the Denver Art Museum’s Asian Art Department, specializes in the arts of ancient China, the Eurasian Steppes, and Southeast Asia. Links to two of her publications relating to Khmer art appear below:

Adoration and Glory

Khmer Gold

Indradevi and Jayarajadevi: Ancient Queens Who Shaped an Asian Empire

The Khmer civilization brought education, health, spirituality and enlightenment to the masses of 12th century Southeast Asia. Two women, both queens of King Jayavarman VII, played critical roles in the kingdom’s expansion and success.

By Phalika Ngin –  © 2010 Copyright Phalika Ngin

Download a PDF of this article (650k)

ANGKOR, CAMBODIA — The temple of Angkor Wat may be Cambodia’s most well-known landmark but the prolific King Jayavarman VII built hundreds of stone monuments, including the complex shrines of the Bayon, Ta Prohm, Angkor Thom, Preah Khan, and Banteay Chhmar.

Fascination with this king’s architectural creations and territorial conquests has justifiably attracted much attention. New research now suggests that two brilliant advisers helped this king change the course of history. The king’s talented co-architects in shaping the Khmer Empire were none other than his two wives, Queen Indradevi and Queen Jayarajadevi.

The Khmer temples of Angkor Thom, the Bayon and Preah Khan.

Together, this royal trio made some of the most important contributions to Khmer heritage:

First, they built unique temples throughout Southeast Asia; Buddhist monuments and public structures that to this day bless Cambodia with cultural heritage that attracts millions of interested tourists from around the world.

Second, the enlightened trio implemented social systems in the 12^th century that we still strive for today. While Europe was in the Dark Ages, these rulers gave their subjects — men and women alike — the right to education, property ownership, political power and public healthcare. While most contemporary social programs come into existence through the struggles or revolutions of the people these changes came from the royals themselves.

Many of their social programs are well-documented by archaeological analysis of public infrastructure built during Jayavarman VII’s reign, including roadways, bridges, small temples, rest stops and hospitals. Little, however, was known about the efforts spearheaded by the two queens to grant and raise women powers to divine heights at that time.

Images that appear to be royal portraits of the two queens reveal additional evidence of female power and participation within the government. Additional evidence from illustrated bas-reliefs, monument pediments and written inscriptions on steles offers insights that document the pro-active approach these women took as unsung pioneers of social values and women’s rights.

At the south gate entrance of Angkor Thom, the royal trio greets all visitors.

Public Health Care and Education in Ancient Cambodia

The reign of Jayavarman VII saw 102 new hospitals built throughout the kingdom. In her 1976 book, Angkor Un Peuple-Un Art, Madeleine Giteau, former director of the National Museum of Cambodia, documents royal dedications from steles at hospital sites that spell out the open door policy to all four castes. For instance, the stele of Say-fong outlines the administration staff of 98 members, their duties, their pay and the inventory of the hospital’s pharmacy.

While Hindu civilizations often limit education to men only — and elite men at that — Jayavarman VII’s monasteries were open schools and training centers that welcomed men and women, girls and boys, alike.  In two illustrations in the Bayon, it appears that Queen Indradevi and Queen Jayarajadevi are portrayed as professors teaching groups of students (see photo below). While my evidence strongly suggests that these images are the queens themselves, the idea of female professors is revolutionary in and of itself.

To perpetuate these social systems, the inscriptions encouraged future kings and aristocrats to follow their charitable example of supporting public works by promising merit and heavenly rewards.

Education in Bayon bas-relief. In the top register, the two queens lecture before crowds of girls and boys. The lower register depicts military arts training. Men are briefed in the classrooms.

These important Khmer beliefs were not only expressed on steles, as previously thought. Every visitor to the Bayon, Angkor Thom and Banteay Chhmar, to cite three examples, sees illustrated stories that communicated these ideals to the illiterate, disparate population. These permanent carved illustrations appear in bas-relief and on monument pediments.

Clear Public Respect for King and Queens

On the second floor’s inner gallery bas reliefs of the Bayon, the lifestyle of this enterprising royal trio appears to be illustrated with details about their familial, social, political, and civil activities. The two queens most frequently appear sitting directly behind the king, tending to affairs of state in their palaces.

In a bas-relief depicting their romantic and personal lives, the king followed the lead of Queen Jayarajadevi (see photo below). On exterior reliefs at the Bayon, the two queens followed the king’s processions. In one particular bas-relief, one queen sits before the king, with both figures praying for the safety of their soldiers and victory in an upcoming battle.

The queens lead the way in these illusrations.

Seeing a queen sitting before this great Khmer conqueror (above right) implies that Jayavarman VII recognized Indradevi as a worthy military strategist. Many bas-relief depictions emphasize the important roles the two queens played in Jayavarman VII’s life. The implication is that this great Khmer king could not have realized his ambitions without Queen Indradevi and Queen Jayarajadevi by his side, organizing and managing his vast empire. Together they formed a royal trinity that changed the world from their capital of Angkor Thom, a metropolis of one million inhabitants in the 12th century.

The Dynamic Power of the Royal Trinity

Observing this dynamic, active profile of the royal trio challenges many historical stereotypes that cast Jayavarman VII and his queens as placid, aging ascetics. Some historians portray them as devout Buddhists absorbed by meditation in search of enlightenment. Based on my research, this misinterpretation appears to confuse passive Theravada Buddhism with the active Mahayana Buddhism that they practiced. The Mahayana Buddhist dharma called upon these three royals not only to enlighten themselves, but to actively take its message to the entire population.

The royal Mahayana trinity included Avalokiteshvara, Buddha, and Prajnaparamita.

The royal trinity’s brand of Mahayana Buddhism was infused with respect for women through the goddess Prajnaparamita, the Mother of all Buddhas. The trinity included the Lord Buddha; Lord Avalokiteshvara, the compassion of all Buddhas; and the goddess Prajnaparamita, the perfection of transcendent wisdom. During their reign, the empowerment of this trimurti or trinity, was represented in bronze statues (above) and extensively carved on the royal trio’s monuments (below).

Each alcove originally held the Mahayana trinity in relief, but religious conflict caused them to be removed later.

Particularly in the Rajavihara, the royal monastery, now known as Ta Prohm, this trinity was carved every two meters in the inner galleries. During the iconoclasm that followed Jayavarman VII’s reign Hindu successors painstakingly chiseled out thousands of royal Mahayana trinities from the walls (see photo above). In Ta Som, Shivaists removed pediments featuring Avalokiteshvara at the main temple entries along with the entire façades. On pediments, where the king and the queen worshiped Prajnaparamita, the images of the Prajnaparamita and the royals were later defaced, and then, demolished. (see photos below).

French conservators reconstructed a fallen pediment at Ta Som's entrance. The king, on the left, worshiped Avalokiteshvara.

On the left was a restored pediment showed traces of a standing Prajnaparamita, who the defaced royals worshiped. On the right, a pediment is now missing Prajnaparamita.

Enduring Evidence of Enlightened Rulers

Despite attempts to destroy their legacy, the royal trinity left a clear record of their beliefs for the ages. Throughout the empire the royals repeated their messages, consistently using religious iconography showing respect for women, with Prajnaparamita, a female Mahayana Buddhist divinity, standing on equal footing with Lord Avalokiteshvara. This hierarchy is unseen in prior eras yet, here, as Buddhism supplanted Shivaism, the roles of women were raised to divine heights. Here, the dominant forces became subservient to ideals of equality that infuriated them.

In the end, Shivaism briefly dominated the country one last time, desperate to show that it had no place for the importance of women either in religious or civil representations. Enraged Shivites proceeded to obliterate all the representations of  Prajnaparamita that they had the energy to destroy (See above). Despite their misguided efforts the message survived.

All visitors to the great walled city of Angkor Thom still receive additional confirmation of this ideology.  For more than 800 years, every visitor has had to enter and exit through one of five gateways into the Angkorian city-fortress that the royal trio built. At each gate, they created clear and subtle messages of their spiritual and personal beliefs.

As one approaches the gates, one sees three giant faces of the king forming three distinct peaks (see photo below), resembling the tri-conical crowns that Jayavarman VII wore to military functions, his branded signature, logo, and symbol of the king’s personal trinity – Queen Indradevi, Jayavarman VII  and Queen Jayarajadevi. This formidable royal trio had shared visions; by combining their feminine and masculine forces and intelligence they achieved milestones of social evolution by giving equal rights and opportunities to pave the road to a civilized nation.

As mentioned above,  enemies of this philosophy tried to obliterate these enlightened views, demolishing the façades of each gateway that, in my theory, previously showed the royal trinity. Following the obliteration of Buddhist symbols they renamed the faces to represent the Hindu god Shiva (or Brahma) (see below). But enough evidence still remains to see the original intent, especially when taken in context with the rest of the iconography of this reign.

North gate of Angkor Thom, note the paired 3-headed elephants and missing pediments with the facades, thus exposing the roofing’s frame into the king’s giant faces.

At ground level on both sides of each gate appear the special three-headed elephants of Indra, the Hindu God of Gods. Here, the king fitted the symbolic elephants with three conic crowns of lotus petals. This subtle but powerful change implied to all that these were no longer Indra’s elephants, but Jayavarman VII’s royal elephants. The king was proudly accompanied by his two queens smiling always, one on each side of him.  All three royal benefactors sat astride the elephants welcoming every visitor (see below).

Elephants wearing conic crowns remain below the defaced royal trio.

Above the king and the two queens, seven devata (sacred females in Khmer iconography) with both hands joined at heart level in the anjali prayer gesture greet and bless all visitors. Above, on both sides of the king’s giant face, a special devata appears draping two long flower garlands from her waist down, one by each side of his ear (see below). The concept of the trinity — two queens and one king — is frequently seen. Each city visitor therefore learned the personal, spiritual, and civil beliefs of its rulers, with clear messages regarding the rights and importance of women in this kingdom.

Each gate revealed the beliefs of the royal Khmer trio.

Queen Indradevi, King Jayavarman VII and Queen Jayarajadevi.

The time has come to understand this king and his two queens by the clear records they left for future generations. Their monuments, inscriptions and bas-relief illustrations show us magnanimous rulers who cared for their citizens.

These three great leaders shared a magnificent vision for their people. They worked together weaving wisdom, common sense, and humanitarian principles to create their own blend of Buddhism, a tripod of strength that embraced their national heritage, religious and civil ethics, and personal beliefs.

Like all true leaders, this royal trio led by example. Eight hundred years, later their legacy in stone still broadcasts their beliefs in humanity. While Angkor Wat impresses visitors with grandiose architecture the Bayon inspires visitors with heartfelt awe, beneath the king’s giant caring faces that peacefully smile upon them from above and surrounded by the queens’ gentle smiles at ground level.  In the Bayon today, King Jayavarman VII, Queen Jayarajadevi and Queen Indradevi still bless us with smiles recognizing the humanity in all of us.

Queen Indradevi, King Jayavarman VII and Queen Jayarajadevi at the Bayon.

About the Author

Phalika Ngin is a Khmer-American photographer and independent researcher living in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Her website, PhalikaN.com, presents her historical research, focuses on Neo-Classic Cambodian arts and crafts, and includes galleries of her original photography.

Cambodia Insight Magazine featured Ms Ngin’s research on Queen Indradevi and Queen Jayarajadevi in this cover article: “The Resurrection of Indradevi and Jayarajadevi-Queens of the 12th Century Khmer Kingdom“.

Cultor.org educators have now translated the initial results into Italian, and produced the captivating video overview below for Italian viewers.

Founded by the University of Turin in 1999, Cultor — an acronym forCultura Torino— now provides exceptional cultural resources online at Cultor.org. Their extensive Internet resource has become one of the most important cultural websites in Europe with more than 18,000 visitors each month.

A New Study Offers Historical Insight
on the Temple’s Female Imagery

By Michelle Vachon – The Cambodia Daily

Click here for PDF Version (1.6 meg)

© 2010 The Cambodia Daily – This article appears with the permission
of the copyright holder. No further reproduction is permitted.

The Cambodia Daily's Weekend featuring the women of Angkor Wat

In 1927, Sappho Marchal, the 23-year-old daughter of Henri Marchal who was over­seeing restoration of monuments at Angkor Wat at the time, published a book on the hair­styles, clothes and jewelry of 1,737 sculptures of women she had located on the walls and columns of Angkor Wat.

And until recently, no archeologist or historian at Angkor had wondered why so many nearly life-size images of human beings filled the 12th century monument and why these sculptures were only of women, said Kent Davis, a researcher and publisher of DatAsia Press.

“Despite 150 years of intense study, the Khmer pundits who surveyed every temple and measured every stone only thought to consider these women as decorations, rather than as people.” Mr Davis said.

“Visitors were apparently content when the experts told them that the most complex collection of full-body portrait carvings ever created in a single ancient human generation were simply ‘Imaginary wives to serve the king in heaven’ Total nonsense, but it flew for 150 years.”

Angkor Wat general devata types.

One researcher had written a short essay on the resemblance between the features on a few sculptures and hill tribe women.

Another had viewed the sculptures in a mythological context but without going further, he said.

So Mr Davis embarked on his own research in 2005, eventually getting in touch with art historian Peter Sharrock and archaeologist Robert McCarthy, who are studying these woman sculptures but concentrating on the era of Jayavarman VII, which took place about two generations after the construction of Angkor Wat.

Devata faces from the inside wall of the West Gopura at Angkor Wat.

Scholars refer to the women as devatas (deities), when portrayed in large sculptures, and apsaras (dancers and singers of the gods), when groups appear in smaller sculptures.

Mr Davis has identified 1,796 sculpted images on Angkor Wat through his research, expanding on inventories done by stone conservators with the German Apsara Conservation Project.

Once Mr Davis took digital photos of the group, he asked a team from Michigan State University in the US for help developing a computer tool to analyze the sculptures.

This has prompted the first scientific study to be conducted on Angkor Wat’s women figures. Its results will be presented on Sunday in Istanbul at the conference of the International Association for Pattern Recognition on computer vision.

Angkor Wat general devata types.

Anil K. Jain — a professor in several of the university’s departments including computer science and engineering, statistics and probability — will explain the computer analysis model that he and two of his students developed to analyze the features of women sculpted on the surface of the monument.

For this first study, Mr Jain and his team concentrated on 252 devatas located on Angkor Wat’s entrance pavilion called the West Gopura.

As they mention in the summary of their study entitled “Clustering Face Carvings: Exploring the Devatas of Angkor Wat [925k PDF download],” Mr Jain and his team had to devise a program to compare devatas on well preserved as well as eroded stone and on different types of stone, which some existing programs did not make possible.

Features of some devata faces were damaged by erosion over the centuries.

They designed the tool to analyze whole faces, proportions in features, such as the distance between the eyes or between nose and mouth, as well as specific features including ears and chins. This program will also give future researchers the flexibility to change features to be analyzed.

“While the landmarks for many different facial components were marked, in this study we used only four of the major facial components (eyes, nose, mouth and face outline) for clustering the devatas into 8 groups,” they write in their summary. [see bottom of article for composites of facial feature variations]

These groups of devatas sharing specific features may reflect the features of women who actually lived at Angkor at the time and the fact that they came from different regions such as central Cambodia, Laos, northern­central Thailand, Champa in today’s Vietnam, and China.

The initial pattern recognition algorithm defined eight distinct facial types.

“There is [a report from the year 1225] in China which says 200 foreign women danced and made offerings to the Buddha in Jayavarman VII’s temples. So Angkor was an international center,” Mr Sharrock wrote in an e-mail.

However, whether these eight groups of devatas correspond to women who lived at Angkor when the temple was built has yet to be seen, he said, “These are early results only. More tuning and more data manipulation is needed before strong claims can be made.”

In Mr McCarthy’s opinion, the sculptures may be idealized versions of living women who served as royal temple caretakers.

“The possibility that the role of guardian was taken by both female (in the majority) and male (in the minority) should not be ignored. Just as age and region of origin within the Khmer Empire does not appear to be a problematic factor within the devata community of temple guardians,” he wrote in an email.

Angkor Wat general devata types.

Both Mr Sharrock and Mr McCarthy agree that this computer analysis tool shows great potential.

“In Angkor Wat there are clearly differences between the elaborately coiffed devata inside the outer western gallery and inside the courtyards of the main temple and the more powerful, larger and more serious-faced devata on the higher level of the temple and the central tower. Why there are these differences we do not yet understand.” Mr Sharrock said Mr Davis’ research with this computer program may help answer some of those questions, he added.

When analysis expands to include more features such as headdresses, jewelry, hands and feet, the differences from one to the other image may help, Mr McCarthy said, “unlock secrets of not only the devata of Angkor Wat but those earlier and later devata traits [...] to assist in identifying artistic techniques that may lead to the identity, in unique styles only, of the craft people who supervised and those who carved the bas-reliefs.”

Mr Davis’ goal is to include Mr Jain’s program in a comprehensive database of Angkor Wat’s 1,796 sculpted images of women that tracks 65 characteristics — including location, features, compass orientation, hair styles, jewelry designs, hand positions, fabric patterns — of each image, he said.

He is now editing in a book [Daughters of Angkor Wat] compiling researcher’s opinions and speculations regarding the devata sculptures over the past 100 years.

***

Facial Feature Variations

Angkor Wat eye composite photos.

Angkor Wat devata nose comparison photos.

Angkor Wat devata mouth comparison photos.

Angkor Wat chin comparison photos.

Cultor's Oriental section presents research translations from authoritative experts in a variety of fields.

TURIN, ITALY — The European Renaissance (Rinascimento) began in 14th century Italy. Now, 21st century Italians are learning about Khmer contributions to world art and culture in their native language thanks to Cultor.org.

Founded by the University of Turin in 1999, Cultor — an acronym for Cultura Torino — now provides exceptional cultural resources online at Cultor.org. Their extensive Internet resource has become one of the most important cultural websites in Europe with more than 18,000 visitors each month.

Recently, Cultor.org began translating original research about the Khmer civilization from Devata.org. Devata focuses on investigating the sacred women depicted at Angkor Wat, a 12th century Hindu temple located in northern Cambodia. The vast Angkor area is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Angkor Wat fascinates archeologists and tourists alike, yet the temples most amazing treasure remained unexamined. According to Devata.org founder Kent Davis: “Angkor Wat contains the most extraordinary ancient portrait gallery in the world, and every subject honored is a woman.”

Throughout the immense stone building, Davis has cataloged 1,796 individual Asian women who appear in highly detailed full-body carvings. They are now called devata or apsaras — Sanskrit terms for heavenly maidens of great beauty and elegance — but no one knows what the ancient Khmer people called them or what roles they served in the society.

Who were they? Why did designers choose only women to dominate their greatest temples? No one knows. When the civilization collapsed, its people vanished without leaving any written records about Angkor Wat’s design or meaning.

Cultor's logo shows the Turin coat of arms.

Devata.org founder Kent Davis fully supports the Cultor exchange saying “Italian sculptors have rendered and appreciated classic human forms in stone for millennia. To me, this makes Italian scholars and students ideal observers to consider the refined women of Angkor Wat. I look forward to hearing their opinions after reading about this mystery in their own language.”

According to Cultor.org’s manager of media relations, Enzo Di Gesù, Cultor is an organization of scholars, independent of political and religious beliefs, seeking to disseminate information on the history, art and aesthetics of cultures around the world. The online environment allows Cultor to emphasize both academic and artistic aspects in their virtual exhibitions.

For more information, please visit the Cultor.org resources below:

Aesthetics

City of Turin

Cultor International Partners

Documents and historical research

Eastern art and culture

The Turin Laboratory focuses on the history and the development of the city itself.

Angkor Wat sunrise. © Copyright Gary Ng.

Siem Reap, Cambodia – Angkor Wat temple, the symbol of modern Cambodia, embodies the genius, beauty and power of the Khmer civilization that first civilized what is now Southeast Asia.

Angkor Wat is unlike any other ancient temple on Earth because of the treasure it protects: its vast walls and corridors enshrine a delicate legacy, the exquisite portraits of more than 2,000 Khmer women known as devata. Whether they represent goddesses from heaven or queens here on earth is unknown.

Each day, these sanctified women welcome a new sunrise with the promise of abundance, fertility, peace and enlightenment for this land, and for all who wish to see their message. The heart of Angkor Wat is very much alive and the devata still offer humankind hints of our celestial place in the universe.

Special thanks to architect and photographer Gary Ng, who captured this magnificent series of sunrise photos at Angkor Wat on his first visit to Cambodia. For more of his work, please visit http://gnostec.wordpress.com/

Angkor Wat sunrise. © Copyright Gary Ng.

Angkor Wat sunrise. © Copyright Gary Ng.

Angkor Wat sunrise. © Copyright Gary Ng.

Angkor Wat sunrise. © Copyright Gary Ng.

Angkor Wat sunrise. © Copyright Gary Ng.

Angkor Wat sunrise. © Copyright Gary Ng.

Angkor Wat was built as a Hindu temple honoring Vishnu between 1,115-1,150 AD. Cambodia adopted Buddhism in the 13th century and Buddhist monks have maintained the temple since that time. © Copyright Gary Ng.

Angkor Wat enshrines more than 2,000 portrait carvings of ancient Khmer women. Their identity and meaning remain a mystery. © Copyright Gary Ng.

Angkor Wat, Cambodia – This article identifies working counts and locations of all devata (sacred female) images in Angkor Wat. We have numerically identified 1,796 devata at the temple, not including those on the high towers.

In her 1926 study, Sappho Marchal cited 1,737 devata, possibly not counting some that are partially completed, worn away, covered by stone blocks (sealed doorways on level A1) or “aerial devata” located on Angkor Wat’s top towers.

Angkor Wat's main structure with key devata locations labeled.

DatAsia’s numbering system identifies devata carvings sequentially in five defined structural areas.

A1 – Angkor Wat Top Level (Bakan) + Central Tower

A2 – Angkor Wat Second Level + 2 Libraries

A3 – Angkor Wat Third Level (outside only) + 2 Libraries

Angkor Wat West Gopura (entry gate)

A4 – The West Gopura – Entry gate to Angkor Wat

A5 – Angkor Wat South + West Gates (no devata at North Gate)

Our numbering convention identifies the Level; Structure; Inside/Outside Location (relative to the center of the temple); Sequential Devata Number + Additional Details (this can include the feature, photographer, raw photo number, etc.)

e.g. A4-GW-I-009-K
This means the devata is located in area A4, Gate West, Inside, Devata #009, photo by Kent Davis

All numbering begins at the southwest corner of each structure and goes sequentially counter clockwise (from South to North on the West Gopura).

Devata Inventory at Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat Devata - West Gopura

A1 – 407

Central Tower – 64   (#001-062)
Central Tower Aerial – 16 (NW-NE-SW-SE x 4)
OUTSIDE – 201   (#001-198)
INSIDE – 126   (#001-124)

A2 – 647

A2 OUTSIDE – 341   (#001-328)
A2 INSIDE – 222   (#001-217)

A2 Libraries
North – 44   (#001-044)
South – 40   (#001-040)

A3 – 414

OUTSIDE – 241   (#001-241)
INSIDE- 0

A3 Libraries
North – 46   (#001-046)
South – 20   (#001-020)

Angkor Wat Devata - West Gopura

West Inside Chambers
Center – 28   (#001-028)
North & South – 8+8   (#001-016)

Cruciform Gallery
North – 34  ( #001-034)
South – 29   (#001-029)

A4 – Gate West – 259

West (OUTSIDE) – 119   (#001-119)
East (INSIDE) – 124   (#001-122)
Entry Chamber North – 8   (#001-008)
Entry Chamber South – 8   (#001-008)

A5 – 69

A5-South Gate – 25   (#001-024)
A5-East Gate – 40   (#001-040)
A5-West Library – 4*   (#001-004)

Total: 1,796 unique devata

*These devata are a different style and appear to have been added during the reign of Jayavarman VII or later. There are other devata with questionable styles that may also have been added later.

The A1 exterior towers may also have as many as 16 devata each, which could increase the inventory by 64 additional devata.

NOTE: Original DatAsia numbers were assigned to correspond with the German Apsara Conservation Project database so that data could be compared.

Unfortunately, the GACP database has numerical anomalies due to later additions. For this reason, some numbers have more than one devata (e.g. 100a, 100b). This, therefore, results in areas such as A1 Outside, where the numerical sequence only goes to 198 but covers a population of 201 devata.

Another issue is that the GACP system numbers counterclockwise, even for devata inside levels A1 and A2. This means that they are numbered right to left (…3, 2, 1) instead of left to right (1, 2, 3…), which is less intuitive when viewing.

When the Devata.org database is complete a final, sequentially perfect number will be assigned to each devata portrait. In the meantime, however, we continue to use the legacy system for easier cross referencing.