The restored temple of Chau Say Tevoda. Note the new stone sections in lighter color.

Between 1,120-1,150AD, Angkor Wat’s sponsor, King Suryavarman II, also began building the elegant Hindu temple of Chau Say Tevoda. Yasovarman II is credited with additional work during his brief reign (1,160-1,166AD). Finally, Jayavarman VII (ruling 1,181-1,215 AD) added new decorative elements to harmonize with the religious transformation he initiated converting the state from Hinduism to Buddhism.

The central shrine is encircled by sacred female images called devata.

Two of the Khmer civilization’s greatest kings, Suryavarman II and Jayavarman VII, also installed the greatest number of sacred female images, or devata, in their temples. The style and unique qualities of the devata at Chao Say Tevoda make this small temple well worth a detour on any visit to Angkor.

The Khmer kings Suryavarman II and Jayavarman VII enshrined images of more than 4,000 sacred women in their temples. No one knows exactly why.

Chau Say Tevoda includes a central sanctuary, two libraries and four gopura (gateway) structures, one for each cardinal point. Directly to its north sits Thommanon temple, which was also built by King Suryavarman II based on a similar design.

Thommanon also features prominent devata in fine condition (see Devata.org’s Thommanon photo gallery here) but there are significant stylistic differences in the women populating the two temples. For years, Thommanon was in far better condition thanks to extensive restoration done by the EFEO in the 1960’s under the direction of Bernard Philippe Groslier.

Many of the women at Chao Say Tevoda express strength in their beauty.

Unfortunately, Chao Say Tevoda had been devastated by centuries of natural erosion, and all that remained were 4,000 pieces of stone masonry, many of which had tumbled down an embankment into the Siem Reap River.

On March 29, 2000, H.R.H. Princess Buppha Devi with APSARA Authority and other Cambodian dignitaries welcomed H.E. Yang Tin Ai, Ambassador for the People’s Republic of China as his government initiated a massive restoration project of the temple that included both Chinese and Cambodian workers. Tim Tye’s Asia Explorers website offers a few excellent photos taken while the restoration.

The Chinese restoration project was controversial because they chose to totally reconstruct the temple buildings by including newly fabricated stones. While American and Japanese teams rejected this approach it conformed to UNESCO and ICOMOS guidelines allowing for their use of 2-9% of modern replica stones in heritage reconstruction.

The Chinese restoration team included replicas of missing stone sections (seen above in lighter colors).)

The results are dramatic. The new sections are easy to identify and, while the replicas do not equal the artistic quality of the original Khmer sections, they do help visitors experience the temple in a condition closer to what was originally built.

The Chinese team completed their work in 2009, when the improved temple again began receiving visitors.

May the devata of Chao Say Tevoda bestow blessings on the Chinese for their important contribution of restoring this Khmer cultural treasure.

NOTE: A complete photo gallery of all the unique Chau Say Tevoda devata is in preparation. The link will be posted here in the future. In the meantime a trinity of devata appears below:

This devata's crown, with central element, is unusual. None of the symbolic attributes that devata display have yet been interpreted.

This alert looking devata is crowned by her long, thick, braided hair dressed in coils.

This graceful crowned devata is similar to her sisters at Angkor Wat. Note that she holds a "rooted bud" (Devata.org terminology) exactly like the sacred women surrounding the central sanctuary on the top level of Angkor Wat.

Thommanon Devata

By Kent Davis

Siem Reap, Cambodia - The small, elegant Khmer temple of Thommanon is located just outside the Gate of Victory that gives access to the ancient walled city of Angkor Thom from the east. Directly to its south is the small temple of Chau Say Tevoda, currently under restoration.

Thommanon was likely built by the Hindu King Suryavarman II, who also built the magnificent temples of Angkor Wat and Beng Melea between 1,113-1,150 A.D. While some suggest that Thommanon may have been initiated under the reign of Jayavarman VI (1,080-1,113 A.D.) the distinctive artistic subtleties of the devata (sacred female) images suggest a direct link to Suryarvarman II.

As in other Khmer temples, the female devata of Thommanon dominate the structure. Of special interest here is seeing how these devata exhibit attributes quite similar to their sisters at Angkor Wat: flower crowns, sampots (the wrapped skirt of Cambodia) and necklaces, armbands, belts and ankle bands are all familiar.

The distinctive "devata mudra" position of the hands.

Note the distinctive way their hands grip flower stems using the ring and middle fingers while the index and small finger are extended. I call this the “devata mudra” because it is so prominent at Angkor Wat.

Yet, in 150 years of study why has no one recognized that nearly all of the devata exhibit clear and complex mudras? Google some keywords now to see…mudras, apsaras, angkor wat, devata…yet there is nothing of substance.  How is it possible that all the learned scholars have missed the symbols these thousands of women clearly display?

I propose this is because Khmer experts have not yet acknowledged that the women (who dominate the most important monuments) are significant! Now that is changing.

Here is another intriguing clue at Thommanon…

Thommanon devata sampot variations: ancient (left) and 12th century Angkor Wat style (right)

The devata portrayed wear two distinct types of sampot (the Khmer skirt wrapped around the waist): the ancient pleated style, seen in the Bakheng period at Lolei and Phnom Bok (900AD) and the patterned fabric style with folds and “tail” that is seen at Angkor Wat.

It is interesting to note that the devata wearing the pleated style at Thommanon are all elevated to higher positions, implying that  these ancestors are perhaps being honored above the “contemporary” devata.

There are most mysteries and clues where these came from. What do you see?