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.

Daughters of Angkor Wat

Who were these women? Why were they so important to the powerful Khmer Empire?

A growing body  of evidence indicates that Angkor Wat may be mankind’s greatest tribute to womanhood, motherhood and the feminine divine.

Daughters of Angkor Wat begins unlocking the secrets of these women, immortalized in stone so long ago. Advanced analysis using newly available computer technology is just beginning. This book presents surprising theories, hundreds of original photos and new insights from some of the world’s leading experts including:

Paul Cravath
Kent Davis
Madeleine Giteau
Kapil Goel
George Groslier
Trudy Jacobsen
Nitin Kumar
Anil Menon
Julie Mehta
Peter Sharrock
Krishna Murari Srivastava

…and other enlightened observers.

The book’s most unusual feature is that this investigation raises more questions than it answers. The evidence it reveals gives readers the tools to join the experts and to participate in solving this historical mystery.

In development since 2006, the book has been repeatedly delayed by Devata.org’s rapidly expanding body of research so that new theories can be properly expressed. August 22, 2010 marked the release of the world’s first scientific study of the devata, “Clustering Face Carvings: Exploring the Devata of Angkor Wat”, in progress with the Michigan State University computer vision team since 2008.

We now anticipate Advance Reading Copies of “Daughters of Angkor Wat” to be available to the press by early 2012. We are as anxious as you are to see it as you are!

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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.

Siem Reap, Cambodia – Towering above the Cambodian jungle, Angkor Wat is still the largest religious structure on Earth, nearly 900 years after it was built. Since the 12th century, the huge temple has enshrined 1,780 stone portraits of Khmer goddesses, but for more than two years the most exquisite images at the highest levels have been off-limits to visitors. On January 15th, a Buddhist holy day, the sacred area reopens so visitors can once again experience the sublime Khmer vision of heaven on earth.

Eastern view of Angkor wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Angkor Wat is located in an immense archeological district managed by the APSARA National Authority (APSARA), a Cambodian agency responsible for preserving hundreds of temples built by the Khmer civilization.  With nearly two million annual visitors, APSARA constantly works to protect both visitors and their country’s priceless national heritage.

The most sacred level of Angkor Wat is called the "Bakan" in Khmer.

Diagram of the Bakan level from "Angkor Vat, description graphique du temple" by Guy Nafilyan, 1969.

For two years, experts have been working to make visits to the top of Angkor Wat safer for tourists and for the delicate stone portraits of the Khmer goddesses who reside there. Madame Chau Sun Kérya, the Director of Department of Cultural Development, Museums and Heritage Norms for the APSARA National Authority, summarized the situation in her statement to Devata.org:

“Angkor Wat had become so popular that it was too busy, especially at the top level we call the Bakan. The ancient stone staircase was not safe. Uncontrolled crowding combined with difficult walking conditions created a danger, especially for older visitors. APSARA has made a number of improvements to protect our guests, our history and to restore the dignity of this place that is sacred to all Khmer people.”

The most delicate images of sacred Khmer women, called by the Sanskrit terms apsaras or devata, are preserved in the Bakan of Angkor Wat. Photo Kent Davis

Working with international conservators, APSARA first determined Angkor Wat’s capacity to accommodate tourists in the Bakan without burdening the structure. They then constructed new stairs to improve access, added flat wooden walkways over the rough stone surfaces, and installed railings to protect the delicate carvings. But the final steps are perhaps the most important:

“The Bakan is a sacred place for Khmer people, and we want to share this experience with visitors in the best way,” Chau Sun explained. “For this reason the APSARA National Authority will now provide trained guides to explain the history of the Bakan and we will limit visits to groups of 100 persons at a time.”

A Khmer goddess facing West on the central tower in the Bakan. Photo Kent Davis.

In recent years APSARA has also improved tourist access policies at other key temples including the Bayon, Phnom Bakheng and Banteay Srey. Following the re-opening of the Bakan at Angkor Wat, APSARA plans to monitor the situation and adjust policies as necessary.

To learn more about conservation activities in the Angkor archeological park please visit the APSARA Authority Official Website.

NOTE – I was first alerted to this breaking story thanks to Andy Brouwer’s exceptional blog with the latest news and views on all things Cambodian.

SUMMARY FOR ANGKOR WAT VISITORS

(Courtesy APSARA National Authority)

• Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia, the largest religious structure in the world, has been a pilgrimage location for Hindu and Buddhist visitors for nearly 900 years.
  
• On January 15, 2010, the APSARA National Authority re-opened the top level of Angkor Wat, called the “Bakan” in the Khmer language. This area enshrines hundreds of lifelike portraits of Khmer goddesses, known by the Sanskrit terms apsaras or devata.
  
• To provide safer access to the Bakan, APSARA has constructed new wooden staircases, benches and handrails. The agency will also provide trained guides to share the history and significance of this sacred location.
  
• Visitors must wear be dressed modestly and respectfully to visit the Bakan.
  
• Access is now limited to 100 persons and a stay of 15-30 minutes.
  
• On the four Buddhist holy days of each month, the Bakan will only be open to Cambodian visitors to allow them to worship the Lord Buddha in this sacred location.

Siem Reap, Cambodia – This huge temple city, once filled with as many as 100,000 acolytes, now rests peacefully in the lush jungle of northern Cambodia.

Today acolytes are few, but sacred images of Khmer women still abound, protecting the temple with their auspicious presence.

The sacred woman in this photo gallery have been exposed to harsh tropical sun for more than 700 years but still retain their charm and mystery. For comparison, be sure to visit the other devata temple photo galleries.

The brilliant colors of the friendly Preah Khan devata pictured at the right are natural, but enhanced by increasing the camera’s color saturation.

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Preah Khan Photos – Devata of Light

Angkor Wat's builder, King Suryavarman II built Athvea temple in the 12th century.

The Buddhist wat next to the temple features scenes from the Reamker.

Siem Reap, Cambodia - Wat Athvea is an active Buddhist temple about 6 km. south of Siem Reap that, like many others, is built next to an ancient Hindu temple. It’s on the west side of the road to the Tonle Sap and it’s well worth a short detour to see this peaceful and relatively un-touristed Khmer monument.

The temple’s design and distinctive style of the devata (sacred female images) inside indicate that it was built in the 12th century, during the reign of King Suryavarman II (circa 1,115-1,150 AD), who also built Angkor Wat.

The temple is unusual because it lacks all but the most basic decorative carvings…with the exception of some exceptional Angkor Wat style devata. Originally at least six women were planned to preside over the west interior chamber of the main structure but only four were completed and of those only three remain in good condition.

Upon entering from the west, devata #1 stands south of the door in fine condition. To the left is #2, however she has deteriorated to the point that only her headless torso with parts of both arms and a section of her sampot (a traditional Khmer wrap worn around the waist) remain.

Directly ahead two more completed devata stand at the far left and far right (#3 and 6) of the facing opening to the central sanctuary. There are also two uncompleted devata outlines etched onto this wall (#4 and 5). As a final note, this chamber does feature inscriptions on the columns, but these may have been added at a later date.

All three remaining devata are exquisitely adorned with lotus crowns, heavy necklaces and belts, armbands, finger rings and rich sampots (Khmer style waist wrap) made with floral patterned fabric.

Their attributes are comparable to the most sacred women found at the highest level of Angkor Wat, implying that this temple was founded for an important reason.

The Buddhist wat next door is quite charming, with hand carved gilded wood window panels featuring scenes from the Reamker. There are also a number of colorful and well maintained burial stupas on the wat grounds.

Wat Athvea Photo Album

Special thanks to Nicole Groslier for providing original photos and for her kind permission to translate this draft of her father’s article, which later appeared in L’Illustration magazine, April 3, 1937. The translator assumes all responsibility for errors. Serious researchers should consult M. Groslier’s final article in the original French.

Banteay Meanchey, Cambodia - If one ventures to the north-western borders of Cambodia, one arrives in a region surrounded at right angles by the extreme western end of the Dangrek mountain chain. Beyond them lies Siam. Occupying 2 or 3,000 square kilometers, this area is nearly deserted. Consisting of soil made of clay and sand, crossed by some dry rivers six months of the year, it offers nothing to the traveler but uncultivated plains and sparsely wooded forests whose trees remain stunted due to fires that rage in the dry season.

Villages become increasingly rare, finally disappearing completely. In the summer, there is no game and torrid heat; in winter, the area is subjected to violent storms deflected by the mountains. This is the most desolate place in Cambodia. Still, however, ruins are found there; an imposing array of monuments from an ancient empire. Among these ruins is not only one of the largest Khmer temples that we know of (including those of the Angkor group), but also one of largest temples in the world. This temple is known as Banteay Chhmar.

What series of events inspired the builders eight centuries ago, at the height of Angkor’s power, to choose to settle in such a desolate region? And why did they later abandon the site that presents itself to us in the ruinous state that we now find it today? Here is one of the most intriguing puzzles in the history of Cambodia. We cannot address this issue here, but to understand the facts, it is helpful to know that the Khmers organized the places they inhabited bit by bit, and that their irrigation works, which we will examine in depth, made them livable and perhaps prosperous.

Banteay Chhmar temple plan.

Today, the temple of Banteay Chhmar is almost entirely collapsed. The two authors who previously published descriptions of it — Etienne Aymonier around 1883, then Lunet de Lajonquière around 1903 — 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.

In their summaries Aymonier and de Lajonquière also gave contradictory sketches and descriptions of many pages. This attracted us to reexamine this remote group of temples. We had to make four visits over the course of several years because the temple is only accessible for two months per year. After three campaigns, we still had not even been able to reach the foundations of the walls. Despite our efforts and best intentions we risked only adding to the questions, and augmenting the work of our predecessors by very little. It was then that Mr. George Cœdès, Director of the French School of the Far East (EFEO), helped us with appropriations to support our project. We were able to immediately dispatch a team of forty coolies who gave us fifteen days of labor. But their work was only enough to enable us to probe about a third of the essential areas inaccessible in our former research.

Banteay Chhmar's main temple (small grey square at left) is encircled by 8 secondary temples and a vast artificial reservoir with the Mebon temple built on an island in the center.

The second site plan that we present here introduces the identification of the temples and hydraulic works that remain from the ancient city. The “Baray” is a reservoir formed by a rectangular seawall, 3 meters high on average, that encloses an area of 1,276,450 square meters (1,526,621 sq. yards). Inside edges are entirely lined with laterite blocks, which gave easy access to the water. Originally a river, now dried out, fed this vast reservoir that also collected rain water.

Ruins of the boat landing terrace on the Baray. Excavations by the EFEO revealed carved lotus flowers and sacred geese with wings spread.

Close to the center, the Khmers created an artificial island where they constructed a “Mebon” temple (i.e. a temples situated in the center of a Baray). On the Baray’s west seawall, the Khmers built an embarkation terrace for boat traffic to the central temple (photo above). Its foundation stones, originally submerged in water, are sculpted with open-winged aquatic birds among lotuses. The dimensions of this architectural element, the style of its décor, its bold position, dominated by the imposing mirror of water and the sacred Mebon temple island, prove to us from our first steps the collective viewpoint and theatrical taste of the builders of Banteay Chhmar.

The central temple is entirely encircled by a rectangular moat 65 meters wide (213 feet) with a depth of 3.6 meters (11.8 feet). One crosses to the main temple by four axial causeways, each originally edged by balustrades consisting of two rows of stone giants and supporting a Naga parapet, an ornamental motif seen at the gates of Angkor Thom, as well as at Angkor’s Baray and its Mebon temple.

View of the south side of the moat surrounding Banteay Chhmar, with the causeway linking it to the mainland.

Before entering the boundaries of this huge temple, let us note that on its north-south and east-west axes are found seven satellite temples, with an eighth located near the southeast angle of the moat (see diagram above). These buildings, of secondary artistic interest because of the similarities among them, each include one or two surrounding walls, a tower with four faces forming a central shrine and a system of moats and basins, lined with stone banks like the Baray. On the 8 or 9 square kilometers covered by the Banteay Chhmar group, more than a sixth of the area was therefore excavated — sometimes up to depth of 6 meters (20 feet) — with the intention of creating reservoirs of water and, as a result, very clear liquid surfaces to complement the architecture.

South exterior gallery of Banteay Chhmar's main temple. These galleries originally surrounded the temple covering nearly 700 meters of bas relief carvings of Khmer life.

Here, in a few words, are the main guiding principles of the plan: all galleries and colonnaded walkways join together or cross in right angles. The majority of these junctions feature a tower shrine, tapering towards the center with four faces in some areas of the temple (the same type of the towers seen in The Bayon of Angkor Thom). As they approached the central shrine, the towers increases. From 6-7 meters (20-23 feet) tall at the periphery, they attained a height of about 20 meters (66 feet) in the center. In total, there were 56 towers.

One of the courtyards of Banteay Chhmar leading to the central labyrinth.

The two main axes of this group are clear at first glance. The point where they intersect is occupied by the central shrine, the Holy of Holies. Thus the architectural center and ritual center of the temple coincide. By passing through the temple from East to West, one encounters six distinct sections, each closely dependent on the others:

1 – A rectangular gallery enclosing the entire temple measuring 250 meters by 190 meters (820 x 623 feet). This consists of an arch roof built against a wall supported by pillars on the outside edge. The outside face of the covered wall features bas-relief carvings that, in their entirety, cover an area of 1,090 square meters (11,733 sq. feet). The interpretation of the historical and legendary stages pictured on the bas-reliefs is still impossible. Each side of the gallery is penetrated at the central axis by a monumental door with triple entry passages and three towers. One reaches these entry gates by crossing a Terrace of Honor, lined with Naga parapets and staircases flanked by lions (only the eastern terrace is shown on our plan);

2 - A rectangular gallery surrounding a courtyard, which is occupied by a crucial gallery. This beautifully proportioned building was, originally, independent of the temple itself. To the north and south it is associated with two water basins with steps and two additional buildings set upon 4 meter (13 feet) tall foundations. These are flanked by 1.7 meter (5.6 feet) tall standing monsters that act as caryatids;

3 - The main section of the temple. This “checkerboard” of galleries divides itself into three complexes that connect, one to another, from east to west, as three complete temples joined end to end. Each includes, in effect, a central tower sanctuary preceded by an entry pavilion, with towers and ceremonial gates set to the north and south. These sections are simultaneously united and independent;

As one advances west, the composition tightens; the towers and entry pavilions multiply as one reaches the principal sanctuary. Then one emerges in an open air courtyard that is mostly occupied by a group of three isolated towers. This transition achieves a remarkable contrast. These provisions obviously correspond to religious constraints imposed on the architects by the multiple divinities who were worshipped in this immense temple. The problem to be solved was therefore made much more difficult.

Also, from an architectural viewpoint, it is of great interest to follow diversity of the plan, despite the repetition of similar motifs that can be deduced within. This long rectangular area of 40 meters (131 feet) wide by 170 meters (558 feet) from east to west is divided by rows of towers — sometimes three, sometimes five, sometimes on elevated foundations and sometimes with four divine faces — joined end to end without a gap, leaving no doubt in one’s mind that no section of the system of axes that govern the design was neglected. NOTE: It is this aspect that, not escaping the eye of Cambodians, inspired the modern name of the temple: Banteay Chhmar which means “narrow citadel”;

4 and 5 - To the north and south, the temple’s main section is flanked by two similar groups that are symmetrical and independent of the main structure. Both of these two shrines are topped with face towers and encircled with a rectangular gallery;

6 - Finally, completing in the west, we find the same composition style as both precedents. But, here, the central shrine is built on a foundation 3.7 meters (12 feet) high, decorated with moldings and serrated designs, flanked by staircases on all four sides. This design is different from the rest of the temple which is strictly level, the highest foundation previously encountered not exceeding 80 centimeters (31.5 inches) above the base.

Interior structure of Banteay Chhmar's crucial gallery: winged women with arms raised holding lotus blossoms.

Banteay Chhmar’s plan differs considerably from most of the great Khmer temples now known. Usually, these plans are concentric and consequently develop with similar dimensions based on the four cardinal points. Generally, secondary buildings, or those added at later times, were more haphazard and without symmetry. Here, as we’ve just seen, the group is radically opposite these other designs.

The plan is eccentric, developing from east to west, in a series of successive structures that never break their rigorous symmetry. The surrounding gallery enclosure, like that of traditional temples (but here it is independent), is penetrated, but the architect neglects the north, south and west entries of the central group, even masking them with independent sanctuaries.

The bird-god Garuda combined with the multi-headed serpent Naga decorates the balastrades of the terraces.

If the builders first undertook a rigorous staking of their construction sites, the disparity among almost all the Khmer monuments is that the lines of the architect are often remarkable, but the construction itself is often mediocre; this also exists at Banteay Chhmar, one of the largest of all their temples.

One of the innumerable devata nymphs who appear on the walls of Banteay Chhmar.

Given the technique of shaping the stones and stacking them one on top of the other, it was necessary to create axes 7 meters apart for three lines of towers, so there were surprises. After all was said and done, this vast monument, perfectly composed in every section by the architects, was built “approximately” and as well as the circumstances allowed.

Despite these mistakes that the workforce was powerless to change, they compensated with true will, true intelligence and a boldness that made it certain that they could accomplish building the main temple of Banteay Chhmar. Its horizontal development on a single axis precluded it from creating a massive impression as a group, but as the Khmers experienced it, proceeding through each impressive section, the small defects that we have just noted disappeared.

One of the towers with four divine faces at Banteay Chhmar.

The 5-6,000 measurements we took of these ruins have us allowed us to calculate the cubic volume and carved surfaces. We met too many unknown factors in our research to calculate the total time spent in the construction and decoration of Banteay Chhmar. However, we were able to determine the minimum time required for such a project by determining the maximum number of workers the site could accommodate. The final answer was about sixty years, provided that there was no interruption of work.

Goddess from the Buddhist pantheon at Banteay Chhmar.

On the other hand, inscriptions discovered from of the reign of Jayavarman VII (1180-1201 AD) indicate that the large temple was already finished at that time. One can therefore postulate that the ancient city of Banteay Chhmar was a prosperous religious center during the twelfth century, and that construction of the central complex of this temple was begun by about 1140 AD at the latest. As for the religion practiced there, the most anyone can say is that there was Vishnuism at the beginning. The temple later appears to have been affected by Buddhism, at least in its most recent sections. In any case, its iconography belongs to these two religions.

Banteay Chhmar lintel.

George Groslier and his daughter Nicole at the gate of their Phnom Penh home - 1923.

George Groslier (1887-1945) lived, breathed and loved the art and culture of his country of birth: Cambodia.

His work as an historian, curator, educator and author was the motivating force behind much of the revival of interest in traditional Cambodian arts and crafts. He produced a large body of research and, in 1926, began adding fictional works to his oeuvre, depicting Europeans in the context of the exotic Far East.

For a complete list of George Groslier’s work please visit CambodianDancers.com

Special thanks to Nicole Groslier for her kind permission to use her original photos and for allowing Kent Davis to translate this draft of her father’s article, which later appeared in L’Illustration magazine, April 3, 1937.

By Cindy Lane – The Anna Maria Island Sun

HOLMES BEACH, FL – Anna Maria Island is home to one of the world’s few researchers working exclusively on Angkor Wat, a Buddhist temple half a world and nine centuries away.

Kent Davis, former owner of Anna Maria’s Siam Garden Resort with his wife Sophaphan, is captivated by the women of Angkor Wat, a temple in Cambodia that he says is the largest religious structure in the world.

Originally a Hindu shrine, now a Buddhist temple, Angkor Wat is five times the size of the Vatican in Rome, he told about 40 members of the Artists’ Guild of Anna Maria Island meeting at the Episcopal Church of the Annunciation.

But while most women portrayed in Vatican art can be identified by contemporaneous writings, the “Daughters of Angkor Wat,” as he calls them, remain unknown.

Angkor Wat devata in the central tower facing north.

The 1,780 very different women are portrayed in stone, scantily dressed and heavily decorated with different jewelry, headdresses, flowers, fruits and other distinctions that have been the subject of his research since his first visit in 2005.

“I was not prepared for the temple’s human side,” said Davis, who coincidentally gave the presentation on the night of a full moon, four years to the day after his first visit to the temple.

Group of devata (sacred women) on Angkor Wat's second level.

With his photographs of each woman to guide him, he is on an Indiana Jones-style quest to track down who the women were, what they represent and why they were so important to the Khmer Empire, which built the moat-enclosed monument between 1116 and 1150 AD. The empire, which disappeared into the remote Cambodian jungle, was not a precursor to the Khmer Rouge, the “red” regime responsible for the genocides of 1.7 million people in the late 1970s, Davis said.

Built to represent the home of the gods in Hindu mythology, Angkor Wat’s architecture contains information on the seasons, the calendar and astronomical events, he said, but the overwhelming presence of the women’s images, with little having been written about them, is a mystery demanding investigation.

Three devata facing east on the top level of Angkor Wat.

Davis says their importance is evident, especially considering that the image of King Suryavarman II who commissioned the building of the temple is in a location far more inconspicuous than most of the women. But few have studied the subject, with only a handful of books written on the women, who may represent goddesses, priestesses or members of the royal court.

Davis is compiling a database tracking the characteristics of every woman portrayed at the temple, and plans to publish it his initial finding in the book, Daughters of Angkor Wat, due in early 2010…but the ending of what he calls “the world’s greatest archaeological mystery” has not yet been written.

His research can be found at www.devata.org.

Lost Goddesses by Trudy Jacobsen

By Kent Davis

This article is based on research presented by Trudy Jacobsen in her book “Lost Goddesses: The Denial of Female Power in the History of Cambodia“.

“Lost Goddesses” traces the trajectory of female influence in Cambodia from ancient to modern times. Immediately following her Preface, Dr. Jacobsen opened the book with a Glossary. The vocabulary that a society uses is an important indicator of values, priorities and beliefs. It therefore struck me as a practical, original and brilliant idea to first introduce the female-related terms that her investigation would include.

The list below includes Khmer, Pali, French and Sanskrit terms with English meanings. With the author’s kind permission, I extracted this list from the complete glossary that appears in “Lost Goddesses“. I have also augmented her list with a sampling of additional terms from the online Khmer-English dictionary at the Southeast Asian Language Library. I regret any mistakes or errors in my attempts to transliterate some of the additional terms. Note that this list is by no means exhaustive, nor is it a complete list of female related words in Khmer…but the words below are certainly explore some fascinating social, political and spiritual concepts.

Khmer Words About Women

The women of Angkor Wat, frequently called devata and apsaras, are related to many divine, semi-divine and mortal Asian females. While researching flying goddesses (like the apsaras manifesting from the Sea of Milk at Angkor Wat), I began following threads about the Indonesian rice goddess, Dewi Sri.

Dewi Sri, the Indonesian goddess of rice and fertility, is reputed to have pre-Hindu origins.

Sadly, ancient images of Dewi Sri are scarce to the point that I could find none…so we have to settle for this attractive, but modern, reproduction from Wikipedia. Still, it’s interesting to note that her accouterments and demeanor are immediately reminiscent of the devata of Angkor Wat.

Khmer Uma Goddess found at Koh Ker - Cornell Collection

Dewi Sri is associated with rice, water, the moon…and is believed to have dominion over the underworld…domain of the serpent or Naga race…the very same race that are progenitors of the Khmers.

Cambodia’s closest equivalent goddess seems to be Po Ino Nogar, whose name means “great one” in Khmer, and is sometimes associated with the Hindu goddess Uma. Po Ino Nogar is revered because she brings fertility and agricultural bounty to the earth and its people. Like the heavenly apsaras seen at Angkor Wat, she is also associated with the sky, clouds and water, and is sometimes symbolized as a gentle rain.

It is interesting to note that Po Ino Nogar is polyandrous, with 97 husbands. She also has 38 daughters, one of whom, Po Yan Dari, is supposedly a goddess of disease and death who lives in caves and grottos. However, in a Cham version of this tale, the daughter is named Pajau Tan, and she is seen as a divine healer. According to that legend, Pajau Tan was so successful raising the dead that she disrupted normal life and was finally sent to live on the moon. Another daughter of Po Ino Nogar is “the Mouse Queen” (Po Bya Tikuh), perhaps related because of the threat mice pose to the rice crop.

I’ve been unable to locate an image of Po Ino Nogar (please comment to provide info below) but Thailand’s rice goddess is quite popular and quite visible. Known as Mae Posop (แม่โพสพ) she is still honored as the goddess of fertility and abundance as this article from August 9, 2008 explains: Queen Sirikit of Thailand presided over a ceremony.

Since ancient times, Cambodian and Thai royalty have commemorated the beginning of the rice growing season with an annual Royal Plowing Day Ceremony in the month of May.

Mae Posop - แม่โพสพ- Thailand's Rice Goddess. Note that the letters seen top right are Khmer script, not Thai. Can anyone comment as to their significance?

This all seems relevant to our investigation of sacred Khmer women for a few reasons:

1. The iconography of the devata of Angkor Wat is also associated with fertility, growth and abundance.

2. Associations with naga (divine serpents), water, the underworld and the moon also potentially link these sacred females.

3. Java, the home of Dewi Sri, has proven ties to the Khmer civilization in ancient times (10th to 13th century).

To conclude,  let’s read a bit more about rice and tradition with our guest writer, and food aficionado, Vipp Rongsit from Thailand…

Thai Rice and the Ceremony of the Rice Goddess: Mae Posop

By Vipp Rongsit

Mae Posop - แม่โพสพ - Thailand's Rice Goddess

Rice is the mainstay of the Siamese diet and economy. It is always served with salads, meats, poultry, fish, and sea food. Two-thirds of the Thai people earn a living from rice farming. They produce enough not only to feed themselves, but also to be one of the world’s largest rice exporters. Rice farming is the greatest single contributor to national income, providing almost half of Thailand’s export earnings, and major support of government revenues. When one hires a servant in Siam, it is customary to supply rice in addition to salary.

Besides its economic importance, rice has a deep psychological and cultural meaning for the Thai, according to Phya Anuman Rajadhon, distinguished Thai historian and scholar of the customs and traditions of his country. When a Siamese wishes to say he is hungry, he says, “Hiu khao“ or “I’m hungry for rice.” When he is eating, he says, “Tan khao” or “I’m eating rice.” Even when he refers to food in general he uses the word khao, meaning rice.

Thai Rice Goddess - Mae Posop

There are many rituals and ceremonies that accompany rice farming, and, while some are losing their vitality with the passing of the older generation, others are practiced today. These observances are founded on the belief that there is a Rice Goddess or Rice Mother, Mae Posop (แม่โพสพ), who, if properly worshiped and propitiated, will reward the farmer with prosperity and good health. For those who deny her, only poverty and sickness will be their end.

It is said that she first came to reside in the land of the rice fields from Mount Meru, the home of the Hindu-Buddhist gods. Her journey over the Seven Seas and the Seven Mountain Ranges was long and tortuous. And on her heels came the many fish which today are still so plentiful in Siamese waters.

Mae Posop statue at a Thai temple.

When rice plants begin to seed, the Thai expression is that the rice becomes pregnant. This is a crisis in the life of the plant, and therefore its khwan (spirit or soul) must be strengthened. It is believed that every living thing has a khwan, man, animal, and plant. When a person is ill, the khwan flees the body. Death means that the khwan does not return.

During every crisis of life–birth, puberty, marriage–a ceremony is performed to strengthen this spirit. So for the pregnant Rice Mother an offering is made of banana, citrus fruit, and sugar cane for her morning sickness. The farmer puts these foods in a bamboo basket which he hangs on a flag pole in the fields. This also serves as a warning to trespassers to keep their animals from treading on the rice plants. The farmer then takes a comb, toilet powder, and perfumed ointment and symbolically combs a rice plant, dabbing it with powder and ointment as though it were the Rice Mother herself. He prays that through his offerings the Rice Mother will thrive and not come to harm.

After the harvest, the rice missed in the reaping, representing the spirit of the Rice Mother, is gathered, with an entreaty to her to leave the field, where she may be in danger of prowling mice and birds, and to come and live in the barn instead. When the threshing is done, an offering of boiled duck eggs, sweets, and fruit is made to the Rice Mother. What rice paddy remains on the threshing floor is then put into a basket and called Mae Posop’s rice. This is the spirit or essence of rice. Next a doll is made from rice straw and mixed with some of this paddy–as an image of the Rice Mother–and is kept in the barn with the paddy essence. When the sowing of rice begins in the rainy season, the Rice Mother’s essence is taken out of the barn and mixed with the paddy to be sown, to insure fertility. The doll is then ceremoniously destroyed.

Amulet with Mae Posop

Even when not directly concerned with the cultivation of rice, the Rice Mother must be propitiated. At the end of a meal children often raise their hands palm to palm in thanksgiving to the Rice Mother.

It is said that her ire is incurred if, when eating, one allows grains of rice to fall to the floor, or if these grains are stepped on, or leftover rice is discarded. If one wishes to criticize the way rice has been cooked, one must beg the Rice Mother’s pardon first and then politely make one’s complaint.

When fed to animals – and it is, by the way, the main source of food for cats, dogs, pigs, chickens, ducks, cows, and buffalo – rice must be offered in a container, not scattered on the ground, for the Rice Mother’s wrath may be incurred. The threatening danger is that she will leave the offender, and only bad luck will surround him without her.

About the Author

Vipp Rongsit is an author and editor specializing in Thai food & Thai recipes.

Thai Recipes | Thai Soup Recipes | Thai Restaurants

Source: http://www.articopia.com

NEW – See this article translated into the Tamil language by Santhipriya here: