By Kent Davis

In the 1950s, French artist Maurice Fiévet — well-known for his work in Africa with his talented photographer wife, Jeannette — created a series of dramatic paintings depicting life in ancient Cambodia.

Fiévet’s paintings were extraordinary because he worked with two of the world’s foremost Khmer scholars — Bernard Philippe Groslier and George Cœdès — to achieve the highest degree of visual and historical accuracy possible.

In researching the life of George Groslier — Bernard Philippe’s father — I encountered photos of Fiévet’s images in the Groslier archive. His paintings finally appeared in the April 1960 issue of National Geographic (Vol 117, No 4.) accompanying Robert Moore’s article “Angkor, Jewel of the Jungle” which begins:

“A many-times visitor to Angkor’s ruins and keen student of Khmer culture, the author links his 35 years of research with remarkable paintings by Maurice Fiévet for an unusual National Geographic article — recreating the daily life of this lost civilization. The talented artist’s drawings underwent minute scrutiny for accuracy by Bernard Groslier and George Cœdès, French scholars who have devoted years to unraveling Angkor’s riddles. The contributions of these talented men, teamed on the following pages, provide a vivid portrait of a vanished people.”

Fiévet’s art creates a vivid visual record of the rise, and fall, of the Khmer civilization. The following post shares small images of his important works, with sample quotes from the original 1960 article.

"Jayavarman II sanctified as the first devaraja of Kambuja" by Maurice Fiévet

“That there should be in this country one sole sovereign.”

Royal chaplains reported the deification of the kings on a temple tablet now preserved in the National Museum, Bangkok.

Jayavarman II found his country forced to pay tribute to Java. In the year 802 he called upon a Brahman priest “skilled in magic science” to perform a ceremony that would lodge supreme authority in one divine king and declare Kambuja’s independence.

Artist Fiévet portrays the priest anointing the symbol of the Hindu god Siva in rites sanctifying Jayavarman (right) as a devaraja, or god-king, and making it “impossible for this country of the Kambuja to pay allegiance to Java.” For the next six centuries the Khmers dominated Southeast Asia.

"Yasovarman I atop the sacred mountain" by Maurice Fiévet

“Then His Majesty… established the royal city.”

A temple inscription details the founding of Angkor, the Khmers’ capital.

One of the first acts of Yasovarman I, the monarch who reigned half a century after Jayavarman II and founded Angkor, was the erection of a “mountain” temple atop a 200-foot hill called Phnom Bakheng. Artist Fiévet portrays the helmeted monarch, surrounded by his spearmen, priests, and umbrella bearers, standing atop the shrine and pointing to the site of the future royal palace. A straightened section of the Siem Reap River forms the eastern moat. The rectangular Eastern Baray, a four-mile-long irrigation reservoir, connects with the river; the king completed it in the first year of his reign. Later monarchs transformed Angkor into one of Asia’s grandest cities, home of perhaps a million people. No trace of their wooden homes remains.

"Elephant Teams Drag Heavy Stones for the Building of Angkor Wat" by Maurice Fiévet

Artist Fiévet, copying details sculptured on the Bayon, depicts a generation’s task. Two laborers in foreground drill holes into which they set pegs for handling. Crew at right slides a block back and forth, grinding surfaces until they fit without mortar ; man atop the frame wets a strap to reduce friction. Gang at left uses rope and pulley to lift a stone. Men on distant scaffolds complete the lower gallery.

"Women of the royal palace" by Maurice Fiévet

“Sparkling with the fire thrown by the gems of her jewels”

An inscription in the Temple of Ban Theat describes the brilliance of a royal lady.

“In general, the women, as well as the men, wear a bit of cloth about their loins leaving their breasts, white as milk, uncovered,” wrote Zhou Daguan.  “They wear the chignon and go barefooted. This is so even of the king’s wives.”

Artist Fiévet, basing his painting on Chinese accounts, temple reliefs, and inscriptions, gives us a peep into the palace as a princess prepares her elaborate toilet. Swaying fans cool her while a harpist entertains. Other attendants adorn her with bracelets, arm bands, and jeweled neckpiece. Vials on her dressing table hold perfumes; bowls contain betel nut for chewing. The hand mirror is a polished bronze reflector. Royal ladies in the Khmer courts became astrologers, Sanskrit scholars, and even jurists.

"Sword In Hand, the King Holds Audience From His Golden Window" by Maurice Fiévet

“Ministers and common people . .. strike the earth with foreheads”

Zhou Daguan, the Chinese traveler, gives us an account of the salaams for a king.

As religious and secular chief, the Khmer monarch judged his subjects’ disputes at hearings twice a day in Angkor Thom. A Brahman priest, identified by topknot and the white cord about his shoulder, presents a petition while standing beneath a parasol, possibly a gift from the king. Other suppliants, who offer baskets of fruit, prostrate themselves.

“The council chamber,” Zhou Daguan wrote, “has golden window frames.”

"War Canoes Charge In to Battle: Chams Defeat Khmers on the Tonle Sap" by Maurice Fiévet

“The King of Champa assailed Kambuja with a strong fleet”

Ma Tuan-lin, a Chinese historian, related the dramatic fall of Angkor in 1177, climax of a 30-year war.

Which the Khmers and which the Chams? Artist Fiévet does not state, as sculptured bas-reliefs on the Bayon show little difference in their dress. Prows of both fleets bear images of the Garuda, a mythical half-man, half-bird sacred to the god Vishnu. As shouting warriors shake shields and brandish spears. one crew casts grappling lines about the enemy’s bow. Survivors from a sunken boat grasp floating debris. Tusk-like projections from the hulls’ painted fish-mouth figureheads appear to serve as battering rams. Screens along the gunwales protect oarsmen.

"Strings and drums entertain royal women bathing at Angkor" by Maurice Fiévet

“Among women of the noble houses one finds many as light as jade.”

Zhou Daguan, Chinese traveler

Zhou, who wrote the description above seven centuries ago, reported that

“the king has five wives: one for the private apartment. properly speaking, and four for the four cardinal points. As for concubines and palace girls, I have heard it said that they number 3,000 to 5,000.”

Marco Polo, visiting neighboring Champa in the 1280s, wrote:

“In that kingdom no woman is allowed to marry until the king shall have seen her: if the woman pleases him — then he takes her to wife: if she does not. he gives her a dowry to get her a husband.”

"Conchs, Horns, and Gongs Herald a King Riding Through Angkor Atop His Elephant" by Maurice Fiévet

Marching toward one of the city’s four-faced gates. courtiers bear on their shoulders the ark of sacred flame. One attendant carries the royal insigne, a statuette of Vishnu and the Garuda.

Banners, pennants, and mushroom-like parasols dance in the air. The royal elephant wears a golden crown; scarlet brocade veils its companion; gold plate veneers their tusks. Cambodian and Thai courts use similar regalia today.

"The King ascends the belvedere to be present at the festival." by Maurice Fiévet

“The King ascends the belvedere to be present at the festival.”

Zhou Daguan

This brilliant circus emerges almost unchanged from wall carvings on the Bayon. The strong man supporting three dwarfs, the juggler spinning a wheel with his feet, and the tight rope walker all suggest the performers in a variety show today. Swordsmen fence, and acrobatic monkeys swing from a pole. A string-and-drum orchestra entertains the king, who sits on the far dais. Pleasure-loving Khmers also matched fighting wild boars, gamecocks, and elephants on the plaza facing the Royal Palace.

"Sculpting an Image of King Jayavarman VII" by Maurice Fiévet

“His glory went from himself to the four points of space.”

Queen Indradevi, writing in flawless Sanskrit eulogized her lord, Jayavarman VII

The meditative figure taking shape under this sculptor ‘s chisel portrays Jayavarman VII, Angkor’s mightiest king.

Archeologists have found two of his statues, one at Phimai, in eastern Thailand, and the Angkor treasure shown above. The head of a third image was unearthed recently at a town east of Angkor where Jayavarman appears to have dwelt before becoming a king.

The four faces on the numerous towers and gateways built by the king repeal the statue’s facial characteristics. They represent Lokesvara, a holy one who stayed on earth to do good works, but almost surely are stylized portraits of Jayavarman himself, an ardent Buddhist.

When Jayavarman came to the throne in the year of the “moon, sky, and Vedas” — A.D. 1181 — his queen, Indradevi, wrote: “He rose up to save the land heavy with crimes.”

Angkor’s greatest builder, Jayavarman VII reconstructed the capital. He planned new palaces, pavilions, and the splendid Elephant Terrace that stretches for hundreds of yards along the Royal Plaza; he raised a mighty central temple, the Bayon, second in size only to Angkor Wat.

Nor was the king then content. He built large monastery centers — Preah Khan, Ta Prohm and Banteay Kdei — adjacent to the capital. He erected other shrines and magnified outlying cities. An inscription records that he constructed more than 100 hospitals and erected rest-houses at frequent intervals along the all-season roads he established throughout the kingdom.

Physically powerful, Jayavarman lived well into his 90s, using his years to expand the Khmer Empire to its broadest extent. Jayavarman thus could well say to his people:

“The good works that I have accomplished you should protect, for they are yours also.”

"Rockets Flare in the Sky: King, Court, and People Celebrate the New Year" by Maurice Fiévet

Flanked by nobles and attendants. the monarch sits on a dais and watches his ballet corps weave a magic pattern of color and movement. As the massive Bayon looms against the purple night, banners and pennons flutter beneath exploding fireworks. Chinese, long users of gunpowder, may have taught the Khmers how to mix nitrate, powdered charcoal and sulphur to propel their bamboo-tube rockets.

"Khmer scholars preparing scripts on palm leaves" by Maurice Fiévet

“Of the qualities acquired, the highest is knowledge.”

A Khmer stone tablet quotes the Code of Manu, the ancient Hindu law book, to emphasize the importance of learning.

Scholars here prepare scripts on sections of palm leaf. Etching the characters with a stylus. they ink the entire strip, wipe the surface clean. and leave the black deposit only in the lettering. Brahman at lower right stacks finished texts for binding with string.

Khmers also wrote on hides, but fire and jungle rot destroyed such fragile books long ago. Only temple inscriptions endure, some written in Khmer, others in Sanskrit, the sacred language of the Brahmans.

“Having drunk the nectar of knowledge,” says one inscription, the king “…gave it to others to drink.”

"Death of Angkor: Victorious Thai loot the city and march away prisoners" by Maurice Fiévet

“The earth is plunged into a sea of ruin wrought by the enemy.”

After 1431 no one left a record of the Thai final conquest of Angkor. Our woeful title is taken from an account of an earlier but less disastrous defeat.

In 1432, a year after the disaster, the Khmers abandoned their capital of Angkor.

***

For Robert Moore’s complete article, “Angkor, Jewel of the Jungle”, please consult the April 1960 issue of National Geographic (Vol 117, No 4.).

To Cambodia With Love

An Essential Travel Guide in a Digital World

Book Review by Kent Davis

To Cambodia With Love is an attractive and useful guidebook for any traveler headed to Cambodia. Its secret is that this book offers a unique collection of tips and ideas that readers simply won’t find anywhere else.

When I began traveling internationally in the 1970s trips were always too expensive and too short. So some things never change!

Info about exotic destinations was sparse, but even a few ideas about sights, food, transport and lodging could make the difference between a memorable adventure and a stressful fiasco.

On my first trip to Laos in 1992 I just ripped the 20 page supplement out of the Thailand Lonely Planet Guide so I didn’t have to carry the whole book…but even those 20 pages made my Laotian trip easier. Knowledge is power!

With the advent of the Internet, travel research has evolved. So have travelers.

Finding mainstream attractions and accommodations is fairly easy. If anything, there’s too much information available and online sources aren’t always reliable. Beyond that, most modern travelers are seeking insights and experiences much deeper than “been there, done that”. Enter senior editor Kim Fay with a new concept to create “travel guides for the connoisseur”.

Young Cambodian monk by Tewfic EI-Sawy.

To Cambodia With Love is a perfect example of how well her formula works. With Phnom Penh-based British writer Andy Brouwer, they sought out more than 60 expert contributors with one thing in common: a passion for some aspect of Cambodian life. Food, history, sights, temples, Buddhism, wildlife, art, music, nature, charity, adventure, education…you name it…these people all live and love their Cambodian dreams.

And to each they posed one question: If you were giving advice to a friend who was headed to Cambodia, what would you tell them?

And so To Cambodia With Love was born, the newest in a brilliant series of travel guides. In addition to Cambodia, ThingsAsian Press now offers guides for Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Shanghai, Northern India, Nepal and Japan.

I can honestly say that I wouldn’t go to any of those places without one of these clever compact guides in my luggage. Why take a chance of missing the most inspirational experiences that await you in these exotic lands?

To Cambodia With Love BOOK DETAILS

Cambodian dancers by Tewfic EI-Sawy.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. MOVEABLE FEASTS – A tasting menu of exotic flavors

2. SEEING THE SIGHTS – Fresh perspectives on exploring must-see attractions

3. SECRET GARDENS – Where to hide away from the touring masses

4. INTO THE WILD – Outdoor experiences for adventurous travelers

5. WHEN IN ROME – Lessons on living local and making yourself at home

6. PAYING IT FORWARD – Suggestions for giving back while you’re on the road

7. RESOURCES FOR THE ROAD – Practical advice to help you prepare for your travels

8. EPILOGUE – One writer takes his sons on a local detour in Siem Reap

The book also features an Introduction, detailed Contributor Biographies (see below), Credits and  an Index .

Andy Brouwer (at right without glasses)

EDITOR BIO

British-born Andy Brouwer made his first trip to Cambodia in 1994. That white-knuckle ride hooked him for life.

When his annual visits didn’t satisfy his craving, so he upped sticks to Phnom Penh in 2007. As well as having a serious interest in temples, books, and pretty much all things Khmer, he is a lifetime supporter of Leeds United and has an insatiable passion for the music of Steel Pulse and Ennio Morricone.

For the adventures of Cambodian life, updated daily, visit Andy’s blog.

Tewfic EI-Sawy

PHOTOGRAPHER BIO

Tewfic EI-Sawy is a New York City-­based freelance photographer who specializes in documenting endan­gered cultures and traditional life in Asia, Latin America, and Africa.

He is particularly interested in photograph­ing cultural ceremonies and religious and tribal rituals.

He leads photogra­phy tours to India, Sikkim, Indo­china, Indonesia, and the Himalayan Kingdoms of Nepal and Bhutan. His images, articles, and photo features have been published in various magazines and other publications.

CONTRIBUTORS

Note: This complete alphabetical list of contributors is quoted from To Cambodia With Love.

Juanita Accardo — Juanita is a regular visitor to Cambo­dia. She adores Ratanakiri and treats it like her second home. When she’s not traveling, she’s back in the United States working at St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach, California.

Matt Ames — If Matt is not in Cambodia, he is probably in Roanoke, Virginia, studying data visualization, working on art projects, making music, or writing and directing short films. Matt would like to especially thank the monks of Wat Tahm-rai-saw in Battambang for their friendliness and willingness to answer a bunch of stupid questions.

Mariam Arthur — Mariam has traveled the United States extensively and went global in 2006. Her writing career started in California for regional newspa­pers. She transferred her skills to Hollywood in 2000. She has resided in Cambodia since 2007, where she lives within view of the Royal Palace with her cat, Tigger.

Anne Best — A London-based anthropologist, Anne Best is the author of The Monk, the Farmer, the Merchant, the Mother: Survival Stories of Rural Cambodia. This book tells the true stories of the lives of four simple country people. Now elderly, they reflect on the events of their lives and talk about the traditions of Khmer village life.

Andrew Booth — British-barn Andrew has such eclectic talents and absurd determi­nation, most would agree he is the man to have with them on a desert island. When not obsessing over the logistics of bespoke itineraries for his travel company ABOUTAsia, Andrew can be found spending its profits for the education of Cambodian rural poor through the IAMCAMBODIA Foundation, where he is cofounder and director.

Adam Bray — Adam Bray is a writer and photogra­pher based in Mui Ne, Vietnam. He has contributed to more than a dozen guidebooks for countries in South­east Asia, including Insight Guides’ Laos & Cambodia, DK’s Eyewitness travel guide to Cambodia and Laos, and Thomas Cook’s Travellers Cam­bodia – as well as numerous books in the To Asia With Love guidebook series. He is also regularly featured on CNNGO.com and CNN.com.

Elizabeth Briel — Elizabeth Briel is an artist and travel ­writer with an Asian focus. She has recently illustrated her first book, H is for Hong Kong, photographed her second, Lost & Found: Hong Kong, and is writing another about her quest through Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam in search of the perfect paper. Cur­rently she is based in Australia and Asia. In Cambodia, she ran a solo charity project teaching photography to kids while working as a radio DJ.

Janet Brown — The author of Tone Deaf in Bangkok, Janet loves Cambodia from the per­spective of a Bangkok resident but harbors dreams of someday being very, very old in Kratie. Look for her forthcoming Clueless in Cambodia sometime in 2030!

Cristiano Calcagno — Italian-born Cristiano Calcagno lives with his wife in Kompong Thom, where he has worked for many years. In his spare time he conducts field research into the ancient sites around his home province … and rides his bike.

Hing Channarith – Hing Channarith is the CEO and founder of the grassroots NGO the Cambodian Children’s Advocacy Foundation (CCAF). He formerly managed the Kien Khleang National Rehabilitation Centre’s Veterans International Cambodia just outside Phnom Penh for a decade.

Karen Coates — Author of Cambodia Now: Life in the Wake of War, Karen Coates splits her time between the American Southwest and Southeast Asia. She’s covered Cambodia for publications around the world since 1998, when she worked at The Cambodia Daily. She now writes the Ramblin’ Spoon blog about cuisine.

Kent Davis — Kent Davis is a publisher, author, trans­lator, and educator with twenty years of Southeast Asian work and travel ex­perience. In 2005, he founded DatASIA Press and initiated Devata.org, an indepen­dent research project documenting, cataloguing, and analyzing the sacred women whose portraits fill the walls of Angkor Wat and other Khmer temples.

Tiara Delgado — From Los Angeles, California, Tiara Delgado is the founder of Global Vision Video production company. In addition to working on documentaries, she has been a news correspondent for CAM-TV in Long Beach, California, and is currently a contributing journalist for The Khmer Post newspaper, also in Long Beach. She has been traveling to Cambodia since 1999 and has resided for the past two years in Phnom Penh, where she works as an English teacher.

Christine Dimmock — Christine Dimmock is a volunteer tutor for migrants and refugees in Australia, who first traveled to Southeast Asia and Cambodia in the 1990s. Her travel adventures also took her to Afghani­stan in the early part of the last decade.

Kim Fay — Raised in the Pacifie Northwest, Kim Fay first traveled to Southeast Asia in 1991. Since that time, she spent four years living in Vietnam and has traveled back frequently, writing about the region. As an expert on travel literature and Vietnam, she has been a guest speaker on NPR and has written for numerous publications, including Travel + Leisure. She is the author of Communion: A Culinary Journey Through Vietnam and creator and series editor of the To Asia With Love guide books. She lives in Los Angeles.

Don Gilliland — Don Gilliland is originally from Orlando, Florida, where he worked as a dishwasher, cook, and record store manager. He moved to Thailand in 1996 to work for Tower Records. He taught English for a few years before getting the retail itch again, opening the Lazy Mango Bookshop in Siem Reap in 2002 and Dasa Books in Bangkok in 2004.

Steve Goodman — Steve Goodman is an American who has lived in Phnom Penh since 2005 working as a professional photogra­pher and part-time guitar player. In 2002, after a twenty-two-year career as a software company executive in San Francisco, he began an exciting adventure traveling extensively and shooting photos throughout South­east Asia.

Antonio Graceffo — Antonio Graceffo is a martial arts and adventure author living in Asia. He is the author of the book The Monk from Brooklyn and the host of the web TV show Martial Arts Odyssey, which traces his ongoing journey through Asia, learning mar­tial arts in various countries.

Debra Groves — Debra Groves is an Australian photographer working in Cambodia. She left her own wedding photography business on Australia’s Sunshine Coast to move to Cambodia in April 2005, a year after her first visit. She is the founder of the charity Helping Hands.

Anna Hassett — Anna Hassett’s travels to Cambodia have included spending time at the Helping Hands charity outside Siem Reap.

Christina Heyniger — Christina Heyniger is a consultant, writer, and lecturer working with governments, entrepreneurs, and community tourism interests to develop and market eco-nature-adventure tourism products and ser­vices. Her company, Xola Consulting, has supported clients in countries around the world, including Ar­gentina, Brazil, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Ecuador, Peru, India, Mexico, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, and the United States.

Denise Heywood — Denise Heywood is a lecturer, journalist, author, and photographer. She has lived in Paris, New York, and Cambodia, where she worked as a journalist for three years. Now based in London, she has written books on Luang Prabang and Cambodian dance, including Cambodian Dance: Celebration of the Gods.

Aaron Horwitz – Aaron Horwitz is a Los Angeles­-based filmmaker and writer who has a passion for Asia and spent a good part of 2008 shooting in Thailand. He is also a cofounder of the charity Who Will? We Will! which organizes annual fundraisers for several small, independent NGOs. He is currently working for Causecast and aiming on a return to work in Southeast Asia again soon.

Mark Hotham — In 2001 Mark set off to spend eighteen months traveling India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, China, Laos, and Vietnam before arriving in Cambodia in 2003. Unable to tear himself away, he found work in the Australian Embassy in Phnom Penh and settled down for two and a half years. He now lives and works in the travel industry in the UK.

Soumya James — Soumya is writing her doctoral dis­sertation in the Department of History of Art and Visual Studies at Cornell University in the United States. She is studying the cultural role of the divine feminine during the Angkor period. Her experiences during fieldwork led to a greater appreciation for the people and places in Cambodia.

Helen Ibbitson Jessup — Helen is an art historian specializing in the architecture and sculpture of Cambodia and Indonesia. She has curated exhibitions that have traveled in the USA, France, Japan, Germany, Switzerland, and The Netherlands. She is the founding president of Friends of Khmer Culture and a trustee of the United States Indonesia Society. Her publications include Art & Architecture of Cambodia and Masterpieces of the National Museum of Cambodia.

Molly Jester — Molly spent many years working on issues related to homelessness and street-living youth in the United States. She first traveled to Southeast Asia in 2001 and fell in love with the region. She’s the president and founder of Stop Exploitation Now! established in 2005 to fight exploitation and abuse in Southeast Asia.

Phil Lees — Phil is an Australian living in Phnom Penh and an avid foodie. He pens Phnomenon, Cambodia’s first food blog. Lonely Planet’s guide to the greater Mekong called him “the unofficial pimp of Cambodian cuisine.”

Peter Leth — Peter is an American who has explored all corners of Cambodia for both work and play. He currently lives in Phnom Penh with his wife and daughter.

Martin Lum — Martin advises the Victoria government in Australia on health. He loves traveling.

Roy McClean — Roy is currently based in Australia and Asia. He spends his time breathing and making shapes with his body (also known as Chi Gung, Wing Chun, yoga, and meditation). He enjoys riding old bicycles through the back streets of low-rise cities.

Steve McClure — Steve is an award-winning writer/ director and cofounder of Ghost-2-­Eleven Entertainment. His first feature documentary, Rain Falls from Earth: Surviving Cambodia’s Darkest Hour, is narrated by Oscar-nominated actor Sam Waterston and features personal stories from victims of the Khmer Rouge regime in 1970s Cambodia.

Doug Mendel — A former volunteer firefighter in Colorado, Doug first came to Cam­bodia in 1997 and has since donated equipment to six of Cambodia’s fire stations, including two fire trucks. He also set up the Douglas Mendel Cambodian Relief Fund.

Howie Nielsen — A former dentist in the United States by profession, Howie is a passionate bird-watcher and now trains local guides for the Sam Veasna Center for Wildlife Conservation in Cambodia.

Caroline Nixon — Serving as a medical student elec­tive in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in 1980 started Caroline’s passion for travel­ing throughout Southeast Asia. Her favorite destinations are Myanmar and Cambodia. Her favorite pastimes include floating on rivers, cooking, and eating with friends.

Dougald O’Reilly — Dougald received his PhD in archaeology in 1999 and was hired the same year by UNESCO to teach at the Royal University of Fine Arts and pursue his research interests in Iron Age settlements in Cambodia. He founded Heritage Watch International, an NGO that promotes the preservation of heritage assets in Cambodia, in 2003. The author of Early Civilizations of Southeast Asia, he is currently a lecturer at The University of Sydney in Australia.

Joanna Owen — Following Joanna’s first experi­ence with Siem Reap, she made it her home and runs a successful responsible-tourism business with her partner, Thomas at Angkor Hotels. She has just completed an MA in Responsible Tourism Management and set up HOPE, a UK-based charity supporting young adults in Cambodia.

Daniela Papi — Daniela is the founder of PEPY, a hybrid organization encompassing an education development organization and an edu-venture tour company based in Siem Reap. She has been living in Cambodia since 2005 and is always looking for ways to escape the cities-often by bicycle on one of PEPY’s bicycle adventures.

Robert Philpotts — Robert has been writing about Cambodia since UNAMIC times, “but I consider, as far as my books are concerned, what I produce is a bit like white rice without prahok. This is why I spice the texts with pen and ink drawings.” His books include A Guide to Phnom Penh, The Coast of Cambodia, A Post of Independence, and his latest, South of the Heart.

Socheata Poeuv — Socheata made her filmmaking debut with the award-winning film New Year Baby, which was broadcast nationally in 2008. She was formerly on the staff at NBC’s Dateline and TODAY shows and ABC’s World News Tonight. She’s also the CEO of Khmer Legacies, an organization whose mission is to document the Cambodian genocide through videotaped testimonies by having the younger generation interview the older generation.

Jan Polatschek — Jan is a native New Yorker and now lives in Thailand. Using Bangkok as his hub, he travels in Asia, the Middle East, and beyond. He writes about his travel adventures and posts photos on his website, and several of his essays appear in To Asia With Love guidebooks from ThingsAsian Press.

Geoff Pyle — After living in Cambodia for a while, Geoff finds it hard to keep away from the place-the people, the history, the landscape, the food … though it is the architecture, the old stuff and the 1960s stuff, that really gets him going.

Nick Ray — Nick hails from Watford, UK, and after trying his hand attour leading he hooked up with Lonely Planet in 1998 and has worked on more than twenty titles since, including Lonely Planet Cambodia. He lives in Phnom Penh and leads and lectures on tours for top travel companies and international organizations. He also works as a loca­tion scout and manager for television and film. Projects have included Tomb Raider, Two Brothers, and countless documentaries for the BBC, Discovery Channel, and National Geographic.

Dawn Rooney — Dawn is an independent scholar and an art historian specializing in South­east Asia. She has authored nine books on the art and culture of the region. An American now residing in Bangkok, her Angkor: An Introduction to the Temples was first published in 1994.

Geoff Ryman — Geoff is a Canadian living in London. He has published eight novels and a volume of short fiction and has coedited a collection of Canadian fiction and a volume of stories that are collaborations between writers and scientists. His novels and short stories have won fourteen awards. His book on Cambodia, The King’s Last Song, was inspired by a visit in 2001 to an archaeological dig at Angkor Wat. He has twice run workshops in Cambodia in creative writing.

Anita Sach — Anita works as a freelance travel writer and editor, develops tour programs to Asia for tour operators, and leads group tours to the region. She is the author of guidebooks on Cambodia, Vietnam, and Bangkok and regularly writes online guides to Phnom Penh, Saigon, Hanoi, and Bangkok.

Sheila Scoville — Sheila lives in Austin, Texas, playing in her band No Mas Bodas, selling music at Waterloo Records, and thinking about her trip to Asia at least five times a day. She misses the scenery, cheap massages, kindness of complete strangers, and street food (especially sticky rice desserts) the most.

Lundi Seng — Lundi is a doctor practicing rehabilitation, occupational, and physical therapy in Long Beach, California. In January 1979 he fled with his family to Thailand and resettled in Michigan in December 1980.

David Shamash — For the last fifteen years property company director David has been donning his backpack and traveling to the farthest reaches of Cambodia by boat, pickup, or motodop. As a board member of Mekong Blue in Stung Treng, he helped develop the project so that it now supports a large seg· ment of the local community.

Gordon Sharpless — Based in Siem Reap, Gordon has lived and worked in Cambodia for nearly a decade. He is the writer and publisher of the Tales of Asia website and since 2004 has owned and operated Two Dragons Guesthouse in Siem Reap. He is married with two children.

Robert Tompkins — Robert is a Canadian writer, editor, and educator. A regular contributor to ThingsAsian.com, he and his wife, Doris, live in Cedar Valley, Ontario, a rural community thirty-five miles north of Toronto. Bob publishes articles internationally through his freelance agency, Travel Ink. He is also the editor of Futurescapes. Currently, he is involved in an online editing and tutorial service called The Wordsdoctor.

Georgiana Treasure-Evans — Georgiana is a mother, writer, yoga teacher, and healing arts practitioner. During her four years in Cambodia she traveled widely in Southeast Asia with her husband and two small children. She now lives in Herefordshire, UK.

Loung Ung — Loung is the author of two mem­airs: First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers and Lucky Child. A Daughter of Cambodia Reunites with the Sister She Left Behind.

Glyn Vaughan — Glyn is director of All Ears Cambodia, a local NGO fighting against ear disease and deafness. It focuses on the weakest and hardest hit, providing free medical treatment for some of the most vulnerable groups in Cambodia.

Dickon Verey — Dickon lived in Cambodia from 2003 until the beginning of 2006. During that time he volunteered for a number of NGOs. His main work was building a youth and community center in the village of Ksach Poy near Battambang for FEDA. He now lives in Vietnam.

Christine Thuy-Anh Vu — Christine writes and edits work about the arts, culture, and science. Serv­ing as art adviser to several interna­tional collections, she has also been an executive director to a Vietnam-based international arts organization. A Fulbright Fellow in Contemporary Vietnamese Art, she has received other honors and fellowships for her research in Europe and the USA in psychology, gastronomy, and contemporary art.

Ray Waddington — Ray is the president of The Peoples of the World Foundation, a secular, apolitical, nonprofit organization based in the USA. He established the foundation to fund educational scholarships for indigenous people after witnessing their lack of educational opportunities and the negative impact this has on political representation. He recently cel­ebrated his one-millionth kilometer of international travel and is prepar­ing a travel/humor book based on his experiences.

Georgie Walsh — Georgie first went to Phnom Penh to work on a memoir set there in the 1980s. This fell through, but she kept herself busy by editing, teaching, exporting textiles, starting a soup kitchen, co-founding an NGO, and selling some paintings, just to name a few activities. More recently she’s been based in Bangkok and Luang Prabang, where she is working as a freelance journalist.

Peter Walter — Peter Walter is the Southeast Asia managing director for L.EX Consult­ing. A native of Lakewood, Ohio, he has lived with his family in Bangkok for nearly ten years. Whenever he gets the chance, he enjoys spending time exploring the region with his wife, Lyle, and their three boys.

Debbie Watkins — With husband Marc, Debbie created Carpe Diem Travel in 2001 after a ca­reer in banking in the UK. Carpe Diem is a social enterprise travel business, reinvesting profits in the communities its customers visit.

Rachel Wildblood — UK-born, Rachel is a freelance consultant specializing in waste and environmental management. She worked for various NGOs in Cambo­dia over a four-year period from 2005 after arriving as a volunteer.

Mick Yates — Mick is an innovative leadership researcher, teacher, and author. In 2001, Mick was elected to Save the Children’s U.S. board of trustees. Reflecting a long-term interest in children’s issues, the Yates family supports a Cambodian school devel­opment program in a remote area of the country.

Ronnie Yimsut — Born and raised in Siem Reap, Ronnie fled Cambodia after witnessing the massacre of nearly his entire family under the Khmer Rouge regime. Ron­nie is currently a senior landscape architect for the U.S. Forest Service, a published author, and a social and environmental justice issues activist with groups such as Project Enlighten and Bakong Technical College in Cambodia.

Ray Zepp — Ray came to Cambodia in 1995 as part of the Georgetown University project to rebuild the National Uni­versity of Management. His travels in the hinterland prompted him to author his Cambodia Less Travelled and Experiencing Cambodia. He now resides in Battambang and has written the tourist guide Around Battambang. He has also started the new Dewey International University in Battambang.

By Darryl Collins - Independent Scholar
Reprinted with the permission of UDAYA – Journal of Khmer Studies

Banteay Chhmar, CAMBODIA — In early March 1924, an automobile entourage had already passed through Battambang, Mongkol Borei and Sisophon before arriving at Banteay Chhmar. Photographs – possibly taken by George Groslier [footnotes at bottom - i] (1887-1945) himself, of governors’ residences, schools, a post office [ii] and court witness their passage en route to Banteay Chhmar.

School, teacher & students at Sisophon in 1924. © National Museum of Cambodia

However, it is most likely the photograph of the arrival of the motorcade on the 9 March 1924 was restaged for posterity (top photo) as a wooden glass-plate camera and tripod would almost certainly have travelled as part of the on-board luggage. Presumably the camera was positioned, and either a mechanical timer used, or someone on hand recorded this event. Parts of a glass-plate camera (possibly equipment used by Groslier), remain in the collection of the National Museum of Cambodia (below).

Incomplete glass-plate camera (equipment possibly used by George Groslier) Collection: National Museum of Cambodia

A hand-written caption under the image states ‘Arrivée à Banteai Chhmar des premières automobiles parvenues au temple’: stamped and dated ‘Mars 1924’, is further registered as ‘H181; Dim (Sunday) 9-3-1924’.

The cars display numbered licence plates: P.P.466 (rear vehicle) and P.P.72 (front vehicle). [iii] A car expert has suggested that

“the PP466 car looks to be very similar to an early 1900-29 Renault (Frenchmade); the identifying feature being the unusual engine bonnet, which had the radiator behind the engine on the firewall, rather than up front behind the grill. However, I have found other French manufacturers La Buire and Clement-Bayard also used this design around this time.”

Further, “on a second look at these cars I noticed that the car nearest to the camera has solid steel wheels which dates this car closer to 1924, the other with wire spokes, probably a little earlier.” [iv]

Illustrated advertisement: Sociéte des Transports et Messageries d’Indochine: Phnom Penh-Saigon: Auto-cars voyageurs. 1928.

Advertisements for auto-cars (1928 & 1930) include maps depicting routes ex Phnom Penh via Sisophon across the Siamese border to the rail-head at Aranyaprathet. The trip in 1924 would have been a hot and arduous one, as the temple lies some 60km from Sisophon, and even today can only be reached by an uneven dirt road.

Illustrated advertisement: Sociéte des Transports et Messageries d’Indochine: Phnom Penh-Saigon: Auto-cars voyageurs, 1930.

Personages in the Banteay Chhmar arrival photograph remain a mystery; of the eight figures in the two cars, five are almost certainly Cambodians (interpreters, guides and drivers); only three appear to be Caucasian – one in the rear car and two seated in the front car, turning to face the camera. Assuming the cars departed from Phnom Penh, together with the photographic evidence and museum interests at heart, one of the foreigners in the picture must be George Groslier.

A fourth foreign figure leaning on a walking stick, stands poised as if to welcome the group (was he resident and already working at the temple)? The sturdy wooden thatched pavilion in front of the vehicles surrounded by a fence with a decorative gate certainly lends an air of permanence to the site. Set in the dry, freshly leveled earth are three sandstone heads (deva) with newly planted native vegetation to provide a suggestion of a garden path approach to the sala (open air structure). The stone heads would have originated from the figures of gods and demons grasping the serpent Vasuki that originally flanked one of the causeways to the temple compound.

The only other witnesses to this event are three shadowy figures of curious local Khmer (to the left of the vehicles) and one solitary figure under a small thatch hut to the right, viewing the arrival of the motorcade. The comparatively short shadows under the cars suggest an early afternoon arrival.

Governor’s residence, Sisophon, 1924. © National Museum of Cambodia

George Groslier prophetically wrote in 1924, “The collection of photographs owned by the Musée Albert Sarraut is of inestimable value. Fortunate acquisitions allowed us to gather documentation over the last 30 years or so. Most of the images are purely documentary. The conditions under which some of them were taken and the difficulties associated with their conservation in Indochina, has resulted in some low contrast prints, however, they are of sufficient quality for study.”[v]

School, teacher & students, Mongkol Borei. © National Museum of Cambodia

Although photographs of the Banteay Chhmar complex were taken as early as 1914, [vi] ten years later in 1924, [vii] and again in 1932, [viii] Groslier was not to write of the temple until some four years after in his 1936 article “Troisième recherche sur les Cambodgiens” [ix], followed the next year by “Banteai Chhmar, ville ancienne du Cambodge.” [x]

Courthouse, Sisophon, 1924. © National Museum of Cambodia

George Groslier’s son, Bernard Philippe Groslier, writing of his father, headed the tribute: ‘George Groslier, French painter, writer and archaeologist: 4 February 1887-18 June 1945 (Phnom Penh, Cambodge).’ [xi]

In addition, could be added the terms ‘museologist’ and ‘photographer,’ for as the founding director of what is now the National Museum of Cambodia, the cataloguing and documenting of his milieu and the growing collection of masterpieces of Khmer art for public display, is arguably his greatest legacy.

References cited

Anon., undated catalogue: Musée A. Sarraut: Service Photographique: Inventaire des Clichés, National Museum of Cambodia.

Groslier, George, Hanoi, 1924. Catalogue Général du Musée du Cambodge (Musée Albert Sarraut).

Groslier, George, ‘Troisième recherche sur les Cambodgiens’, BEFEO XXXV : 159-206.

Groslier, George, Paris, 1937. ‘Bantéai Chhmar, ville ancienne du Cambodge’, L’Illustration, 3 April, no. 4909.

Various contributors, Paris, 1992. Disciplines Croisées : Hommage à Bernard Philippe Groslier, Editions de l’Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Direction générale de la Coopération culturelle, scientifique et technique.

Footnotes

[ii] The post office at Svay Sisophon was originally among a number of telegraphic and postal services handed over by Siam to the French colonial administration at the time of retrocession of the provinces of Battambang, Sisophon and Siem Reap in 1907.

[iii] P.P. presumably standing for Phnom Penh; these vehicles were most likely rented for the occasion; automobile taxi services commence operations slightly later in Phnom Penh on 1 May 1925.

[iv] Quotes courtesy Gordon McPherson, vintage car enthusiast, Adelaide, South Australia.

[v] Groslier 1924.

[vi] ibid., nos. 670-716.

[vii] Anon., undated catalogue, National Museum of Cambodia, L43-55; P57-63; R99-102.

[viii] ibid., L86-133.

[ix] Groslier 1936.

[x] Groslier 1937: 352-357

[xi] Various contributors 1992: 59.

Banteay Chhmar government building, 1924. © National Museum of Cambodia

About UDAYA – Journal of Khmer Studies

Udaya is the leading scholarly journal of Khmer culture and art. Since 2005, Friends of Khmer Culture has sponsored production of the journal, edited by .

The Sanskrit word udaya means “rising sun”. The UDAYA Journal also represents a dawn and rebirth for the reemergence of Khmer scholarship after decades of civil unrest in Cambodia. The journal includes articles from leading experts on both the cultural past of Cambodia as well as modern ideas about the evolution of Khmer society.

Udaya is an annual publication with articles in Khmer, English and French. For PDF information and a Table of Contents from each issue,  click the following links:  Issue I, 2000; Issue II, 2001; Issue III, 2002; Issue IV, 2003; Issue V, 2004; Issue VI, 2005; Issue VII, 2006; Issue VIII, 2007; Issue IX, 2008

For info on subscriptions or single issue purchases please email udaya@khmerculture.net.

One of eight Lokesvara images originally carved on the temple walls of Banteay Chhmar. Four of these were looted in 1992 (see missing wall on right). The Global Heritage Fund and other agencies (see links below) are now actively preserving and restoring the historic temple.

Banteay Chhmar Information Resources

Global Heritage Fund

Heritage Watch International

Cambodia Community Based Eco-Tourism Network

Banteay Chhmar Heritage Conference Website

Archaeological Institute of America – Banteay Chhmar Site Preservation Grant

Article – Banteay Chhmar: healing the scars of looting

Article – Banteay Chhmar – Ancient Khmer City in Cambodia (1933 article)

3D Architectural reconstruction of Banteay Chhmar by Dr. Pheakday Nguonphan.

Article by Kent Davis – Devata.org

PARIS, FRANCE – The majestic temple of Angkor Wat is an icon of the medieval Khmer civilization that once flourished in Southeast Asia. But situated 110 kilometers northwest of the well-known Angkor group, experts believe another fabulous monument also holds vital clues to the mysteries of the Khmer Empire. At the behest of the Global Heritage Fund, experts recently gathered at the Guimet Museum to insure the future of the temple of Banteay Chhmar.

One of eight Lokesvara images originally carved on the temple walls of Banteay Chhmar. Four of these were looted in 1992 (see missing wall on right).

Banteay Chhmar, also called the Citadel of the Cats, lies hidden in a remote corner of Cambodia, shielded by the Dangrek Mountains to the north. Its isolated location is exactly why archaeologists and conservators are so enthusiastic about the site. In the 800 years since it was built, Banteay Chhmar has slowly collapsed, falling victim to ancient trees, invasive jungle foliage and modern looters.

But archaeologists know that the structural collapse has preserved many artistic elements, much like a time capsule. Banteay Chhmar temple remains the least-damaged repository of art commissioned by the Khmer Empire’s last great king, Jayavarman VII, who converted Cambodia to Buddhism, which remains the national religion today.

GHF conservation of the face towers at Banteay Chhmar.

Conserving Cambodian History at Banteay Chhmar

In 2007, the Global Heritage Fund (GHF) recognized the critical need for conservation, planning and protection at Banteay Chhmar. Working with Cambodian officials, GHF initiated a conservation project at the temple. British architect John Sanday, GHF’s Director for Asia and Pacific Programs, moved to the site to personally direct the work, and to oversee training for professional team of Khmer conservators to restore their nation’s priceless heritage.

GHF’s Banteay Chhmar project is the first temple restoration project led by a Khmer team.

The Cambodian government and conservation groups actively support GHF’s conservation efforts. Governor Oung Oeung of Banteay Meanchey Province and Director General Ok Sophon, Department of Heritage, Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts (MoCFA) recently hosted the second international Banteay Chhmar conference at the site, attracting nearly 200 participants.

In addition to GHF’s work stabilizing and preserving the temple structure, two other groups are working with local residents to promote social programs; Cambodia Community Based Eco-Tourism Network promotes eco-tourism, while Heritage Watch International implements heritage education programs for visitors, guides and local residents.

In addition to the main temple, the vast Banteay Chhmar site includes a large baray (ceremonial reservoir), canals and many smaller temples.

GHF Conference at Musée Guimet Rallies Support for Heritage Conservation

A Royal Cambodian Ballet dancer.

On November 30th, 2010 the Global Heritage Fund organized a special meeting at the Guimet Museum, which preserves one of the most extraordinary collections of Khmer art in the world.

Following a traditional dance blessing by member of the Royal Ballet of Cambodia, a group of distinguished speakers discussed the importance of saving global heritage for future generations. Presenters included Cambodian Ambassador to France, H.E. Mr. Uch Kiman; the U.S. Ambassador to UNESCO David Killion, and Jacques Gies, President of the Musée Guimet, who just had returned from Cambodia.

John Sanday presented his ongoing work restoring Banteay Chhmar with professional team of Khmer conservators. Banteay Chhnar is the first temple conservation project in Cambodia to be led by a Khmer team of professionals training their fellow Khmers. Mr. Sanday also described how local communities are essential to the site’s protection and development to ensure long-term success for the project.

Dr. Peter Sharrock from University of London SOAS presented intriguing research on the unique Khmer art and iconography of Banteay Chhmar that the GHF project is now revealing to the world. (more info below)

Banteay Chhmar is enclosed by a one kilometer carved bas-relief wall depicting the entire history of the Khmer kingdom.

UNESCO Recognition – The Next Key Step for Banteay Chhmar

In 1992, UNESCO has recognized the 400 sq. km. Angkor area as one of the world’s most important archaeological sites.

The vast site of Banteay Chhmar is now among Cambodia’s top-listed sites for nomination to UNESCO’s World Heritage List. This little-know and rarely visited area contains one of the great architectural masterpieces of Southeast Asia, and its main temple is one of the culminating monuments of the Khmer Kingdom’s epic Angkorian Period.

Suffering from 800 years of neglect, the towers, chambers and intricate bas relief carvings of the temple have slowly collapsed to the encroaching jungle, as well as suffering from aggressive looters. Banteay Chhmar is in critical need of a master plan, pro-active conservation and increased protection, which is the exact mission government and non-profit agencies now pursue.

Early Banteay Chhmar temple plan by George Groslier.

Exploring the History and Mystery of Banteay Chhmar

Always remote, Banteay Chhmar has attracted explorers for more than a century. Etienne Aymonier first visited the site around 1883 followed by Lunet de Lajonquière around 1903. According to French archaeologist George Groslier,

“both noted that of all the Khmer monuments that they had explored Banteay Chhmar was the most ruined, the largest, the most chaotic…and the most indecipherable.”

On January 9, 1914, Groslier returned to the site to make a detailed survey, where he wrote:

“It took me ten days of uninterrupted work, from dawn to dusk, to survey Banteay Chhmar. No other temple in Cambodia is so vast or lies in such ruin…nowhere else have I felt such deep emotion studying the stones on site and re-erecting them one by one on paper.”

Groslier continued documenting the site, with the first major article for the public appearing in French in 1937 (click for George Groslier’s Banteay Chhmar article in English).

Professor Sharrock of SOAS now notes that the consecration of Banteay Chhmar dates to 1216 CE. Sharrock, a specialist in the religious transformation under the reign of the last great Khmer King Jayavarman VII, sees this unrestored temple as perhaps the greatest and least-damaged repository of Buddhist iconography from that era. His hope is that it will tell scholars even more about the Khmer than the state temple of the Bayon, which is in the Angkor group.

According Sharrock, images at Banteay Chhmar contain strong evidence for a cult of the supreme tantric Buddhist deity Hevajra, with significant participation by female practitioners, women known as Yoginis. According to Sharrock’s research, Hevajra cults were widespread at the time, reaching their peak in what is now China in 1260 CE with the Chinese emperor Kublai Khan’s consecration to Hevajra. Jayavarman VII’s devotion to Hevajra was therefore not unusual, but it does reveal the extent that this new religion influenced Southeast Asian beliefs.

Meanwhile, the iconography in the central sanctuary of Banteay Chhmar suggests that Vajrasattva and Herukas may have been at the core of this royal tantric cult. A frieze on one of the temple’s characteristic face towers may portraying the whole body of the crowned 4-faced deity sitting in the face-towers themselves.

Architectural reconstruction of Banteay Chhmar by architect Olivier Cunin, funded by the Robert Kiln Charitable Trust (UK) via GHF.

Restoring an Architectural Wonder

GHF has also employed the talents of French architect Dr. Olivier Cunin in creating 3-D archaeological reconstructions of the Banteay Chhmar complex. Cunin collaborated with Japanese photographer Baku Saito in 2005 to issue “The Face Towers of Banteay Chmar”, documenting this extraordinary temple.

The Banteay Chhmar site is now open to visitors. Interested travelers can also support the non-profit Global Heritage Fund, Cambodia Community Based Eco-Tourism Network, and Heritage Watch International with tax deductible contributions.

GHF team doing a temporary reassembly of a vault at Banteay Chhmar.

Banteay Chhmar Information Resources

Global Heritage Fund

Heritage Watch International

Cambodia Community Based Eco-Tourism Network

Banteay Chhmar Heritage Conference Website

Archaeological Institute of America – Banteay Chhmar Site Preservation Grant

Article – Banteay Chhmar: healing the scars of looting

Article – Banteay Chhmar – Ancient Khmer City in Cambodia (1933 article)

62 barefoot dancers gather at the temple of Preah Vihear on the tense Cambodian-Thai border to perform a sacred ritual for peace led by Ravynn Karet-Coxen (right).

A religious ceremony of rare intensity took place August 17 in the temple of Preah Vihear, where sixty-two young girls danced a sacred ritual to pray for peace. Originating the event was Ravynn Karet Coxen, founder of the Nginn-Karet Foundation for Cambodia.

By Frédéric Amat

© 2010 Cambodge Soir – This translation of the original article appears with the permission of the copyright holder. No further reproduction is permitted.

PREAH VIHEAR, CAMBODIA — Sixty-two girls, entirely dressed in white reminiscent of Rome’s Vestal Virgins, performed a Buong Suong (sacred ritual) before the astonished eyes of soldiers stationed in the heart of Preah Vihear temple, which is located four hours by road from Siem Reap.

All the dancers come from impoverished families living in the villages of Banteay Srey district, which is considered to be the cradle of the Khmer culture. All attend classes at the Conservatoire Buppha Devi, which was founded by the Nginn Karet Foundation and named for its Royal Patron. With specialized dance and music teachers, the Conservatoire offers these disadvantaged children from farming families the opportunity to learn the refined disciplines of classical dance, folk dance, music and shadow theater thereby discovering their country’s ancient culture and learning traditional Cambodian values.

The troupe of Nginn Karet Foundation dancers gather at Preah Vihear

According to Ravynn, “our institution doesn’t aim to train these young artists to later work in the tourist venues of nearby Siem Reap town. The arts we teach develop the spirit, mind and body by creating close communion with nature. These young dancers train to perform sacred rituals that honor and invoke our gods with the pure respect of our ancestral traditions.

“These rituals, and their associated gestures, have been developed over a thousand years to petition the heavens to bless our country and to attract prosperity and abundance to our land. Today, Angkor’s temples are perceived more for tourism or for their archaeological aspects, but rarely for their spiritual quality, which is a pity. Our goal is to re-sanctify our ancestor’s temples with these purifying rites”.

Sacred dancers ascending Preah Vihear temple with offerings of peace.

For these young artists, discipline is strict. They are required to regularly attend the training six half-days every week; the other half-days being devoted to academic studies.

In the Hindu (not Buddhist) ritual that took place at Preah Vihear — as for other ceremonies previously organized by Ravynn and members of her foundation — the dancers must be “pure”, which is to say virgins. They are not adorned with makeup or jewelry, so as to enhance the beauty of the gestures and to preserve the piety of the rites.

Gathering Lustral Water at Preah Vihear's sacred pond Srea Meas.

The adornments and offerings are therefore natural, carved by the dancers and teachers from banana trunks or designed with plants, flowers and fruits, each having a specific symbolic meaning.

“The same is true of our Institution of Royalty, which is paramount for the Khmer because it represents the divine presence on earth and the protection of the Kingdom. In accord with the ideals of the Devaraja religion of Jayavarman II, prayers, incantations and pilgrimages are all necessary to strengthen the soul of our country. I fundamentally believe that when the sacred sites have been respected as such, and re-sanctified, Cambodia will regain peace.

“It is with this goal that we organized this sacred ritual at Preah Vihear with 62 dancers. This number is not without significance, by the way. It commemorates the irrevocable judgment of the International Court of Justice of The Hague, delivered in 1962, that granted Cambodia the right to regain the sovereignty of Preah Vihear,” explains Ravynn, whose father, Nginn Karet, participated in the World Court proceedings as an expert engineer geographer.

The sacred dancers began their blessing ritual at the foot of the mountain.

So, at Preah Vihear, sixty-two dancers, candles and sticks of incense in hand, ascended hundreds of temple steps, from the mountain’s base to its final courtyard. The young ladies gently and beautifully invoked the names of all the Khmer gods, royal spirits, kings, spiritual masters, ancestors and the leaders of modern Cambodia, as they stopped at each Gopura (an entry structure on each level) to perform special ceremonies using lustral water gathered from the temple’s sacred pond of Srea Meas.

As the sacred ritual concluded storm clouds gathered and raindrops fell -- to the dancers it was a sign that their gods had heard their pleas for peace.

Focused on their ritual dance they reached the highest point at the edge of a cliff, offering their final prayers for tensions to subside so that this sacred site is again peaceful.

When all nine dance rituals were complete the witnesses were awed to see the sky darken. Within minutes lighting flashed, thunder rumbled and heavy rain descended near the mountain. On the top, only a mist of spray touched the gathered troupe of dancers, who saw it as a sign that the gods had heard their plea and accepted the Buong Suong.

This was the first time in many centuries that a sacred Hindu rite was celebrated in Preah Vihear temple; a rite for peace, at the summit of Cambodia, in this sanctuary mid-way between Heaven and Earth.

***

Cambodge Soir is the most important French language newspaper published in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It is distributed throughout the country and is available online for purchase by the single issue or by subscription (online edition).

Picture Postcards of Cambodia: 1900-1950 By Joel G. Montague

This beautiful new edition from White Lotus Press is a true historical masterpiece that captures the adventure, diversity and visual excitement of early 20th century Cambodia in a medium familiar to everyone: the picture postcard.

While French and Cambodian archives are filled with books, manuscripts and government records, the photographic history of the nation is more limited. As author Joel Montague discovered

“it is a happy coincidence that the era of French expansion to Southeast Asia…coincided with another era, one that came to be known by aficionados of ephemera as ‘the golden years’ of the picture postcard!”

Indeed, postcards became a powerful way to share the adventure of Asian life. Economical and readily available, literally millions were sent to friends and relatives around the world, forming important impressions of Cambodia, inspiring dreams and undoubtedly many journeys.

"Picture Postcards of Cambodia: 1900-1950" includes hundreds of clear, black & white postcard photos and a special section featuring rare color postcards.

Over the decades, postcards captured the rapidly changing landscape of this nation under French influence, often presenting a contrived, romantic image of the Cambodian Protectorate. Today, however, the fraction of postcards that survived are scattered among dealers, obscure archives and private collectors around the world. And so M. Montague began collecting these snapshots of the exotic life in this Eastern land with the dream of one day sharing this treasure trove of rarely-seen images of Cambodia.

The result of his passion is this splendid 327-page volume. In addition to including hundreds of his best and rarest postcard discoveries, the author organized this presentation into 16 categories, each supplemented with detailed historical information (see below for the full Table of Contents).

Postcards of Cambodia is now an essential resource for colonial scholars (e.g. as an ideal companion to Penny Edwards’ book, Cambodge: The Cultivation of a Nation, 1860-1945). Naturally, Montague’s book will be indispensible for other collectors, but with the difficult work so pleasantly accomplished, why collect? The opportunity is here for all curious travelers to instantly enjoy these fascinating glimpses of Cambodian history.

Review by Kent Davis – www.devata.org

One of the earliest postcards from the 1900 Exposition Universelle in "Picture Postcards of Cambodia: 1900-1950" By Joel G. Montague. The book also includes a special section of color postcards.

BOOK DETAILS

• Title: Picture Postcards of Cambodia 1900-1950
• Author: Joel G. Montague
• ISBN: 9789744801197
• Publisher: White Lotus Co., Bangkok
• Contents: 327 pp., illus., 19 pp. in color
• Size: 210×300 mm, pbk. Weight: 1.400 Kg

From "Picture Postcards of Cambodia: 1900-1950" By Joel G. Montague

PURCHASE INFO

Publisher and International Distributor – White Lotus Press

Founder Diethard Ande established the Bangkok-based White Lotus Press in 1972. Since then he has produced important new books about Southeast Asia and reissued classic titles that have long been out of print. White Lotus offers fast, reliable shipping worldwide. PICTURE POSTCARDS OF CAMBODIA: 1900-1950 is readily available at bookstores in Thailand.

Cambodia – Monument Books

Australia – Old Asia Bookroom

United States – Dalley Book Service

From "Picture Postcards of Cambodia: 1900-1950" By Joel G. Montague

COMPLETE TABLE OF CONTENTS

PICTURE POSTCARDS OF CAMBODIA: 1900-1950
By Joel G. Montague

1 – FRENCH INDOCHINA: THE GEOPOLITICAL CONTEXT

• An Introduction to the History of the Protectorate of Cambodia within Indochina
• Colonial Cambodia
• The Question of “non-History”
• The Picture Postcard: An Ephemeral Record of Early Twentieth Century Cambodia
• Colonial Administration in the Five States of the French Indochinese Union
• A New World: Picture Postcard Maps of Indochina

2 – PICTURE POSTCARDS OF CAMBODIA: 1900 TO MID-CENTURY

• The History of the Picture Postcard
• Categorization of Postcards of Cambodia
• The Messages on Picture Postcards with Images of Cambodia Sent from Indochina
• Photographers, Editors, Printers and the Dating of Postcards
• Identification of Some Key Elements of Picture Postcards Used to Illustrate this Book
• The Postal Service for Indochina Picture

3 – THE MONARCHY

• Images of the Cambodian Royal Family

4 – THE PALACE, THOSE SERVING THE MONARCHY, AND GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS

• The Royal Palace in Phnom Penh
• The Palace Staff and Those Serving the Government

5 – CAMBODIA’S CAPITAL, THE GREAT CITY OF PHNOM PENH

• French Colonial Structures
• The Phnom and its Surroundings

6 – CAMBODIA’S LIFELINE -THE MEKONG RIVER

• The Port and Canal of Phnom Penh
• The Great River and the Boats on it

7 – THE KHMER AND OTHER INHABITANTS OF CAMBODIA

• The Khmer
• Other Inhabitants

8 – KHMER DANCE AND MUSIC

• Dance
• Music

9 – INSTITUTIONS OF PARTICULAR INTEREST

• Indigenous and French Troops
• The Prison System
• Educational Institutions
• Foreign and Local Hunters

10 – THE RELIGIONS OF CAMBODIA

• Buddhism
• Catholicism
• Islam (the Cham-Malay)

11 – SCENES FROM PROVINCIAL AND RURAL CAMBODIA

• Major Towns
• Villages and Dwellings

12 – THE CAMBODIAN ECONOMY

• Animal Husbandry and Agriculture
• Fisheries and Forestry
• Commerce and Handicrafts

13 – IMPORTANT EVENTS AND RITES OF PASSAGE

• Festivals and Ceremonies
• The Water Festival

14 – ARCHAEOLOGICAL WONDERS OF CAMBODIA

• Angkor Wat and its Neighbors
• Nokor (Kampong Cham)

15 – CAMBODIA AND THE KHMER ABROAD

• International Expositions and Fairs Featuring Indochina and Cambodia
• Tiny Glimpse of the Khmer Presence in Neighboring Countries

16 – COLOR PICTURE POSTCARDS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ENDNOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

LIST OF POSTCARD EDITORS AND PUBLISHERS

Cambodian palace pavilion from "Picture Postcards of Cambodia: 1900-1950"

Ta Som - East face of west entry pavilion, third enclosure. Photo-Luc Ionesco. © EFEO

A la découverte d’Angkor

Paris — Imagine the excitement of trekking through a tropical jungle and discovering a huge, intricately carved stone temple, a vestige of a mysterious civilization long since vanished from our world. That unbelievable scene happened hundreds of times in the 19th century as intrepid French explorers discovered the monuments of the mighty Khmer Empire in the Southeast Asian country of Cambodia.

The École Française d’Extrême-Orient (EFEO), an agency that has conducted extensive archaeological studies in Cambodia, has amassed a huge archive of information over the past 110 years. From September 10 until January 2, 2011 the Cernuschi Museum in Paris will host an exceptional collection of rare photos capturing the EFEO’s work at Angkor since 1907.

Angkor was the vibrant Khmer capitol for hundreds of years, but when the civilization collapsed in the 15th century the dense jungle slowly, and dramatically, reclaimed the city. Hundreds of years later, French explorer Henri Mouhot arrived and when his reports of a fabulous lost city built by an unknown civilization reached France they caused a sensation.

This exhibit, with 108 photos selected by EFEO library manager Isabelle Poujol, shows the temples of Angkor between 1860 and 1960 — before, during and after their release from the jungle’s grip.

The exhibit naturally shows work at the larger temples of Angkor Wat, the Bayon and Preah Khan, but also focuses on three other unique buildings:

Banteay Srei, dvarapala, guardian of the false west front door, central sanctuary, photographer Luc Ionesco © EFEO.

Banteay Srei – A 10th century temple dedicated to Shiva that was only rediscovered in 1914. Banteay Srei was the first temple in the Angkor area where the technique of anastylosis was used, i.e. using the original architectural elements to the greatest extent possible in rebuilding the strucure.

The Baphuon – An 11th century Hindu “temple-mountain” dedicated to Shiva that is the focus of a French restoration project that began in 1943 and resulted in the creation of a huge stoneyard with an inventory of 300,000 blocks.

Neak Pean – This Buddhist temple, whose name means “entwined serpents”, is build on an artificial island that was originally in one of the vast reservoirs created by the Khmer.

In addition to photos, the exhibit includes key documents relating to the discoveries and a stereoscopic image viewer. A new documentary on Angkor by director Didier Fassio is screened free every morning at 11 AM in the Conference Room (1st floor) of the museum.

This exhibition is part of the Mois de la Photo in Paris.

Video

This French language video offers a look at many of the rare photos on display in the exhibit.

Musée Cernuschi – Des archéologues à Angkor from Paris Musees on Vimeo.

Archaeologists at Angkor:
Photographic Archives from the EFEO

By Denise Heywood

The sight of ancient ruins emerging from the jungle has always captured the imagination. When recorded in early black and white photographs these images, swathed in mystery, are even more evocative and nowhere more so than in the jungles of Cambodia at Angkor.

The lost city, submerged in tropical forest after its demise in the 15th century, remained almost impenetrable until 1860 when the French explorer Henri Mouhot, one of a number of early visitors, captured its magic in drawings and written descriptions….

Read the rest of the article in the Asian Art Newspaper.

Museum Details

Isabelle Poujol, EFEO Library Director.

Gilles Béguin, Curator, Cernuschi Museum Director.

Cernuschi Museum

7 avenue Velasquez-75008 Paris Tel: 01 53 96 21 50
From 10:00 to 18:00, except Mondays and holidays

Admission prices at the exhibition

7 Euros TP – 5 euros TR1 – TR2 EUR 3.50. Age 13 and under free.

Exhibition Catalogue

256 pages / 148 illustrations, 29 euros

Click here to read this article in Italian at Cultor.org

One thousand years ago the Khmer Empire was the Rome of Southeast Asia, yet the magnificent civilization rose, fell and vanished without ever being known in the West.

As a journalist covering the Khmer Rouge refugee crisis in 1979, John Burgess stumbled upon an ancient ruin near the Thai-Cambodian border. Thirty years later, he reveals fascinating details about the unique history of this Khmer temple in the new book, Stories in Stone – The Sdok Kok Thom Inscription & the Enigma of Khmer History.

The temple of Sdok Kok Thom - Photo John Burgess

OnPoint’s host Tom Ashbrook was well prepared for his riveting one-hour interview with Burgess who begins his story with the Hindu priests who founded the provincial temple of Sdok Kok Thom. Centuries later, French explorers discovered that this special shrine held an inscription unlike any other left by the ancient empire. Like the famed Rosetta Stone of ancient Egypt one square pillar was written in two languages enabling translators to unlock the mysteries of the Khmer era.

"Stories in Stone"

Among local Thais in the rural setting the temple acquired a mystical reputation, attracting villagers, Buddhist priests and treasure hunters before becoming a symbol of hope to thousands of Cambodian refugees fleeing the Khmer Rouge in their war-torn land.

Today, the temple still embodies the sometimes violent conflict between Cambodia and Thailand, two neighboring countries sharing the same blood and the same Khmer ancestors.

Burgess takes readers on his adventurous first-person account of discovering the secrets of Sdok Kok Thom.

Stories in Stone is now available in Asia and will be available in the US in November.

The show also includes Khatharya Um, professor of Asian studies at the University of California, Berkeley and Ethan Holtzman, co-founder and musician for the band “Dengue Fever”.

Click here to listen to the whole interview

Click here to visit the Stories in Stone website

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“.

With the fervor of a saint,
I have taken it upon myself to tell the world
of the beauties of the kingdom of Cambodia
and the virtues of the Khmer people.

Thus I pay my debt of gratitude for their warm hospitality.

The opening lines of Roland Meyer’s epic tale of Cambodia: Saramani

Article by Kent Davis

Roland Meyer, self portrait, circa 1909

At the end of the 19th century, a young French boy dreamt of finding a tropical paradise. Books about Pacific island adventures and the discovery of lost cities in the dense jungles of Southeast Asia fueled his imagination. Soon, the urge to travel was irresistible but what set this young man apart from thousands of others is that he shared his stories.

Roland Théodore Emile Meyer was born in Moscow on July 10, 1889. His parents moved to Paris where, after his education, he enrolled in the Indochinese colonial service in 1908 at the age of 19.

Meyer first served for three months in Saigon as a cabinet aide to Governor-General Paul Beau in Saigon. Upon moving to Cambodia in 1909 Meyer’s life changed forever as he immersed himself in the history, language and lifestyle of the modern descendants of the ancient Khmers.

Unlike other colonials, Meyer chose to assimilate with the indigenous culture surrounding him, learning the local language, customs, religion and even setting up his home among the natives outside the French quarter of the town. Meyer was a living example of a visitor who “went native”, much to the surprise of some of his fellow colonials. In 1912, Meyer published Cours de cambodgien, the first book to teach the Khmer language to Francophones.

Cambodian Dancers by George Groslier, 2010 edition.

With Phnom Penh still a small town, Meyer soon met others who admired and respected the legacy of the great civilization that surrounded them. His small circle of friends, many of whom were founding members of The Angkor Society, came to shape the way the world sees Cambodia. They included Jean Commaille, the first conservator of the Angkor site; Henri Marchal, the second Angkor conservator who took over Commaille’s duties when he was murdered by robbers; and Charles Gravelle, director of the country’s branch of the Bank of Indochina and an avid writer himself – all men whose influence is still with us today.

Another associate embarking on a stellar career in Cambodia was George Groslier, an artist and writer two years older than Meyer, who arrived in Phnom Penh in 1910 on an educational assignment. As it turned out, both young men were captivated by a living, breathing vestige of the ancient Khmers; the sacred Cambodian dancers who lived, sequestered, in the royal palace as part of the king’s harem.

On returning to France in 1913, Groslier published Danseuses Cambodgiennes, Anciennes et Modernes, the first formal study of the sacred artistic tradition. Meyer’s experience and vision of the dance and dancers, however, went even deeper and was far more intimate.

Meyer told of a seemingly forbidden romance between East and West — between a royal dancer in the king’s harem named Saramani, and a French boy who came to Indochina to seek his destiny. The boy, like Meyer himself, “went native” and adopted the Khmer name Komlah, which means bachelor.  Through Saramani and her family, Meyer (often writing as Komlah) relates a detailed picture of love and life  in colonial Cambodia.

For a decade, Meyer recorded his notes in his personal diaries, shaping a tale in which it’s difficult to tell fact from fiction.

Saramani - Cambodian Dancer by Roland Meyer, 1919.

In 1919 Meyer published Saramani, Danseuse Khmèr in Saigon. His epic account of Cambodia stretched from the primeval formation of the land tens of millions of years ago, to the peak of the Khmer civilization at Angkor Wat, ending in the modern colonial capital of Phnom Penh. He records the lives of all he encounters on Cambodian soil; rice farmers, fishermen, immigrants, colonials, dancing girls, poor peasants, wealthy merchants, royal servants and even kings.

Saramani title page - 1919

Saramani grew to a massive work of more than 180,000 words exploring many controversial events in the guise of “fiction”. Meyer’s views of colonial lust, capitalistic greed and royal decadence were upsetting to some, to say the least. The same year of its release he transferred to Laos, perhaps out of necessity to escape local consequences…or perhaps to escape romantic entanglements that may have inspired some of the scenes throughout the book.

Was Saramani a real person? Were the book’s fantastic events based on reality or imagination?

Meyer never revealed this but his exceptional accuracy, attention to detail and congruity with historical events implies that there is much more than fiction in his account.

Sketch of a Buddhist pagoda in Ken Svai, a community on a large island in the Mekong River near Phnom Penh. By Roland Meyer, circa 1912.

Meyer worked with the French civil service until retirement. Coinciding with the French Colonial Exposition of 1931 in Paris he published two more books, Komlah, visions of Asia and French Indo-China. Laos. While Komlah relates many more personal impressions in Indochina the second title is a rather dry analysis of the Laotian country.

In 1952 his friend M. Gerard published his final work, a collection of short essays titled Le propos du vieux colonial.

Sadly, like many great men of the French colonial era, Meyer’s trail vanishes late in life. I don’t know where he died, where he is buried, if he has any descendants or what became of his archives. A sad loss to Cambodian, French and literary history.

If any readers have additional information please contact me kentdavis at gmail dot com.