Temple Mountains in Hindu Temple Art

Dr Uday Dokras PhD Stockholm SWEDEN

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TEMPLE MOUNTAIN AS A SPIRITUAL LIGHT-HOUSE

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TEMPLE MOUNTAINS

Dr Uday Dokras

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 C O N T E N T S
Contents Pag e7

CHAPTER I –Introduction- Why were temples built? Why do we

worship idols The science of Temple Construction page 6
CHAPTER II- Temple Mountains of Cambodia and the Jain Hill
temples of India page 15
CHAPTER III _The Interconnect between MOUNTAINS &
TEMPLES OF CAMBODIA page 35

CHAPTER- IV Temple-Mountains: The only temple mountain in

India? Masrur Temple page 55
CHAPTER V-Mountain of INDRA or Mahendraparvata -The Lost
Mountain City of God Indra page 66
CHAPTER VI A Mountain and also The Temple as a MANDALA
page 82
CHAPTER VII- The Temple Mountain is built as a Stepped
pyramid page 93

CHAPTER VIII-Temple Mountain as Cosmos & spiritual light –

house page 127
CHAPTER IX-The Temple Mountain of Baphuon page 165
CHAPTRER X- COMPARISON Between the MOUNTAIN Temple at
Angkor Wat -Cambodia (VISHNU) and Shiva MOUNTAIN Temple
at Elephanta Caves India page 187
CHAPTER XI-Earth’s magnetic fields and Temple Construction
and Location Page 264

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 INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER I
Why were temples built? Why do we worship idols?
The science of Temple Construction

Why were temples built? Why do we worship idols? The very nature of human
perception is such that, right now, whatever a human being is involved with, that
will be the only truth for him in his experience. Rulers built temples to demonstrate
their devotion to various deities. They also endowed temples with grants of land and money
to carry out elaborate rituals, feed pilgrims and priests and celebrate festivals. Pilgrims who
flocked to the temples also made donations.

Various Kings who could afford to, built temples to favour their
favourite deities. For example The Cola Kings built temples such as the
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Brihadisvara Temple at Thanjavur which is supposed to be the greatest achievement
of Chola architects and the highlight of Dravidian architecture. The temple was built
by the Chola King Rajaraja I between 1003 and 1010 AD. The sculptures and
inscriptions here are related to Shaivism, Vaishnavism, and Shaktism. The quality of
the sculpture here is also famous and the temple is one of the most visited religious
sites in Tamil Nadu.

The other example one can give is that of Narasingha Deva I who is mentioned as
Paramamahesvara, Durga-Putra and Purushottamaputra in the Chandrashekhera
temple inscription. The titles show that he was a protector and a follower of the
Shaiva, Shakti and Jagannath sects during his rule. A sculpture from the Konark sun
temple build by him shows bowing before the three lead deities of the sects as per his
titles and a priest. The Lingaraj temple inscriptions says that he had constructed a
Matha (monastery) called as Sadashiva Matha to give shelter to the fleeing refugees
from Radha and Gauda after the incursion by Muslim forces there. According to the
Srikurmam temple inscription, he was a sober person without any bad nature and
agitation. He possessed valuable articles and was a sincere learner of art,
architecture and religion.
He administered the state by the traditions of Marici and Parasara while following
the Niti sashtra (book of law). Due to his dedication towards faith and spirituality, he
commissioned and completed the building projects for many temples like Konark,
Kapilash, Khirachora Gopinatha, Srikurmam, Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha temple at
Simhanchalam and Ananta Vasudeva temple which was built by the interest of his
widowed sister, Chandrika. Sanskrit and Odia were both patronized as court
languages during his rule and the Sanskrit masterpieces like Ekavali of Vidhydhara
were written during this time. An inscription at Kapilash temple built by him
compares him to the Varaha avatar (incarnation) of Vishnu who saved and raised
the Vedas and the world from the oceans of uncertainty. He was the first king to use
the title of 'Gajapati' or lord of war elephants among the Odishan kings.

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The Konark temple complex is the creation of architects of his era and is a marvel of
architecture is dedicated to Indian God of Sun, Surya. The temple has been built in
the shape of his chariot which is drawn by seven horses. It was built in the 13th
century by Narasimhadeva.
IDOL
Murti (Sanskrit: मूर्ति, ISO: Mūrti; lit. 'form, embodiment, or solid object')[1 is a
general term for an image, statue or idol of a deity or mortal in Hindu culture. In
Hindu temples, it is a symbolic icon. A murti is itself not a god in Hinduism, but it is
a shape, embodiment or manifestation of a deity. Murti are also found in some
nontheistic Jainism traditions, where they serve as symbols of revered mortals
inside Jain temples, and are worshiped in murtipujaka rituals.
A murti is typically made by carving stone, wood working, metal casting or through
pottery. Ancient era texts describing their proper proportions, positions and
gestures include the Puranas, Agamas and Samhitas. The expressions in a murti vary
in diverse Hindu traditions, ranging from Ugra symbolism to express destruction,
fear and violence (Durga, Kali), as well as Saumya symbolism to express joy,
knowledge and harmony (Saraswati, Lakshmi). Saumya images are most common
in Hindu temples.[8] Other murti forms found in Hinduism include the linga.
A murti is an embodiment of the divine, the Ultimate Reality or Brahman to some
Hindus. In religious context, they are found in Hindu temples or homes, where they
may be treated as a beloved guest and serve as a participant of puja in Hinduism. In
other occasions, it serves as the centre of attention in annual festive processions and
these are called utsava murti. The earliest murti are mentioned by Pāṇini in 4th
century BCE. Prior to that the agnicayana ritual ground seemed to served as a
template for the temple.
Murti is sometimes referred to as murthi, or vigraha or pratima. Murti, when
produced properly, are made according to the design rules of the Shilpa
Shastras. They recommend materials, measurements, proportion, decoration and
symbolism of the murti. Explanation of the metaphysical significance of each stage
of manufacture and the prescription of specific mantras to sanctify the process and
evoke and invoke the power of the deity in the image are found in the liturgical
handbooks the Agamas and Tantras. In Tantric traditions, a murti is installed by
priests through the Prana pratishta ceremony, where mantras are recited
sometimes with yantras (mystic diagrams), whereby state Harold Coward and David
Goa, the "divine vital energy of the cosmos is infused into the sculpture" and then
the divine is welcomed as one would welcome a friend. According to Gudrun
Buhnemann, the esoteric Hindu tantric traditions through texts such as Tantra-
tattva follow elaborate rituals to infuse life into a murti. Some tantra texts such as
the Pancaratraraksa state that anyone who considers an icon of Vishnu as nothing
but "an ordinary object" made of iron "goes to hell”. The use of murti and
particularly the prana pratistha consecration ceremony, states Buhnemann, has
been criticised by Hindu groups. These groups state that this practice came from
more recent "false tantra books", and there is not a single word in the Vedas about
such a ceremony.
A Hindu prayer before cutting a tree for a murti
Oh Tree! you have been selected for the worship of a deity,
Salutations to you!
I worship you per rules, kindly accept it.
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May all who live in this tree, find residence elsewhere,
May they forgive us now, we bow to them.
—Brihat Samhita 59.10 - 59.11
The artists who make any art or craft, including murti, were known as shilpins. The
formally trained Shilpins shape the murti not in accordance with fancy but in
accordance with canonical manuals such as the Agamas and the Shilpa
Shastras texts such as Vishvakarma. The material of construction range from clay to
wood to marble to metal alloys such as panchaloha. The sixth century Brihat
Samhita and eighth century text Manasara-Silpasastra (literally: "treatise on art
using method of measurement"), identify nine materials for murti construction –
gold, silver, copper, stone, wood, sudha (a type of stucco, mortar
plaster), sarkara (gravel, grit), abhasa (marble types), and earth (clay,
terracotta). For abhasa, the texts describe working methods for various types of
marble, specialised stones, colours, and a range of opacity (transparent, translucent
and crystal).
Brihat Samhita, a 6th-century encyclopaedia of a range of topics from horticulture
to astrology to gemology to murti and temple design, specifies in Chapter 56 that

the pratima (murti) height should be of the sanctum sanctorum's door height,
the Pratima height and the sanctum sanctorum room's width be in the ratio of
0.292, it stand on a pedestal that is 0.146 of sanctum room width, thereafter the text
describes 20 types of temples with their dimensions.[35] Chapter 58 of the text
describes the ratios of various anatomical parts of a murti, from head to toe, along
with the recommendation in verse 59.29 that generally accepted variations in dress,
decoration and dimensions of local regional traditions for the murti is the artistic
tradition.
Proper murti design is described in ancient and medieval Indian texts. They describe
proportions, posture, expressions among other details, often referencing to nature.
The texts recommend materials of construction, proportions, postures and mudra,
symbolic items the murti holds in its hands, colours, garments and ornaments to go
with the murti of each god or goddess, vehicles of deities such as Garuda, bull and
lion, and other details. The texts also include chapters on the design of Jaina and
Buddhist murti, as well as reliefs of sages, apsaras, different types of devotees (based
on bhakti yoga, jnana yoga, karma yoga, ascetics) to decorate the area near the
murti. The texts recommend that the material of construction and relative scale of
murti be correlated to the scale of the temple dimensions, using twelve types of
comparative measurements.

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In Southern India, the material used predominantly for murti is black granite, while
material in North India is white marble. However, for some Hindus, it is not the
materials used that matter, but the faith and meditation on the universal Absolute
Brahman. More particularly, devotees meditate or worship on the formless God
(nirguna Brahman) through murti symbolism of God (saguna Brahman) during
a puja before a murti, or the meditation on a Tirthankara in the case of Jainism, thus
making the material of construction or the specific shape of the murti not spiritually
important.
According to John Keay, "Only after achieving remarkable expertise in the portrayal
of the Buddha figure and of animal and human, did Indian stonemasons turn to
producing images of the orthodox 'Hindu' deities” This view is, however, not shared
by other scholars. Trudy King et al. state that stone images of reverential figures and
guardian spirits (yaksha) were first produced in Jainism and Hinduism, by about 2
century BCE, as suggested by Mathura region excavations, and this knowledge grew
into iconographic traditions and stone monuments in India including those for
Buddhism
The temples face sunrise, and the entrance for the devotee is typically this east side.
The mandala pada facing sunrise is dedicated to Surya deity (Sun). The Surya pada
is flanked by the padas of Satya (Truth) deity on one side and Indra (king of gods)
deity on other.

Temples are built for deities, not gods.

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Deities are “attributeless, formless” energy, or often “attributed formless” energy
that can be invoked and “made resident” in any material representation - a material
abstraction, personification or image. This process is known as the pranapratishta.
And it is done so as to make it visible & relatable for the purpose of worship, even
though we know that the process of worship is entirely internal.

We are all physical or material forms of deities as there is a “life force” within us.
Deities in temples are thus just a physical representation of the divinity within.
Divinity has many attributes, all of which can be worshipped individually or
collectively based on the objective of the specific tantric practice.

So while a church is a church is a church (leave aside denominations), and a mosque

is a mosque, each temple is different. Churches and mosques are not places of
worship, they are places of congregation. A temple however, is always a place of
worship, never a place of congregation.

The form and function of temples is thus very variable, though they are often
considered by believers to be in some sense the "house" of one or more deities.
Typically offerings of some sort are made to the deity, and other rituals enacted, and
a special group of clergy maintain, and operate the temple.

Deities at our Temples

As a universal concept Hinduism accepts all formulations of Truth, According to the

universal view there is only One Reality, but no particular name shape or form can
adequately describe that Reality. Though Truth is One it is also Universal, not an
exclusive formulation It is an inclusive Oneness – a spiritual reality of the Supreme
Being – Consciousness – Bliss, which could be called God but which transcends all
names and forms. The different Gods and Goddesses of Hinduism represent various
functions of this One Supreme Divinity, and they are not separate Gods. Acceptance
of other faiths, tolerance and pluralism are obvious corollaries to this great socio-
religious principle of antiquity, Around the 6th century BC, the great Hindu
philosopher, Adi Shankara grouped the various forms of worship in Sanatana
Dharma (Eternal code of conduct, Hinduism) into six sects (Shanmathas). They are:

 Ganapathyam … The devotion to Lord Ganesha,

 Saivam … The devotion of Lord Siva.
 Vaishnavam … The devotion to Lord Vishnu.
 Sauram … The devotion to the Sun God, or Fire.
 Shaktham … The devotion to Sri Shakti (Durgaji)
 Kaumaram … The devotion to Lord Kartikeya

Our temple has physical representations of all of the above except the Sun God.
However, during Yajnas, Homas and other Poojas, we always worship the Fire God.

Minor Deities
Administrative Gods

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Indra, “the King of Heaven,” was apparently very popular in early Vedic Hinduism
and is considered to be in charge of the administrative demigods. Here he is
offering his obeisances to Lord Krishna in connection with the pastime, “The Lifting
of Govardhan Hill.”
In addition to the twelve main deities listed previously there are also a number of
minor deities (keeping in mind that certain Hindus may consider them more exalted
or even Supreme!). They are generally considered to have specific roles within this
universe.

The main ones are also considered to have charge over the eight directions,
beginning with the East and moving clockwise (i.e. Indra is in charge of the East,
Agni the South East,Yama the South, etc.).
 Indra: King of Heaven/ god of rain
 Agni: deity in charge of fire
 Yama: deity presiding over death
 Surya: presiding deity of the sun
 Varuna: presiding deity of water
 Vayu: presiding deity of the wind (air)
 Kuvera: treasurer of the demigods (god of wealth)
 Soma (Chandra): presiding deity of the moon
These deities are usually associated with earlier, “Vedic” Hinduism, and are rarely
worshipped today, except perhaps Surya. Still prominent, especially in South Indian
temples, is the worship of the “nine planets”.
Minor Deities

Deva or devata means demigod. Sthala-devata specifically refers to a minor deity

who has jurisdiction over a particular place – a river, forest or village. They are often
worshipped in village shrines. A popular deity is Sitala (right), the goddess of
smallpox, who is worshipped in the hope of avoiding the disease
Other “Higher Beings”

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There are many other lesser deities and higher beings, who often appear in the
various stories. These include:
 The Asuras (demons) who always fight
 The Devas (the gods or demigods)
 The Apsaras (celestial nymphs)
 The Nagas (celestial serpents)
 The Gandharvas (heavenly singers)
 The Rakshasas (a race of man-eaters)
 The Prajapatis (progenitors of mankind)
“Modern” Deities
Some deities have risen to prominence more recently. They include:
 Santoshi Ma – the goddess of contentment, worshipped mainly by ladies
 Ayyappan – popular in Kerala, he is considered the son of Shiva and Mohini
(the female incarnation of Vishnu)
Construction of a Temple The main deity was often complemented by one or
more minor deities carefully positioned along the path of approach to the main
deity. Looking at these structures, it is apparent that the temples were built to a
certain pattern, certain understanding, and purpose, catering to the needs of the
individual and the society. Scientific reasons for visiting the temples There are
thousands of temples all over India in different size, shape, and locations but not all
of them are considered to be built in a Vedic way. It is said that in the ancient times,
a temple should be located at a place where the earth magnetic wave path passes
through densely.

How the energy quotient of a place was measured is not known but keeping in mind
the lost advance science fundas of our ancient saints, they would have figured a way
out. Location of the diety Temples are located where there is positive energy
available from magnetic and electric wave distributions of north or south pole
thrust. The main idol is placed in the core center of the temple. In fact, the temple
structure is built after the idol has been placed. The place of the deity is where
earth's magnetic waves are found to be maximum. There is a metal plate beneath the
statue Did you notice a copper place beneath the main idol in the temples? what
could be the reason for this? It is believed that these copper plates absorb the
magnetic force and radiates it to the surroundings. The person visiting the temple
would receive the beamed magnetic waves.

This a very slow process and a regular visitor would eventually start feeling the
positive vibes. The holy water The curd, honey, milk, sugar and coconut water made
by which we clean the copper idol is believed to make the amrit a blessing.
Moreover, the holy water that comprises basil leaves and karpor(camphor) help to
fight diseases like cold and cough. The magic of temple bells A temple bell is another
scientific phenomena; it is not just your ordinary metal; It is made of various metals
earth including cadmium, lead, copper, zinc, nickel, chromium, and manganese. The
proportion at which each one them mixed is real science behind a bell. Each of these
bells is made to produce such a distinct sound that it can create unity of your left and
right brain. What happens when you ring the temple bell The moment you ring the
bell, it produces the lasting sound which lasts for a minimum of seven echo mode
which is good enough to touch your 7 healing chakras. Th ebreian empties all your
thoughts. Invariably you enter into a state of trans where you are very receptive. the
trans-state the one with awareness.

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Temples as places of energy Charging: Don't just visit the temple, sit. The
belief is never to visit the temple and go. traditionally, the belief is that one who
visits and goes the visit would be fruitless. This is so because temples are built like a
public charging place, people can charge themselves with their inner energies.
People visited the temple before they entered into their daily work so that they could
go about with a certain sense of balance and depth in their lives. No Footwear in
Temple. Temples are a place where it contains pure vibrations of magnetic and
electric fields with positive energies. In olden days the floor at the center of the
temple were good conductors of these positive vibration allowing them to pass
throughout feet to the body. Hence it is necessary to walk barefooted while you enter
the core center of the temple. Parikrama The idol inside the chamber absorbs all the
energy from the bell sound., Camphor heat and vibrates the positive energy within
the chamber for a certain duration of time. When you do the circumambulation at
this point of time, you tend to absorb all these positive vibrations once your five
senses are activated.1

____________________________________________________________

1. https://www.thehansindia.com/life-style/spiritual/temple-thursdays-temple-
science-shocking-science-behind-hindu-temples-
541564?infinitescroll=1https://shekharsk.wordpress.com/shocking-science-behind-
hindu-temples/

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 CHAPTER II
Temple Mountains of Cambodia and the Jain Hill temples of India

In many ancient religions, mountain tops—from the Greeks’ Mt. Olympus to the highest
Himalayas of Hindu mythologywere believed to be the privileged home of the gods.
Southeast Asia, largely dependent on India for its principal religions of Hinduism and
Buddhism, is no exception. On the island of Java in Indonesia, for example, the ancient
holy site of Dieng was established in the crater of an extinct volcano. Its name in old
Javanese, Di Hyang (in Sanskrit, Devalaya), means, in effect, “home of the Gods.”

In Cambodia, in the classic Khmer architecture of the Angkorean period, we find a temple
type in which the sanctuary is built atop a stepped pyramid. Nineteenth century
archaeologists called these “temple- mountains.” Each important sovereign was apparently
obliged to build one in order to establish his power .
In the Indian religious context, a sanctuary functions primarily as the terrestrial dwelling
place of the gods, the place from which they will be able to provide aid and prosperity to
humankind. Many countries of Southeast Asia were under Indian influence; each resolved in
its own way the problem of creating a divine residence in the world of human beings.
Generally, architects and builders based the construction of their sanctuaries on strict
religious texts (unfortunately, we have none from ancient Cambodia). To the rules prescribed
by these texts were added numerous others relating to astronomy, geomancy, or numerology,
the meanings of which are often lost today. Our lack of knowledge of almost everything that
guided the creation of the sanctuaries makes it difficult to understand them and to explain
their symbolism.
In Cambodia, however, the study of local ancient epigraphy has furnished a variety of
insights into the symbolism of religious architecture. In the light of some of these
inscriptions, we can make a connection between Mount Meru, the center and axis of the
universe in Indian cosmography, and certain temple-mountains of Angkor, the ancient
Khmer capital. These structures provide an image, a kind of representation of Mount Meru
on a human scale. The best known example is the sanctuary built around A.D. 906 on the top
of Phnom Bakheng, the precise center of Yasodharapura, Angkor’s first capital . In addition
to being constructed on one of the rare hills (phnom in Khmer) of the region, the monument
was conceived as a square pyramid with five levels. Locating the pyramid on a natural hill at
the geometric center of the royal city underlines the symbolic identification of the monu-
ment, center and axis of the city, with Mount Meru, center and axis of the universe.
In fact, the temple of Phnom Bakheng restates, with much greater complexity, the symbolic
principles expressed earlier at the temple of the Bakong, founded in A.D. 881. At the
Bakong, the summit of the five-level pyramid is occupied by a single sanctuary tower,
whereas 5 towers arranged in a quincunx (a square of 4 towers with a fifth in the center)
occupy the summit of Phnom Eakheng. Again, 12 temple annexes occupy the fourth level of
the Eakong, but at Phnom Bakheng these 12 annexes appear on each of the five levels.
Finally, only 8 large brick sanctuary towers are distributed at the foot of the Eakong, whereas
44 comparable towers ring the base of the Phnom Bakheng pyramid.
The temple-mountains of the Eakong and the Eakheng seem to suggest similar symbolic
considerations in their main features, although those of the latter are more lavish. But the
interpretation of the other temple-mountains at the Angkor site is different, at least in part.
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No temple-mountain of Angkor is truly comparable to another. Contrast the simplicity of the
early temple of Eaksei Chamkrong with the immense complexity of the Bayon (Fig. 4).
Eaksei Chamkrong was founded under the reign of Harsavarman I as the representation of
Mount Kai lasa, private domain of the god Siva; the Eayon was the state temple of
Jayavarman VII in which secular symbolic Hindu principles and new Mahayana conceptions
from the reign of the founding king were unified.
If there was any continuity in the function of the temple-mountain, it was above all as the
seat of the protective divinity of the realm. In addition to personal prestige and the exaltation
of his chosen divinity (usually the god Siva), each builder had in mind special concerns such
as his ancestral cult or that of the royal person. His successors did not necessarily care about
these concerns, at least not in the same way.
What we know about temple-mountains at the present time, therefore, seems to confound
any attempt at analysis based on firm, well-established principles of continuity. It is better to
regard each of these creations of Khmer architectural genius as the specific expression of
changing religious principles at a particular period, in response to rules that were probably
evolving from one reign to another. Angkor Wat as Temple Mountain

Angkor Wat. Siem Reap, Cambodia, 1116-1150 (photo: Peter Garnhum, CC BY-NC 2.0)

An aerial view of Angkor Wat demonstrates that the temple is made up of an expansive
enclosure wall, which separates the sacred temple grounds from the protective moat that
surrounds the entire complex (the moat is visible in the photograph at the top of the page).
The temple proper is comprised of three galleries (a passageway running along the length of
the temple) with a central sanctuary, marked by five stone towers.

The five stone towers are intended to mimic the five mountain ranges of Mt. Meru—the
mythical home of the gods, for both Hindus and Buddhists. The temple mountain as an
architectural design was invented in Southeast Asia. Southeast Asian architects quite literally
envisioned temples dedicated to Hindu gods on earth as a representation of Mt. Meru. The
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galleries and the empty spaces that they created between one another and the moat are
envisioned as the mountain ranges and oceans that surround Mt. Meru. Mt. Meru is not only
home to the gods, it is also considered an axis-mundi. An axis-mundi is a cosmic or world
axis that connects heaven and earth. In designing Angkor Wat in this way, King
Suryavarman II and his architects intended for the temple to serve as the supreme abode for
Vishnu. Similarly, the symbolism of Angkor Wat serving as an axis mundi was intended to
demonstrate the Angkor Kingdom’s and the king’s central place in the universe. In addition
to envisioning Angkor Wat as Mt. Meru on earth, the temple’s architects, of whom we know
nothing, also ingeniously designed the temple so that embedded in the temple’s construction
is a map of the cosmos (mandala) as well as a historical record of the temple’s patron.
Angkor Wat combines two basic plans of Khmer temple architecture: the temple-
mountain and the later galleried temple. It is designed to represent Mount Meru, home of
the devas in Hindu mythology: within a moat more than 5 kilometres (3 mi) long and an
outer wall 3.6 kilometres (2.2 mi) long are three rectangular galleries, each raised above the
next. At the centre of the temple stands a quincunx of towers. Unlike most Angkorian
temples, Angkor Wat is oriented to the west; scholars are divided as to the significance of
this. The temple is admired for the grandeur and harmony of the architecture, its
extensive bas-reliefs, and for the numerous devatas adorning its walls.

Angkor Wat as a Mandala

According to ancient Sanskrit and Khmer texts, religious monuments and specifically
temples must be organized in such a way that they are in harmony with the universe,
meaning that the temple should be planned according to the rising sun and moon, in addition
to symbolizing the recurrent time sequences of the days, months and years. The central axis
of these temples should also be aligned with the planets, thus connecting the structure to the
cosmos so that temples become spiritual, political, cosmological, astronomical and geo-
physical centers. They are, in other words, intended to represent microcosms of the universe
and are organized as mandalas—diagrams of the universe.

Hill temples in Jainism can be roughly ascribed to two types.

1. Those that were built on Hills in olden times
2. Those are so huge that they have become like Hills.

1 St Category of ancient hill temples: A classic example of this is Palitana Hill temples or
cluster temples.This has to be one of the most sacred places of worship for the Jain
communities across the globe. Located on the Shatrunjaya Hills the Palitana cluster of
temple comprises of a collection of 863 temples dedicated to the Jain gods. All these places
of worship are immaculate and very opulent no matter what the size and the top can be
reached after walking up around 3,000 steps from the foothills. The main temple on the top
is dedicated to the St Tirthankara and the construction date of these sacred portals of religion
can be dated back to 10th and is believed to have been completed over a time period of
around 900 years. The currently standing structures have been renovated several times but
the authenticity and spirituality here remain untouched.

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Temple Architecture

The temples of Palitana display exquisite architecture and are heavily and very richly
ornamented and adorned. The brilliance of the temple architecture lies in the fact that it has
been constructed in such a unique way that the sunlight transforms the marble structures into
some sort of an ivory shield. Out of the 863 temples the holiest one is the temple of
Adishwar. This Tirth Sthal for Jains is primarily made out of marbles with tall and heavy
pillars with a number of openings, kind of like a typical Hindu temple. The interiors are very
intricately and finely carved complete with geometric lace designs, elaborately carved
ceilings and clustered forms of canopies.
History
The hill holds a very special and pious place in the hearts of devout Jains. The sanctity of the
Palitana temples lies in the fact that as per Shatrunjaya Mahatmya – the holy Jain texts – the
1st Tirthankara called Rishabh had delivered his very first sermon here and had successfully
sanctified the hills. Later on his grandson, Pundarika is said to have attained his nirvana here
in the Shatrunjaya hills (the first and initial name of the current Shatrunjaya hills were named
Pundarikgiri. The hills are also said to have been visited several times by Bharata
Chakravartin – the father of Pundarik and half-brother of Baahubali. A temple built by him
dedicated to honour the life of his father Rishabh. If legends and mythological aspects are to
be believed then a number of other tirthankaras are also said to have paid a holy visit to these
hills making it even more pious and sacred.
Shikharji Temple is one of the two holiest of all pilgrimage places by the Jain community,
located on Parasnath range in Giridih district of Jharkhand. The mountain summit of
Parasnath range is the most sacred to Jains. An ancient Jain temple on the Hill, Shikharji means
the "venerable peak". The site is also called Sammed Śikhar or Sammet Shikhar "peak of
concentration." because it is a place where twenty of twenty-four Tirthankaras attained
Moksha through meditation. The word "Parasnath" is derived from Parshvanatha, the
twenty-third Jain tirthankara, who was one of those who is believed to have
attained Moksha at the site. Shikharji rises to 4,480 feet (1,370 m) making it the highest
mountain in Jharkhand state. The earliest reference to Shikharji as a tirth (place of
pilgrimage) is found in the Jñātṛdhārmakātha, one of the twelve core texts of Jainism.
Shikharji is also mentioned in the Pārśvanāthacarita, a twelfth century biography of Pārśva.
The popularity of Shikharji as a site of pilgrimage followed that of Vulture Peak, Bihar,
where it is believed the Buddhist Sariputta attained enlightenment.

20
Jharkhand acquired Shikharji under the Bihar Land Reforms Act, leaving the rights of Jains
in doubt. Use of Shikharji as a tourist destination also impacts on the religious beliefs of the
Jain.
The temple at Shikharji is a new construction with some parts dating to the eighteenth
century. However, the idol itself is very old. Sanskrit inscriptions at the foot of the image
date to 1678. At the base of Shikharji is a temple to Bhomiyaji (Taleti). On the walls of
the Jain temple at the village of Madhuban, there is a mural painting depicting all the temples
on Parasnath Hill. Temples along the track include:

 Ganadhara  Vasupujya
 Kunthunatha  Abhinandananatha
 Rishabhanatha  Ganadhara
 Chandraprabha  Jal Mandir
 Naminatha  Dharmanatha
 Aranatha  Vardhaman
 Māllīnātha  Varishen
 Shreyanasanatha  Sumatinatha
 Pushpadanta  Shantinatha
 Padmaprabha  Mahavira
 Suvichran  Suparshvanatha
 Chandraprabha  Vimalanatha
 Adinath  Ajitanatha
 Anantanatha  Neminatha
 Shitalanatha  Parshvanatha
Sambhavanatha

Jain Hill caves at Keezh Kuyil Kudi and others carved out of hills.

21
An entrance to the cave. Photo: S. James
In ancient times Jain Monks made Caves their homes for a variety of reasons the foremost
being that thay provided a natural, frugal living space with roof and four walls. The oldest
major Tamil epics—Shilapadikaram, Manimeghalai and Civaka Chintamani—composed
over 1,500 years ago are also Jain and speak of the city of Madurai and its rich merchants
whose wealth made local kings nervous.
Unlike Buddhism, whose followers were expected to become monks, Jainism allowed
its lay followers, the shravakas, to earn merit by taking care of monks. The Jain bas
reliefs found in the caves at Keezh Kuyil Kudi tell a fascinating story.. Keezh Kuyil
Kudi, about 15 km from Madurai, is today called the Samanar or Jain hill. The setting
could not have been be lovelier… a large pond choked with lotus flowers, a huge old
banyan tree and a temple for the village god, Karuppanasami.
A short walk around the massive stone hill leads to a flight of stairs that reaches a
small cave. The steps are shaded by trees and it is a short, pleasant climb. The cave is
ideal for playing hide-and-seek, because of little crevices and tunnels, and it’s easy to
miss the big attraction. There’s a stunning bas relief of Mahavira with two attendants

22
on one side and further inside, several others and a Yakshi, a spirit nymph in Jain
mythology. Today, Yesakki and Petchi are common names in southern Tamil Nadu
and both are modifications of this Sanskrit word – they have become Hindu names
now but bear an ancient link to the country’s Jain past.
The inscriptions here are from the 9th-10th centuries and mention the names and
details of the donors for the bas reliefs. We learn from these of a great Jain school –
Palli – that existed in nearby Kurandi. Gunasena Devar was an important teacher in
that school and his students were instrumental in commissioning these bas reliefs. The
longer climb of over 100 steps would have led us to a small spring with more bas
reliefs and a stunning view of the city but would have been strenuous for a young
child. Further up from the spring, recently a Brahmi inscription was discovered from
the crevice in the rock, by a young student.
Beside the spring are several holes on the floor and a vertical rock face, indicative of
pandals that were created with wooden poles and thatched roofs. These would have
been places for the school that existed in the village. Inscriptions list more names of
students who commissioned the bas reliefs. Close by, was once a stone temple of
which only the foundation remains. It received a gift in ACE 889 during the reign of
Veeranarayana Pandya from his queen Vanavan Mahadevi. One wonders who owns
the land in the Konkarpuliaykunram village that the queen gave to this temple today!
The oldest inscription on the hill records the creation of a stone bed by a native of
nearby Thenur in 2nd century BCE, which however, requires a climb not for the faint
hearted!
At the foothills is an Ayyanar temple. It has been heavily modernised, but if you look
closely at two deities, fancifully called after mythical Pandya kings, you will find the
heads of early pre-9th century Pandya sculptures of attendants, who would have
formed part of the Jain temple that once stood on the hill. They have not been
vandalised, but giving stucco or concrete bodies and incorporated into the pantheon of
deities inside the living temple, a good lesson for us on how to look after antiquities!
The presence of large boulders and rocky outcrops in the Pandya country must have no
doubt attracted several Jain monks to the area and led to the widespread popularity of
their religion. Public support for the monks from all sections of society – farmers,
traders and the kings -- was powerful since they offered food, medicine, education and
sanctuary as their outreach to society. Perhaps the geography of the Chola country –
devoid of such rocky outcrops suitable for caves, saw a greater acceptance of
Buddhism rather than Jainism, which thanks to the seafaring nature of the Cholas was
helped by taking the religion to the shores of South East Asian countries.
Despite just vestiges, Samanar Malai continues to have a distinct charm – its natural
setting and a little bit of imagination on seeing several young 9th century Jain monks
running around and over the rocky hill can make one smile, though their lives must
have been spartan and serious.
Keezh Kuyil Kudi is 15 km from Madurai on the Nagamalai-Pudukottai Road.

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The hermits of Samanar Hills

Jain carvings in the Samanar Hills. Photo: Wikipedia Commons

Samanar means Jain in Tamil. It is derived from the Sanskrit shramana, which refers to all
hermits, not just Jains, or more specifically those who prefer meditation and austerities to
Vedic rituals in all matters spiritual. Malai is Tamil for hill. The Samanar stands in the
village of Keezh Kuyil Kudi, just 15km outside Madurai, and my friend’s suggestion seemed
like a perfect detour. So, after a quick lunch, we drove out of the city. Little did I know that
going up and down this hill of hermits would be a journey through 2,500 years of Jain
history.
The word Dravidian refers to a linguistic group distinct from the Indo-European (Aryan)
group of languages. Europeans turned this linguistic group into a racial group, a theory that
was very popular across the world until race became a bad word, following the rise of
Nazism. Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada are the four southern languages with
Dravidian root—Tamil being the mother language. The Brahui spoken in Balochistan,
Pakistan, is a Dravidian language, suggesting the Dravidian language was widely spoken in
the subcontinent a long time ago, leading to speculation that it was pushed south by the
arrival of proto-Sanskrit-speaking people (often identified as Aryans, but such a
nomenclature is controversial and debatable) into the subcontinent from Eurasia over several
centuries from around 2000 BC. This idea is violently opposed by Hindu supremacists, in
India and the US, who insist that an advanced homogenous Vedic civilization thrived in
South Asia thousands of years ago before being polluted by invaders like the Greeks, the
Huns and, especially, the Muslims. We will never really be sure, as long as politics controls
scholarship.

24
The carving of Jain ‘tirthankar’ Mahavir in the Samanar Hills. Photo: Wikipedia Commons

Tamil culture before the arrival of Vedic culture in the south? We get a glimpse of it at
the base of the Samanar Hills itself, where an Amman temple stands in gaudy grandeur next
to a lotus pond. We see it surrounded by traditional votive images of guardian gods riding
horses. It is a relatively recent construction, and the bright colour and robust style of the
imagery is very different from that found in the orderly, refined Brahminical temple
complexes of Tamil Nadu

Had it not been for the efforts of the now almost overlooked field researcher U.V.
Swaminatha Iyer, who in the 19th century scoured the countryside for palm-leaf
manuscripts, we would not have known much of this earliest layer of Tamil culture: the
Sangam period, when the south was ruled by the Cholas, Pandyas and Cheras, at a time when
the Mauryas held sway in the north.
Sangam literature reveals a culture in which kings respected poets, and poets wrote about
war and love. War was associated with cities and love with the countryside, with different
landscapes embodying different emotions. This division draws attention to the grama
(settlement) and aranya (wilderness) divide found in the Sama Veda. This, and familiarity
with the yagna, indicates that by the Sangam period, Vedic ideas had started percolating to
the southern half of the subcontinent, from their heartland, the Gangetic plains, where the
Vedas were organized and the Upanishads were composed, 2,800 years ago.

Sangam literature has memory of a king who sent food for the “five and hundred", an
obvious reference to the Mahabharat’s Pandavas and Kauravas, of goddesses like Kotravai,
who delights in battle, the handsome Seyon, or Murugan, who is represented as a spear atop
a mountain, and the cowherd god Mayon, who wrestles bulls and dances with milkmaids.
Were these the forerunners of the classical Puranic deities Kali, Kartikeya and Krishna, or of
deities we now address as Amman, Meenakshi and Karuppa-Sami
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Many images there, some enshrined, that looked very old, probably ancient Pandyan images,
maybe once part of a Jain temple, now turned into deities by the locals. These yellow-brown
stone hill stands out against the otherwise flat rice-field plain. It has been observed that Jain
shrines were more popular in the southern half of Tamil Nadu, ruled by Pandyas, the Pandya
Nadu, while Buddhism was more popular in the northern part, ruled by Cholas, the Chola
Nadu. This may have something to do with the presence of stone mountains in the south, the
preferred residence of Jain monks. These stone mountains with Jain caves, carvings and
epigraphy are today at great risk from illegal stone quarrying.

According to Jain lore, Jainism came to the south in Mauryan times. Chandragupta Maurya,
inspired by Alexander the Great, and helped by his Brahmin mentor, Chanakya, had
established the Mauryan empire, but then became disillusioned towards the latter part of his
reign, following a prolonged drought. He became a Jain monk and accompanied his teacher,
Bhadrabahu, to the south, to Shravanabelagola in Karnataka. Bhadrabahu’s followers spread
the Jain way of thinking and living to Tamil Nadu. At the Samanar Hills, archaeologists have
found a 2,200-year-old Tamil-Brahmi script—a variant of Brahmi, which is India’s oldest
script— referring to the contribution of locals to the welfare of Jain monks. The oldest major
Tamil epics—Shilapadikaram, Manimeghalai and Civaka Chintamani—composed over
1,500 years ago are also Jain and speak of the city of Madurai and its rich merchants whose
wealth made local kings nervous. They also speak of the tension between lovers and
renunciation as a viable option for both men and women who are disillusioned by the
sensory charms of the worldly life.
Unlike Buddhism, whose followers were expected to become monks, Jainism allowed its lay
followers, the shravakas, to earn merit by taking care of monks. And so archaeologists have
identified 26 caves, 200 stone beds, 60 inscriptions and over 100 sculptures of Jain heritage
in and around Madurai, such as the one on Samanar Hills, where I stood.
There are two major caves on Samanar Hills, one more easily accessible, known as
Settipodavu, and the other with a rather steep climb, known as Pechipallam.

26
A fresco of dancers from the Chola period.
At the easily accessible cave, my friend pointed out the rain drip line, an artificial tear above
the entrance of the cave, created to ensure that rainwater does not go into the cave but
trickles away from it by the side. Then you see the fabulous carvings on the walls—stark
lines with minimal ornamentation. The grand image of Mahavir with the image of a lion
below him and beside him his guardians yaksha and yakshi, their feet pointing away from
him, and a grand umbrella above him. His full lips, the slight bulge of what we now call
“love-handles" and the straight lines of his arms, his crossed legs and broad shoulders filled
me with awe. The underlying sensuality, often missing in modern Jain carvings, was
unmistakable. The artisans were following the principles of shilpa-shastra, or the treatise of
image-making, that seeks to fill the stone images with prana or life, a feeling that it is
enlivened by breath, and softness. The broad shoulders and narrow waist attest to the fact
that Mahavir came from a royal family. The slight plumpness is critical to indicate that the
fasting is balanced by enlightenment. Fasting strips the body of life and energy and beauty
while enlightenment reverses the process.

There are higher, more inaccessible cave with a steep, hour-long climb. It has a perennial
pool of water, a reason why the monks probably favoured this hill. It also has a large
sculpture with the images of many tirthankars, including Mahavir (identified with his
symbol, the lion) and Parsva (identified by the hooded serpent over his head). There is also
an image of Bahubali, who is not a tirthankar. He is of lesser rank, though he lived much
before Mahavir, being the second son of the first tirthankar, Rishabha. The story goes that
Bahubali was far more accomplished than his brothers, but his competitive spirit and his
refusal to bow to those senior to him, in status or age, fettered him to the ground, a thought
symbolically represented by plant vines coiling around his feet, tying him down.

Both caves of Samanar have many inscriptions, in the Kannada and Tamil languages, using
scripts such as the old south Indian Vatteluttu script. They indicate a connection between the
Jains of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, and a history of a thousand years, for the last ones have
been dated to the ninth century. Then the Jain culture started to wane, though unlike
Buddhism, it was not completely wiped out. It survived because of the great goodwill
created by Jain hospitals and educational services and the refuge offered to political
fugitives. Today, there is still a community of nearly 100,000 Tamil Jains in and around
Madurai.
.
It all started 1,300 years ago, when a new way of thinking emerged in Tamil Nadu:
passionate devotion to an all-powerful god. The Nayanars called him Shiva, and the Alvars
called him Vishnu. These were the forerunners of the bhakti movement that would
eventually spread to north India. This new form of Hinduism was very different from the old
Vedic form. It gave much more value to tangible stone icons than to intangible chants and
hymns. It valorized the householder (yajamana) over the hermit and the ritualist. Over time,
it inspired the grand Shaivite and Vaishnavite temple complexes of the south, such as the
Meenakshi-Amman temple complex, which eventually overshadowed the Jain caves and the
Jain way of life in Madurai.

Tensions between the monastic orders and temple traditions were inevitable. The earliest
such clash may have been the infamous Madurai massacre of the seventh century, when
Jains were impaled by the Shaivites. This incident is reported only 500 years later, in
manuscripts dating to the 12th century, and is increasingly being seen as political
propaganda. The story goes that the poet-sage Sambandhar converted the local Pandyan king
27
from Jainism to Shaivism after defeating the local Jains in debate, and also by curing the
king of ailments. Following this, the king had the Jains killed, or the Jains probably followed
the rather controversial Jain practice of sallekhana, systematically starving oneself to death,
probably in caves and stone beds in places such as Samanar Malai.
The group temples of Jainism are situated on the Mount Girnar situated near Junagadh in
Junagadh district, Gujarat, India. There temples are sacred to the Digambara and the
Svetambara branches of Jainism.
Hill Temples In Jainism

Girnar Hills looking back down towards Junagadh city. Neminath temple

Hill temples in Jainism can be roughly ascribed to two types.

2. Those that were built on Hills in olden times
3. 2. Those are so huge that they have become hills
According to Jain religious beliefs, Neminath, the 22nd Tirthankara Neminath became an
ascetic after he saw the slaughter of animals for a feast on his wedding. He renounced all
worldly pleasures and came to Mount Girnar to attain salvation. He attained omniscience
and Moksha (died) on the Mount Girnar. His bride-to-be Rajulmati also renounced and
became a nun.
Jain Temples
This temple is situated on the hill of Girnar. Here jain tirthankar /lord naminath temple is
situated. Required good amount of physical strength to reach here. Also doli/palkhi facilities
are available to reach this place. Girnar was anciently called Raivata or Ujjayanta, sacred
amongst the Jains to Neminath, the 22nd Tirthankar, and a place of pilgrimage before 250
BCE. Situated on the first plateau of Mount Girnar at the height of about 3800 steps, at an
altitude of 2370 ft above Junagadh, still some 600 ft below the first summit of Girnar, there
are Jain temples with marvelous carvings in marble. Some 16 Jain temples here form a sort
of fort on the ledge at the top of the great cliff. These temples are along the west face of the
hill, and are all enclosed.
Neminath Temple

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Plan of Neminath Jain Temple….. Plan of Vastupala-vihara( on right)

The Neminath temple is the largest temple of the group standing in a quadrangular court 195
x 130 feet. The temple was rebuilt completely by Sajjana, the governor of Saurashtra
appointed by Jayasimha Siddharaja, in 1129 CE. There is an inscription on one of the pillars
of the mandapa stating that it was repaired in 1278 CE.
It consists of two rangamandapa halls with two porches and a central shrine
(Gudhamandapa), which contains a large black image of Neminath sitting in the lotus
position holding a conch in his palm.
The principal hall in front of the central shrine measures across from door to door inside 41'
7" x 44' 7" from the shrine door to that leading out at the west end. The roof is supported by
22 square columns of granite coated with white lime while the floor is of tessellated marble.
Round the central shrine is a circumambulatory passage (pradakshina) with many images in
white marble including that of a Ganesha and a Chovishi or slab of the twenty four
Tirthankara. Between the outer and inner halls are two shrines.
The outer hall measures 38' x 21' 3". The outer hall has two small raised platforms paved
with slabs of yellow stone, covered with representations of feet in pairs called padukas,
which represent the 2452 feet of the Gandharas, first disciples of Tirthankaras.
On the west of this is a closed entrance with a porch overhanging the perpendicular scarp of
the hill. On two of the pillars of the mandapa are inscriptions dated 1275, 1281, and 1278 —
dates of restoration.
The enclosure in which these rangamandapas and the central shrine are situated, is nearly
surrounded inside by 70 little cells, each enshrining a marble image on a bench, with a
covered passage running round in front of them lighted by a perforated stone screen.
The principal entrance was originally on the east side of the court; but it is now closed, and
the entrance from the south side of court in Khengar's Palace is that now used.
On south side, there is a passage leading into a low dark temple, with granite pillars in lines.
Opposite the entrance is a recess containing two large black images; in the back of the recess
is a lion rampant, and over it a crocodile in bas-relief. Behind these figures is a room from
which is a descent into a cave, with a large white marble image which is mostly concealed. It
has a slight hollow in the shoulder, said to be caused by water dropping from the ear, whence
29
it was called Amijhara, "nectar drop". There are few shrines in the court dedicated to Jain
monks. In the North porch are inscriptions which state that in Samwat 1215 certain Thakurs
completed the shrine, and built the Temple of Ambika.
There is a small temple of Adinath behind the Neminath temple facing west which was built
by Jagmal Gordhan of Porwad family in VS 1848 under guidance of Jinendra Suri.
Adabadji Adinatha temple
There are three temples to the left of the passage from the north porch of the Neminath
temple. Of them, the temple on the south contains a colossal image of Adinatha, the first
Tirthankar, exactly like that at Palitana temples. The image is in standing meditating
(kausaggiya) position On the throne of this image is a slab of yellow stone carved in 1442,
with figures of the 24 Tirthankars.
Panchmeru temple
On the north, opposite the Adabadji temple, there is Panchabai's or Panchmeru temple which
was built in VS 1859. It contains five sikhars or spires each enshrining quadruple images.
Meraka-vasahi
West of Panchmeru temple, there is a large temple. The temples is called Malekavasahi,
Merakavasahi or Merakavashi due to false identification. Madhusudan Dhaky noted that the
Merakavasahi was a small shrine somewhere near east gate of Neminatha temple while the
current temple is large one and outside the north gate of the Neminatha temple. Based on its
architecture, Dhaky dates the temple to 15th century and notes that it is mentioned as
Kharataravasahi built or restored by Bhansali Narpal Sanghavi in the old itineraries of Jain
monks. The temple is depicted in the Shatrunjaya-Giranar Patta dated 1451 CE (VS 1507)
in Ranakpur temple so it must have built before it. The temple may have been built as early
as 1438 CE. Dhaky believes that the temple may have been built on the site of the
Satyapuravatara Mahavira's temple built by Vastupala.
According to an anecdote said by modern Jain writers, Sajjana, the minister of Chaulukya
king Siddharaja Jayasimha, built the Neminatha temple using the state treasury. When he
collected the funds to return as a compensation, the king declined to accept it so the funds
were used to built the temple. Dhaky concludes that the anecdote is not mentioned in any
early work and is false.
Sahastraphana (thousand hooded) Parshwanatha, the image which was consecrated in 1803
CE (VS 1459) by Vijayajinendra Suri, is currently the central deity in the temple. The temple
originally housed the golden image of Mahavira and brass images of Shantinatha and
Parshwanatha on its sides.
The east facing temple has 52 small shrines surrounding the central temple. It has an open
portico with ceilings with fine carvings. In the bhamti or cloisters surrounding the court,
there are also some remarkable designs in carved ceilings. The roof of the rangamandapa
has fine carvings. The shrine proper must have been removed and replaced with new one at
the end of the sixteenth century or the start of the seventeenth century. It is known that
Karmachandra Bachchhavat, minister of the king of Bikaner, had sent a funds to renovate
temple in Shatrunjaya and Girnar under Jinachandrasuri IV of Kharatara Gaccha during the
reign of Akbar. There is a shrine housing replica of Ashtapada hill in the south, shrine with
Shatrunjayavatar in west, behind the main temple, and Samet Shikhar (or Nandishwar
Dwipa) in north.
Sangram Soni's Temple
North of the Melakavasahi, there is a temple of Parshwanath in the enclosure. The original
temple on the site was Kalyanatraya temple dedicated to Neminatha built by Tejapala,
brother of Vastupala. This Kalyanatraya contained quadruple images in three tires as the
central deity. The new temple on the site was built in 1438 CE (VS 1494) by Oswal Soni
Samarasimha and Vyavahari Maladev. The spire of this 15th century temple is replaced by
30
new spire built c. 1803 CE. The temple is now mistakenly known as Sangram Soni's temple.
It was repaired by Premabhai Hemabhai about 1843. It contains a large white marble figure
of Parswanatha bearing the date 1803 CE with the polycephalous cobra over him whence he
is styled Seshphani. This temple is peculiar in having a sort of gallery and like the previous
one of the central deity faces the east whilst the others mostly face the west.
Kumarapala's Temple

Kumarapala temple
The last temple to the north is known as the Kumarapala's temple which is falsely attributed
to 12th century Chaulukya king Kumarapala. Based on the literary, epigraphic and
architectural evidence, Madhusudan Dhaky concluded that the temple belongs to 15th
century and was built by Purnasinha Koshthagarika (Punsi Kothari). The central deity was
Shantinatha and was consecrated by Jinakirti Suri probably in 1438 CE. The part of the
original temple was destroyed by the 18th century and appears to have been restored in 1824
CE by Hansraja Jetha which is known from the inscription.
The temple is west facing. The original temple had 72 shrines surrounding the central temple
which no longer exist. The central temple has a modern long open portico supported by
twenty four columns. The temple proper or mandapa and shrine are small and the ceilings
and architraves are restored. The mandapa with its beautiful pendentive and the pillars and
lintels of the portico. The shrine contains three images; in the middle Abhinandana Swami
dedicated in 1838 and on either side Adinatha and Sambhavanatha dated 1791.
Mansingha Bhojaraja temple
To the east of the Devakota, there are several temples: the principal being the temple of
Mansingha Bhojaraja of Kachchh, an old granite temple near the entrance gate which is now
dedicated to Sambhavanatha.

Vastupala Vihara
Vastupala-vihara is a triple temple, the central fane measuring 53 feet by 291⁄2 has two
domes and finely carved but much mutilated and the shrine which is 13 feet square with a
large niche or gokhla on the left side contains an image of Mallinatha. Beneath the image is
the inscription mentioning Vastupala and his family members.
On either side this central temple, there is a large hall about 38 feet 6 inches from door to
door containing a remarkable solid pile of masonry called a samovasarana that on the north
side named Sumeru having a square base and the other Sameta Sikhara with a nearly circular
one. Each rises in four tiers of diminishing width almost to the roof and is surmounted by a
small square canopy over images. The upper tiers are reached by steps arranged for the
purpose. On the outside of the shrine tower are three small niches in which images have been

31
placed and there are stone ladders up to the niches to enable the pujaris to reach them. The
temple was completed in 1232 CE. There are six large inscriptions of Vastupala in the
temple dated VS 1288. Originally Shatrunjayavatara Adinatha was the central deity of the
temple. The roofs of temple were rebuilt in the 15th century.
There is another temple on the cliff behind the Vastupala-vihara which is now known as
Gumasta temple. The temple was built by Vastupala and was dedicated to Marudevi.
Another shrine behind Vastupala-vihara is dedicated to Kapardi Yaksha.
Samprati Raja temple

Samprati Raja temple… Dharamchand Hemchand temple

Farther north of the Vastupala-vihara, the Samprati Raja temple is situated. The temple was
built in 1453 (VS 1509) CE by Shanraj and Bhumbhav from Khambhat. It was originally
dedicated to Vimalanatha. According to Dhaky, the temple was built on the site of
Stambhanatirthavatara Parshwanatha temple built by Vastupala. The temple is mistakenly
attributed to Maurya ruler Samprati.
It is built against the side of a cliff and is ascended to by a stair. Inside the entrance there is
another very steep flight of steps in the porch leading up to a large mandapa to the east of
which is added a second mandapa and a gambhara or shrine containing a black image of
Neminatha dedicated by Karnarama Jayaraja in 1461.
Other temples
To the east of Vastupala vihara and Samprati Raja temples, and on the face of the hill above,
there are other temples among them an old one going by the name of Dharmasa of Mangrol
or Dharamchand Hemchand built of grey granite the image being also of granite. Near it is
another ruined shrine in which delicate granite columns rise from the corners of the
sinhasana or throne carved with many squatting figures. Near this is the only shrine on this
mount to Mahavira.[17]
South of this, and 200 feet above the Jain temples on way to the first summit, is the
Gaumukhi Shrine, near a plentiful spring of water.
Away on the north, climbing down the steps, there are two shrines dedicated to Neminatha in
Sahsavan where he said to have taken renunciation and attained omniscience. Neminatha is
said to have attained Nirvana or died on the highest peak of the Girnar. There is a modern
Samovasarana temple.
Tanks
Outside to the north of the Kumarapala's temple, there is the Bhima Kunda, a tank measuring
70 feet by 50 feet. Below it and on the verge of the cliff is a smaller tank of water and near it
a small canopy supported by three roughly hewn pillars and a piece of rock containing a
short octagonal stone called Hathi pagla or Gajapada, the elephant foot, a stratum on the top
of which is of light granite and the rest of dark the lower part is immersed in water most of
the year.
Five Peaks
There are 5 tonks on the Girnar hill.
32
 First Peak: After a climb of about 2 miles, there is a Digambar Jain temple and a cave
called Rajulmati cave, it is stated that Rajulmati has done penance at this place. There is also
a small temple where idol of Bahubali (120 cm) in standing posture is installed. Besides
there are footprints of Kundkund. In the temple, the idol of Neminath (Vikram Samvat 1924)
is on the main altar. The idols of Parshwanath and Neminath are also there. There is stream
called gomukhi ganga and nearby the footprints of 24 tirthanakaras are available.
Second Peak: After 900 steps there are the footprints of Muni Anirudhhkumar and temple of
Devi Ambika.
Third Peak: here the footprints of Muni Sambukkumar are installed. Muni has attained
nirvana from this place.
Fourth tonk (Peak); Here the footprints of Pradhyman kumar, son of lord krishna are
installed here. He attained nirvana from this place.
Fifth tonk; The Fifth tonk is of Lord Neminath's footprints. Lord Neminath, the 22nd
tirthankar attained nirvana/moksha from this site.
The vegetarian Ciyy of Pālītāṇā is a town in Bhavnagar district, Gujarat, India. It is located
50 km southwest of Bhavnagar city and is a major pilgrimage centre for Jains. It is first of
the two vegetarian cities in the world. It is also a:
JAIN TEMPLE TOWNs

Palitana was founded in 1194. The town is located in Bhavnagar district of Gujarat, India. It
is located 50 km southwest of Bhavnagar city. It is a major pilgrimage center for Janis. The
Palitana temples of Jainism are located on Shatrunjaya hill. There are a total of 863 Jain
temples in Palitana on Shatrunjiya. The path was climbed through 3950 steps spanning 3.5
km up the Shatrunjaya Hills. The construction of temples of Palitana spanned over a period
of 900 years. And it was structured in two phases.
Jain Temples in Palitana are mentioned below:-
 Kumar pal temple
 Sampriti Raj temple
 Shri Adwishi temple
 Vimal Shah temple
 Shatrunjay hill temple
 Hastgiri Jain tirth
 Shri Kal Bhairav Dev Mandir
 Kaal Bhairav Mandir

33
 Radha Krishna Mandir
 Tartiya Hanumanji Temple
 Murlidhar Haveli
 Nagnath temple
Shatrunjaya Hill

Tirth
The Shatrunjaya hill is 3 km away from Palitana. Shatrunjaya – Mount Śatruñjaya – is one
of the paramount holy places for Jain, especially the Śvetāmbara Mūrti-pūjakas. This site on
Shatrunjaya hill is consider as the sacred place for Svetambara Jain. There are 23 to 24 Jain
Tirthankaras. There are approximately 863 marble-carved temples. On the hills spread
mostly in nine clusters. Some being vast temple complexes, while most small in size.
Hastgiri Jain Tirth
Hastgiri is the beauty of Jain tirth. This place is very calm and beautiful having its natural
beauty. Hastgiri is located in hilly region on the Shatrunjay dam. This place is dedicated to
Bhagwan Shri Adishvar – full of white color murti. It is on the top of the hill of the
mountain. There are Dharamshala’s and bhojanalas for the pilgrims in the vicinity of the
temple.
Palitana is associated with Jain legends and history. Ādinātha, the first of the Jain
tirthankaras, is said to have meditated on the Shatrunjaya hill, where the Palitana temples
were later constructed.
The Palitana State was a princely state, founded in 1194. It was one of the major states in
Saurashtra, covering 777 km². In 1921 it had 58,000 inhabitants in 91 villages, generating a
744,416 Rs revenue.
In 1656, Shah Jahan's son Murad Baksh (the then Governor of Gujarat) granted the village of
Palitana to the prominent Jain merchant Shantidas Jhaveri. The management of the temples
was assigned to the Anandji Kalyanji Trust in 1730.[3]
During the British Raj, Palitana was a princely state in the Kathiawar Agency of the Bombay
presidency. Gross revenue, £42,000; tribute jointly to the Gaekwar of Baroda and the Nawab
of Junagadh, £700. The capital of the state was the Palitana town (population 12,800). It was
ruled by a Gohil Rajput, with the title of Thakore sahib (also spelled Thakor Saheb or Thakur
Sahib), enjoying a 9-guns salute, of the Hindu Gohel dynasty, which received a privy purse
of 180,000 rupees at the state's accession to independent India on 15 February 1948. The last
Thakore Sahib of Palitana was Shri Shivendrasinhji Bahadursinhji Gohel the 27th Thakore
Sahib of Palitana, who got the title of His Highness after his father HH Thakore Sahib Shri
34
Sir Bahadursinhji Mansinhji Gohel of Palitana died on 18 July 1964. HH Thakore Sahib Shri
Shivendrasinhji Bahadursinhji Gohel of Palitana died on 29 June 1990, leaving behind his
wife Rajmata Sonia Devi & his son Maharaj Kumar Ketan Shivendrasinhji Gohel of Palitana
who reside in Mumbai. MK Ketansinhji is a restaurateur & is the Co-founder & Owner of
Brewbot Eatery & Pub Brewery located in Andheri (W), Mumbai.
Geography
Palitana is located at 21°31′N71°50′E21.52°N 71.83°E.[4] It has an average elevation of
67 metres (219 feet). The Palitana dam, an irrigation resource, is on the Shetrunji River.

Palitana temples
Palitana is the world's only mountain that has more than 900 temples. The Palitana
temples and whole mountain are considered the most sacred pilgrimage place (tirtha) by the
Jain community, and is the world's largest Temple Complex. There are more than 3000
temples located on the Shatrunjaya hills, exquisitely carved in marble. The main temple on
top of the hill, is dedicated to the first Tirthankara Rishabhanatha (Rishabhadeva). The
temples were built by generations of Jains over a period of 900 years, from the 11th century
onwards. The temples are managed by the Anandji Kalyanji Trust associated with the
Kasturbhai Lalbhai group. From the foot of the hill to the top there are about 3,800 stone
steps to facilitate climbing.
The temples are exquisitely carved in marble, veritable prayers in stone. To an observer,
these appear to be ivory miniatures when seen from a distance. Created by master craftsmen,
the most important temple is that of the first teerthankara, Shri Adishwar. It has ornate
architectural motifs, though in its overall plan it is simpler than the Choumukh. Other
notable temples are those of Kumarpal, Vimalshah and Sampriti Raja. Kumarpal Solanki, a
great Jain patron, probably built the earliest temple. The temple has a fabulous collection of
35
jewels, and these can be seen with special permission. The temples date from 11th to the
20th century. From 1865 to 1910 it was ruled by King Dhanpat.
Belief
Every devout Jain aspires to climb to the top of the mountain at least once in his lifetime,
because of its sanctity. Not just the temples on the Hill are sacred, but as per Jain Scriptures
entire Hill is sacred right from top to bottom. The journey is arduous. The walk up the stone
stairway hewn into the mountain face takes about an hour and a half. For those unable or
unaccustomed to the strain, sling-chairs are available at a bargain. The code for the climbers
is stringent, in keeping with the rigours of the Jain faith. Food must neither be eaten nor
carried on the way. The descent must begin before it is evening, for no soul can remain atop
the sacred mountain during the night.
Vegetarianism
In 2014, Palitana became the first city in the world to be legally vegetarian. It has outlawed,
or made illegal, the buying and selling of meat, fish and eggs, and also related jobs or work,
such as fishing and penning 'food animals'.

36
 CHAPTER III
The Interconnect between MOUNTAINS &
TEMPLES OF CAMBODIA

From approximately the third century BCE through the thirteenth century
CE, the remote mountainous landscape around the glacial sources of the
Ganga (Ganges) River in the Central Himalayas in northern India was
transformed into a region encoded with deep meaning, one approached by
millions of Hindus as a primary locus of pilgrimage.

Nachiket Chanchani’s innovative study Nachiket Chanchani, Mountain

Temples and Temple Mountains: Architecture, Religion, and Nature in the
Central Himalay
explores scores of stone edifices and steles that were erected in this
landscape. Through their forms, locations, interactions with the natural
environment, and sociopolitical context, these lithic ensembles evoked
legendary worlds, embedded historical memories in the topography,
changed the mountain range’s appearance, and shifted its semiotic
effect. Mountain Temples and Temple Mountains also alters our
understanding of the transmission of architectural knowledge and provides
new evidence of how an enduring idea of India emerged in the subcontinent.
Cambodia was first influenced by Hinduism during the beginning of the
Kingdom of Funan. ... Angkor Wat, the largest temple complex in the world
(now Buddhist) was once a Hindu temple. The main religion adhered to in
Khmer kingdom was Hinduism, followed by Buddhism in popularity.
Angkor Wat, temple complex at Angkor, near Siĕmréab, Cambodia, that was
built in the 12th century by a Hindu King King Suryavarman II (reigned
1113–c. 1150). The vast religious complex of Angkor Wat comprises more
than a thousand buildings, and it is one of the great cultural wonders of the
world.

According to Embassy of India in Cambodia,

India-Cambodia cultural and historical relations are more than a

millennium old when Indian culture, religion and trade emanated out of
India and spread rapidly in various parts of South-East Asia. However,
Cambodia witnessed Indian influence centuries before that whose living
example is the temples of Sambor Prei Kuk built by Ishanvarmana I and
other kings of Chenla empire during 6th and 7th Century AD in Ishanapura,
the then capital of the Kingdom, which is so far the oldest known example
of existence of Indian culture and religion in Cambodia. However, some
scholars are of the opinion that the cultural and religious connect between
India and Cambodia date back to 1st century. According to Cambodian
belief, Khmer people’s founding legend centers around an Indian prince
Kaundinya called Preah Thaong in Cambodian folklore. Cambodian society
which is now predominantly Buddhist retains a strong influence of Indian

37
Hindu and Buddhist rituals, idolatry and mythology which can be seen in
many of its rituals having resemblance with Indian culture and traditions.
Khmer language too is a live example of Indian culture which has
approximately more than 3000 words originated from ancient Indian
Sanskrit language. Later the pervading influence of Hinduism, Buddhism,
and Indian architecture are borne out by the magnificent structures at
Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Bayon, Ta Prohm, Bantey Srei, Preah Vihear
and other religious and historical sites in Cambodia. In order to strengthen
our old age close cultural links, Cultural Exchange Programme (CEP)
between India and Kingdom of Cambodia was signed in 2000 which has
been renewed from time to time. During the State Visit of Prime Minister
Hun Sen to India in January 2018, the CEP has been renewed for a further
period of four years till 2022. During recent visit of Hon’ble EAM, a
Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of India and
National Authority on Preah Vihear has been signed for restoration of some
parts of Preah Vihear
temple. https://www.embindpp.gov.in/pages?id=nel5a&subid=mep2b,
press release 2021

RELIGION IN CAMBODIA
Today about 95 percent of the population are Theravada Buddhists,
which is also the dominate form of Buddhism in Thailand, Laos, Myanmar
and Sri Lanka. The Khmer Rouge destroyed many religious buildings and
tried to stamp out religion itself. Buddhism and other organized religions
have not yet recovered from this period. The Cham minority is mostly
Muslim. Many of the hill tribe minorities are animists. Daoism and
Confuism are also commonly practiced among the Chinese people.
Cambodians have traditionally been devotedly Buddhist and incorporated
elements of animism, Hinduism and Chinese religion and beliefs about
heaven and hell and ghost and spirits in a uniquely Khmer way.
The Khmer Rouge tried to eliminate religion Buddhism. Religion and
prayer were banned. Monks were killed or disrobed, or sent to the fields to
work as slave laborers, and temples were destroyed, desecrated and even
used as death camps. Almost all the Muslims that lived in Cambodia were
killed.

Sacred mountains are central to certain religions and are the subjects of
many legends. For many, the most symbolic aspect of a mountain is the
peak because it is believed that it is closest to heaven or other religious
worlds. Many religions have traditions centered on sacred mountains,
which either are or were considered holy (such as Mount Olympus in Greek
mythology) or are related to famous events (like Mount
Sinai in Judaism and descendant religions). In some cases, the sacred
mountain is purely mythical, like the Hara
Berezaiti in Zoroastrianism. Mount Kailash is believed to be the abode of
the Hindu deities Shiva and Parvati, and is considered sacred in four
religions: Hinduism, Bon, Buddhism, and Jainism. Volcanoes, such
as Mount Etna in Italy, were also considered sacred, Mount Etna being
believed to have been the home of Vulcan, the Roman god of fire and the
38
forge. A Brief History of Phnom Kulen, the Most Sacred Mountain in
Cambodia

Some Buddhist statues at the base of Wat Preah Ang Thom © Steve Estvanik/

History shows that mountains were commonly part of a complex

system of mountain and ancestor worship. Having immortalized fallen
brethren in the edifice, the people share a common allegiance with all the
other people of a community. The meanings that were etched into the
mountain and mound terrain connected the villagers. They were all subject
to the same landscape and village history, which were bound together by
their cultural significance. The history of ancestors could be told by simply
pointing at specific mountains and remembering the stories that were
passed down throughout the generations. The worship of ancestors and the
mountains were largely inseparable. An interconnected web between
history, landscape, and culture was thus formed. Examples of this would be
the Hindu belief that Mount Kailas is the final resting place for the souls of
the dead, as well as the large cemetery placed on Mount Kōya-san.

Sacred mountains can also provide an important piece of a culture's

identity. For example, Bruno Messerli and Jack Ives write,
"The Armenian people regard Mount Ararat, a volcano in eastern Turkey

39
believed to be the site of Noah's Ark in the Bible, to be a symbol of their
natural and cultural identity".[3] As a result of the mountain's role as a part of
a cultural identity, even people who do not live close to the mountain feel that
events occurring to the mountain are relevant to their own personal lives. This
results in communities banning certain activities near the mountain,
especially if those activities are seen as potentially destructive to the sacred
mountain itself
Interaction and syncretism between animalistic practices and Buddhism
contributed to the symbiosis between the two religions ( and Hinduism that
was the forerunner to B uddhism therfe.1

Indigenous communities in Cambodia have traditionally been adherents

to what some call ‘animist’ religions, though there are exceptions such as
the Kuy who have a long history of Buddhist influence. Animism is a term
historically used to denote a wide range of traditional syncretic spiritual
systems, in which there is little separation between the material and
spiritual worlds. Human, as well as the non-human (animals, plants, etc.)
and the non-living (rocks, streams, etc.), are seen as having spirits with
which living humans cohabitate (Bird-David 2002). These spirits play a
major role in both the practical and cultural life of animist communities,
influencing everything from the agricultural cycle and livelihood activities to
the schedule of village festivals, which build solidarity and unify
communities. While animism is a convenient label for discussing these
diverse traditions, many have found its use problematic, indicative of a
Western misconception about the nature of spirituality. Robert Winzeler,
professor of Anthropology at University of Nevada Reno, expresses this view,
observing that “this august term is in some ways unfortunate. It reflects the
Western tendency to think that religion is primarily a matter of belief or
faith, rather than a combination of belief and behavior (or ritual), which is
actually always the case.2

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1. The Place of Animism within Popular Buddhism in Cambodia the Example of the Monastery
Ang Chouléan,Asian Folklore Studies, Vol. 47, No. 1 (1988), pp. 35-41 (7 pages),Published By:
Nanzan University

2. Indigenous Spirituality in Cambodia: September 2011 Implications for Development Programming, World
Faiths Development Dialogue | 3307 M Street NW | Suite 200 • Washington, DC 20007.
report is part of WFDD’s ongoing efforts since 2009 to “map” the development work of faith-
inspired organizations in Cambodia. The goal is to promote understanding and a better-
informed dialogue among faith-inspired and secular development partners on issues of
common concern. The report follows a November 2010 publication, Faith-Inspired
Organizations & Development in Cambodia, and explores in greater detail the often-
misunderstood indigenous faith traditions in the country, contributing to a better
understanding of how indigenous spirituality is relevant to development priorities. It explores
the nature of indigenous spiritual systems in Cambodia, emphasizing the indigenous
conception of landscape, which blends the physical and the spiritual, particularly in the case
of spirit forests. file:///C:/Users/UDAY/Downloads/indigenous-spirituality-in-cambodia-
implications-for-development-programming.pdf

40
In 1998, 1.2 % of the country’s population wasr indigenous minorities in
Cambodia, but before the advent of hinduism and later Buddhism, one can
assume that 100% of the population was of indigenous minorities and if
not then their beliefs were centered on animistic concepts of which ancient
spirit worship and mountain realms of the spirits could have been
paramount.
Animism in Cambodia 2
Animism is manifested mostly in the lingering belief in supernatural
beings. These include spirts that inhabits mountains, forest, rivers and
other natural objects; guardian spirits of houses and animals and fields;
ancestral spirits; and malevolent beings, hosts and demons. Some spirits
are regarded as helpful but most are regarded as troublemakers who can
cause sickness or bad luck especially to those who have engaged in
improper behavior.
_____________________________________________________________________
Among tribes in northeast Cambodia Arak Chantoo, the mountain spirt,
is regarded as the chief god. He presides over other gods. When he is
angry he causes chest pains, headaches, dizziness, high fever and
sometimes death. Arak Bree, the forest spirits, presides over cultivation.
Arak Ghree, the tree spirit, must be appeased before cutting down a tree.
Arak Gow protects sacred stones and can cause headaches and insanity.
Washing stones with the blood of sacrificed animals is one cure for
problems caused by troublesome spirits..

The Brao, Tampuan, Kreung, Bunong and other highlander groups of

northeast Cambodia believe that malevolent spirits inhabit the local
ecological milieu. We are forever in danger of offending these angry,
invisible celestial beings if certain etiquette is broken –if, for instance,
land is cleared in a spirit forest, or if the wrong type of animal is hunted,
or if signs in nature are ignored and we do things that we shouldn’t’ do.
The punishment is usually injury, illness, or death. In any case, the
village "magic man" or shaman is consulted, he or she communicates with
the spirits to find out what is wrong, and he will tell the victim and family
what is needed to remedy the situation—usually a chicken or a pig and
several vases of rice wine.

“Some highlanders—usually the older ones—still believe that certain

mountains—such as Haling-Halang deep inside Virachey, or Krang
Mountain on Veal Thom—or certain areas of forests, are off-limits to
hunting and logging. If this etiquette can be maintained, then animistic
beliefs in "spirit places" can act as conservation tools. In that sense,
animism is the oldest form of environmental conservation: certain places
are off limits to human activity because they have been deemed sacred. ^
“It is believed that the God of Haling-Halang is so powerful that airplanes
cannot fly over it, and fires cannot burn it. Brao elders maintain that even
when the Americans were dropping thousands of bombs on the area
during the war that Haling-Halang never burned. Favors of Haling-Halang
require a human sacrifice, and for that reason, villagers don’t seek its
help. A combination of its remoteness and its sacredness has resulted in
41
it being a relatively undisturbed massif ecosystem to date. But there are
other, smaller places, such as a spirit forest outside of Kroala Village in O-
Chum district outside of Ban Lung. The spirits of this little 300 square
meter forest are so strong that five men recently died simply from
standing in its shadow. Another man died after he tried to clear some of
the woods to establish a small farm there. Villagers are now so afraid of it
that even the Christians won’t go near it. The result is that barking deer,
wild boar, civet cats, Giant Asian squirrels and birds find refuge there
amidst a sea of cashew nut plantations.

Animism is, even today, particularly alive among the hill tribes in
northeast Cambodia and to a lesser extent among ordinary Cambodians.
People guard against ghosts by placing effigies on their doorways and
fence posts. Sometimes barking dogs and strange noises by livestock are
believed to alert people of the presence of ghosts.

MOUNT KULEN THE HOLY MOUNTAIN

Sitting about 50km (30 miles) from Siem Reap town, Phnom Kulen is
considered to be Cambodia’s most sacred mountain. Locals flock to the holy
site daily to pray, leave offerings, stroll through the national park or picnic
next to one of the waterfalls. Here’s a brief history of the famous summit.

The entrance to Phnom Kulen’s temple in the Kulen National Park | ©Gail
Palethorpe/Shutterstock
Phnom Kulen, or Kulen mountain, has its roots steeped deep in Khmer
tradition, dating back to 802AD when Jayavarman II was said to declare
himself a devaraja – ‘god-king’ – at its peak.
As well as drawing a hefty number of Cambodians at weekends and
especially during religious festivals, the sprawling national park is full of
activities, making it the perfect day trip for visitors to Siem Reap.
42
Entry is $20 (£16.11), with a 12km (seven mile) dirt track snaking through
tropical jungle before reaching a focal point. From here, visitors can climb
to the summit or hit the waterfall. The path to the peak passes the famous
River of a Thousand Lingas, etched with carvings ofHindu gods and
symbols, believed to date back to the reign of King Udayadityavarman II.

One of the carvings in the river of 1,000 lingas | © Pagnarith Sao/

Shutterstock
The river sits at the base of Wat Preah Ang Thom, a sacred temple and place
of worship for Cambodians. Visitors are reminded to remain respectful,
covering shoulders and knees, and removing shoes at the base of the steps.
As well as offering spectacular panoramic views of the surroundings, the
wat also houses ancient scripts and a giant, reclining Buddha. The temple
can only be accessed after 11am, with those wanting to come down having
to wait until after noon.

The reclining Buddha at Wat Preah Ang Thom | © Marissa Carruthers

The waterfall, which had a cameo role in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, gushes
strongly during wet season and much less so throughout the dry months.
It’s suitable for swimming, with many locals taking a dip after enjoying a
picnic there.

Tropical waterfall Phnom Kulen | © f9photos / Shutterstock

43
44
Description
Phnom Kulen range is located 30 km northeast of Angkor archaeological
site, Siem Reap province, northwest Cambodia. It is registered since 1992
on the Government of Cambodia’s tentative list as a World Heritage
potential cultural site, with the criteria V and VI. Phnom Kulen means the
Mountain of Leeches in Khmer. According to the old Khmer inscriptions
(and particularly Sdok Kak Thom inscription), the mountain is known as
Mahendraparvata, the mountain of the Great Indra, an ancient city
established at the late 8th-early 9th-centuries, comprising several temples,
the religious remains of this former capital of the Khmer Empire. The
capital was settled on the plateau, located 70 Km to the south of the
Dangrek Mountains, and 30 Km away from the great Tonle Sap Lake.
Today, the Phnom Kulen national Park is a 37,375-hectares protected area,
located in Banteay Srey, Svay Leu and Varin districts, in Siem Reap
province.

45
Mahendraparvata (Khmer: មហេន្ទ្របវ៌ត) is an ancient city of the Khmer
Empire era in Cambodia. The existence of the city has been known for decades,
but much of it lay concealed by forest and earth. The city was uncovered by an
archaeological expedition led by Jean-Baptiste Chevance and Damian Evans in
2012 with the aid of airborne laser scanning technology called LIDAR.
Early Khmer societies developed extensive settlement complexes that were largely
made of non-durable materials. These fragile urban areas perished many centuries
ago, and thus a century and a half of scholarly research has focussed on the more
durable components of Khmer culture, in particular the famous temples and the
texts and works of art that are normally found within them.
In recent years however there has been a considerable effort to broaden the
perspective beyond conventional approaches to Khmer history and archaeology.
Remarkable advances have been made in the domain of remote sensing and
archaeological mapping, including the application of advanced geospatial techniques
such as airborne laser scanning within studies of heritage landscapes at Angkor and
beyond. The results of a newly-completed campaign of airborne laser scanning in
2015—the most extensive acquisition ever undertaken by an archaeological project—
and underscores the importance of using these methods as part of a problem-
oriented research program that speaks to broader issues within history and
archaeology.
The name Mahendraparvata means "Mountain of the Great Indra".
महेन्द्र पर्वत – Mahendra or Great Indra, a title of the Hindu god Indra) and
Parvata or mountain and is a reference to the sacred hill top site commonly known
as "Phnom Kulen" today where Jayavarman II was consecrated as the first king of
the Khmer Empire in 802. The name is attested in inscriptions on the Angkor-
area Ak Yum temple. Mahendraparvata is located 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of
the Angkor Wat complex, 45 kilometres (28 mi) north of Siem Reap, on the slopes
of Phnom Kulen mountain in Siem Reap Province.
_______________________________________________________________________
Airborne laser scanning as a method for exploring long-term socio-ecological dynamics in Cambodia,Author links
open overlay panel, Damian Evans, Journal of Archaeological Science,Volume 74, October 2016,
Pages 164-175https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440316300644,

The multi-year archaeological expedition to find Mahendraparvata was co-led

by Damian Evans of University of Sydney and Jean-Baptiste Chevance of London's
Archaeology and Development Foundation. The team announced their initial
findings in June 2013. A key feature of the expedition was its use of helicopter-
mounted Lidar technology to scan the Phnom Kulen area and then map the city
layout. The scanning phase involved seven days of helicopter operations. The Lidar
results confirmed ground-based research by previous archaeologists. But,
according to Chevance, before this they "didn't know how all the dots fitted, exactly
how it all came together".
The ground phase of the expedition traversed goat tracks and watery bogs, the
team having got to their starting point by motorbike. Hazards included landmines.
They initially uncovered five new temples. Eventually, using the Lidar data, thirty
previously unidentified temples were discovered. In addition to the temples, their
research showed the existence of an elaborate grid-like network of roads, dykes
and ponds forming the city. Dr. Evans also noted that expedition imagery shows
that the area became deforested, and he theorises that the impact of this, and
water management issues, led to the civilisation's decline.

46
The expedition team have dated Mahendraparvata's origins to 802 AD. Thus the
city predates Angkor Wat by about 350 years.
The city's origins date to the reign of Jayavarman II, considered the founder of
the Khmer Empire. His reign was consecrated on the sacred mountain of
Mahendraparvata, known as Phnom Kulen in contemporary Cambodian. The city
he founded at Mahendraparvata was one of three capitals, or courts, of
Jayavarman II's reign, the others being Amarendrapura and Hariharalaya.
The 1936 expedition of French archaeologist and art historian Philippe Stern had
also explored the Phnom Kulen highlands. He discovered some previously
unknown temples and Vishnu statues and described the area as the first true
temple mountain. But the area, while being the source of rivers flowing south to
the Tonle Sap, was remote. Later in his reign, Jayavarman II moved to
Hariharalaya where he died in 835 AD.

47
The ancient Mahendraparvata (late 8th-early 9th centuries) on Phnom
Kulen is today a partially forested site containing about 40 brick temples,
including one pyramid mountain-temple, as well as ancient reservoirs,
dykes with spillway, channels, ponds, plots, platforms, and earthen
mounds, all part of an ancient urban system.
Other later archaeological remains are also located on Phnom Kulen such
as dozen prehistoric sites with rock paintings, more than 40 rock shelters
occupied by hermits from the 10th century, including 2 sculpted riverbed
(Kbal Spean and the One Thousand Linga), ceramic kilns dated from the
10th to 11th centuries, a late Angkorian temples such as Prasat Krol Romeas
located at the large natural waterfall (end of the 12th century), and the large
and very much venerated nowadays Preah Ang Thom reclining Buddha.
Phnom Kulen is located in Northwest Cambodia, such as the others
Cambodian Cultural World Heritage sites: Angkor, Preah Vihear and
Sambor Prei Kuk. The mountain range is also at the origin of the Siem Reap
48
River, as well as the other main rivers of Angkor region (Puok and Roluos).
It has a major role for the local aquifer and for the surface water, draining
most of the plateau before reaching Angkor, nourishing its entire hydraulic
system, the major reservoir (baray) and the temples or city moats through a
network of channels, and ending in the great Tonle Sap Lake.

In addition, Phnom Kulen holds a major symbolic significance for the

ancient Khmer Empire as, according to ancient inscription, King
Jayavarman II proclaimed independence from Java in 802 CE from the city
of Mahendraparvata. There also, this king initiated the first Devaraja cult of
the king, as stated in Sdok Kak Thom inscription (Michael and Evans,
2018: 118). Among local recent legends, one identifies the mountain with
the place where Buddha stepped a foot, when the entire country was
flooded.

Recently, the LiDAR technology has revealed a very large and formally
planned network of oriented earthen dikes forming axis. This urban grid
connects previously known, temples, and the water infrastructures, such as
the dams blocking the valleys of the plateau and creating large reservoirs.
Organizing the landscape on a large scale (more than 40 km2), it also
organizes settlement plots. Most of the temples are single brick towers,
attributed to Jayavarman II reign. One of them stands out, Prasat Rong
Chen, the five-tiered pyramid temple built on the highest point of the
southern part of the plateau. Partially constructed from leveling or soils
embankments (first two levels) and laterite blocks (last three levels), the
temple’s top level is accessible by ramps, unique remains of a construction
left unfinished. An unfinished large reservoir, or baray, was also evidenced
thanks to the Lidar technology. Additionally, the Royal Palace of the ancient
capital (Banteay) was identified in 2009 (Chevance, 2014) and confirms the
presence of the king and his court on the plateau, at the early 9th century.
Mahendraparvata (Phnom Kulen) is, therefore, very significant as it is one of
the earliest capitals of the Angkor period, which extended from the 9th to
15th centuries.

Systematic archaeological survey and excavations have identified an array

of cultural features. There are more extensive of a large settlement than the
historical record indication. For instance, later Angkorian inscriptions often

49
refer to Jayavarman’s capital on the plateau, but no inscriptions dating
from that period have been found so far in Phnom Kulen. However, the
significant infrastructures in Phnom Kulen demonstrated the “first
engineered landscapes of the era, offering key insights into the transition
from the pre-Angkorian to Angkorian period, including innovations in urban
planning, hydraulic engineering and sociopolitical organization that would
shape the course of the region’s history for the next 500 years” (Chevance et
al, 2019: 1305). Mahendraparvata on Phnom Kulen, “therefore, represents a
significant milestone in the development of urban from/in the region”
(Chevance et al, 2019: 1317).

It is believed that “the grid of major axes provides the overall framework
upon which other patterns of habitation are based and elaborated”.
According to Lidar and following field verification researchers “found
hundreds of ponds within the central area, only two of them interrupt the
course of the major axes, the other ponds are scattered within the city
blocks” (Chevance et al, ibid). Several evidences “suggest that the central
grid was laid out before, or during, the elaboration of the habitation
network, and that the two systems functioned contemporaneously”
(Chevance et al, ibid).

The existence of a royal palace, numerous temples and neighbourhoods,

indicate that a royal court was located on the Kulen plateau. A substantial
population living in “an extensive, well-defined, built-up area” supports it
(Chevance et al, 2019:1318). “This area was clearly of parceled
neighbourhoods indicate that it was not merely a vacant ceremonial centre.

Prior to the Mahendraparvata construction, “the evidence shows that

settlement patterns in the Angkor region comprised small, loosely
structured urban areas that lacked any formal grid, had no clear
boundaries and appear to have developed organically without a coherent
plan. Beyond the Angkor region, a handful of centres show evidence of
enclosing walls, for instead, at the sixth to eight centuries AD site of
Sambor Prei Kuk. On the other hand, these much smaller in scale than at
Mahendraparvata and contain no internal grids. Thus, Mahendraparvata
marks an important point of departure, and appears to represent the first
large-scale ‘grid city’ elaborated in the Khmer world. It would be some time
before such a design would be fully realized again in the Angkor region. The
ninth-century AD city of Hariharalaya, the capital immediately following
Mahendraparvata, contains a monumental core but, overall, evinces an
organic layout typical of the early Angkorian ‘open cities’ (Evans 2010;
Pottier 2012). It is only in the tenth and eleventh centuries AD that the
massive linear axes and internal frameworks of cities appear again in the
Angkor region (Gaucher 2017), and not until the twelfth century that we
have unambiguous evidence for gridded cities achieved on the same scale
as Mahendraparvata (Evans 2016). Hence, the urban network revealed by
lidar and described here seems to form an enormous and remarkably early
experiment in formal urban planning. The urban model that first developed
on this mountain plateau, although sparsely inhabited at the time and not
50
widely adopted straight away, would eventually be adapted to the low-lying
floodplains of Angkor, and become a prototype for high-density urban
centres at the height of the Khmer Empire” Mahendraparvata map bring
new insights regarding the history of the Angkorian urbanism. It combines
the two previously identified forms (Evans et al, 2013; Evans, 2016), while
missing many other elements. It has an extended city grid, but without any
attempt to define a central area with a wall or moat; the central grid does
not appear to have been densely inhabited; and there is little evidence for
intensive agricultural activity or a broader network of low-density
occupation revolving around fields and ponds. Hence, while
Mahendraparvata is immediately recognizable as Angkorian, and
identifiably ‘urban’, it is totally unique in the Khmer world in its
development of urban form.

Moreover, the architecture and art of Phnom Kulen, moreover, indicate the
development of a unique style during the reign of Jayavarman II, at the end
of the 8th century. The sandstones decorative architectural elements
(columns and lintels) and the sculptures progressed to a unique and a new
“Kulen style”. This style illustrates a transition from the previous pre-
angkorian styles to the future angkorian and post-angkorian styles.
After this early capital of the Khmer Empire was abandoned as the siege of
power, the court moved from Mahendraparvata on Phnom Kulen to
(Hariharalaya in Rolous, 15 Km east of the future Angkor). Phnom Kulen
site continued to be considered as a sacred mountain and later
archaeological sites show, it was never completely abandoned. Epigraphic
evidence indicated that Kings consecrated sculpture riverbed (Kbal Spean)
and later temples and particular infrastructures such as channels,
stairways, ceramic kilns or mounds fields evidence an occupation of the
Phnom Kulen during the angkorian period. Nowadays, several Phnom Kulen
archaeological sites still hold a sacred value for Cambodians and are the
witnesses of an important worship by Khmer people, coming from the entire
country. Monks and modern hermits often reused hermit’s sites, insuring a
sacred continuity, and numerous legends, folktales, and narratives
continue to be associated by the local communities to the archaeological
sites.

Finally, Phnom Kulen is also known to host the ancient quarries, where the
sandstone blocks were extracted. From Phnom Kulen site, a complex and
long network of channels and parallel raised earthen road allowed their
transportation to Angkor, to build the prestigious religious monument, from
the 10th century. Phnom Kulen ancient quarrying industry, known from the
late 19th century, was developed on a very large scale, recently revealed by
the Lidar (Evans, 2017). It has left numerous localized pits with high
stepped surfaces forming a complex network of stone exploitation.

Comparison with other similar properties

The Mahendraparvata site on Phnom Kulen can be compared to four of ten
different of World Cultural Heritage sites: on a national, sub-regional,
51
regional and international level. This is not only complying with other World
Heritage criteria, but also reflecting the period, features and characteristics,
such as the influence of town-planning, urban infrastructure, language,
religion, architecture, materials and hydrology.

1. National- Bakong temple (Cambodia: the 9th century C.E.): Bakong

temple is the first temple mountain covered with sandstone, constructed by
rulers of the Khmer empire at Hariharlaya, the capital right after
Mahendraparvata, where the Jayavarman II declared the sovereignty of
Cambodia. His successor, Indravarman I constructed the Bakong temple
dedicated to the god Shiva and consecrated its central religious image, a
linga whose name Sri Indresvara. The Devarāja cult, similar to
Mahendraparvata’s on Phnom Kulen, consisted in the idea of divine
kingship of royal power. The structure of Bakong has a stepped pyramid
shape, similar to Rong Chen in Mahendraparvata, both identified as early
example of Khmer temple mountain.
In addition, the Bakong pyramid temple has been covered with high bas-
relief, representing asuras in battle. Large stone statues of elephants are
positioned as guardians at the corners of the three lower levels of the
pyramid and statues of lions guard the stairways.

Phnom Bakheng Temple (Cambodia: late 9th to 10th centuries): Phnom

Bakheng temple is a mountain temple located in Angkor. Phnom Bakheng
is one of three hilltop temples in the Angkor region that are attributed to
Yasovarman’s reign (889-910 C.E). The other two are Phnom Krom to the
south near the Tonle Sap lake, and Phnom Bok, northeast of the
Eastern baray reservoir. Phnom Bakheng is a symbolic representation of
Mount Meru, home of the Hindu gods. This is a similar configuration with
Rong Chen temple in Mahendraparvata/Phnom Kulen and Bakong temple
at Hariharalaya Rolous. However, The Bakeng temple is built in a pyramid
form of seven levels, representing the seven heavens. There are five
sandstone sanctuaries on the top level. Originally, 108 small towers were
arrayed around the temple at ground level and its tiers. Bakeng temple built
on a rectangular base and rise in five levels and is crowned by five main
towers. One hundred and eight are considered the level of the god and
haven. These 33 can be seen from the center of any side, but thirty-three is
the number of gods who dwelt on Mount Meru. The center one represents
the axis of the world and the 108 smaller ones represent the four lunar
phases, each with 27 days. The seven levels of the monument represent the
seven heavens and each terrace contains 12 towers, which represent the 12
years cycle of Jupiter. Thus, it is an astronomical calendar in stone.

2. Baksei Chamkrong (10th century): Baksei Chamkrong is a small Hindu

temple located in Angkor. It is dedicated to lord Shiva and used to hold a
golden image of him. It was also dedicated to Yasovarman by his son, King
Harshavarman I. This temple is constructed by bricks and laterite with
architectural decoration in sandstone. There is an inscription on either side
of the doorway, which details the dedication and praises the early Khmer
kings, quoting Jayavarman II who settled in Mahendraparvata on Phnom
52
Kulen. The main sandstone lintel is decorated with a fine carving of Indra
standing on his three-headed elephant Airavata. The brick sanctuary tower
and eight meters square on a sandstone base open to the east.

3. Sub-regional-Borobudur temple (Indonesia: 9th century C.E.): Borobudur

pyramid temple was constructed by the Sailendra dynasty in the 9th century, in
Central Java.

Borobudur is a unique temple located in an elevated area between two twin

volcanoes and two rivers. Enormous amount of stones, approximately 55,000
cubic meters, used in the construction of Borobudur were taken from neighboring
rivers. The stone was cut to size, transported to the site and laid without mortar. It
is the world's biggest Buddhist monument, an ancient site widely considered to be
one of the world's seven wonders. ... The architecture and stonework of this temple
has no equal. Borobudur is the largest Buddhist temple in the world, and ranks
with Bagan in Myanmar and Angkor Wat in Cambodia as one of the great
archeological sites of Southeast Asia. Borobudur remains popular for pilgrimage,
with Buddhists in Indonesia celebrating Vesak Day at the monument. The
Borobudur monument combines the symbolic forms of the stupa (a Buddhist
commemorative mound usually containing holy relics), the temple mountain
(based on Mount Meru of Hindu mythology), and the mandala (a mystic Buddhist
symbol of the universe, combining the square as earth and the circle as heaven). It
covers an enormous area, measuring 123 x 123 meters. The monument is a marvel
of design, decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues. The
architecture and stonework of this temple has no equal. And it was built without
using any kind of cement or mortar! The structure is like a set of massive
interlocking Lego blocks held together without any glue.

The temple has remained strong even through ten centuries of neglect. It was rediscovered in
1815, buried under volcanic ash. In the 1970’s the Indonesian Government and UNESCO worked
together to restore Borobudur to its former majest

53
It is dedicated as a Mahayana Buddhist temple, consisting of nine stacked platforms, six square and
three circulars, topped by a central dome. The temple demonstrates the influences of Gupta art and
reflects India’s influence on the region, but there are more elements to make Borobudur unique.
Borobudur indicates a similarity with Bakong at Rolous and Rong Chen on Mahendraparvata/Phnom
Kulen during 9th century C.E. The structure of Rong Chen and Bakong took shape of stepped
pyramid, popularly identified as temple mountain of early Khmer temple architecture, but Borobudur
worshiped on Buddhism.

The striking similarity of both temple sites demonstrate similar into architectural details such as the
gateways, sculpture decoration, stairs to the upper terraces. It is a Buddhist temple, but without an
altar or sanctuary. Instead, it boasts six square platforms on which sit 3 circular platforms, and is
decorated with galleries that form a ring around the structure. There are 504 statues of the Buddha.
There is also a main dome that is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues. The Borobudur temple was at a
height of 137 feet (42 meters) before the restoration, but is now only 113 feet (34.5 meters) after the
restoration was complete. It had 10 floors, with the first 6 floors built as squares, and the last 4
built as circles.

4. The Temple Mountain of My Son (Vietnam: 4th to 14th centuries

C.E.) and Hoa Lai: My Son site was constructed between the 4th and the
14th centuries by the Kings of Champa. The temples were built by brick and
sandstone materials, and were dedicated to Hinduism, to worship the god
Shiva. My Son site records and uses of sanskrit as well as architectural
formulas demonstrate some similarity between some of Phnom Kulen
temples (Damreï Krap, Khting Slap). Hoa Lai cham temple illustrates some
similarity with Damrei Krap with its architecture and brick decoration. On a
regional scale, iconography and decoration motives have been shared in all
South-East Asia and similarities can be found in other historical complexes
54
in Southeast Asia, such as Borobudur in Java, Angkor Wat in Cambodia,
and Bagan in Myanmar. For more details see my paper on the Comparison
between the Angkor wat and the Prambhanan Temple on academia.edu and
researchgate.net.

5. Regional-Sahasralinga or Shalmala river (India: 17th century C.E.):

The River Shalmala is located in the town of Sirsi, which is known for its
Shiva linga carved on the rocks, along the banks and in the riverbed of the
Shalmala River, in the Karnataka state, India. This decorated river with
Linga is similar to the one found in Cambodia, and represented by only two
sites, both located in Phnom Kulen National Park. One is Kbal Spean,
located on the western range, the other on the Phnom Kulen plateau, the
One thousand Linga.
During angkorian period, the river was identified with Ganga, the sacred
river of India, and by association, Phnom Kulen itself must have been
associated with the mythic Himalayan mountains of Meru and Kailasa in
India. Thus, both sites were a very holy place and it remains an important
site of worship and pilgrimage until recently. This comparison emphasizes
significant features with India of which are similar the form, believe, and
sculptures. However, they do not have water management function rather a
symbolic one.

6. The Khajuraho (India:950 to 1050 C.E.): The Khajuraho is a group of

Hindu temples and Jain temples in Chhatarpur district, Madhya Pradesh,
India. Khajuraho temples were built of sandstone on a granite foundation
and dedicated to Hinduism and Jainism. Khajuraho temples was entirely
inspired by the Hindu temple design, following a grid of geometrical design
called vastu-purusha-mandala. The Khajuraho temples are not constructed
as step pyramids like Rong Chen on Phnom Kulen, Bakong, Phnom Bakeng,
and Prasat Thom at Koh Ker temple. However, some Khajuraho temples
were built and dedicated to Hindu gods as in Rong Chen on Phnom Kulen
and other temples of Angkor region.

7. Kaifeng City (China: 10th century C.E.): Kaifeng City is constructed

many canals to link a local river to the yellow river, in east-central Henan
province, China. It is best known for being the Chinese capital in the
Northern Song dynasty. Indeed, the new technology of hydraulic power was
used to turn the water wheel and a water clock. Kaifeng City is surrounded
by three rings of city walls. Kaifeng was transformed into a major
commercial hub when it was connected to the grand canal as well as
through the construction of a canal running to western Shandong, in the
early 7th century. Mahendraparvata on Phnom Kulen is also a capital city
in Cambodia that setups a water management resource system by
establishment large reservoir and smaller water ponds, dams, and dyke on
the hilltop of Kulen mountain.

8. International Machu Picchu (Peru: 15th century C.E.): Machu Picchu

is an ancient city on the hilltop located in Machu Picchu district, Southern
Peru. Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was contracted for the
55
Inca emperor Pachcuti (1438-1472). Machu Picchu was built in the classical
Inca style with polished dry-stone walls. There are three primary structures
such as the temple of the sun, the room of the three windows and the ritual
associated with the calendar. Furthermore, Machu Picchu was a UNESCO
World Heritage Site in 1983 and it was voted one of the “New Seven
Wonders of the world” in 2007. Machu Picchu considered being a royal city
for kingship, similar with Mahendraparvata on Phnom Kulen. However, it
was used for 80 years before being abandoned and it was similar used of
Mahendraparvata/Phnom Kulen. There are more similarities with
Cambodia with a royal palace and settlements on the hilltop of the
mountain. Machu Picchu was used the farming done on its hundreds of
man-made terraces. They built to ensure good drainage and soil fertility
while also protecting the mountain itself from erosion and landslides. On
the other hand, it is different from Phnom Kulen, the farming done on the
hilltop.

9. Chichen Itza (Mexico: 7th-13th centuries C.E.): Chichen Itza presents

a multitude of architectural styles of the Northern Maya lowlands. Chichen
Itza is the largest Maya city and shows densely architecture and residential
architecture at the site. This site demonstrates a natural sink holes with
water and some attractive of settlement sites. The town planning of Chichen
Itza with the relatively densely clustered architecture of the site is at least 5
square kilometers. Some greatest effort was put for the levelling of the
landscape to build the Kukulcan pyramid, grand Ballcourt, temple of
warriors and El Caracol. The kukulcan temple at Chichen Itza was built as
a stepped pyramid and serves to showcase an ancient light show during
every equinox of the Maya.

It is therefore not surprising that the TEMPLES that were built should
resemble Mountains and the titles that the Kings took should be on
the verge of Blasphamy(In Hinduism). There was no concrete
understanding of Hinduism and though there was knowledge brought
there by Brhamin priests wo taught and advised the Kings, a frivolous
understanding of Hinduism prompted a makeover to CAMBODIAN
HINDUISM that embraced animistic ideas about Mountains and Kings
proclaimed themselves as Kings of Hindu Gods.

56
 CHAPTER IV
Temple-Mountains: The only temple mountain in India?
Masrur Temple

“In the first half of the eighth century, Indian craftsmen cut back a high
ridge of sandstone, its back to the Beās River and the plains beyond, and
carved a grand temple-complex facing northeast toward the Dhauladhar
range, the first outcropping of the great Himalayan Mountains. Never
completed, and damaged by successive earthquakes that sheered the stone
and folded parts of the complex back into the hill, the temple at Masrur-in
the modern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh-seems today half returned to
its primordial condition. Its ground plan, partial section, and a roof plan,
drawn by an unidentified Indian draftsman, were published in the second
decade of the twentieth century, but scholarship since has neglected and
misrepresented the site.
__________________________________________________________________________
___Michael W. Meister
Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians (2006) 65 (1): 26–49.
https://doi.org/10.2307/25068237
https://online.ucpress.edu/jsah/article-
abstract/65/1/26/60132/Mountain-Temples-and-Temple-Mountains-
Masrur?redirectedFrom=fulltext

57
 He further continues, “It is possible to reconstruct the intention of the
planning of this important complex, however, and to reposition it in a
historical and symbolic context. Its creation not only marked a movement of
political power into the hills in the eighth century, but also mapped
cosmological power and kingship in a new way. The metaphor of temple as
mountain runs throughout India's traditions of building, but, as this article
demonstrates, the temple at Masrur, beyond all others from the Indian
subcontinent, provides the antecedent and conceptual model for the great
"temple-mountains" of Cambodia soon to be built by kings in southeast
Asia.”

The Masrur Temples, also referred to as Masroor Temples or Rock-cut

Temples at Masrur, is an early 8th-century complex of rock-cut Hindu
temples in the Kangra Valley of Beas River in Himachal Pradesh, India. The
Masroor temple is built on the hills situated at a height of around 2500 feet
& 32 km from Kangra in Himachal also it is considered one of the wonders
of the world. Millions of devotees reach here every year. Rare carvings on all
the walls from the main gate of the temple are still present.
Its construction and carving is nothing short of a mystery to artisans even
today. It is said that it took more than 100 years to build this temple. The
temple is mysterious. Till date, the artisans could not trace the art of
making such artwork. No one is fully aware of the artisans who built the
temple. The carvings used in the construction of the temple are said to date

58
back to the Pallava King Narasimha Varman I in the seventh century. It was
constructed along with several temples in South India
It was a group of 15 stable and strong rocks which the artisans cut and
shaped the temple. These rocks have Indo Aryan style carvings. This is the
only temple in northern India that has been built by cutting rocks. Images
of Lord Shri Ram, Lakshmana and Sita are inscribed on the main temple.
There is also an artwork of Lord Shiva here. This temple is dedicated to
Lord Shiva only.
However, the temple has also lost its beauty due to the external invasion
and the 1905 earthquake. But today there are only a few who retain their
beauty. Some parts of the temple are also kept in the State Museum
Shimla. This Masroor temple of Kangra in Himachal Pradesh, which will
preserve the unique art and mysterious history, will now become the ideal
monument of the country. Under the Adarsh Smarak Yojana, 25 national
and world heritage sites across the country have been identified for tourism
purpose.
The rock-cut temple of Masroor, known as Wonder of World and
Himalayan Pyramid, is a unique and mysterious history of the world
heritage race. This 8th century temple is the only such temple in
North India.

The Masrur Temples are about 45 kilometres (28 mi) southwest of

the Dharamshala-McLeod Ganj and 35 kilometres (22 mi) west from
the Kangra town in the mountainous state of Himachal Pradesh in north
India. The temple is built in the Beas River valley, in the foothills of the
Hamalayas, facing the snowy peaks of the Dhauladhar range. The temples
are about 225 kilometres (140 mi) northwest from Shimla, about 150
kilometres (93 mi) north of Jalandhar and about 85 kilometres (53 mi) east
of Pathankot. The nearest railway station is Nagrota Surian, and the
nearest airport is Dharamshala(IATA: DHM). The closest major airports with
daily services are Amritsar and Jammu.

The temple is located in the Himalayan foothills. Above: the damaged

structure with sacred pool in the front.
The rock-cut temple is located in the valley, on the top of a naturally rocky
hill, which Hargreaves in 1915 described as, "standing some 2,500 feet
above sea level, and commanding, as they [Hindu temples] do, a
magnificent view over a beautiful, well-watered and fertile tract, their
situation, though remote, is singularly pleasing
59
The Masrur Temples, also referred to as Masroor Temples or Rock-cut
Temples at Masrur, is an early 8th-century complex of rock-cut Hindu
temples in the Kangra Valley of Beas River in Himachal Pradesh, India. The
temples face northeast, towards the Dhauladhar range of
the Himalayas. They are a version of North Indian Nagara architecture style,
dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu, Devi and Saura traditions of Hinduism, with its
surviving iconography likely inspired by a henotheistic framework.
Though a major temples complex in the surviving form, the archaeological
studies suggest that the artists and architects had a far more ambititious
plan and the complex remains incomplete. Much of the Masrur's temple's
sculpture and reliefs have been lost. They were also quite damaged, most
likely from earthquakes.[1]
The temples were carved out of monolithic rock with a shikhara, and
provided with a sacred pool of water as recommended by Hindu texts on
temple architecture.[1] The temple has three entrances on its northeast,
southeast and northwest side, two of which are incomplete. Evidence
suggests that a fourth entrance was planned and started but left mostly
incomplete, something acknowledged by the early 20th-century colonial era
archaeology teams but ignored leading to misidentification and erroneous
reports. The entire complex is symmetrically laid out on a square grid,
where the main temple is surrounded by smaller temples in a mandala
pattern. The main sanctum of the temples complex has a square plan, as do
other shrines and the mandapa. The temples complex features reliefs of
major Vedic and Puranic gods and goddesses, and its friezes narrate
legends from the Hindu texts.
The temple complex was first reported by Henry Shuttleworth in 1913
bringing it to the attention of archaeologists.[3] They were independently
surveyed by Harold Hargreaves of the Archaeological Survey of India in
1915. According to Michael Meister, an art historian and a professor
specializing in Indian temple architecture, the Masrur temples are a
surviving example of a temple mountain-style Hindu architecture which
embodies the earth and mountains around it

The main monument at the Masrur temples site appears, at first sight, to be
a complex of shrines, but it is an integrated monument. Its center has a
principal shrine which unlike most Hindu temples does not face east, but
faces Northeast towards the snowy Himalayan peaks of Dhauladhar range.
The main spire is flanked by subsidiary spires of smaller size, all eight
symmetrically placed to form an octagon (or two rotated squares). These
spires of the temple seem to grow out of the natural rock that makes the
mountain. Above the main sanctum, the rock was cut to form the flat roof
and the second level of the temple naturally fused with the rising main spire
(shikhara) as well as the eight subsidiary shrines.
Some structures and the plan at Masrur temple (1913 sketch, incomplete).
The main sanctum has four entrances, of which one on the east side is
complete, two on the north and south side are partially complete and the
fourth can be seen but is largely incomplete. The eastern entrance had a
large mandapa and a portico, but this was destroyed in the 1905
earthquake, its existence known from site visit notes prior to the
60
earthquake. Attached to this mandapa were two stairs to take the pilgrims
to the upper-level views. The stairs were set inside smaller two rotating stair
spires, but much of the structure of this too is gone. Thus, at one time the
main temple had 13 spires according to Hargreaves count, and 15
according to Shuttleworth's count, all designed to appear growing naturally
out of the rock.
According to Meister, the early descriptions though well-intentioned were
based on information then available and clouded by the presumptions of
those authors. These presumptions and generally damaged condition of the
complex, for example, led Shuttleworth and Hargreaves to describe the
temple in terms such as "subsidiary" and "shrines" instead of witnessing the
integrated plan and architecture in early Hindu texts on temple design.
Material of construction
The temple complex was carved out of the natural sandstone rock. In some
places, the rock is naturally very hard, which would have been difficult to
carve, but is also the reason why the intricate carvings on it have preserved
for over 1,000 years. In other places the stone was soft or of medium
quality. In some cases, the artists carved with a bit softer stone and this
has eroded over time from natural causes. In other cases, the stone's
hardness was so low that the artists cut out the stone and substituted it
with better stone blocks. Then they added their friezes or sculptures. The
substituted blocks have better resisted the effect of nature and time.
Pool and mandapa
The temple complex has a sacred pool in front on the east side. The
construction of the sacred pool is dated to the early 8th century. Its
rectangular dimensions are about 25 by 50 metres (82 ft × 164 ft), or two
stacked squares. The temple had an outside square mandapa with about 27
feet (8.2 m) side and 20 feet (6.1 m) height. It had a solid 1.5 feet (0.46 m)
thick roof supported by four carved massive pillars. The platform had a
covered drainage system to allow water anywhere on the mandapa to
naturally drain off. This was visible before the 1905 quake, now only
remnants of the floor and a pillar remain.

Two views of the temple pool.

61
The entrances lead the pilgrim and visitor towards the main sanctum,
through a series of mandapas with wall carvings and then
an antarala (vestibule). They also connect the created space to a pair of
covered stairs, on the north and south side, to the upper floor from where
he or she can complete a pradakshina (circumambulation) to view more
sculptures and the mountain scenery, all of this space and structure
created from the pre-existing monolithic rock.
Sanctum and ceiling
The garbhagriha, in a square plan with each side of 13 feet (4.0 m). The
main sanctum has a four faced Shiva.
The ceiling of various mandapa and the sanctum inside the temple are fully
carved, predominantly with open lotus. However, the inside walls remained
incomplete. This may be because the artists carving into the rock worked on
cutting and finishing the ceiling first, then moved on to cutting, finishing
and decorating the inside walls and creating pillars below those ceilings.
The wall height is 16 feet (4.9 m), and only the eastern entrance and
passage into the sanctum is fully complete, while the side entrances are not
and the fourth western entrance being the least complete. The site suggests
that the work was completed in parallel by teams of workers. This is a
common style of construction found in numerous Hindu temples that have
survived, at least in the ruins form, from the 1st millennium. The 8th-
century three-entry, four-faced Shiva found at the Masrur temple is not
unique as the same plan is found in the Jogesvari Cave temple
near Mumbai. The Jogesvari is dated to have been completed between 400-
450 CE, or several centuries before the Masrur temple's construction,
suggesting a common thematic foundation that inspired these temples pre-
existed in the Hindu texts.
The art historian Stella Kramrisch identified one of these Hindu
architecture texts to be the Visnudharmottara, dated to have existed by the
8th-century (floruit), and whose manuscripts have been found with Hindus
of the Kashmir valley. This is one of such texts that describe "hundred-and-
one [Hindu] temple" designs. According to Meister, the sanctum and spire
plan for the Masrur temple fits one of these, where it is called
the Kailasa design.
The Kailasa style of Hindu temple is one with a central Shikhara (spire)
symmetrically surrounded by four smaller spires set between the four
entrances into the temple from the four cardinal directions, a format that
matches the Masrur temple plan. Further, the Visnudharmottara text also
describes the principles and procedures for image making and painting, the
former is also found preserved in the Masrur temple mandapa and
sanctum. Further, the Jogesvari and Masrur are not the only surviving
temples that correspond to this style, others have been discovered that do,
such as the Bajaura Hindu temple in Kulu valley of Himachal Pradesh
which is another stone temple.
The multi-spire style, states Meister, is possibly inspired by the Indian Meru
mythology shared by Buddhists, Hindus and Jains. Lush mountainous
Meru is heaven and the abode of gods, but mountains are not singular but
exist in ranges. The highest Mount Kailasha is the abode of Shiva, and the
secondary spires symbolize the mountain range. Eight heavenly continents
62
surround the Mount Kailasha in this mythology, where all the Deva (gods)
and Devi (goddesses) live together. The Masrur temple symbolically projects
this mythical landscape, narrating the Indian cosmology from stone, into
stone.
Spire design
All spires in the Masrur temple are of Nagara style, an architecture that was
developed and refined in central India in the centuries before the 8th-
century. More specifically, these are what Indian texts called the latina sub-
style, from lata. These are curvilinear spires composed of a rhythmic series
of superimposed shrinking horizontal square slabs with offsets, each offset
called lata or grape vine-like, in principle reflecting natural growth on a
mountain in stone.

One of the spires with lintel carvings.

The superstructure towers embed styles that are found in Indian temples
from the 7th and 8th-century such as in the Mahua Hindu temple and
the Alampur Navabrahma Temples, but these are no longer found in
temples that can be firmly dated after the 8th-century. This supports dating
the Masrur temple to about mid 8th-century. The spires show differences,
but all spires that are symmetrically position in the temple mandala show
the same design. The stairway spire is based on four turned squares, and
features eight rotating lata spines that alternate with eight right-angled
projections.
The temple complex also has two free-standing sub-shrines near the sacred
pool. These have spires with sixteen lata spines, a style that is uncommon
in India and found associated with Shiva temples associated with Hindu
monks of the Matamayura matha between the 7th and 12th century CE
such as the Bajaura temple in nearby Kulu valley and the Chandrehi
temple in central India.
Sculpture and reliefs
The main sanctum has nine seated deities. The center one is Shiva, and
with him are others including Vishnu, Indra, Ganesa, Kartikiya and Durga.
The shrines around the central shrine feature five Devis in one case, while
other shrines reverentially enshrine Vishnu, Lakshmi, Ganesha, Kartikeya,
Surya, Indra and Saraswati. The avatars of Vishnu such as the Varaha and
the Narasimha are presented in the niches. In the ruins have been found
large sculptures of Varuna, Agni and others Vedic deities. The temple also
63
includes fusion or syncretic ideas revered in Hinduism, such as
Ardhanarishvara (half Parvati, half Shiva), Harihara (half Vishnu, half
Shiva) and a three faced trinity that shows Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva in
one sculpture. The temple also has secular images from the common life of
people, of couples in courtship and various levels of intimacy (mithuna),
people making music and dancing, apsaras and ornamental scrollwork.
The surviving structures in the Masrur temple lacks any image of Lakulisa,
the founder of Pashupata Shaivism, which makes it unlikely that this
temple was associated with that tradition. According to Meister, the wide
range of Shaiva, Vaishnava, Shakti and Saura (Surya, sun god) themes
displayed within the Masrur temple suggest that it was built by those who
cherish ecumenism or henotheism, of the style commonly found in
Pancharatra literature of Hinduism.

The Masrur rock-cut temple presents a diversity of iconography, likely

reflecting ecumenism or henotheism in 8th-century Hinduism. Above:
Incomplete iconography locations.
Pilgrim resthouse
According to Hargreaves, when he visited the temple for the first time in
1913, the temple complex had a dharmashala (pilgrim's resthouse), a
kitchen and there was a priest for whom there was a small integrated living
64
quarters. The temple work was priest's part-time work, while his main
source of livelihood was from maintaining cattle and working in farms.
Analysis and interpretation[
The Masrur temple and the 8th-century Prasat Ak Yum temple found in
Siam Reap, Cambodia have parallels, in that both are temple mountains
with a symmetric design.[29]
According to a local legend, the Pandavas of Mahabharata fame resided
here during their "incognito" exile from their kingdom and built this
temple. According to Khan, the identity and location of Pandavas was
exposed, so they shifted from here. This is said to be why the temple
complex was left unfinished. Sometime in the 20th century, someone
introduced three small blackstone statues inside the shrine which faces
east. These are of Rama, Lakshmana and Sita of the Ramayana fame.
At least since the time Harold Hargreaves visited the temple in 1913, the
central temple has been locally called the Thakurdvara
According to Khan, the Hindu temples in Masrur show similarities to
the Elephanta Caves near Mumbai (1,900 km away), Angkor
Wat in Cambodia (4,000 km away), and the rock-cut temples
of Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu (2,700 km away). The features also
suggest the influence of "Gupta classicism", and therefore he places their
construction in the 8th century. The area around the temple complex has
caves and ruins which, states Khan, suggests that the Masrur region once
had a large human settlement.
According to Meister, the temples are from the first half of the 8th century
based on the regional political and art history. The temples follow one
version of the Nagara architecture, a style that developed in Central India,
particularly during the rule of the Hindu king Yasovarman, an art
patron. In Kashmir, a region immediately north and northwest of the site,
Hindus built temples with square pyramidal towers by the mid 1st
millennium CE, such as the numerous stone temples built by Hindu king
Lalitaditya, another art patron. These kingdoms traditionally collaborated
as well as competed in their construction projects rivalry, while the guilds of
artists moved between the two regions, through the valleys of ancient
Himachal Pradesh. The region is in the Himalayan terrain and forested,
making conquests difficult and expensive. Historical records from the 6th to
12th centuries do not mention any military rivalries in the Beas river
Kangra valley region. There is a mention of a Himalayan kingdom of
Bharmour just north of Masrur area in early medieval era texts. The 12th-
century text Rajatarangini as well as the 12th-century Kashmir chronicle by
Kalhana, both mention political rivalries in the 9th century but these 11th
and 12th century authors were too far removed in time from 8th century
events, and they weave in so much ancient mythology that their semi-
fictional texts are largely ahistorical and unreliable.
The inscriptions and architecture suggest that Yasovarman's influence had
reached the Himalayan foothills in north India, and the central Indian
influence is illustrated in the architectural style adopted for Masrur temples
rather than the styles found in ruined and excavated temples of the
northwestern Indian subcontinent. According to Meister, the influence of
middle India must have reached the north Indian region earlier than the 8th
65
century and this style was admired by the royal class and the elites,
because this style of temple building is now traceable in many more historic
sites such as those in Bajaura and many places in Himachal Pradesh,
Uttarakhand, and Nepal where many of the holy rivers of Hindus emerge.
Some of the smaller stone temples that have survived from this region in
steep mountain terrain are from the 7th century. Further, these large
temple complexes in the second half of the 1st millennium were expensive
projects and required substantial patronage, which suggests that the earlier
examples must have preceded them for wide social and theological
acceptance.

Ground plan

Roof plan/Section
Masrur temple plan and section (1915 sketch)
The period between 12th and 19th century was largely of religious wars and
geo-political instability across the Indian subcontinent, and the literature of
this era do not mention Masrur temples or present any scholarly studies on
any Hindu, Jain or Buddhist temples for that matter, rather they
mention iconoclasm and temple destruction. After the 12th century, first
northwestern Indian subcontinent, then India, in general, witnessed a
series of plunder raids and attacks of Turko-Afghan sultans led Muslim
armies seeking wealth, geopolitical power and the spread of Islam.
Successive Muslim dynasties controlled the Delhi Sultanate as waves of
wars, rebellions, secessions, and brutal counter-conquests gripped Indian
regions including those in and around Kashmir. The Mughal
Empire replaced the Delhi Sultanate in early 16th-century. The Mughal
dynasty ruled much of the Indian subcontinent through early 18th-century,
and parts of it nominally through the 19th century. The Kangra valley
region with Masrur in the Himalayas was ruled by smaller jagirdars and
feudatory Hill Rajas who paid tribute to the Mughal administration for
many centuries. The arrival of the colonial era marked another seismic shift
in the region's politics. By the late 19th century, British India officials had
begun archeological surveys and heritage preservation efforts. The first
known visits to study the Masrur temples occurred in 1887.
A British empire officer Henry Shuttleworth visited and photographed the
temples in 1913, calling it a "Vaishnava temple" and claiming in his report
that he was the first European to visit them. He wrote a paper on the
temples, which was published by the journal The Indian Antiquary. He
66
shared his findings with Harold Hargreaves, then an officer of the Northern
Circle of the Archaeology Survey of India. Hargreaves knew more about
Hindu theology, noticed the Shiva linga in the sanctum and he corrected
Shuttleworth's report. Hargreaves wrote up his tour and published his
photographs and observations in 1915 as a part of the ASI Annual Report
Volume 20.[4] Hargreaves acknowledged the discovery that a draftsman in
his office had already toured, measured and created temples plans and
sections in 1887, and that some other ASI workers and Europeans had
visited the temple in 1875 and after 1887. The Hargreaves report described
the site as many temples, listed iconography at these temples from different
Hindu traditions, mentioned his speculations on links with Mahabalipuram
monuments and Gandhara art, and other theories. The Hargreaves text
became the introduction to Masrur temples for guides by reporters with
little to no background knowledge of Indian temple traditions or Hindu
theology. A s quoted above, according to Meister, these early 20th century
writings became a source of the temple's misidentification and
misrepresentations that followed.
Earthquake damage

Damaged right-hand section, with reflection in the sacred pool.

The site was already damaged but still in decent condition in the late 19th-
century. Hargreaves wrote that, "the remote situation and general
inaccessibility of the temples have been at once the cause of their neglect
and of their fortunate escape from the destroying hands of the various
Muhammadan invaders of the valley". In the 1905 Kangra earthquake, the
Himachal valley region was devastated. Numerous ancient monuments were
destroyed. However, although parts of the Masrur temple cracked and
tumbled, the temple remained standing, because of its monolithic nature
built out of stone in-situ.
The damage from wars and 1905 earthquake of the region has made
comparative studies difficult. However, the careful measurements and
drawings made by the unknown draftsperson in 1887, particularly of the
roof level and mandapa which were destroyed in 1905, have been a
significant source for late 20th-century scholarship. It supports
Shuttleworth's early comments that the temple complex has a "perfect
symmetry of design"

67
 CHAPTER V
Mountain of INDRA or Mahendraparvata
The Lost Mountain City of God Indra

ABSTRACT
This article is a combination and scopic review of existing material on the efforts made to
identify the existence of the city by locating its remains.Various efforts made some
successful and some not are recapitulated here for the benefit of the lay reader.

Mahendraparvata, believed to have been the first capital of the Khmer Empire, a powerful
Southeast Asian state that existed during the Angkor period from the 9th to 15th centuries,
had long-eluded archeologists, who knew of its existence but were unable to map it out
because of the difficult terrain. Studies of the city were further hampered by landmines
leftover fron Khemer Rouge.

The name Mahendraparvata means "Mountain of the Great Indra". It is derived from
the Sanskrit words महेन्द्र (Great Indra, a title of the Hindu god Indra) and पर्वत

68
(mountain) and is a reference to the sacred hill top site commonly known as "Phnom Kulen"
today where Jayavarman II was consecrated as the first king of the Khmer Empire in 802.
The name is attested in inscriptions on the Angkor-area Ak Yum temple.
Mahendraparvata is located 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of the Angkor Wat complex, 45
kilometres (28 mi) north of Siem Reap, on the slopes of Phnom Kulen mountain in Siem
Reap Province.

Introduction
The Angkor region of Cambodia in Southeast Asia (Figure 1) is best known for its
monumental temples of brick and stone, such as Angkor Wat, most of which were built
between the ninth and thirteenth centuries AD. Recently, interest in the social and
environmental context of these temples has grown , with researchers using a range of
techniques to illuminate the everyday lives of the people who built them and inhabited the
surrounding areas.

Although Angkorian cities were built of perishable materials that have largely disappeared,
they have left, nonetheless, a durable legacy on the surface of the Earth, allowing
archaeologists to trace their forms in the contours of the terrain. Our view of the Greater
Angkor area has changed considerably in recent years, moving from simple schematic
overviews to detailed archaeological maps. The latter reveal a formally planned, densely
inhabited urban core surrounded by an extensive network of low-density neighbourhoods,

69
water-management systems, agricultural networks and transportation links to settlements
around other major temple sites

Despite its importance as the location of one of the Angkor period's earliest capitals, the
mountainous region of Phnom Kulen has, to date, received strikingly little attention. It is
almost entirely missing from archaeological maps, except as a scatter of points denoting the
remains of some brick temples. The history and geography of the area has amplified many of
the problems of conducting archaeological survey and mapping in Cambodia: until recently,
the site was remote, difficult to access and covered with dense vegetation. Furthermore, it
was among the last bastions of the Khmer Rouge, who occupied the area from the early
1970s until the late 1990s. Dangerous remnants of war, such as land mines, remain a serious
problem. For these reasons—as well as the absence of monumental remains on the scale of
Angkor—Phnom Kulen has mostly escaped the attention of researchers.

Nonetheless, the area is crucial for understanding the historical trajectory of Angkor and the
Khmer Empire, which dominated much of mainland Southeast Asia between the ninth and
fifteenth centuries AD. It is the source of much of the water that flows into the vast hydraulic
network of Angkor on the plain below, and Angkorian inscriptions suggest that the mountain
plateau was the site of one of the capitals of Jayavarman II, whose eighth- to early ninth-
century AD reign marks the beginning of the Angkor period. This would place the site
among the first engineered landscapes of the era, offering key insights into the transition
from the pre-Angkorian period, including innovations in urban planning, hydraulic
engineering and sociopolitical organisation that would shape the course of the region's
history for the next 500 years.
To address this lacuna in the archaeology of Angkor, first an extensive survey was
undertaken on Phnom Kulen in order to understand the spatial and chronological dimensions
of Angkor-period occupation. The development of archaeological maps has been enhanced
considerably by the application of airborne laser scanning (lidar) techniques in two separate
campaigns: the first in 2012, by the Khmer Archaeology LiDAR Consortium, and another in
2015, by the Cambodian Archaeological Lidar Initiative.
.
Background
The principal massif of the Kulen range, located 30km from major temples such as Angkor
Wat, is an elongated plateau oriented north-west to south-east. Measuring 25km along its
main axis and 15km at its widest point, the plateau rises abruptly to an average of 300–400m
asl above the surrounding flat plain, with margins marked on all sides by steep escarpments
(Figure 2). Its forest and permeable stone play an important role in the area's watershed: it is
the source of all three of Angkor's main watercourses . The marked seasonality of the
monsoon is attenuated somewhat by permanent water flows, forest cover and the relative
altitude of the mountain. Together, these create a consistently humid microclimate. Soils are
shallow, marginal and unsuited to intensive rice agriculture. Traditionally, slash-and-burn
rice agriculture is practised here among the semi-evergreen Dipterocarp forest, an ecosystem
that is rapidly disappearing despite the region's designation as a National Park.

The link between this massif and an Angkorian city referred to in Angkorian inscriptions as
Mahendrâdri or Mahendraparvata (‘mountain of great Indra’) was initially proposed at the
beginning of the twentieth century , but proved difficult to confirm due to confusion about
royal lineages and the construction sequences of the monuments. Eventually, Stern identified
the temples of Phnom Kulen as dating to the ninth-century reign of Jayavarman II, and
proposed that the royal city of Mahendraparvata would also be found on the massif.
70
Although Stern) surveyed the area, evidence for Mahendraparvata remained elusive.
Nonetheless, his mission generated the first archaeological map of the massif, including the
locations of numerous newly documented temples. Stern's map—comprising, essentially, a
scatter of points in the jungle—would remain the definitive image of the area for decades to
come.

The 1960s saw renewed interest in the region. Hansen (1969) and Boulbet (Boulbet &
Dagens 1973; Boulbet 1979) added various elements to Stern's archaeological map, in
particular water-control structures, dykes and other linear features, without necessarily
adding support to the notion of an urban network. Aerial mapping campaigns of the Angkor
region throughout the 1990s extended northward to the mountains, but with limited success.
While radar imaging provided additional detail around the base of the mountain range, the
dense foliage could not be penetrated, and Phnom Kulen remained a lacuna on
archaeological maps (Evans et al. 2007).

More recently, major advances have been made following ground investigations (Chevance
2011, 2013, 2014, 2015), which have identified certain elements characteristic of urban
form, and, specifically, of an Angkorian capital city. Notable among them is the temple of
Rong Chen, the distinctive pyramidal shape of which is typical of other state temples located
at the heart of pre-Angkorian and Angkorian urban areas. Further compelling evidence is the
identification of a royal palace site close to Rong Chen, at the site of Banteay (Chevance
2015). Its distinctive rectangular shape, size, orientation and architectural remains indicate
that it was the centre of power of a royal capital. This was confirmed through excavation,
which also provided radiocarbon dates consistent with the reign of Jayavarman II in AD
770–835. Simultaneously, however, this work further underscored the limitations of
conventional survey and mapping techniques in areas of tropical forest, and a coherent vision
of the city itself remained elusive. It was in this context that airborne laser scanning was
deployed in order to exploit its unique ability to ‘see through’ vegetation and provide high-
resolution models of the forest floor (Evans et al. 2013). Here, we confirm the hypothesis,
based on this accumulated body of evidence, that Mahendraparvata—the eighth- to ninth-
century AD capital of the Khmer Empire—was located on the Phnom Kulen massif.

Archaeologists had to harness laser technology to locate the mysterious city, which is nestled
in the Phnom Kulen mountains of Northern Cambodia, according to a paper published in the
journal Antiquity. Inscriptional evidence suggests that the Phnom Kulen plateau to the north-
east of Angkor in Cambodia was the location of Mahendraparvata—an early Angkorian
capital city and one of the first capitals of the Khmer Empire (ninth to fifteenth centuries
AD). To date, however, archaeological evidence has been limited to a scatter of small and
apparently isolated shrines. Here, the authors combine airborne laser scanning with ground-
based survey to define an extended urban network dating from the ninth century AD, which
they identify as Mahendraparvata. This research yields new and important insights into the
emergence of Angkorian urban areas.

But now, an ancient settlement, known has the ‘lost city’ of Cambodia, has been
rediscovered by scientists using aerial mapping after remaining hidden in dense jungle for
centuries. “Despite knowing that the Phnom Kulen mountains likely hid traces of a Khmer
capital city, archaeologists have had difficulty accessing the region,” the researchers
explain in a statement accompanying the paper. “The mountains are covered in dense
vegetation and they were one of the last strongholds of Khmer Rouge guerillas until the
71
1990s – land mines and unexploded ordnance continue to pose a threat to communities living
and working in the mountains, and complicate archaeological research.”

Combining airborne laser scans and ground surveys: By combining airborne laser scans
and ground surveys, researchers were able to locate the city. Previously, the only evidence of
Mahendraparvata was a small number of isolated shrines. Experts harnessed LiDAR (Light
Detection and Ranging) technology, which uses a laser to measure distances to the Earth’s
surface and can prove extremely valuable to study what is hidden in areas with thick
vegetation. LiDAR is also used extensively in other applications, including autonomous cars
where it allows vehicles to have a continuous 360 degrees view.

Laid out on a grid basis, the researchers believe that they have found a number of the city’s
blocks. LiDAR also indicates that an “ambitious” hydraulic engineering project was started
at Mahendraparvata, but never finished. “This meant that the water management system was
not sufficient to support irrigated rice agriculture, which may suggest the city did not last
long as a Khmer power center,” the researchers said, in the statement. “Even though the
reservoir at Mahendraparvata was not functional, it predated and may have inspired the vast
artificial lakes that would become a defining feature of Angkor.” In a collaboration between
the EFEO, the Archeology and Development Foundation in the U.K., and the APSARA
National Authority (a government agency responsible for protecting the Angkor region in
Cambodia), researchers combined airborne laser scanning with ground surveys and
excavations to weave a narrative of the development and demise of this ancient city. The
technology, known as light detection and ranging, or lidar, creates maps of an area by having
a plane shoot lasers at the ground and measure how much light is reflected back. From that
information, researchers can figure out the distance from the lasers on the plane to solid
objects between the vegetation on the ground. (For instance, a temple would measure as a
shorter distance to the airborne laser than a road would.)

Evans' team combined lidar data it had gathered in 2012 and 2015 with digitized survey and
excavation data gathered earlier. The researchers also combined this data with the nearly 600
newly documented features that archeologists found on the ground. Those features included
ceramic material, as well as bricks and sandstone pedestals that typically indicate temple
sites.
The researchers used light detection and ranging, or lidar, to create maps of
Mahendraparvata.

Experts also studied mysterious “mound fields” at the Mahendraparvata site. The fields
consist of 366 individual mounds set out in geometric patterns and 15 groups. Ceramics and
evidence of 10th-century A.D. construction were found at the mounds. “Although the
purpose of the mounds remains unknown, it is likely that, whatever they were, the mounds
were built later than the majority of Mahendraparvata,” they explained, in the statement. The
multi-year archaeological expedition to find Mahendraparvata was co-led by Damian Evans
of University of Sydney and Jean-Baptiste Chevance of London's Archaeology and
Development Foundation. The team announced their initial findings in June 2013. A key
feature of the expedition was its use of helicopter-mounted Lidar technology to scan the
Phnom Kulen area and then map the city layout. The scanning phase involved seven days of
helicopter operations. The Lidar results confirmed ground-based research by previous
archaeologists. But, according to Chevance, before this they "didn't know how all the dots
fitted, exactly how it all came together".

72
The ground phase of the expedition traversed goat tracks and watery bogs, the team having
got to their starting point by motorbike. Hazards included landmines. They initially
uncovered five new temples. Eventually, using the Lidar data, thirty previously unidentified
temples were discovered. In addition to the temples, their research showed the existence of
an elaborate grid-like network of roads, dykes and ponds forming the city. Dr. Evans also
noted that expedition imagery shows that the area became deforested, and he theorises that
the impact of this, and water management issues, led to the civilisation's decline. ( From
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/mahendraparvata-an-early-angkorperiod-
capital-defined-through-airborne-laser-scanning-at-phnom-
kulen/CAC3E93D6046CC27D862C1E333FD0713/core-reader)
Surrounded by dense jungle, the vast city was once the thriving capital of the ancient Khmer
Empire. At one point, the population of Angkor may have been over 1 million people,
according to LiveScience.The circumstances surrounding Angkor’s demise have been
debated for years. One theory suggested that aggression from neighboring states forced the
city’s abandonment in 1431.The expedition team have dated Mahendraparvata's origins to
802 AD. Thus the city predates Angkor Wat by about 350 years.

Ak Yum is an ancient temple in the Angkor region of Cambodia. Helen Jessup dates the
temple to the 8th century, and states it is the oldest known example of "temple mountain" in
Southeast Asia. It points way to Mahendraparvata. The origins and repair history of the
temple are unclear. Stone carrying inscriptions, including one with a date corresponding to
Saturday 10 June 674 AD during the reign of king Jayavarman I. The first structure on the
site was a single-chamber brick sanctuary, probably constructed in the latter part of the 8th
century. Later it was remade into a larger stepped pyramid structure, with a base
approximately 100 meters square. The expansion probably took place in the early 9th
Century during the reign of King Jayavarman II, who is widely recognized as the founder of
the Khmer Empire. When the West Baray reservoir was built in the 11th Century, Ak Yum
was partially buried by the southern dike. The site was excavated in the 1932 under the
direction of archaeologist George

Ancient City of 'Mahendraparvata' Hidden Beneath Cambodian Jungle

Ancient stone inscriptions tell tales of a city called Mahendraparvata. The once-mighty
metropolis was one of the first capitals of the Khmer empire, which ruled in Southeast Asia

73
between the ninth and 15th centuries. It was long believed that the ancient city was hidden
beneath thick vegetation on a Cambodian mountain, not far from the temple of Angkor Wat.
Now, thanks to an incredibly detailed map, researchers can "definitively" say that the ruins,
overgrown by thick vegetation on the mountain of Phnom Kulen, are in fact from that 1,000-
year-old city. The ancient city was never really lost, as Cambodians have been making
religious pilgrimages to the site for hundreds of years.
"It's always been suspected that the city of Mahendraparvata that's talked about in the
inscriptions was indeed somewhere up here in the mountains," said study co-author Damian
Evans, a research fellow with the French School of the Far East (EFEO) in Paris. Now, "we
can say for sure: Definitely, this is the place."

A well-planned city
One of the most remarkable revelations was that this city was nicely aligned in a massive
grid that stretches across tens of square kilometers, Evans told Live Science. The city is a
place "that someone sat down and planned and elaborated on a massive scale on top of this
mountain," he said. It "is not something that we necessarily would expect from this period."
Mahendraparvata dates back to around the late eighth to early ninth century, which is
centuries before archeologists thought such organized cities emerged in the Angkor area. At
that time, urban development was typically "organic," without much state-level control or
central planning, he said.

The city-dwellers used a unique and intricate water-management system. "Instead of

building this reservoir with urban walls, as they did for famous reservoirs at Angkor, they
tried to carve this one out of the natural bedrock," Evans said. These ancient inhabitants
carved an enormous basin out of stone but left it half-complete for unknown reasons. (See
our chapter on Angkor a Hydraulic city in our Book DEVRAJA Part II,Second volume of our
Trilogy. A corresponding research paper is also loaded on academia.edu and
researchgate.net.)

The ambitious project's unseen scale and layout provide "a kind of prototype for projects of
infrastructural development and water management that would later become very typical of
the Khmer empire and Angkor in particular," Evans said.
Surprisingly, there's no evidence that this massive cistern was connected to an irrigation
system. That likely means one of two things: The city was left incomplete before the
residents could figure out how to provide water for agriculture, or the lack of irrigation is one
reason the city was never finished.

Mahendraparvata is "not located at an especially advantageous place for rice agriculture,"

which could explain why the city wasn't the capital for long, Evans said. Rice was the
dominant agricultural crop of the greater Angkor region at the time. The city, from which
King Jayavarman II supposedly declared himself the king of all the Khmer kings, was a
capital only between the late eighth to early ninth centuries, according to inscriptions found.
Though most archaeologists don't attribute great historical accuracy to these inscriptions, this
particular story matches the dating and lidar data from the study, Evans said.
"Now, having a very complete picture of the whole, greater Angkor area and a finalized map
of the whole thing, we can start to do some pretty sophisticated modeling of things like
population and growth over time," Evans said.
He said he hopes that future research will tease apart what happened to this ancient city
between its birth, when it was bustling with new ideas, and its demise, when it disappeared
among the dense leaves.
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The city's origins date to the reign of Jayavarman II, considered the founder of the Khmer
Empire. His reign was consecrated on the sacred mountain of Mahendraparvata, known as
Phnom Kulen in contemporary Cambodian. The city he founded at Mahendraparvata was
one of three capitals, or courts, of Jayavarman II's reign, the others being Amarendrapura and
Hariharalaya.

The 1936 expedition of French archaeologist and art historian Philippe Stern had also
explored the Phnom Kulen highlands. He discovered some previously unknown temples and
Vishnu statues and described the area as the first true temple mountain. But the area, while
being the source of rivers flowing south to the Tonle Sap, was remote. Later in his reign,
Jayavarman II moved to Hariharalaya where he died in 835 AD.

Methods
Aside from temples, urban areas in the Angkorian world were constructed principally of
wood and other perishable materials, which creates obvious challenges for researchers
seeking to identify elements of past urban forms. Since the 1990s, however, a number of
studies have confirmed that interpretation of microtopographic variations is a practical
method for identifying and mapping remnant traces of the built environment, such as
mounds, ponds, fields, walls, roads and canals. One earlier acquisition of Phnom Kulen lidar
data took place in 2012 using methods detailed by Evans et al. Our target coverage area
included the principal archaeological features described above, covering 30km2; by
processing data collected at the ends of flight lines, a total of ~37km2 was achieved. The
second acquisition took place in 2015 using methods described by Evans and covered the
entire mountain range (including overlapping coverage of the 2012 area) with a total area of
975km2

Between 2012 and 2017, a total of 598 newly documented features were visited on the
ground. Topographic variation was observed to assess concordance with the lidar elevation
model. We also documented the presence of surface archaeological remains, which
comprised mostly ceramic material and, less frequently, bricks or sandstone pedestals that
typically indicate temple sites. In rare cases, field investigations were required to eliminate
natural geological formations (in particular, rocky outcrops) and bomb craters from our
analysis. Finally, the geodatabase was updated and modified to incorporate our field
investigations and produce archaeological maps of the plateau.

An urban network
The most striking result of the lidar survey is the discovery of a framework of linear axes,
oriented roughly to cardinal directions and spanning much of the southern area of the plateau
which consist of one, two or sometimes three parallel linear topographic anomalies, which
are subtle and difficult to observe on the ground. Most of the elements we mapped in Phnom
Kulen are aligned with the major axes, although it is difficult to read too much into this,
given the general preference for cardinal orientation in the Angkorian world. On the other
hand, Angkorian temples conventionally face towards the east, and the newly discovered
axes help to explain the anomalous westward orientation of several Phnom Kulen temples.
These actually open towards the axes and, in the case of westward-facing Prasat Chup Crei,
the temple is even linked directly to an axis by a causeway.

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The grid on Phnom Kulen does not appear to be directly connected to broader, regional
transportation or communication networks. The well-known stone stairway of Denh Cho (or
Phleu Cèrè) that scales the Phnom Kulen escarpment is considered to be the main access
point between Jayavarman II's capital and the Angkor plains below. The lidar imagery,
however, reveals that this stairway is located to the north-west of the Mahendraparvata urban
framework Instead, Phleu Cèrè leads to the tenth- to twelfth-century AD Preah Ang Thom
group on Phnom Kulen which is substantially later than the main Mahendraparvata
complex. The lidar data therefore offer new insights into the spatio-temporal complexity of
Phnom Kulen, to which we return below.
Hydraulic infrastructure
Exploration and mapping by Stern in the 1930s revealed the existence of Tamnup Srae
Thbong and Thnal Mrech—two massive earthen dykes on Phnom Kulen which join to form
an L-shape. Additionally, surveys in the 1960s identified and mapped a system of smaller
earthen dams built across river valleys. These hydraulic features are clearly recognisable in
the lidar imagery, and we were able to revise existing maps to increase clarity and precision.

The main natural feature in the southern part of the plateau is a broad, flat, north–south
valley. Here, we see evidence of an ambitious project formalising the natural valley into a
76
rectangular water-storage feature. The lidar data show that the L-shaped configuration of
Tamnup Srae Thbong and Thnal Mrech form part of a huge, unfinished north–south
reservoir, that would have covered an area of 1050 × 330m . The two earthen dykes form its
southern and eastern walls, and there is evidence for the removal of bedrock to deepen the
reservoir and straighten its western and northern walls. The lidar data reveal a very
distinctive pattern of striations in the valley, where soil was dug out of the ground
systematically, and then piled up to form the dykes of the reservoir. Had it been finished, the
reservoir would have retained water flowing through the valley, forming a rectangular body
of water inundating over 35ha. This reservoir would have been precisely integrated into the
engineered landscape of Phnom Kulen. Its eastern wall is built into one of the major north–
south axes; the temple of Rong Chen sits exactly on its east–west centre line; and to the east
of the reservoir, a series of westward-facing temples also sit on that centre line. This
arrangement recalls the pyramid-reservoir-temple configuration at the tenth-century
Angkorian capital at Koh Ker .

The lidar elevation data have also clarified the structure and function of a channel located at
the southernmost point of the valley. Here, the natural direction of flow is to the north, but
this 1km-long structure instead channels water to the south. We also found evidence here for
water-control mechanisms, such as sluice gates, carved into the stone. These structures divert
water over the escarpment and down into the area between Phnom Kulen and Beng Mealea,
from where sandstone blocks were quarried and transported down canals to build the temples
of Angkor (Figure 1). Lidar imaging has revealed the full extent of quarries in this area,
along with dykes for controlling the water required for moving the stones (Evans 2016). We
can now see evidence that engineering works on top of the plateau also played a role in this
sophisticated hydraulic system.

Habitation
Although they found little evidence for the type of mound-and-pond-based habitation
patterns typical of Angkorian urbanism, nonetheless identified a distinctive topographic
spatial patterning associated with the main axes—and in particular with the central grid—
that we interpret as evidence for habitation. Of particular significance are the presence of
numerous earthen enclosures that align roughly with, and often abut, the main axes. These
77
small embankments, of decimetre scale in height and in cross-section, subdivide what we
interpret as square ‘city blocks’ with sides of 1.5km in length into an intricate and extensive
network of smaller plots with areas normally in the range of 1–4ha .These plots are
somewhat haphazard in their layout, with inconsistent sizes and orientations. This may
represent more organic developments that emerged alongside, and out of, the more formal
axes of the central grid, without reaching very far into the interior of the ‘city blocks’. A few
ponds, mounds and temple sites are scattered throughout. Archaeological excavations
undertaken in 2014 and 2016 by the Archaeology and Development Foundation (ADF)
confirmed habitation, including organic layers containing eighth- to ninth-century AD
ceramics.
Mound fields

mound fields’: On Phnom Kulen we found a remarkable collection of ‘mound fields’:

cardinally oriented arrays of earthen mounds that have been previously reported at two
locations down in the Angkor plain). 15 distinct groups on the Phnom Kulen plateau, were
identified comprising of 366 individual mounds and representing one of the most significant
concentration of these features so far identified in the Angkorian world. Excavations in
Phnom Kulen, yielded ceramics and evidence for construction radiocarbon-dated to the tenth
century AD pointing towards Mahendraparvata's original spatial structure, and may,
therefore, substantially post-date the initial period of major development.

Discussion
Analysis and interpretation of the lidar data has revealed thousands of features of
archaeological interest, extending across an area of 40–50km2. This immediately raises
questions concerning chronology. The first point to note is that the grid of major axes
provides the overall framework upon which other patterns of habitation are based and
elaborated. Enclosures often have at least one wall aligned with or abutting a major axis, yet
no enclosure intrudes upon or interrupts one of the axes, suggesting a coherent overall
design. Furthermore, although we found hundreds of ponds within the central area, only two
of them interrupt the course of the major axes; the other ponds are scattered within the city
blocks. We see no evidence of earlier constructions beneath or within the major axes, or any
other indication that this vast, formal grid was superimposed upon a pre-existing settlement.
All of this evidence suggests that the central grid was laid out before, or during, the
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elaboration of the habitation network, and that the two systems functioned
contemporaneously.

The network of Phnom Kulen therefore mostly developed according to an overall plan, and
the major axes, including the largest earthen dams, were the earliest and most fundamental
elements of that design. As noted, the monumental architecture of Phnom Kulen also
conforms neatly to that spatial framework; as those temples are known to date to the late
eighth- to early ninth-century AD reign of Jayavarman II, we interpret this as evidence of a
contemporaneously functioning, formally planned urban network. This functional and
chronological interpretation is consistently supported by field observations and, in particular,
ceramic material and radiocarbon dates from securely stratified contexts.

Importantly, two temples in Phnom Kulen that have long been thought to pre-date the reign
of Jayavarman II—Prasat Damrei Krap and Prasat O Top are conspicuously out of alignment
with the urban grid (Figure 6). Notable among the other misaligned features are the ‘mound
fields’ or gridded arrays of mounds, which we believe probably date from the tenth century
AD. This suggests a long and complex history for Mahendraparvata following its late eighth-
to early ninth-century tenure as a capital, involving periods of renovation and transformation.
These, in turn, accord with inscriptions that attest to the continued use of Phnom Kulen as a
site of worship and pilgrimage throughout the Angkor period, and also with local
palaeobotanical records suggesting extensive and intensive human land use from the eighth
to twelfth centuries AD .

Rice-field walls and occupation mounds:m Mahendraparvata is also notable for its lack of
rice-field walls and occupation mounds, compared with the lowland areas of Greater
Angkor. As these are both Khmer adaptations to floodplain environments, it is unsurprising
that they are not abundant in the gently rolling upland topography of Phnom Kulen. The
tenth-century AD capital of Koh Ker, 50km to the north-east of Phnom Kulen, has a similar
topography, and occupation mounds are also largely absent from the archaeological record
there, while relict rice-field walls are scarce (Evans 2010). Epigraphia and other evidence
also confirms that Koh Ker was both an urban centre and a capital of empire. While
achievements in hydraulic engineering are relatively modest at Mahendraparvata, lidar
imagery clearly shows that an ambitious programme was initiated, but never completed.
Even if it was never functional, the reservoir at Mahendraparvata was a prototype for the vast
artificial lakes that would become a defining feature of later Angkor.

Mahendraparvata marks an important point of departure, and appears to represent the first
large-scale ‘grid city’ elaborated in the Khmer world. For a number of reasons,
Mahendraparvata therefore represents an important milestone in the development of urban
form in the region. Prior to the site's construction in the eighth century AD, the evidence
shows that settlement patterns in the Angkor region comprised small, loosely structured
urban areas that lacked any formal grid, had no clear boundaries and appear to have
developed organically without a coherent plan. Beyond the Angkor region, a handful of
centres show evidence of enclosing walls; for example, at the sixth- to eighth-century AD
site of Sambor Prei Kuk. But these are much smaller in scale than at Mahendraparvata, and
contain no internal grids.

79
Figure :The development of urban form in the Khmer world: a) pre-Angkorian ‘open
settlements’ of the sixth to eighth centuries AD; b) the pre-Angkorian capital of Sambor Prei
Kuk, sixth to eighth centuries AD, with ‘enclosure’ wall; c) the gridded city of
Mahendraparvata, eighth to ninth centuries AD; d) the early Angkorian capital of
Hariharalaya, ninth century AD; e) the capital of Rajendravarman at Angkor, tenth century
AD; f) the gridded city of Angkor Thom, eleventh to thirteenth centuries AD (figure by the
authors). It would be some time before such a design would be fully realised again in the
Angkor region (Figure 1). The ninth-century AD city of Hariharalaya—the capital
immediately following Mahendraparvata—contains a monumental core but, overall, evinces
an organic layout typical of the early Angkorian ‘open cities’ (Evans 2010; Pottier 2012). It
is only in the tenth and eleventh centuries AD that the massive linear axes and internal
frameworks of cities appear again in the Angkor region, and not until the twelfth century that
we have unambiguous evidence for gridded cities achieved on the same scale as
Mahendraparvata (Evans 2016).

80
 Hence, the urban network revealed by lidar and described here seems to form an
enormous and remarkably early experiment in formal urban planning. The urban model that
first developed on this mountain plateau, although sparsely inhabited at the time and not
widely adopted straight away, would eventually be adapted to the low-lying floodplains of
Angkor, and become a prototype for high-density urban centres at the height of the Khmer
Empire.

Conclusions
The eighth- to ninth-century AD capital of the Khmer Empire was located on the Phnom
Kulen massif, the lidar data, supported by additional evidence from archaeological survey
and excavation, are consistent with this interpretation. There is evidence of a centrally
planned urban area, spanning ~40–50km2 of the plateau. This comprises a network of major
thoroughfares that divide a central zone into a city grid; a system of smaller-scale land
parcelling that subdivides city blocks within that grid; a distribution of small shrines,
mounds and ponds; a large-scale water-management system, consisting of dams and a major,
unfinished reservoir; and finally, a distinctive spatial arrangement of a royal palace, state
pyramid-temple and other infrastructural elements that are consistent with—and unique to—
all other known Khmer Empire capitals.
Mahendraparvata was the location from which Jayavarman II ruled over the early ninth-
century lands of the Khmer, and is consistent with the definition of a ‘capital’. The existence
of a palace precinct, a network of thoroughfares and local shrines and neighbourhoods
indicate that a royal court was located here and supported by a substantial population of
specialised ritual, administrative and other staff drawn from a broader community inhabiting
an extensive, well-defined, built-up area. This area was clearly not rural in character, as it
has no identifiable agricultural systems; furthermore, its extensive system of parcelled
neighbourhoods indicate that it was not merely a vacant ceremonial centre. There is evidence
of a large urban area with an elaborate system of hydraulic infrastructure, which, ontrary to
the prevailing ‘hydraulic city’ theory concerning the rise of Angkor—seems not to be
designed for irrigated rice agriculture. As at Koh Ker, however, the inadequacy of the water-
management system for intensive rice agriculture at Mahendraparvata could either be seen as
an argument against the ‘hydraulic city’ hypothesis, or, alternatively, as an explanation for
81
the ephemeral nature of Mahendraparvata as the seat of power. The new map of
Mahendraparvata is also relevant to debates about the development of urban form in the
Khmer context. Previous work on urbanism at Angkor has noted two distinct forms: formally
planned, densely inhabited urban centres, characterised by city grids with spaces constrained
by walls and enclosures; and beyond that, low-density, mixed urban-agrarian landscapes
with occasional nodes of high-density occupation..

Mahendraparvata combines features of both, while missing many other elements. It has an
extended city grid, but without any attempt to define a central area with a wall or moat; the
central grid does not appear to have been densely inhabited; and there is little evidence for
intensive agricultural activity or a broader network of low-density occupation revolving
around fields and ponds. Hence, while Mahendraparvata is immediately recognisable as
Angkorian, and identifiably ‘urban’, it is totally unique in the Khmer world in its
development of urban form. We note also that the urban network of Phnom Kulen is
embedded within the fabric of Greater Angkor (Figure 1), and remained so for centuries. Yet
its unique morphology remained intact, even as other parts of that settlement complex
developed along distinctly different trajectories (Figure 1). Consistent with other recent work
on tropical urbanism in the Khmer and the Maya homelands, the landscape-scale perspective
afforded by lidar compels us to revisit conventional notions of urban environments as neatly
defined, well-delineated and densely inhabited spaces, and to consider them instead as
components of a messy and complex continuum of urban and rural space.

It is clear that Mahendraparvata is the last component of that vast settlement complex to
emerge from beneath the canopy. The work described here effectively draws to a close 150
years of archaeological mapping work in the Greater Angkor region and sets the stage for
more sophisticated spatio-temporal modelling of urban form. By incorporating new data
from Angkorian household archaeology a finer-grained demographic models could be
constructed by the researchers and finally resolve basic questions concerning the extent and
population of Angkor, and how that changed over the centuries.

Indra

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 CHAPTER VI
A Mountain and also The Temple as a MANDALA

Empires such as Bagan, Ayutthaya, Champa, Khmer, Srivijaya and Majapahit are known as
"mandala" in this sense. Our temple is the second largest Buddhist temple in the world after Angkor
Wat. Constructors erected this monument in the shape of a mandala and an opening Lotus flower on a
square base (118 x 118 m) that smoothly turns into a circle.1

83
84
Borobudur has eight tiers: the five lower ones are square, whereas the three upper ones are round.
The shape of the building itself resembles a mandala and represents a scheme of the universe
according to Buddhist beliefs, where heaven and earth are united. On the upper tier there are 72 small
stupas around a big central stupa. Every stupa is bell-shaped. Inside the stupas, there are Buddha
statues.
The temple complex contains 1,460 bas-reliefs with religious motifs. Relief panels describe the world
of passions and the world of human perceptional development. Gradually ascending
the helical serpentine road, a traveller perceives the world of matter and reaches the spiritual world.
The temple structure may be divided into three components:
 the temple base,
 the temple summit.
 the temple body,
The temple base is 118 x 118 m in width and 4 m in height. It is made of smooth plates with three
tiers and 20 corners. The temple body consists of five square platforms-tiers: the higher one ascends
the smaller every next tier is. The very first platform of the “monument body” is located 7 metres
away from the edge of the base. Every subsequent platform is shifted 2 metres relative to the previous
platform. The temple summit consists of three rounded platforms, on which 72 small stupas and the
main stupa in the centre are installed. The central stupa is the highest point of the monument,
towering 35 metres above the temple foot. It represents a bell-shaped stupa, 7 metres in height,
topping the huge pyramid.
1.The lowest level of the temple complex, called Kamadhatu, represents the world of passions. 160
images of sensory manifestations have not been preserved to nowadays – we know about the
existence of those from ancient manuscripts only.
2.The second level – the five tiers called Rupadhatu – symbolizes the real world and contains
religious themes. The entire history of Buddhism is reflected in sculptures and bas-reliefs. Here, there
are 432 Buddha statues: 104 on the first and second terraces (each), 88 on the third terrace, 72 on the
fourth, and 64 on the fifth.
3.The remarkable beauty is completed by the three upper rounded terraces. This is the Arupadhatu
level. There are 32 stupas on the lowest terrace, 24 on the middle, and 16 on the upper. A natural-
sized statue of Buddha is inside each of the stupas. The largest stupa – the symbol of eternity –
finishes the building.
85
32+24+16 = 72: an interesting interpretation of the structure of the world.

10 th: The most interesting is the secret of the “tenth terrace”. It was discovered totally accidentally
that bas-reliefs are carved under the ground on Borobudur base walls, just like on the six lower
terraces of the stupa. About 1,500 square metres of valuable bas-reliefs have turned to be hidden
under the ground. The lower tier of the bas-relief describes the afterlife, and we can assume this was
the reason why human eyes were not supposed to see it. An enormous piece of work was deliberately
concealed from people, since only all-seeing deities could admire the bas-reliefs.

86
There is an assumption that Borobudur was constructed in a shape of Buddha sitting on a Lotus
flower. In 1949 geologists discovered deposits that were interpreted as the bottom of a lake. There is
a probability that the temple complex was located on a lake. By the constructors’ plan, the entire
magnificence of the temple was above the lake surface, and Buddha statue crowned the entire
structure.

Buddhist monks who were building Borobudur implemented the idea of “a bible in stone”, having
left the knowledge to descendants for many centuries. Images on the walls told about Buddha’s life.
Following the way along the galleries, a person approached enlightenment. In order to read this
textbook in stone, one needed to cover almost 5 km. Visitors covered the way to the very top of the
temple, moving clockwise through all the eight tiers. Every platform represents a stage of education
on the way of transition from the earthly plane to the heavenly plane.

87
At first sight, all statues of Buddha look alike, but there is a subtle difference between them in a
certain position of Buddha’s hands See Chapter44

Biggest Mandala in the world

Borobudur is biggest Mandala in the world, when You see from sky You can see the Mandala, if You
see further, You can see 3 Temple in one straight line ( Mendut Temple, Pawon Temple and
Borobudur Temple ) betwen that, there is Elo river and Progo river and it was built at 8th century

Thus, most likely the architecture of the Borobudur is based on a Javanese variant of Buddhism, for if
we look at the decoration in greater detail we obviously can confirm that its origin is based on Indian
mythology and Buddhist iconography, however, we can also clearly see how these fundamental
elements have been strongly combined with local (that is, Javanese) influences. The style in which
the characters are depicted on the Borobudur differ greatly from the traditional Indian (Buddhist)
iconography. The statues are depicted in other bodily postures, and with less refined details as they
have in India; the Javanese obviously had a different idea of physical beauty and how this ought to be
depicted, and that’s why on the Borobudur the voluptuous curves of the body as familiar in Indian
iconography are altered according to local Javanese perception of beauty (by which the female body
is dressed in more clothes, and often can only be distinguished from the male body by the curves of
their breasts).

If we consider the assumption of the Borobudur representing a maṇḍala, then the main stūpa signifies
the final destination of the spiritual path, which is situated in the center of the cosmos. At this point
one becomes united with the five transcendental Buddhas of the Formless Realm: Vairocana in the
center, Akṣobhya in the East, Ratnasambhāva in the South, Amitābha in the West, and Amoghasiddhi
in the North. This particular line-up corresponds with the Vajradhātu Maṇḍala and the Garbhadhātu
Maṇḍala in Tibet and Nepal. One could gain access to the center of the cosmos by entering
the maṇḍala from the outside, and gradually moving further inwards. In this context, a maṇḍala can
be interpreted as a palace with four entrance gates at the four cardinal points of the Universe,
stretching the entire cosmos. The palace is a metaphor for human manifestation in this world, which,
by means of using the maṇḍala as a meditation object, guides the practitioner to the ultimate
88
(spiritual) goal in life. Visualization techniques such as these are still being practised in
Vajrayāna Buddhism today.

Though the assumption of the Borobudur as a maṇḍala seems possible, this view remains yet
impossible to prove. In spite of the previously mentioned similarities with the maṇḍalas, there are,
however, also many differences. Beside the five transcendental Buddhas many other deities – both
male and female – are often seen depicted in maṇḍalas. However, neither of these deities can be
found on the Borobudur. Instead we do find many other depicted Buddhas on the Borobudur, but
these do not display any of the features similar to other male or female deities. Thus, the other
Buddhas do not function as a mere substitution for the various other deities (like guards, gatekeepers,
goddesses of worship or Taras) commonly seen in maṇḍalas. Therefore, we may assume, that, as
already had been suggested, the Borobudur displays a variant of Buddhism in the way it manifested
in Java at the time of the reign of the Sailendra dynasty. This particular local variant of Buddhism
was based on Indian influences and Mahāyāna Buddhism, which came to Java from China during the
heydays of the Tang dynasty (618-906). The unique combination of these aspects would eventually
become the Buddhism of Java. Then there also was the Hindu dynasty of Sanjaya that ruled on Java
during the same period of the Sailendra dynasty. The fact that the Sanjaya shared their power with the
Sailendra dynasty – for example, through donations for the construction of the Kalasan temple –
illustrates, that, apart from its religious function, the Borobudur also formed an important expression
of power.3

The role of royal patronage and religious institution4

The Borobudur monument combines the symbolic forms of the stupa (a Buddhist commemorative
mound usually containing holy relics), the temple mountain (based on Mount Meru of Hindu
mythology), and the mandala (a mystic Buddhist symbol of the universe, combining the square as
earth and the circle as heaven). The style of Borobudur was influenced by Indian Gupta and post-
Gupta art.In all the regions of Southeast Asia, the arts flourished under the patronage of the kings.
About the time of the birth of Christ, tribal groups gradually organized themselves, after some years
of settled life as rice cultivators, into city-kingdoms, or conglomerations of villages. A king was thus
little more than a paramount tribal chieftain. Since the tribes had been accustomed to worshiping
local spirits, the kings sought a new spirit that would be worshiped by the whole community.
89
One reason that the gods of Hinduism and Buddhism were so readily acceptable to Southeast Asia
was this need for new national gods. The propagation of the new religions was the task of the kings,
and consequently the period from the 1st to the 13th century was a great age of temple building all
over Southeast Asia.

Architecture, sculpture, and painting on the temple walls were the arts that flourished. In the ancient
empires of eastern Indochina and the islands, scholars of Sanskrit, the language of the sacred works
of Hinduism, became part of the king’s court, producing a local Sanskrit literature of their own. This
literary activity was confined to the hereditary nobility and never reached the people, except in stories
from the great Hindu epics Mahabharata and Ramayana. Because the Hindu religious writings in
Sanskrit were beyond the reach of the common people, Hinduism had to be explained to them by
Hindu stories of gods and demons and mighty men. On the other side of the peninsula, in the Pyu-
Burmese empire of Prome, which flourished before the 8th century, there was no such
development—first, because Hinduism was never widely accepted in Burma and, second, because the
more open Burmese society developed neither the institution of a god-king nor that of a hereditary
nobility. Although Pali scholars surrounded the king in later Pagan, Pali studies were pursued not at
the court but at monasteries throughout the kingdom so that even the humblest villager had some
faint contact with Pali teachings. While the courts of the kings in Cambodia and Java remained
merely local centres of Sanskrit scholarship, Pagan became a centre of Pali learning for Buddhist
monks and scholars even from other lands. As in the case of stories from the Indian epics, stories of
the Jatakas (birth stories of the Buddha) were used to explain Buddhism to the common people, who
could not read the scriptures written in Pali. Just as scenes from the great epics in carving or in fresco
adorned the temples in Cambodia and Java, scenes from the Jatakas adorned the Pagan temples.
.
The patronage of the king and the religious enthusiasm of the common people could not have
produced the great temples without the enormous wealth that suddenly became available in the region
following the commercial expansion. With the Khmer and Javanese empires, the wealth was
produced by a feudalistic society, and so the temples were built by the riches of the king and his
nobles, combined with the compulsory labour of their peasants and slaves, who probably derived
some aesthetic pleasure from their work because of their religious fervour. Nonetheless, their
monuments, such as Borobudur, in Java, and Angkor Wat, in Cambodia, had an atmosphere of
massive, all-conquering power. At Pagan, where wealth was shared by the king, the royal officials,
and the common people, the temples and the monasteries were built by all who had enough not only
to pay the artisans their wages but also to guarantee their good health, comfort, and safety during the
actual construction. The temples were dedicated for use by all monks and lay people as places of
worship, meditation, and study, and the kings of Pagan did not build a single tomb for themselves.
The Khmer temple of Angkor Wat and the Indonesian temple of Borobudur were tombs in that the
ashes of the builders would be enshrined therein; the kings left stone statues representing them as
gods for posterity to worship, whereas at Pagan there was only one statue of a king, and it depicted
him on his knees with his hands raised in supplication to the Buddha. Consequently, the atmosphere
that pervaded the temples of Pagan was one of joy and tranquillity.
The mandala is likened by some to a "floor plan of the universe." The type most familiar in the
West is an intricately patterned painting on cloth or paper that often takes the general form of a
circle within a square.

The word "mandala" comes from the Sanskrit verbal root "mand" (meaning to mark off, decorate, set
off) and the Sanskrit suffix "la" (meaning circle, essence, sacred center).
The mandala's symbolic power can be traced back to millennia-old roots in Indian temple
architecture, which created sacred spaces linking the worshiper to the larger cosmos. In these
temples, time and space were represented in a vocabulary of circles and squares. Similarly, a mandala
helps believers visualize the universe and their place in it, often in relation to a specific deity found in
the center of the image.

the evolution of the symbol has happened throughout Asia under the influence of various religious
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and artistic traditions over a period of several thousand years-some complex; others quite simple
offerering proof of the continuing vitality of the mandala and its role in Buddhist devotions. The
mandala is of significant importance in both Hinduism and Buddhism. Both religions adopt the
mandala as a peaceful and creative symbol. Hence, the speculative project finds a balance to build a
memorial, which will signify peace and harmony of the Tamil community. The scale of the mandala
here is monumental imposing the idea of spirituality and peace. Contemplating the mandala does not
only provide insight into reality, the Cosmos but also communion with it.
Mandala is the mystery that pervades all existence. Mandala alleviates suffering individually as well
as in society. Contemplation can help overcome antagonism, conflict, stress and even war. Bindu as a
symbolism is the beginning of the process that culminates into a mandala.
In Buddhism, the mandala is a ritual instrument, much like a mantra, used to assist meditation and
concentration. Throughout history, these pictorial temples--intricate, two-dimensional, multi-colored patterns
of concentric circles, squares, and other shapes--have signified the human need for wholeness, order,
and balance. But while many people of the West accept mandalas as representative of a cosmic force,
few understand they are meant to be blueprints as well. Indeed, a Tantric Buddhist meditator studies a
two-dimensional mandala like an architect, building up in his mind the image of a palace
encompassing the sacred principles of Buddhist philosophy.

MANDALA AND BUDDHIST TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE

The mandala in Buddhism is a cosmic model depicting Buddha’s dwelling place as the center of the
universe. Like in the Hindu temples, the structuring of the Buddhist temples has also been
predominantly based on the spiritual model of the mandala. Illustrations can be seen both in the form
of two-dimensional mandalas as well as three-dimensional mandalas. The two-dimensional mandalas
which are drawings composed of squares and concentric circles could be temporarily painted on
various material or drawn on the ground or sand or other natural substances using coloured powder.
Customs involving ceremonious gatherings along with prayers and chantings while drawing the
mandalas are believed to alleviate difficulties and be of greater good to an individual or a community.
These ceremonies could even last up to a number of days.
Three-dimensionally, the mandala diagram becomes a visual model of the built environment. In the
Buddhist worship place, the central space is significant having a statue of the Buddha fronted by a
worshipping space surrounded by walls. This is encircled by a circumambulating space. The
circumambulation pathway is a space of psychological awakening before reaching the spiritual
pinnacle

MANDALA AND HINDU TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE

Although there have been various arguments by authors of Indian temple architecture like Stella
Kramrisch and Michael W. Meister about the applicability of the Vastu Purusha Mandala as a
governing device for temple architecture, it is safe to say that for formulating the layout of the
temple, the Vastu Purusha Mandala has been an imperative tool. Though the 8 x 8 grid or the
Manduka Vastu Mandala has been used in various temples of Indian architecture, it is to be noted that
regional differences have played a major influence on the workability of the mandala design
throughout India.
Customarily, mandalas were spaces for the symbolic consciousness of universal theories which help
in the awakening of the individual psyche. The mandalas can be thought of as diagrams that function
as a cue to reach a contemplational state which is the primary aim of the tradition. The form of the
temples that are based on the regulating lines of the mandala were meant to create spaces that bring
about a “physical and spatial” communion between God and man.
A mandala (emphasis on first syllable; Sanskrit मण्डल, maṇḍala – literally "circle") is a geometric
configuration of symbols with a very different application. In various spiritual traditions, mandalas
may be employed for focusing attention of practitioners and adepts, as a spiritual guidance tool, for
establishing a sacred space and as an aid to meditation and trance induction. It is used as a map (in
Shintoism) in the Indian religions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism or Japanese religion
of Shintoism representing deities, or in the case of Shintoism, paradises, kami or actual shrines.
In New Age, the mandala is a diagram, chart or geometric pattern that represents
the cosmos metaphysically or symbolically; a time-microcosm of the universe, but it originally meant
91
to represent wholeness and a model for the organizational structure of life itself, a cosmic diagram
that shows the relation to the infinite and the world that extends beyond and within minds and bodies.
he basic form of hinduism mandalas is a square with four gates containing a circle with a center
point and it is called also a yantra. Each gate is in the general shape of a T. Mandalas often have
radial balance.
A yantra is similar to a mandala, usually smaller and using a more limited colour palette. It may be a
two- or three-dimensional geometric composition used in sadhanas, puja or meditative rituals, and
may incorporate a mantra into its design. It is considered to represent the abode of the deity.
Each yantra is unique and calls the deity into the presence of the practitioner through the elaborate
symbolic geometric designs. According to one scholar, "Yantras function as revelatory symbols of
cosmic truths and as instructional charts of the spiritual aspect of human experience"
Many situate yantras as central focus points for Hindu tantric practice. Yantras are not
representations, but are lived, experiential, nondual realities. As Khanna describes:
Despite its cosmic meanings a yantra is a reality lived. Because of the relationship that exists in
the Tantras between the outer world (the macrocosm) and man's inner world (the microcosm), every
symbol in a yantra is ambivalently resonant in inner–outer synthesis, and is associated with the subtle
body and aspects of human consciousness.

Political meaning
The Rajamandala (or Raja-mandala; circle of states) was formulated by the Indian author Kautilya in
his work on politics, the Arthashastra (written between 4th century BCE and 2nd century BCE). It
describes circles of friendly and enemy states surrounding the king's state.
In historical, social and political sense, the term "mandala" is also employed to denote
traditional Southeast Asian political formations (such as federation of kingdoms or vassalized states).
It was adopted by 20th century Western historians from ancient Indian political discourse as a means
of avoiding the term 'state' in the conventional sense. Not only did Southeast Asian polities not
conform to Chinese and European views of a territorially defined state with fixed borders and a
bureaucratic apparatus, but they diverged considerably in the opposite direction: the polity was
defined by its centre rather than its boundaries, and it could be composed of numerous other tributary
polities without undergoing administrative integration.

Mount Meru
A mandala can also represent the entire universe, which is traditionally depicted with Mount Meru as
the axis mundi in the center, surrounded by the continents.
Wisdom and impermanence
In the mandala, the outer circle of fire usually symbolises wisdom. The ring of eight charnel grounds
represents the Buddhist exhortation to be always mindful of death, and the impermanence with
which samsara is suffused: "such locations were utilized in order to confront and to realize the
transient nature of life". Described elsewhere: "within a flaming rainbow nimbus and encircled by a
black ring of dorjes, the major outer ring depicts the eight great charnel grounds, to emphasize the
dangerous nature of human life". Inside these rings lie the walls of the mandala palace itself,
specifically a place populated by deities and Buddhas.
Five Buddhas
One well-known type of mandala is the mandala of the "Five Buddhas", archetypal Buddha forms
embodying various aspects of enlightenment. Such Buddhas are depicted depending on the school
of Buddhism, and even the specific purpose of the mandala. A common mandala of this type is that
of the Five Wisdom Buddhas (a.k.a. Five Jinas), the
1. Buddhas Vairocana,
2. Aksobhya,
3. Ratnasambhava,
4. Amitabha and
5. Amoghasiddhi.
When paired with another mandala depicting the Five Wisdom Kings, this forms the Mandala of the
Two Realms.

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Practice
Mandalas are commonly used by tantric Buddhists as an aid to meditation.
The mandala is "a support for the meditating person", something to be repeatedly contemplated to the
point of saturation, such that the image of the mandala becomes fully internalised in even the
minutest detail and can then be summoned and contemplated at will as a clear and vivid visualized
image. With every mandala comes what Tucci calls "its associated liturgy ... contained in texts
known as tantras" instructing practitioners on how the mandala should be drawn, built and visualised,
and indicating the mantras to be recited during its ritual use.
By visualizing "pure lands", one learns to understand experience itself as pure, and as the abode of
enlightenment. The protection that we need, in this view, is from our own minds, as much as from
external sources of confusion. In many tantric mandalas, this aspect of separation and protection from
the outer samsaric world is depicted by "the four outer circles: the purifying fire of wisdom,
the vajra circle, the circle with the eight tombs, the lotus circle". The ring of vajras forms a connected
fence-like arrangement running around the perimeter of the outer mandala circle.
As a meditation on impermanence (a central teaching of Buddhism), after days or weeks of creating
the intricate pattern of a sand mandala, the sand is brushed together into a pile and spilled into a body
of running water to spread the blessings of the mandala. External ritual and internal sadhana form an
indistinguishable whole, and this unity finds its most pregnant expression in the form of the mandala,
the sacred enclosure consisting of concentric squares and circles drawn on the ground and
representing that adamant plane of being on which the aspirant to Buddha hood wishes to establish
himself. The unfolding of the tantric ritual depends on the mandala; and where a material mandala is
not employed, the adept proceeds to construct one mentally in the course of his meditation."
Conclusions:

1. Borobudur in its base is a regular square with 118-m sides.

2. Such layout is used in meditative practices of Hinduism and Buddhism to intensify processes of
inner concentration during meditation.
3. The numbers 7, 72. were applied in the temple design and construction, which evidences the
availability of relevant knowledge at that time.
4. No wonder, the temple complex is under UNESCO protection, i.e. it is not available for further
tudies.
5. If we look at Borobudur from above, we can see it represents a complete mandala.
6. The temple has 8 tiers: 5 square and 3 round ones. On the upper tier, there is the large stupa – a
bell-shaped monument with a statue of Buddha inside.
7. Borobudur is situated approximately 2,439.85 km (1,516.05 miles) away from Angkor Wat.

8. If we look at mutual disposition of some ancient religious sites from the North Pole, interesting
correlations may be observed.

9. At the upper tier there are 72 small bell-shaped, stupa-like towers located around the big central
tower.
10. Between Chandi Mendut and Borobudur there is the small Chandi Pavon – at a distance of
approximately 1,150 metres away from Mendut and 1,750 metres away from Borobudur.
Disposition of the structures complies with the golden ratio.

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 A mandala and a yantra

11. Mandala in the form of a circle with an indication of a square and a point in the centre, and a
four-sided pyramid with six steps and fourfold division;

12. Kali Yantra (translated from Sanskrit, “kala” means “time”; this word originates from the Indo-
European root that means spinning; a word that is close in its meaning in Russian is “kolo”); in Hindu
mythology it means cyclical creations and destructions of the Universe, rotation of time in the
concept of rebirth of the Soul and of a subject of fate.

REFERENCE
1.https://rgdn.info/en/borobodur._buddiyskaya_stupa
2. See Chapter 4
3https://www.indomagic.com/articles/art-material-culture/architecture/architecture-of-borobudur-
temple/
4. shttps://www.britannica.com/art/Southeast-Asian-arts/Indigenous-traditions

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 CHAPTER
The Temple Mountain is built as a Stepped
pyramid

TEMPLE MOUNTAIN IS AN IMPRESSIVE TERM

When I first heard the term Temple Mountain, I was impressed. We say –“ Mountain of a
Man”conjuring up images of a massive physival entity. Similarly, the term temple mountain
has been coined by us to characterize a huge entit. In his article THE ANKOREAN TEMPLE
MOUNTAIN , Z. Thiery says:-
(Zephir, .Thierry"The Angkorean Temple-Mountain" Expedition Magazine 37.3 (1995): n.
pag. Expedition Magazine. Penn Museum, 1995 Web. 22 Sep 2021)
“In Cambodia, in the classic Khmer architecture of the Angkorean period, we find a
temple type in which the sanctuary is built atop a stepped pyramid. Nineteenth
century archaeologists called these “temple- mountains.” Each important sovereign
was apparently obliged to build one in order to establish his power (see Stern
1954).

Let us explore this architectural expression of royal eminence through three of its
aspects: diversity, evolution, and permanence.

Diversity: the Symbolism of the Temple-Mountain

In the Indian religious context, a sanctuary functions primarily as the terrestrial
dwelling place of the gods, the place from which they will be able to provide aid
and prosperity to humankind. Many countries of Southeast Asia were under
Indian influence; each resolved in its own way the problem of creating a divine
residence in the world of human beings. Generally, architects and builders based
the construction of their sanctuaries on strict religious texts (unfortunately, we
have none from ancient Cambodia). To the rules prescribed by these texts were
added numerous others relating to astronomy, geomancy, or numerology, the
meanings of which are often lost today. Our lack of knowledge of almost everything
that guided the creation of the sanctuaries makes it difficult to understand them
and to explain their symbolism.

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In Cambodia, however, the study of local ancient epigraphy has furnished a variety
of insights into the symbolism of religious architecture. In the light of some of
these inscriptions, we can make a connection between Mount Meru, the center and
axis of the universe in Indian cosmography, and certain temple-mountains of
Angkor, the ancient Khmer capital. These structures provide an image, a kind of
representation of Mount Meru on a human scale. The best known example is the
sanctuary built around A.D. 906 on the top of Phnom Bakheng, the precise center
of Yasodharapura, Angkor’s first capital (Fig. 2). In addition to being constructed
on one of the rare hills (phnom in Khmer) of the region, the monument was
conceived as a square pyramid with five levels. Locating the pyramid on a natural
hill at the geometric center of the royal city underlines the symbolic identification
of the monument, center and axis of the city, with Mount Meru, center and axis of
the universe.

In fact, the temple of Phnom Bakheng restates, with much greater complexity, the
symbolic principles expressed earlier at the temple of the Bakong, founded in A.D.
881. At the Bakong, the summit of the five-level pyramid is occupied by a single
sanctuary tower, whereas 5 towers arranged in a quincunx (a square of 4 towers
with a fifth in the center) occupy the summit of Phnom Eakheng. Again, 12 temple
annexes occupy the fourth level of the Eakong, but at Phnom Bakheng these 12
annexes appear on each of the five levels. Finally, only 8 large brick sanctuary
towers are distributed at the foot of the Eakong, whereas 44 comparable towers
ring the base of the Phnom Bakheng pyramid.

The temple-mountains of the Eakong and the Eakheng seem to suggest similar
symbolic considerations in their main features, although those of the latter are
more lavish. But the interpretation of the other temple-mountains at the Angkor
site is different, at least in part. No temple-mountain of Angkor is truly comparable
to another. Contrast the simplicity of the early temple of Eaksei Chamkrong (Fig. 3)
with the immense complexity of the Bayon (Fig. 4). Eaksei Chamkrong was
founded under the reign of Harsavarman I as the representation of Mount Kai lasa,
private domain of the god Siva; the Eayon was the state temple of Jayavarman VII
in which secular symbolic Hindu principles and new Mahayana conceptions from
the reign of the founding king were unified.

If there was any continuity in the function of the temple-mountain, it was above all
as the seat of the protective divinity of the realm. In addition to personal prestige
and the exaltation of his chosen divinity (usually the god Siva), each builder had in
mind special concerns such as his ancestral cult or that of the royal person. His
successors did not necessarily care about these concerns, at least not in the same
way.

What we know about temple-mountains at the present time, therefore, seems to

confound any attempt at analysis based on firm, well-established principles of
continuity. It is better to regard each of these creations of Khmer architectural
genius as the specific expression of changing religious principles at a particular
period, in response to rules that were probably evolving from one reign to another.

Evolution: Long Rooms into Galleries

While the symbolism of temple-mountains does not follow a clear evolutionary line
nor fit into an unchanging tradition, their architectural conception is a different
story. It is not possible here to cover all aspects of the rigorous evolution of their
layout nor the diverse structures they comprise. Instead, I shall take one par-
96
ticularly explicit example: the transformation of long rooms into galleries, as
evidenced in the concrete record of the construction itself.

The oldest temple-mountain available for study is the Bakong (founded A.D. 881).
Within its first enclosure is a series of five rectangular buildings of which four are
symmetrically distributed north and south of the monument’s principal east-west
axis. These buildings are normally called long rooms. Although not found at
Phnom periphery of the first levels of the pyramids of the Eastern Mebon (A.D.
952) and Pre Rup (A.D. 961; At the unfinished temple of Ta Keo (end of the 10th,
beginning of the 11th century; Fig. 6), the series of long rooms of the two preceding
temples is transformed into a ring gallery along the perimeter of the second level.
This gallery at Ta Keo was covered with a framework and tiles and is, curiously,
totally inaccessible.

To be rigorously accurate, it should be pointed out that the transformation of long

rooms into galleries could be simply an innovation, an addition, to
temple mountain architecture. However, it might signal a profound symbolic or
cultural change. Technically, nevertheless, the appearance of galleries, whether
involving a new creation or the organic transformation of pre-existing long rooms,
clearly represents an evolution, a further step in Khmer construction.

The next phase is at Phirneanakas where a ring gallery was set up on the third and
last level of the pyramid in the first half of the 11th century. This gallery is the first
to be entirely vaulted in sandstone (Fig. 8). At the Eaphuon, in the third quarter of
the 11th century, three ring galleries occupied the first, third and fifth levels of the
pyramid; moreover, the highest gallery rests on two series of columns and has,
probably for stability, a windowed center wall.

The following phase is at Angkor Wat (first half of the 12th century), the major
accomplishment of Angkorean Khmer architecture (Fig. 10). Here, the three levels
of the pyramid are girded by vaulted sandstone galleries. These rest, at the first
two levels, on a wall and columns, and at the third level, on columns alone. Side
aisles, which themselves rest on columns, buttress these galleries. This system is
adopted at the Bayon several decades later for the monument’s two enclosed
galleries.

These diverse observations indicate, therefore, that the architects worked in a

consistent way in terms of technical boldness and the visual lightening of the
structures. A comparable evolutionary line can be drawn, although on the basis of
different criteria, for the sanctuary towers themselves and for other buildings such
as the “libraries” (for this type of structure, see Coedès 1911).

Far from being rigid, Khmer architects have always questioned their art; their
research was only interrupted by unfavorable historic circumstances after the
reign of Jayavarman II in the 13th century. Would they have been able to go
farther still and glorify new monuments with new architectural solutions? Nothing
could be less certain, for Angkorean Khmer architecture evolved with a major
handicap: the vaulting method routinely used was, in effect, corbelling, which
necessarily limits the interior span. Having conducted a rich dialectic between
covered and uncovered spaces, which path would Khmer architecture have chosen,
given the methods of dry wall construction they used? The question remains
unanswered here but it invites reflection and is worth asking.

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Permanence: The “Architecture-Image”
The most constant aspect of Khmer architecture, whether individual structure,
sanctuary complex, or city, is that of “architecture-image,” that is, the rep-
resentation in architectural form of images provided by the texts. Khmer epigraphy
often refers to a monument’s precise place in Indian cosmography (see Eoisselier
1970). As mentioned above, in the Indo-Khmer religious perspective the sanctuary
could be likened to a mountain. In the case of Phnom Eakheng, the quincuncial
arrangement of the five sanctuary towers at the summit corresponds in a very
concrete way to the peak of Mount Meru buttressed by four other strong
mountains. All forms of religious architecture in Angkorian Cambodia must there-
fore be as close as possible to the image suggested by the texts.

The image of a divine home, in this case that of Siva, is shown in what seems to
have been its most important form in two famous bas-reliefs on the Eanteay Srei
temple (consecrated in A.D. 967-968) near Angkor. The reliefs occupy the tympana
of the pediments on the southern library in the monument’s first enclosure. They
show us Siva surrounded by many divine or semi-divine personages in his private
celestial home of Kailasa; he is seated at the summit of a stepped pyramid (Fig.
11). It is thus perfectly appropriate to designate the stepped pyramid monuments
at Angkor as temple-mountains, even if it hints of redundancy in that every
sanctuary in the Indian tradition is akin to a mountain. In building their pyramids,
the Khmer simply solidify this image.

The bas-reliefs of the library present another picture of the inhabitants of Siva’s
home: hybrid figures with human bodies and animal heads. These figures are also
found on the stairs leading to the monument’s three sanctuary towers and, again,
permit us to regard these temples just as though they were divine mountains.

According to Professor Jean Filliozat, the conformity of the architecture to the texts
is such that some of the texts may have been inspired by the architecture (1961).
Professor Filliozat concludes that the descrip tion of the Hari (Vishnu) Temple in
the Indian text KurmaPurana may have been purely and simply inspired by the
temple-mountain of Angkor Wat. Its builder, the great king Stuyavarman II (A.D.
1113 to at least 1145), was a fervent devotee of Vishnu. Whether the text
influenced those who created the temple, or whether the temple—well-known,
important and prestigious—influenced the description in
the Kurrnapurana matters relatively little, given the text’s uncertain date.

The moats and the system of concentric walls at Angkor Waft certainly will arrest
one’s attention more. These features characterize all the temple-mountains. They
evoke divine residences perched on top of concentric chains of insurmountable
mountains surrounded by oceans, in the image of Mount Meru. At Angkor Waft,
the small courtyard situated at the same height as the cruciform gallery on the
second level, as well as those that surround the central sanctuary at the summit of
the pyramid, could even be likened to the primordial ocean, seat of repose of
Vishnu during his sleep between two cosmic eras. In fact, during the rainy season,
these courtyards fill with water. It is easy to imagine that on certain occasions,
with the drainage systems blocked, they were turned into basins.

Our last example of an “architecture-image” is that of Angkor Thom and the

Bayon, an immensely complicated monument with multiple meanings. The
equivalence of the Bayon to Mount Mandara has long been invoked to explain the
birth of the city. Using Mount Mandara as a churning rod, giants supporting the
98
body of an immense serpent stir and agitate the Sea of Milk just as the gods and
demons have done from time immemorial. In Hindu mythology, the purpose of
stirring up the Sea of Milk was to obtain the elixir of immortality. This elixir
appeared only after the appearance of a certain number of other precious things,
among them the goddess Sri (Beauty, Prosperity), the elephant Airavata (the god
Indra’s mount), or the aPsaras (celestial nymphs). The churning myth also helps
us to understand Angkor Thom, the city of Jayavarmnan VII, as a source of
benefits, treasures, or riches, and by extension, the source of prosperity of the
Khmer Empire itself. (See the Vishnu purâna [Book I, chapter 9] and the Bhâgavata
Purina [Book 8, chapters 6-11] for versions of this myth.)

In the case of Angkor Thom, however, several images are superimposed on one
another. Professor J. Eoisselier sees in the Eayon an image of the Room of Good
Order (Sudhammasabha) of Buddhist mythology.

Viewed this way, the monument’s striking towers covered with faces would be in
communication with the Brahman Sananlcumara (“perpetually young”), those who
transmit the teaching of Buddha to the Buddhist and Hindu divinities periodically
reunited in the Room (Fig. 13). Angkor Thom thus becomes a replica on earth of
the city of Indra—the king of the gods—at the center of which this Room was built.
Situated on the summit of Mount Meru, the city of Indra is guarded by the four
great kings of the East; it is their faces that one should recognize in the
monumental gates of Angkor Thom (Fig. 12). Moreover, 54 giant figures supporting
a massive serpent are stationed on each side of the dikes crossing the moats; they
recall the image of the Churning of the Sea of Milk. We might go further and liken
the giants to divine or semi-divine armies assuring the protection of the city (see Le
Bonheur 1989). And finally, the scene recalls the symbolic equivalence of
the serpent (nag) and the rainbow—a celestial bridge permitting passage from the
human world outside the city to the divine world created at the heart of Angkor
Thom by the Bayon itself.

Diverse, evolving, permanent: Khmer architecture, of which the temple-mountain

is at once the best-known and most important expression, remains one of Asia’s
major contributions to the world’scultural patrimony. Despite the considerable
number of studies, both general and specific, devoted to it, it is far from having
been completely explained. It still constitutes a field of exploration and research as
rich as the religious traditions that gave rise to it.”

Comparison between left: Borobudur of Java (825) and right: Bakong of Cambodia
(881), both temples had similar basic design of stepped pyramid and similar corbelling
method, which suggest there was a connection of technical and cultural influence between
ancient Java and Cambodia. Central Javanese temples were not built anywhere and anyhow,
quite the contrary: their position within the landscape and their architectural design was
determined by a series of socio-cultural, religious and economical factors

A step pyramid or stepped pyramid is an architectural structure that uses flat platforms, or
steps, receding from the ground up, to achieve a completed shape similar to a geometric
pyramid. Step pyramids are structures which characterized several cultures throughout
history, in several locations throughout the world. These pyramids typically are large and
made of several layers of stone. The term refers to pyramids of similar design that emerged

99
separately from one another, as there are no firmly established connections between the
different civilizations that built them.

As well as menhirs, stone tables, and stone statues Austronesian megalithic culture
in Indonesia also featured earth and stone step pyramid structure, referred to as punden
berundak as discovered in Pangguyangan site near Cisolok and in Cipari near Kuningan. are
the abode for the spirit of the ancestors. The step pyramid is the basic design of 8th
century Borobudur Buddhist monument in Central Java. However the later temples built in
Java were influenced by Indian Hindu architecture, as displayed by the towering spires
of Prambanan temple. In the 15th century Java during the late Majapahit period saw the
revival of Austronesian indigenous elements as displayed by Sukuh temple that somewhat
resembles a Mesoamerican pyramid, and also stepped pyramids of Mount Penanggungan.
Egyptian pyramid construction techniques are the controversial subject of
many hypotheses. These techniques seem to have developed over time; later
pyramids were not constructed in the same way as earlier ones. Most of the
construction hypotheses are based on the belief that huge stones were carved from
quarries with copper chisels, and these blocks were then dragged and lifted into
position. Disagreements chiefly concern the methods used to move and place the
stones.
In addition to the many unresolved arguments about the construction techniques,
there have been disagreements as to the kind of workforce used. The Greeks, many
years after the event, believed that the pyramids must have been built by slave
labor. Archaeologists now believe that the Great Pyramid of Giza (at least) was built
by tens of thousands of skilled workers who camped near the pyramids and
worked for a salary or as a form of tax payment (levy) until the construction was
completed, pointing to workers' cemeteries discovered in 1990. For the Middle
Kingdom Pyramid of Amenemhat II, there is evidence from the annal stone of the
king that foreigners from Canaan were used

What can we earn from Building the pyramids from quarried stone blocks
One of the major problems faced by the early pyramid builders was the need to
move huge quantities of stone. The Twelfth Dynasty tomb of Djehutihotep has an
illustration of 172 men pulling an alabaster statue of him on a sledge. The statue
is estimated to weigh 60 tons and Denys Stocks estimated that 45 workers would
be required to start moving a 16,300 kg (35,900 lb; 16.3 t) lubricated block, or
eight workers to move a 2,750 kg (6,060 lb; 2.75 t) block. Dr. R. H. G. Parry has
suggested a method for rolling the stones, using a cradle-like machine that had
been excavated in various new kingdom temples. Four of those objects could be
fitted around a block so it could be rolled easily. Experiments done by the
Obayashi Corporation, with concrete blocks 0.8 metres (2 ft 7 in) square by 1.6
metres (5 ft 3 in) long and weighing 2.5 tonnes (2,500 kg; 5,500 lb), showed how
18 men could drag the block over a 1-in-4 incline ramp, at a rate of 18 metres per
minute (1 ft/s). This idea was previously described by John Bush in 1977, and is
mentioned in the Closing Remarks section of Parry's book. Vitruvius in De
architectura described a similar method for moving irregular weights. It is still not
known whether the Egyptians used this method but the experiments indicate it
could have worked using stones of this size. Egyptologists generally accept this for
the 2.5 ton blocks mostly used but do not agree over the methods used for the 15+
ton and several 70 to 80 ton blocks.

100
As the stones forming the core of the pyramids were roughly cut, especially in
the Great Pyramid, the material used to fill the gaps was another problem. Huge
quantities of gypsum and rubble were needed. The filling has almost no binding
properties, but it was necessary to stabilize the construction. To make the gypsum
mortar, it had to be dehydrated by heating which requires large quantities of wood.
According to Egyptologists, the findings of both the 1984 and 1995 David H. Koch
Pyramids Radiocarbon Projects may suggest that Egypt had to strip its forest and
scrap every bit of wood it had to build the pyramids of Giza and other even earlier
4th Dynasty pyramids. Carbon dating samples from core blocks and other
materials revealed that dates from the 1984 study averaged 374 years earlier than
currently accepted and the 1995 dating averaging 100–200 years. As suggested by
team members, "We thought that it was unlikely that the pyramid builders
consistently used centuries-old wood as fuel in preparing mortar. The 1984 results
left us with too little data to conclude that the historical chronology of the Old
Kingdom was wrong by nearly 400 years, but we considered this at least a
possibility". To explain this discrepancy, Egyptologists proposed the "old wood"
theory claiming the earlier dates were possibly derived from recycling large
amounts of centuries old wood and other earlier materials.[10]
There is good information concerning the location of the quarries, some of the tools
used to cut stone in the quarries, transportation of the stone to the monument,
leveling the foundation, and leveling the subsequent tiers of the developing
superstructure. Workmen probably used copper chisels, drills, and saws to cut
softer stone, such as most of the limestone. The harder stones, such as granite,
granodiorite, syenite, and basalt, cannot be cut with copper tools alone; instead,
they were worked with time-consuming methods like pounding with dolerite,
drilling, and sawing with the aid of an abrasive, such as quartz sand. Blocks were
transported by sledge likely lubricated by water. Leveling the foundation may have
been accomplished by use of water-filled trenches as suggested by Mark Lehner
and I. E. S. Edwards or through the use of a crude square level and experienced
surveyors.[15][16]

Thales's method (intercept theorem) to determine the height of Cheops pyramid

The diary of Merer, logbooks written more than 4,500 years ago by an Egyptian
official and found in 2013 by a French archeology team under the direction
of Pierre Tallet in a cave in Wadi al-Jarf, describes the transportation
of limestone from the quarry in Tora to Giza.

101
Architecture of Borobudur

102
Borobudur design as a stepped pyramid: Built with about 2,000,000 cubic feet (56,600
cubic metres) of gray volcanic stone, Borobudur encloses a small hill and is shaped like
a stepped pyramid with three major levels—a square base, a middle level of five square
terraces, and an upper level of three circular terraces—totaling, in effect, nine lesser sections.
103
This ancient pyramid temple is unique. Unlike other ancient temples built on a flat
surface, Borobudur was constructed on a hill, 265 meters above sea level and 15 meters
above the dry lake surrounding it.

The lake’s existence was cause for intense discussions between archaeologists during the
twentieth century since it was thought that Borobudur was built on the banks of the lake or
even floated on it.

The Various Possible Methods of Pyramid Construction

A major problem facing the builders of the

Ancient Egyptian Pyramids, was that of
getting the Large stone blocks to the height
they required. the method shown at left, is
the only one proven to have been used. The
ramps were built on inclined planes of mud
brick and rubble. They then dragged the
blocks on sledges to the needed height. As
the pyramid grew taller, the ramp had to be
extended in length, and its base was
widened, else it would collapse. It is likely
that for the construction of each pyramid,
several ramps were probably used.

The arrangement of the ramps used for

building is in much dispute. Assuming that
the step pyramid was built before the outer
structure, and then the packing blocks were
laid on top, the ramps could have run from
one step to another rather than approaching
the pyramid face at right angles

Some of the pyramids indicate an accurate

understanding of Pi, but the mathematical
knowledge of the Egyptians did not include
the ability to arrive at this by calculation. It
is possible that this could have been arrived
at "accidentally" through a means such as
counting the revolutions of a drum.

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 The internal construction of most true
pyramids consists of a series of buttress
walls surrounding a central core. The walls
decrease in height from the center outwards.
In other words, the core of the true
pyramide is essentially a step pyramid. The
internal arrangement added stability to the
structure. Packing blocks filled the "steps"
formed by the faces of the outermost
buttress walls and casting blocks (often
Limestone) completed the structure of the
true pyramid.
Architects and builders used a different
form of construction in the pyramids of the
12th and 13th Dynasties. Mainly because of
economy, for it was suitable for relatively
modest structures in inferior materials. Solid
walls of ston ran from the center, and
shorter cross walls formed a series of
chambers filled with stone blocks, ruble or
mud bricks. An outer casing was usually
added, and although quite effective in the
short term, it did not even come close to the
earlier consturction methods. Pyramids
which were built with this structural design
are quite delapidated and worn.

105
Archaeological site of Borobudur during the reconstruction suggests that the adherents of
Hinduism and Indian Faith have begun to build large buildings on Borobudurs of the hill
before the site was awarded the Buddhists. Foundations unlike a Hindu or Buddhist Shrine
structures, and therefore, the original structure is more indigenous Javanese than a Hindu or
a Buddhist.

Architecture. Design.
Borobudur is built as a single large stupa, and when viewed from above, has the form of a
giant tantric Buddhist mandala, simultaneously representing the Buddhist cosmology and
nature of mind. The original Foundation is a square, approximately 118 m 387 ft on each
side. It has nine platforms, of which the lower six square and three circular. The upper
platform features seventy-two small stupas surrounding one large Central stupa. Each stupa
is bell-shaped and pierced by numerous decorative openings. Buddha statues sitting inside a
hollow shell.
The design of Borobudur which was in the form of a stepped pyramid. Earlier, in the
prehistoric Austronesian megalithic culture in Indonesia was built several earthen mounds
and stone step pyramid structure called punden berundak as discovered on the website
Pangguyangan near attractions and Cipari in the district of Kuningan. The construction of
stone pyramids is based on their own beliefs that mountains and high places are the abode of
spirits or ancestors hyangs. In punden berundak step pyramid is the basic design of
Borobudur, which is a continuation of older megalithic tradition Incorporated with
Mahayana Buddhist ideas and symbolism.

The monuments of the three divisions symbolize the three "spheres" of Buddhist cosmology,
namely Kamadhatu the world of desires, Rupadhatu the world of forms, and finally
Arupadhatu formless world. Ordinary sentient beings live their lives at a low level, the realm
of desire. Those who burned out all desire for continued existence to leave the world and the
desire to live in peace on the level of form: they see the form, but not drawn to them. Finally,
full Buddhas go beyond even form and experience reality at its purest, most fundamental
level, the formless ocean of Nirvana. Liberation from the cycle of Samsāra, where
enlightened souls are not attached to worldly form corresponds to the concept of Sūnyatā, the
complete voidness or absence of the self. Kāmadhātu is represented base Rupadhatu on the
five square platforms of the body, and Arupadhatu with three circular platforms and the large
top of the stupa. The architectural features between three stages of metaphorical differences.
For instance, square and detailed decorations in Rupadhatu disappear in a simple circular
platforms in the Arupadhatu to represent how the world of forms, where people with forms
and names - changes into the world of the formless.
Joint worship in Borobudur is performed in the walking pilgrimage. The pilgrims guided by
a system of staircases and corridors, climbing to the upper platform. Each platform
represents one stage of enlightenment. The path that leads pilgrims was designed to
symbolize Buddhist cosmology.

In 1885, a hidden structure under the base was accidentally discovered. "Hidden level"
contains reliefs, 160 of which are narratives describing the real Kāmadhātu. The remaining
reliefs are panels with short inscriptions that apparently provide instructions for the
sculptors, illustrating the scene to be cut. The real base is hidden in the shell base, the
purpose of which remains a mystery. It was first thought that the real base should be covered
to prevent a disastrous subsidence of the monument on the hill. There is another theory, in
the shell of the base was added because the original hidden Foundation was incorrectly

106
designed, according to Vastu Shastra, the Indian ancient book about architecture and town
planning. Regardless of why it was commissioned, housing the base was built with detailed
and meticulous design and aesthetic and religious considerations.

Architecture. The structure of the building

Approximately 55.000 cubic meters of 72.000 cubic meters of andesite stones were taken
from neighbouring stone quarries to the construction of the monument. The stone was cut to
size on site and laid without mortar. Knobs, indentations and dovetails were used to form
joints between stones. The roof of the stupa, niches and arched gate was built into the eaves.
The reliefs were created on the spot after the building was completed.
The monument is equipped with a good drainage system to meet the high drains. To prevent
flooding, 100 spouts are installed at each corner, each with a unique carved Gargoyle in the
shape of a giant or Makara.

Borobudur differs markedly from the overall design of other structures built for this purpose.
Instead of built on a flat surface, Borobudur was built on a natural hill. However, the
construction technology is similar to other temples in Java. Without the inner spaces seen in
other temples, and the overall design resembles the shape of pyramid, Borobudur was first
thought more likely to have served as a stupa, instead of a temple. Stupa is intended as a
temple for Buddha. Sometimes stupas were built only as devotional symbols of Buddhism.
The temple, on the other hand, is used as a prayer house. The meticulous complexity of the
monuments suggests that Borobudur is actually a temple.
Little is known about Gunadharma, the architect of the complex. His name is repeated from
Javanese folk tales, not from written inscriptions.

Basic unit of measurement in the construction was in Paphos, defined as the length of a
human face from the forehead hairline to tip of chin and tip of the thumb to the tip of the
middle finger when both fingers are stretched at the maximum distance. Thus, the block is
relative from one individual to another, but the monument has exact measurements. A survey
conducted in 1977 revealed frequent findings of a ratio of 4:6:9 around the monument. The
architect used the formula to lay out the exact dimensions of fractals and self-similar
geometry in the design Borobudurs. This ratio is also found in the designs of pawon temple
and mendut temple, near Buddhist temples. Archaeologists have suggested that 4:6:9 ratio
and the Tala have been a calendar, astronomical and cosmological significance, as is the case
with the temple of Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

107
 The basic structure can be divided into three components: base, body and top. The base 123
m x 123 m 404 m × 404 ft. in size with 4 m 13 ft wall. The body is composed of five square
platforms, each of diminishing height. The first terrace is located at 7 meters 23 feet from the
edge of the base. Each subsequent terrace is situated in a depth of 2 m 6.6 feet, leaving a
narrow corridor at each stage. The top consists of three circular platforms, with each stage
supporting a row of perforated stupas, arranged in concentric circles. There is one main
dome at the center, the top of which is the highest point of the monument, 35 m 115 feet
above ground level. The stairs in the center of each of the four sides give access to the top,
with several arched gates overlooked a 32 lion statues. The gate is decorated with Kalass
head carved on the top of each and Makaras projecting from each side. This Kala-Makara
motif is often found on the gates of the Javanese temples. The main entrance is located on
the East side, in place of the first narrative reliefs. Stairs on the hillside and connects the
monument to the lowland plain.1

Built from nearly two million stone blocks of andesite, a bluish-gray volcanic stone,
Borobudur is shaped like a stepped pyramid, the base of which is 402 feet long from north to
south and 383 feet long from east to west; the height is now 95 feet above ground level. The
colossal monument consists of six rectangular terraces topped by three concentric circular
terraces.

Four of the terraces are galleries, each enclosed by a balustrade and an inner wall, open to the
sky and carved with sculptures.
At first sight, the square galleries are an overwhelming mass of
images depicting the activities of gods and mortals carved in the
dark volcanic stone along the wide processional paths. There are
more than 1,300 narrative panels illustrating the life of Buddha
and Buddhist texts, the largest and most complete collection of
Buddhist reliefs in the world. Originally, there were over 500
statues of the Buddha,* 432 seated in lotus position on the square
terraces and 72 meditating inside the bell-shaped stupas on the
top terraces. There are no elaborate carvings on these three upper levels.

Sir Thomas Raffles, the British governor of Indonesia responsible for the excavation of
Borobudur in 1814, speculated that Borobudur may have originally been a holy place of
pilgrimage for believers of the Mahayana branch of Buddhism.
Monks from the nearby monastery would have led pilgrims along the galleries, using the
carved panels to illustrate the stories of their faith and the way of the Buddha as they circled
their way to the top of the monument.

Lacking further historical information, Raffles was unable to determine the exact date of
Borobudur's construction. But he knew that in the 13th and 14th centuries, Islam had replaced
Buddhism as the island's religion, and he thought it unlikely that Borobudur would have been
built since then. Also, ancient records showed that in the 10th century, the region around
Borobudur had been mysteriously deserted, and all construction in central Java had stopped
then. From the detailed carvings, Raffles concluded that Borobudur had been built sometime
between the eighth and tenth centuries, during a period of relative peace in East Asia, after the
nomadic and religious invasions had run out of steam.

108
No one knows what happened to the culture that built the monument. Perhaps Merapi had
erupted, choking the rice lands with layers of volcanic ash. Whatever the cause, the population
moved to East Java in a mass exodus, and Borobudur was left behind, its meaning lost in time.

1.https://amp.ww.google-wiki.info/233717/1/borobudur.html
Cambodia
The École Française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO) began restoration work at Angkor Wat in
1908. Between 1986 and 1992, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) carried out
restoration work on the temple. Bayon was restored by EFCO followed by Japanese
Government Team for the Safeguarding of Angkor (JSA). Ta Prohm is being restored
by Archaeological Survey of India.
Throughout Cambodia's long history, religion has been a major source of cultural inspiration.
Over nearly two millennia, Cambodians have developed a unique Cambodian culture and
belief system from the syncreticism of indigenous animistic beliefs and the Indian religions
of Buddhism and Hinduism. Indian culture and civilization, including its languages and arts
reached mainland Southeast Asia around the 1st century AD. It is generally believed that
seafaring merchants brought Indian customs and culture to ports along the Gulf
of Thailand and the Pacific en route to trade with China. The Kingdom of Funan was most
probably the first Cambodian state to benefit from this influx of Indian ideas. There is also
French influence as well.

Angkor Wat, the most famous Cambodian heritage site.//Traditional Khmer house from
1800's

The Golden age of Cambodia was between the 9th and 14th century, during the Angkor
period, during which it was a powerful and prosperous empire that flourished and dominated
almost all of inland Southeast Asia. However, Angkor would eventually collapse after much
in-fighting between royalty and constant warring with its increasingly powerful neighbors,
notably Siam and Dai Viet. Many temples from this period however, like Bayon and Angkor

109
Wat still remain today, scattered throughout Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam as a
reminder of the grandeur of Khmer arts and culture. Cambodia's unparalleled achievements
in art, architectures, music, and dance during this period have had a great influence on many
neighboring kingdoms, namely Thailand and Laos. The effect of Angkorian culture can still
be seen today in those countries, as they share many close characteristics with current-day
Cambodia.
Khmer architecture

The Angkorian architects and sculptors created temples that mapped the cosmic world in
stone. Khmer decorations drew inspiration from religion, and mythical creatures
from Hinduism and Buddhism were carved on walls. Temples were built in accordance to
the rule of ancient Khmer architecture that dictated that a basic temple layout include a
central shrine, a courtyard, an enclosing wall, and a moat. Khmer motifs use many creatures
from Buddhist and Hindu mythology, like the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, use motifs such
as the garuda, a mythical bird in Hinduism. The architecture of Cambodia developed in
stages under the Khmer empire from the 9th to the 15th century, preserved in many buildings
of the Angkor temple. The remains of secular architecture from this time are rare, as only
religious buildings were made of stone. The architecture of the Angkor period used specific
structural features and styles, which are one of the main methods used to date the temples,
along with inscriptions.
In n modern rural Cambodia, the nuclear family typically lives in a rectangular house that
may vary in size from four by six meters to six by ten meters. It is constructed of a wooden
frame with gabled thatch roof and walls of woven bamboo. Khmer houses are typically
raised as much as three meters on stilts for protection from annual floods. Two ladders or
wooden staircases provide access to the house. The steep thatch roof overhanging the house
walls protects the interior from rain. Typically a house contains three rooms separated by
partitions of woven bamboo. The front room serves as a living room used to receive visitors,
the next room is the parents' bedroom, and the third is for unmarried daughters. Sons sleep
anywhere they can find space. Family members and neighbors work together to build the
house, and a house-raising ceremony is held upon its completion. The houses of poorer
persons may contain only a single large room. Food is prepared in a separate kitchen located
near the house but usually behind it. Toilet facilities consist of simple pits in the
ground, located away from the house, that are covered up when filled. Any livestock is kept
below the house. Chinese and Vietnamese houses in Cambodian towns and villages are
typically built directly on the ground and have earthen, cement, or tile floors, depending
upon the economic status of the owner. Urban housing and commercial buildings may be of
brick, masonry, or wood.
Religion in Cambodia

Cambodia is predominantly Buddhist with 80% of the population being Theravada Buddhist,
1% Christian and the majority of the remaining population follow Islam, atheism,
or animism.

110
Buddhist nun at Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia.//

Pchum Ben, also known as "Ancestors' Day

Buddhism has existed in Cambodia since at least the 5th century CE. Theravada Buddhism
has been the Cambodian state religion since the 13th century CE (excepting the Khmer
Rouge period), and is currently estimated to be the faith of 90% of the population.[3] A
smaller number of Cambodians, mostly of Vietnamese and Chinese descent,
practice Mahayana Buddhism. The main orders of Buddhism practiced in Cambodia
are Dhammayuttika Nikaya and Maha Nikaya.
Bakong in Cambodia is the first temple mountain of sandstone constructed by rulers of
the Khmer empire at Angkor near modern Siem Reap in Cambodia. In the final decades of
the 9th century AD, it served as the official state temple of King Indravarman I in the ancient
city of Hariharalaya, located in an area that today is called Roluos.
The structure of Bakong took shape of stepped pyramid, popularly identified as temple
mountain of early Khmer temple architecture. The striking similarity of the Bakong
and Borobudur temple in Java, going into architectural details such as the gateways and
stairs to the upper terraces, suggests strongly that Borobudur was served as the prototype of
Bakong. There must have been exchanges of travelers, if not mission, between Khmer
kingdom and the Sailendras in Java. Transmitting to Cambodia not only ideas, but also
technical and architectural details of Borobudur, including arched gateways in corbelling
method.

111
Other than examining bas-reliefs carved on the temple's walls, the study of ancient Javanese
society is also conducted through archaeological relics. The Wonoboyo hoard golden
artefacts attest to the wealth, art, and culture as well as the aesthetic achievement of the
Medang Kingdom. The artefacts show the intricate artwork and technical mastery of the
ancient Javanese goldsmith. The hoard was estimated to date from the reign of King
Balitung.[44] The treasure has been identified as belonging to a noble or a member of the
royal family.[45]
The earliest temple in the Southern Central Java Mataram region was the Hindu
Shivaist Gunung Wukir temple, linked to Canggal inscription (732 CE) built by King
Sanjaya. Almost 50 years later the oldest Buddhist temple was built in Prambanan region,
the Buddhist Kalasan temple, linked to Kalasan inscription (778 CE) and King Panangkaran.
From this time, the kingdom saw exuberant temple construction projects, such
as Sari, Manjusrigrha, Lumbung, Ngawen, Mendut, Pawon and peaked in the construction
of Borobudur, the massive stone mandala, that took shape of a mountain temple pinnacled
with stupas that completed c. 825 CE.

The monumental Hindu temple of Prambanan in the vicinity of Yogyakarta — initially

built during the reign of King Pikatan (838–850), and expanded continuously through the
reign of Lokapala (850–890) to Balitung (899–911) — is a fine example of ancient Medang
Mataram art and architecture. The description of a grand temple compound dedicated for
lord Shiva, and the public project to shift the course of the river near the temple (Opak river)
to run straight along western wall of temple compound was also mentioned in Shivagrha
inscription. The grand temple complex was dedicated to the Trimurti, the three highest gods
in the Hindu pantheon (Shiva, Brahma, Vishnu). It was the largest Hindu temple ever built
in Indonesia, evidence of the immense wealth and cultural achievement of the kingdom.
Other Hindu temples dated from Medang Mataram Kingdom era are: Sambisari, Gebang,
Barong, Ijo, and Morangan. Although the Shivaist regain the favour, Buddhist remain under
royal patronage. The Sewu temple dedicated for Manjusri according to Kelurak
inscription was probably initially built by Panangkaran, but later expanded and completed
during Rakai Pikatan's rule, whom married to a Buddhist princess Pramodhawardhani,
daughter of Samaratungga. Most of their subjects retained their old religion; Shivaists and
Buddhists seemed to co-exist in harmony. The Buddhist temple
of Plaosan, Banyunibo and Sajiwan were built during the reign of King Pikatan and Queen
112
Pramodhawardhani, probably in the spirit of religious reconciliation after the succession
disputes between Pikatan-Pramodhawardhani against Balaputra.

Medang kingdom had an exceptionally intense relations with the regional

hegemon Srivijaya of Sumatra. In earlier period, the relations was close and intimate, as
Sailendran kings of Java has formed an alliance with Maharaja of Srivijaya and the two royal
houses seems to be merged. In later period however, the relations was deteriorated to
warfare, as Dharmawangsa launched failed attempt to capture Palembang, and Srivijaya
well-crafted retaliation ensued. In its eastern boundary, the Medang kingdom seems to
subjugate the neighboring Bali, and pulled the island into its sphere of influence.

The Khmer art and architecture during the formative early Angkor era also believed to
being influenced by Javanese art and architecture; the striking similarity of
the Bakong temple in Cambodia to Borobudur, strongly suggests that Bakong was inspired
by Borobudur's design. There must had been exchanges of travellers, if not mission,
between Kambuja and Java. Transmitting to Cambodia not only ideas, but also technical and
architectural details, including arched gateways in corbelling method.

The Kaladi inscription (c. 909 CE), mentioned Kmir (Khmer people of the Khmer Empire)
together with Campa (Champa) and Rman (Mon) as foreigners from mainland Southeast
Asia that frequently came to Java to trade. The inscription suggests a maritime trade network
has been established between kingdoms in mainland Southeast Asia and Java.

The name of the Medang Kingdom was mentioned in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription of
the Philippines' Tondo, dated 822 saka (c. 900 CE), discovered in Lumban,
Laguna, Philippines. The discovery of the inscriptions, written in the Kawi script in a variety
of Old Malay containing numerous loanwords from Sanskrit and a few non-Malay
vocabulary elements whose origin is ambiguous between Old Javanese and Old Tagalog,
suggests that the people or officials of the Medang Kingdom had embarked on inter-insular
trade and foreign relations in regions as far away as the Philippines, and that connections
between ancient kingdoms in Indonesia and the Philippines existed.
In 802 AD, the first king of Angkor Jayavarman II declared the sovereignty of Cambodia.
After ups and downs, he established his capital at Hariharalaya. A few decades later, his
successors constructed Bakong in stages as the first temple mountain of sandstone
at Angkor.[3] The inscription on its stele (classified K.826) says that in 881
King Indravarman I dedicated the temple to the god Shiva and consecrated its central
religious image, a lingam whose name Sri Indresvara was a combination of the king's own
and the suffix "-esvara" which stood for Shiva ("Iśvara").According to George Coedès,
the devarāja cult consisted in the idea of divine kingship as a legitimacy of royal powerbut
later authors stated that it doesn't necessarily involve the cult of physical persona of the ruler
himself.
Bakong enjoyed its status as the state temple of Angkor for only a few years, but later
additions from the 12th or 13th centuries testify that it was not abandoned. Toward the end
of the 9th century, Indravarman's son and successor Yasovarman I moved the capital from
Hariharalaya to the area north of Siem Reap now known as Angkor, where he founded the
new city of Yaśodharapura around a new temple mountain called Bakheng.

113
SITE:

A statue of a lion guards the stairs on the central pyramid./Step Pyramid in South America
The site of Bakong measures 900 metres by 700 metres, and consists of three
concentric enclosures separated by two moats, the main axis going from east to west. The
outer enclosure has neither a wall nor gopuram and its boundary is the outer moat, today
only partially visible. The current access road from NH6 leads at the edge of the second
enclosure. The inner moat delimits a 400 by 300 metres area, with remains of a laterite wall
and four cruciform gopuram, and it is crossed by a wide earthen causeway, flanked by seven-
headed nāgas, such as a draft of nāga bridge . Between the two moats there are the remains
of 22 satellite temples of brick. The innermost enclosure, bounded by a laterite wall,

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measures 160 metres by 120 metres and contains the central temple pyramid and eight brick
temple towers, two on each side. A number of other smaller buildings are also located within
the enclosure. Just outside the eastern gopura there is a modern buddhist temple.
The pyramid itself has five levels and its base is 65 by 67 metres. It was reconstructed by
Maurice Glaize at the end of the 1930s according to methods of anastylosis. On the top there
is a single tower that is much later in provenance, and the architectural style of which is not
that of the 9th century foundations of Hariharalaya, but that of the 12th-century temple
city Angkor Wat.
Though the pyramid at one time must have been covered with bas relief carvings in stucco,
today only fragments remain. A dramatic scene-fragment involving what appear to
be asuras in battle gives a sense of the likely high quality of the carvings. Large stone statues
of elephants are positioned as guardians at the corners of the three lower levels of the
pyramid. Statues of lions guard the stairways.

Anastylosis (from the Ancient Greek: , ana = "again", and = "to erect [a stela or building]")
is an archaeological term for a reconstruction technique whereby a ruined building or
monument is restored using the original architectural elements to the greatest degree
possible. It is also sometimes used to refer to a similar technique for restoring
broken pottery and other small objects.
Methodology: The intent of anastylosis is to rebuild, from as much of the original materials
that is left after usually thousands of years of abuse, historical architectural monuments
which have fallen into ruin. This is done by placing components back into their original
positions. Where standing buildings are at risk of collapse, the method may entail the
preparation of drawings and measurements, piece-by-piece disassembly, and careful
reassembly, with new materials as required for structural integrity; occasionally this may
include new foundations. When elements or parts are missing, modern materials (of
restoration grade) may be substituted, such as plaster, cement, and synthetic resins.
The international Venice Charter of 1964 details criteria for anastylosis. First, the original
condition of the structure must be confirmed scientifically. Second, the proper placement of
each recovered component must be determined. Third, supplemental components must be
limited to those necessary for stability (that is, substitute components may never lie at the
top), and must be recognizable as replacement materials. New construction for the sake of
filling in apparent lacunae is not
allowed________________________________________________________-IMAGINED
PASTS: ANASTYLOSIS AND THE CREATION OF THE THAI NATIONAL PAST- John Victor
Crocker-https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/7344/6/Crocker-
03Volume2.pdf

Criticism:Such techniques have been used in both the Cambodian and the Indonesion
structures. Anastylosis has its detractors in the scientific community. In effect, the method
poses several problems:

 no matter how rigorous preparatory studies are, any errors of interpretation will result in
errors, often undetectable or incorrigible, in reconstruction.
 damage to the original components is practically inevitable.

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 an element may be, or may have been reused in, or may have originated in, different
buildings or monuments from different periods. To use it in one reconstruction obviates
its use in others.
A primitive anastylosis was carried out in 1836 at the Acropolis in Athens, where
the Temple of Athena Nike was re-erected from remaining parts. Starting in 1902, the Greek
architect Nikolas Balanos used anastylosis in order to restore a collapsed portion of
the Parthenon, restore the Erechtheion, and rebuild the Nike Temple a second time. Iron
clamps and plugs which had been used earlier had started to rust and had caused heavy
damage to the original structure. These were removed and replaced with precious metal
clamps. When the temple was once again rebuilt additional newly identified original
fragments were added. Currently, anastylosis is being applied to the Parthenon.
India
Several monuments protected by Archeological Survey of India have been restored,
including Shekhavati havelis, Humayun's Tomb, etc.
Indonesia

One of the earlier examples of anastylosis: the Borobudur in Java, Indonesia

Early in the 20th century, Dutch archaeologists carried out anastylosis of the stupa at
the Buddhist temple complex at Borobudur in Java, Indonesia between 1907 and 1911.
The Prambanan Hindu temple complex was excavated and was partially reconstructed
between 1911 and 1953, also reconstructed using anastylosis method. The recent practice of
anastylosis in Indonesia is the reconstruction of Kedulan temple, built in 869, the temple was
buried under volcanic layers for centuries, until was discovered in 1993. The restoration of
the entire Kedulan Temple complex is expected to be completed by the end of 2018.
The temple—essentially a variation of a step pyramid—is a sanctuary and Buddhist
pilgrimage place. The pilgrims’ journey starts at the base of the monument and proceeds
along a path that surrounds it while climbing to the top through the three levels of Buddhist
cosmology; Kamadhatu (the world of desires), Rupadhatu (the world of forms), and
finally Arupadhatu (the formless world).
During the trip, the monument guides pilgrims through a system of stairs and corridors.

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Prambanan (Javanese: Rara Jonggrang) is a Hindu temple complex dating from the 9th
century CE located near Bokoharjo, on the island of Java in Indonesia. Prambanan is the
largest Hindu temple in Indonesia and one of the largest Hindu temples in Southeast Asia.
Dedicated to the Trimurti of Hinduism — Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva —
Prambanan's architecture conforms to Hindu architectural traditions based on the Vastu
Shastra, and the temple thus reflects the Hindu conceptions of the cosmos in its design and
layout. Despite its grandeur and rich exterior ornamentation, the Javanese abandoned
Prambanan within 100 years of its completion around c. 950 CE. Although the ravages of
time and natural disasters took their toll on Prambanan, the Javanese never forgot the ruins,
and Prambanan continued to play a part in Javanese folklore. Research and the restoration of
Prambanan began in earnest in the early 20th century CE, and the temple complex was
declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991 CE. It is today one of the most visited
historical sites in Indonesia.
History & Geography
Prambanan is located some 17 km (11 miles) northeast of the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta,
near the border between the two provinces of Yogyakarta and Central Java, on the island of
Java. The ruins themselves lie 0.5 km south of the village of Prambanan.
The period in which the Javanese constructed Prambanan and neighboring temples is
shrouded in legend and mystery. Strong cultural and religious influence arrived in what is
now present-day Indonesia from the Indian subcontinent, beginning around the 1st century
CE. This influence grew rapidly from c. 400 CE onwards. Hindu and Buddhist merchants
and traders, settled in the region, intermarried with the local population, and facilitated long-
distance trade relations between the indigenous Javanese, ancient India, and the rest of
Southeast Asia. Over the centuries, the Javanese blended the culture and religions of ancient
India with their own.

Some historians contend that Prambanan's construction began under the orders of King
Rakai Pikatan (r. 830-860 CE?) at some point between c. 840-850 CE. Rakai Pikatan
oversaw the construction and design of the main temple complex, while other structures
were built soon thereafter by later kings, including Rakai Kayuwangi (r. 850-898
CE), Balitung (r. 899-911 CE), Daksa (r. 910-919 CE), and Tulodong (r. 919-924 CE). At
some point, locals diverted a nearby river to flow past the temple complex as well. Rakai
Pikatan and his successors belonged to the Hindu Sanjaya dynasty, which was the rival of
the Buddhist Sailendra dynasty for power in the “Medang” or Mataram kingdom in central
Java. It is worth noting that the Sailendra dynasty oversaw the construction of the Buddhist
temple of Borobudur. As Borobudur is located only 19 km (12 miles) from Prambanan,
some scholars interpret Prambanan's genesis as a direct artistic, political, and religious
response to that of Borobudur and in turn the competitive Sailendra dynasty. It is even said
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that Rakai Pikatan's wife, Princess Pramodhawardhani (fl. 820-860 CE), was the daughter of
King Samaratungga (r. 812-833 CE) who may have overseen Borobudur's construction.
(Despite all this, other Javanese historians see the “Sailendra” and “Sanjaya” dynasties as
one and the same family, interpreting the religious patronage of Buddhism or Hinduism as
the result of a ruler's personal belief.) THERE IS A LEGEND THAT A JAVANESE
PRINCESS WAS TURNED TO STONE BY HER CRUEL HUSBAND & SO
BECAME THE BEAUTIFUL IMAGE OF THE HINDU GODDESS DURGA NOW
DECORATING THE TEMPLE'S EXTERIOR.

Prambanan is a 9th-century Hindu temple compound in Central Java, Indonesia, dedicated to

the Trimurti, the expression of God as the Creator (Brahma), the Preserver (Vishnu) and the
Destroyer (Shiva). A UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is the largest Hindu temple site in
Indonesia, and one of the biggest in Southeast Asia. It is characterized by its tall and pointed
architecture, typical of Hindu temple architecture, and by the towering 47-metre-high (154
ft) central building inside a large complex of individual temples. Prambanan attracts many
visitors from around the world. The temple compound is located approximately 17
kilometres northeast of the city of Yogyakarta on the boundary between Central Java and
Yogyakarta provinces. Others believe that the term "candi" itself is believed was derived
from Candika, one of the manifestations of the goddess Durga as the goddess of death. This
suggests that in ancient Indonesia the "candi" had mortuary functions as well as connections
with the afterlife. Historians suggest that the temples of ancient Java were also used to store
the ashes of cremated deceased kings. The statue of god stored inside the garbhagriha of the
temple is often modeled after the deceased king and considered to be the deified person of
the king portrayed as Vishnu or Shiva according to the concept of devaraja. The example is
the statue of king Airlangga from Belahan temple portrayed as Vishnu riding Garuda. The
candi architecture follows the typical Hindu architecture traditions based on Vastu Shastra.
The temple layout, especially in central Java period, incorporated mandala temple plan
arrangements and also the typical high towering spires of Hindu temples. The candi was
designed to mimic Meru, the holy mountain the abode of gods. The whole temple is a model
of Hindu universe according to Hindu cosmology

All temples contained in Prambanan temple consist of three parts. These parts, among
others, consists of the base of the temple, the body of the temple, and the roof of the
temple. This division of building structures is in harmony with the traditions that exist
in the ancient Hindu-Buddhist world.
In Shiva Temple, the base is equipped with a nice decorated ledge. This kind of shape
reminds anyone who sees it going like to the Borobudur Temple. Each of the four
steps leading up to the gates of the monument that has a large Kala head.
This Kala is a monster like a lion very loyalty to God Shiva. In Java, Kala became the
most popular protective figure and can be seen in every door and niche.
At Shiva Temple, its east gate is surrounded by two large niches containing the statues
of Shiva’s gatekeepers, the good Nandhishvara and the ruthless Mahakala. The body
of the temple is divided into two by a corridor, a pattern that shows the architecture of
East Java. Above and below the corridor, the wall is interspersed with a series of
niches with kala and reliefs that bear the roof of the temple above. This architectural
figurine, which is quite common in India, is also used as a Buddhist temple niche
decoration near this area, Kalasan Temple.

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The upper part of Shiva Temple consists of a series of smaller levels that repeat the
temple’s body shape with a smaller scale. The roof is also decorated by a dome with
moon-shaped parts on it and decorated with fake doors, pillars, and motifs of kala.
Each dome is a miniature of the temple that holds the basic principle of Hindu-
Buddhist thought, the balance between the macro cosmos, which is represented by its
temple, and the micro cosmos, represented by its dome.

In Java, Hindu temples usually have box-shaped ornaments on it, while Buddhist
temples are usually crowned with stupas. Striped ball ornaments in Prambanan Temple
may have prompted the confusion of the first western visitor, so they often regard the
Prambanan Temple complex as a Buddhist monument.Thus, parts of the temples that
exist in Prambanan not only a mere architectural process. Moreover, the parts that are
divided into three contain symbolic meanings that make Prambanan Temple as
evidence of cultural life that existed in the past.

Prambanan Complex Model-by Gunawan Kartapranata (CC BY-SA)

Prambanan, an Hindu temple in Indonesia-general architectural and morphological analysis-
Srishti Dokras.Uday Vasant
Dokrashttps://www.researchgate.net/publication/342662695_Prambanan_an_Hindu_temple_
in_Indonesia-general_architectural_and_morphological_analysis

Cooperation between Khemer and Javanese? According to ancient Khmer sources, King
Jayavarman II (r. 802-835 CE), the founder of the Khmer Empire (802-1431 CE), spent
much of his life in Java, and was appointed by Samaratungga as the governor of Indrapura,
which later became the capital city of Champa around c. 875 CE. It is said that Jayavarman
visited both Borobidur as well as Prambanan, which inspired him to build the city of Angkor
Wat on a grand scale. This is quite possible as the Sailendra and Sanjaya dynasties exerted

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much political and cultural influence through their thalassocracies in what is present-day
Java, Sumatra, Malaya, and southern Cambodia in the 8th, 9th, and 10th centuries CE.

ABANDONEMENT: VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS FROM MOUNT MERAPI IN THE

10TH CENTURY CE & COUNTLESS EARTHQUAKES MAY HAVE IMPACTED
PRAMBANAN'S APPEAL AS A PLACE OF WORSHIP & PILGRIMAGE.

Prambanan's abandonment mirrors that of nearby Borobudur. As the center of political

power shifted from central to eastern Java under the reign of King Mpu Sindok (fl. 928 CE),
Prambanan became less important politically and culturally to the ancient Javanese. The
Sanjaya dynasty had successfully usurped power from the Sailendra dynasty, leaving the
island of Java under their near complete suzerainty. Volcanic eruptions from Mount Merapi
in the 10th century CE and countless earthquakes may have impacted Prambanan's appeal as
a place of worship and pilgrimage as well among the Hindu faithful.

Over time, Prambanan deteriorated and became surrounded by a dense jungle. The Dutch
explorer C. A. Lons reported his “rediscovery” of Prambanan in 1733 CE to Dutch colonial
officials, but the temple was never completely forgotten by the Javanese in their histories,
myths, and legends. A very popular Javanese legend is that of Rara Jonggrang, which is set
in Prambanan and its neighboring temples. In the legend, a Javanese princess is turned to
stone by her cruel husband. The princess is said to be beautiful image of the Hindu goddess
Durga located within the north wing of Shiva's temple at Prambanan. Restoration work
began in 1885 CE, but accelerated in 1918 CE. These efforts were halted when Indonesia
was invaded in 1941 CE by the Japanese during World War II. In 1953 CE, the Temple of
Shiva was reconsecrated to Hindu believers, and Prambanan was restored once again
following the 2006 CE Yogyakarta earthquake. Intermittent archaeological excavation and
restoration continue in and around Prambanan today.

Set in the fertile Prambanan Plain, Prambanan is but one of 30 temples built between c.
750-950 CE in a 30 square km (11.5 square miles) area. Lying just a few kilometers to
Prambanan's north are three ancient Buddhist Temples built in the 8th century CE —
Lumbung, Bubrah, and Sewu — while 2.5 km to Prambanan's south and southeast lie the
ruins of the 9th-century CE Buddhist temples of Ratu Boko and Sojiwan, respectively. Some
3 km to Prambanan's west are also the 8th-century CE Buddhist Sari Temple, the Kalasan
Temple, which dates to c. 778 CE, and the Sambisari Temple, which dates from the 9th
century CE and is dedicated to Shiva.

Prambanan consists of six temples all situated in an elevated courtyard, which is in turn
encompassed by 224 minor temples now ruined. The greater the distance a temple is from
the main complex, the smaller it is in height and space. A small wall surrounds the smaller
temples, just as a large wall encompasses the main complex. Prambanan has a 47 m (154 ft)
tall central temple — dedicated to Shiva — which sits inside a complex of other temple
structures in a concentric mandala layout. Prambanan, in ways similar to Borobudur,
delineates the celestial hierarchy and transposes them to three distinct temple zones.
Horizontally and vertically, Prambanan exudes Hindu conceptions of heaven.

The largest three temples, the holiest sites within the main complex, are dedicated to the triad
of Hindu gods. Shiva's temple is the most prominent with Brahma's temple lying to the south
of Shiva's temple, and Vishnu's temple lying to the north of Shiva's temple. Directly parallel
to these magnificent temples are three smaller temples, each dedicated to mythological
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animal figures that provide protection, companionship, and transportation to the
aforementioned gods: Garuda, a mythical winged creature, Hamsa the swan, and Nandi the
bull.

The Temple of Shiva is the most ornate of the three massive temples, containing a series of
elegant carvings along the inner wall, which depict the scenes from the ancient Indian
epic The Ramayana. This temple contains four rooms, including an inner sanctuary with a
statue of Shiva, while another chamber near the inner sanctuary contains a large statue of
Shiva's son, Ganesha. The southern room of Shiva's temple is dedicated to Batara Guru
who, according adherents of Javanese Hinduism, is an avatar of Shiva that gives prophecy,
presents, and other human abilities. There is also a statue of the sacred bull calf, gatekeeper,
and vehicle (vahana) of Shiva, Nandi, which sits in front of the Temple of Shiva. The walls
in the Temple of Brahma continue the narration of The Ramayana, while the Temple of
Vishnu is decorated with carvings retelling the epic battles of Krishna along its terrace.

Did You Know The Prambanan Temple Is The Largest Hindu Temple Site In
Indonesia With 240 Temples?

Image Courtesy: World Travel Bug-by Gizel Menezes April 30, 2020 1018

Indonesia is known to be a melting pot of ancient traditions, cultures, and history and is
home to some of the world’s most marvellous architectural structures. One of these is the
Prambanan Temple.Built in the 9th century, it is the largest Hindu temple complex in
Indonesia, housing about 240 temples structures.The temple is a UNESCO World Heritage
site and is dedicated to the Trimurti – Shiva (the Transformer), Vishnu (the Preserver), and
Brahma (the Creator). The highlight of the temple lies in the central compound, where eight
major and eight minor temples are assembled on a raised platform, creating an architectural
crescendo, the highest of which is Candi Shiva Mahadeva. ‘Candi’ means temple or shrine.

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Image Courtesy: Temple Purohit

History Of The Prambanan Temple

The building of Prambanan commenced in the middle of the 9th century, around 50 years
after Borobudur, which is the largest Buddha temple in the world. While little is known
about the early history of the temple, it is thought to have built by Rakai Pikatan to
commemorate the return of the Hindu dynasty in Java.However, in the mid-16th century, a
great earthquake toppled many of the temples, and Prambanan remained in ruins for years.
While efforts were made to clear the site in 1855, it was only in 1937 that reconstruction was
first attempted. In 1953, the reconstruction of the main Shiva temple was completed and
inaugurated by an Indonesian politician Sukarno.Prambanan again suffered extensive
damage in the 2006 earthquake. Although the main temples survived, hundreds of stone
blocks collapsed. Today, the main structures have been restored, but a lot of work remains to
be done.

Architecture Of The Prambanan Temple

The temple follows the typical Hindu architectural traditions based on the Vastu Shastra and
has incorporated the Mandal temple plan arrangements.The whole complex contains 240
individual stone temples, many of which are scattered in ruins. The temple complex is
divided into three zones. The outer zone is an open space, which serves as a yard for priests
or worshippers, whereas the middle zone has 224 small shrines arranged into four concentric
rows around the central compound. These shrines are called Candi Perwara, meaning
‘guardian temples’.

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Image Courtesy: All Indonesia Tourism

The Candi Shiva Mahadeva is centrally located and is one of the finest temples in the
complex. Lavishly carved, the main spire of the temple soars as high as 47m high. The inner
wall of the gallery encircling the temple contains vibrant scenes from the Ramayana.The
impressive Candi Vishnu touches 33m and sits north of Candi Shiva Mahadeva. It houses a
four-armed image of Vishnu inside the inner sanctum. Candi Brahma is Candi Vishnu’s twin
temple. Located south of Candi Shiva Mahadeva, it is again adorned with the final scenes of
the Ramayana. In the inner chamber, a four-headed statue of Brahma is beautifully
crowned.The Prambanan Temple, on the whole, attracts many visitors from around all the
world all year round! You too must visit this architectural brilliance once in your life and
experience divinity and calm like no other!

Last Word:

Architectural temples of the middle classical era such as Prambanan and Borobudur temples
are thought to have inspired the temples in Indochina. It has become a common guess both
among the tour guides in Cambodia or the researchers who reviewed the Khemer Kingdom
Architecture. The existence of the relationship between the temple in Java and the temple in
Cambodia is possible because Jayawarman II, who later build the kingdom of Khemer, once
lived in Java when large middle classical temple style architecture was built. To find out the
architectural connections of temples in Java and in Cambodia then the first thing to do is to
know all the architectural unsurts in both temples. So the purpose of this study is to know the
unsurts of spatial, plan, figures and temple ornaments of the middle classical era of Java and
pre-Angkor temple era.

This research is done by qualitative method of comparative. Qualitative research is applied

by visiting and observing physical objects, then discussed using theories relating to research
topics. While the object is selected using purposive sampling method, with the basic object of
research is closely related to the style, wholeness and scale. Of the 80 points used in
identifying architectural unsurts in the mass structure, floor plan, figures, and ornaments,
the authors found 13 very similar points, 50 points to Bakong but not similar, and 17 points

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missing from Bakong. Based on these results the allegation that the temple of the middle
classical era of Java has a relationship with the transitional era are becoming stronger.1

________________________________________________________________
1. THE IDENTIFICATION OF CENTRAL JAVA CLASSIC ERA’S ARCHITECTURE (BOROBUDUR AND PRAMBANAN,
(9TH CENTURY) ON THE TEMPLE IN THE CAMBODIA’S TRASITIONAL ERA (BAKONG, 9TH CENTURY)
MORPHOLOGICAL TYPOLOGY STUDIES (MASS ORGANIZATION, FLOOR PLAN, FIGURE AND ORNAMENTS).
Galih Andika Pratomo ; Rahadhian Prajudi Herwindo

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Consecration of bakong: Bakong on the other hand was consecrated in 881, during the
reign of Indravarman (877-889).This is the first of the temple-pyramids, which later became
standard for all Khmer kings. It is a temple as well as a symbol of the king’s reign and the
magnitude of his power.On the walls of the three decreasing rectangular terraces we can
identify the series of reliefs which has already pleased our eyes in Angkor Wat and
Bayon. Unfortunately, in Bakong galleries do not protect the reliefs, thus the ornaments on
the are hardly distinguishable on the few centimeters of intact, adjoining surfaces. On the
corners of the terraces we can see battle elephants; the stairway leading to the main
sanctuary, like in all the later Khmer temples, is decorated with stylized lions.

Bakong
Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta is a well-known city in Java Island, Indonesia. Yogya (as it is
usually called) has a unique charm, which is felt on every visit. Every one who goes there
returns with wonderful memories, making Yogya a good site for tourism. Prambanan
Temple is the product of phenomenal artistic labour in Yogya, built on Kingdom of
Mataram Kuno in the nineth – tenth century. It was in Sanjaya Dynasty (when Rakai Pikatan
and Rakai Balitung are governing the Kingdom).

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Prambanan Temple has 1,000 statues, three main temples in front center (primary yard) with
bigger then others, namely Vishnu, Brahma, and Shiva Temples. Those three temples are
symbols of ‘Trimurti’ (Tri = tiga = three; Murti = dewa = God in Hindu belief; (English:
‘three forms’; Sanskrit: trimurti) is a concept in Hinduism in which the cosmic functions of
creation (dewa Brahma), maintenance (dewa Vishnu), and destruction (dewa Shiva). These
three deities have been called “the Hindu triad” or the “Great Trinity,”. All of the temples
face the east. Besides, there are 2 flank temples, 4 kelir temples, 4 corner temples and other
smaller temples are around of the three main temples. See Map below.

According to the legend, Prambanan temple was built due to a love affair legend. When
Prince Bandung Bondowoso asked for Roro Jonggrang to marriage him, she doesn’t want,
because he killed King Ratu Boko (Jonggrang fathers), so Jonggrang asked to Bondowoso an
impossible task: build temple with 1,000 statues in one night. If he fulfilled the task, he could
marry her. The request was nearly fulfilled when Jonggrang asked the villagers to pound rice
and to set a fire in order to look like morning had broken. Feeling cheated, Bondowoso,
having only completed 999 statues, and cursed Jonggrang to be the thousandth statue.
Through the intervention of Shiva, the petrified body became the idol or mascot that now
stands in the north of the “Shiva Temple” at Candi Prambanan..

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 CHAPTER VIII
Temple Mountain as Cosmos & spiritual light
-house

In early days, Temples and Stupas served as the major landmarks of the land. They
were no Mountains in India _ I mean TEMPLE MOUNTAINS but each temple was tall and
could be sighted from afar by the devotees- a Beacon or light house to guide the traveler on
the Divine Path.

A place was recognized either using the palaces or temples from afar due to their height or
social and cultural placement. As the palaces were prone for being ruined due to assault,
temples served as the chief landmark for the passengers travelling on foot orcarriages from
afar. It was a beacon- a light house to guide the visitors. Many served as Guest Houses for
travelers especially priests and missionaries or just as identifiable marks on the kandscape-“
Where is the konark Stupa? ‘ Oh There on the right”

ELEMENTS OF HINDU TEMPLE TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE

It was the later half of the 7th century that the Hindu temple structures of India began to
acquire a definite form with consolidation of design structures all over India.
Elements of Hindu temple:
1. Ardhamandapa’ meaning the front porch or the main entrance of the temple leading
to the mandapa. It unites the main sanctuaryand the pillared hall of the temple.
‘Antarala’ meaning the vestibule or the intermediate chamber.
2. ‘Garbhagriha’ meaning the womb chamber. The shape and the size of the tower vary
from region to region. It is the pyramidal or tapering portion of the temple which
represents the mythological ‘Meru’ or the highest mountain peak. 1. ‘Sikhara’
meaning the tower or the spire. The devotees walk around the deity in clockwise
direction as a worship ritual and symbol of respect to the temple god or goddess.
There is an enclosed corridor carried around the outside of garbhagriha called the
Pradakshina patha’ meaning the ambulatory passageway for circumambulation

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Garbhagriha (cella or inner chamber). the lower portion inside the Vimana is called
Shikhara and upper as the Vimana is called as the Sikhara . The visitors are not

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 allowed inside the The chamber is mostly square in plan and is entered by a doorway
on its eastern side. It is nucleus and the innermost chamber of the temple where the
image or idol of the deity is placed.
3. ‘Gopurams’ meaning the monumental and ornate tower at the entrance of the temple
complex, specially found in south India
4. ‘Mandapa’, is the pillared hall in front of the garbhagriha, for the assembly of the
devotees. In some of the earlier temples the mandapa was an isolated and separate
structure from the sanctuary known as ‘Natamandira’ meaning temple hall of dancing,
where in olden days ritual of music and dance was performed. It is used by the
devotees to sit, pray, chant, meditate and watch the priests performing the rituals.
5. The Amalaka the fluted disc like stone placed at the apex of the sikhara.
6. ‘Toranas’, the typical gateway of the temple mostly found in north Indian temple
7. ‘Pitha’ , the plinth or the platform of the temple

In order to make easy the roaming folk to recognize the locations easily, the Gopuram’s of
the temples had to be built elevated. That tiled way for the elevated Gopuram’s. By way of
seeing the Gopuram’s form expanse, passengers planned the approximate distance of their
target from their location. Gopuram’s were built extremely high to serve as landmarks as
well as for traveler distance’s.

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Additionally, temples served as the main protection for travelers. When people travel
between places, they stay at the temple building to take rest. Before they commence the new
part of their journey, they would respect God and begin.
Representatively, the Temple Gopuram or the access to the temple represents the feet of the
divinity. A devotee bows at the feet of the Lord at the entry as he steps into the temple and
proceed towards the chamber, leaving behind the world of contradiction. A Gopura is
usually constructed with an enormous stone base and a superstructure of brick and support. It
is rectangular in sketch and topped by a barrel-vault roof crowned with a row of finials.
When viewed from apex, the Gopura too resembles a mandala; with sculptures and carvings
of Yalis and mythological animals to be found in the outer enclosed space. Humans and
divine beings are in the central enclosures. The crest of the Gopura, the Kalasha, is at the
centre of the Mandala.T hese sculptures follow a selection of themes resulting from the
Hindu mythology, mainly those associated with the presiding idol of the temple where
the gopuram is positioned. Gopuras come into view to have inclined revision in the temple
plan and outline. The spaces just about the shrine became hierarchical; the further the space
was from the central shrine, the lesser was its distinction. The farthest ring had buildings of a
more practical or a secular nature – shops, dormitories, sheds, workshops etc., thus
transforming the temple from a merely place of worship to the center of a vibrant alive city.

A mandala (emphasis on first syllable; Sanskrit मण्डल, maṇḍala – literally "circle") is a

geometric configuration of symbols. In various spiritual traditions, mandalas may be
employed for focusing attention of practitioners and adepts, as a spiritual guidance tool, for
establishing a sacred space and as an aid to meditation and trance induction. In the Eastern
religions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Shintoism it is used as a map representing
deities, or specially in the case of Shintoism, paradises, kami or actual shrines.
In New Age, the mandala is a diagram, chart or geometric pattern that represents
the cosmos metaphysically or symbolically; a time-microcosm of the universe, but it
originally meant to represent wholeness and a model for the organizational structure of life
itself, a cosmic diagram that shows the relation to the infinite and the world that extends
beyond and within minds and bodies.

MANDALA:
Religious meaning
In Hinduism, a basic mandala, also called a yantra, takes the form of a square with four gates
containing a circle with a center point. Each gate is in the general shape of a T. Mandalas
often have radial balance.
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A yantra is similar to a mandala, usually smaller and using a more limited colour palette. It
may be a two- or three-dimensional geometric composition used in sadhanas, puja or
meditative rituals, and may incorporate a mantra into its design. It is considered to represent
the abode of the deity. Each yantra is unique and calls the deity into the presence of the
practitioner through the elaborate symbolic geometric designs. According to one scholar,
"Yantras function as revelatory symbols of cosmic truths and as instructional charts of the
spiritual aspect of human experience"
Many situate yantras as central focus points for Hindu tantric practice. Yantras are not
representations, but are lived, experiential, nondual realities. As Khanna describes:
Despite its cosmic meanings a yantra is a reality lived. Because of the relationship that exists
in the Tantras between the outer world (the macrocosm) and man's inner world (the
microcosm), every symbol in a yantra is ambivalently resonant in inner–outer synthesis, and
is associated with the subtle body and aspects of human consciousness.

The term 'mandala' appears in the Rigveda as the name of the sections of the work,
and Vedic rituals use mandalas such as the Navagraha mandala to this day.
The science behind these constructions is that, the temple architecture gives cosmic force to
the main idol in the Garbha Griha. Firstly, the Juathaskambam acts like an antenna and
receives the cosmic force from the space and through a subversive channel it is linked to the
main idol in the Garbha-graha. The cosmic force continuously flows through
the Jathuskambam to the statue and energies it. Secondly, the celestial power fetched through
the field gives the idol effulgence and metaphysical powers. The cosmic-force is additionally
maintained by noise waves (Vedic chants – Read about the Significance of Chanting) and the
pyramid like tomb. The pyramid like construction helps to intensify and protect the cosmic
force. These are the reasons for anybody to feel a positive energy, goodness, serenity or
divinity when we approach the interior sanctum.

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The copper plate has the propensity to suck part the Ether when that penetrates from the
copper and the Herbal resulting in powerful atomic force that penetrates through the skin to
heal the human, and that’s why the copper plate is put on the temple tower.

The idol is washed with various materials (milk, sandal paste, oil) to preserve the idols. The
idol is adorned with flowers and ornaments for mental and visual boost. But the diverse
postures of the idol (sitting/standing, number of hands, weapons they hold) do have meaning
in emitting the cosmic force.
Thus the temples serve up as the scientific room to receive the shower of cosmic force or
God’s blessing.
From my understanding Temple Gopurams are an important part of any Hindu temples and
there are specific reasons for their existence. They are:
1) Temple Gopurams are built to receive the positive energy from the universe. Cosmic rays
will be received by the Gopuram and it will be passed to the statue in the temple.
2) Gopuram will also receive the energy from thunder/lightning and pass it to the ground. So
it acted as a layer of protection for the temple and the nearby areas.
3) Temple Gopuram were built largely to depict the culture and art of ancient people
4) It also used to act as a landmark in olden days to find out the cities, way to different
places.
5) In olden days , kings built temples in order to give job to the people of the country and
along with that future generations will come to know the architectural talents that ancient
people had.
6) The small carvings and statues in temple gopuram depict the story of the god and also will
show life lessons.
Buddhist Architecture-Viharas BUDDHIST ARCHITECTURE

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 The early structures that were built during the empires were permanent in nature and long
lasting. Non-Structural or rock-cut means that they were carved out of mountain cliff or huge
rocks.
The Buddhist Architecture began with the development of various symbols, representing
aspects of the Buddha's life(563BCE- 483BCE). Indian Emperor Ashoka, not only
established Buddhism as the state religion of his large Magadh empire, but also opted for the
Architectural monuments to spread Buddhism in different places. The major features of this
style are Stupas, Stambhas, Chaityas, Viharas. Beginning of Buddhist architecture in India
was in the 3rd century BCE.. Three types of structures are associated with the religious
architecture of early Buddhism: monasteries

1. (Viharas), places to venerate relics

2. (stupas), and shrines or prayer halls
3. (chaityas also called chaitya grihas), which later came to be called temples in
some places.
This religion initially did not involve making of figures or idols but gradually the followers
started making sculptural representations of Buddha. There are 2 phases of Buddhism:
1. HINAYANA- 2ND CENTURY BC- 2ND CENTURY AD
2. MAHAYANA- 3RD CENTURY AD – 7TH CENTURY AD
Viharas initially were only temporary shelters used by wandering monks during the rainy
season, but later were developed to accommodate the growing and increasingly formalized
Buddhist monasticism(monkhood). An existing example is at Nalanda (Bihar). The initial
function of a stupa was the veneration and safe-guarding of the relics of the Buddha. The
earliest surviving example of a stupa is in Sanchi (Madhya Pradesh). In accordance with
changes in religious practice, stupas were gradually incorporated into chaitya-grihas (prayer
halls). These reached their high point in the 1st century BC, exemplified by the cave
complexes of Ajanta and Ellora (Maharashtra). The Pagoda is an evolution of the Indian
stupa. Buddhist architecture in India

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Cave No 10 at Ajanta
Buddhist architecture emerged slowly in the period following the Buddha’s life, along with
the Hindu temple architecture. Brahmanist temples at this time followed a simple plan – a
square inner space, the sacrificial arena, often with a surrounding ambulatory route separated
by lines of columns, with a conical or rectangular sloping roof, behind a porch or entrance
area, generally framed by freestanding columns or a colonnade. The external profile
represents Mount Meru, the abode of the gods and centre of the universe. The dimensions
and proportions were dictated by sacred mathematical formulae. This simple plan was
adopted by Early Buddhists, sometimes adapted with additional cells for monks at the
periphery (especially in the early cave temples such as at Ajanta, India). The basic plan
survives to this day in Buddhist temples throughout the world. • The profile became
elaborated and the characteristic mountain shape seen today in many Hindu temples was
used in early Buddhist sites and continued in similar fashion in some cultures. • In others,
such as Japan and Thailand, local influences and differing religious practices led to different
architecture. Gupta period temple at Sanchi besides the Apsidal hall with Maurya foundation
Evolution of Buddhist Architecture Early Buddhist Architecture.

Early Buddhist temples: Early temples were often timber, and little trace remains,
although stone was increasingly used. Cave temples such as those at Ajanta have survived
better and preserve the plan form, porch and interior arrangements from this early period. As
the functions of the monastery-temple expanded, the plan form started to diverge from the
Brahmanist tradition and became more elaborate, providing sleeping, eating and study
accommodation. A characteristic new development at religious sites was the stupa. Stupas
were originally more sculpture than building.• One of the earliest Buddhist sites still in
existence is at Sanchi, India, and this is centred on a stupa said to have been built by King
Ashoka (273-236 BCE). The original simple structure is encased in a later, more decorative
one, and over two centuries the whole site was elaborated upon. The four cardinal points are
marked by elaborate stone gateways. As with Buddhist art, architecture followed the spread
of Buddhism throughout south and east Asia and it was the early Indian models that served
as a first reference point, even though Buddhism virtually disappeared from India itself in the
10th century. The Borobudur Temple, Indonesia Buddhist Temple during Gupta Period.

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Decoration of Buddhist sites became steadily more elaborate through the last two centuries
BCE, with the introduction of human figures, particularly on stupas. However, the Buddha
was not represented in human form until the 1st century CE. Instead, aniconic symbols were
used. This is treated in more detail in Buddhist art, Aniconic phase. It influenced the
development of temples, which eventually became a backdrop for Buddha images in most
cases. Temples became Backdrop for Budhha images Buddhisttemples

Architectural History FEATURES OF BUDDHIST ARCHITECTURE

The major features of this style are: Stupas (Buddhist shrine) Stambhas (Pillars) Chaityas
(Caves) Vihaaras (Monasteries) • Out of these, the prominent examples of Chaitya Hall and
Viharas can be found in Rock-Cut Architecture. Even the Stupa can be found in certain
Chaitya halls in a miniature form. Features of Buddhist architecture.

Stupas (domes) DEFINITION: Dome-shaped structures used to house sacred relics of the
monks and hence also known as “Relic-shrines”. CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS: Earth
materials covered with stones or bricks. The plan, elevation and the basic structure all
derived from the circle. STUPA IS MOUND OF THE EARTH ENCLOSING A
RELICCAN BE COMPARED WITH THE MASSIVE FORM OF THEGREAT
PYRAMIDS OF EGYPT. THEY ALSO CALLED AS THUPPA IN PALI, DAGABA
INSIMBALI, TOPE IN ENGLISH & DHATUGRABH IN
SANSKRIT.(DHATUGRABH=RELICS PRESERVED IN VESSEL CLASSIFIED INTO
THREE TYPES.:
1.SARIKA STUPA-raised over body relics.
2.PARIBHOJIKA STUPA - erected over the articles, like the bowl, the sanghati
3. UDDESHIKA STUPA- Stupas built as commemorative monuments.

Structural Features: The spherical dome symbolized the infinite space of the sky. The
dome is called as anda or egg. The dome is a solid brick work is 36.60M in dia, and 16.46M
high. • A large hemispherical dome which is flat at the top, and crowned by a triple umbrella
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or Chattra on a pedestal surrounded by a square railing or Harmika. A railing enclosed called
Vedica which is about 3.35 M high leaving an ambulatory passage or pradikshina path with
the gateways. The upper ambulatory passage (midhi) 4.87M high from the ground and 1.8M
wide. There are four gateways known as Toronas at the cardinal points of the campus.
Toronas built by ivory or metal worker. Elevation Plan.

PLANNING OF SANCHI STUPA

Stone vedicaUpper Ambulatory 1.8m wide3.35m high Harmika or triple umbrella Suchi 60
cm dia Urdhava patas 45cm dia 60-90 cmc/c Ushnisha Steps leading to upper
ambulatoryLower Ambulatory 3.35 m. high.

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Toranas at Sanchi Toranas are associated with Buddhist stupas like the Great Stupa in
Sanchi, as well as with Jain and Hindu structures, and also with several secular structures. In
the 1st century BCE, four elaborately carved toranas (ornamental gateways) and a balustrade
encircling the entire structure were added around the sanchi stupa built during Mauryan
period.

Stambhas (pillars) The next development was the free standing monolithic columns erected
over sites selected because of their sacred associations. They were basically stone objects.

DEFINITION: In the context Of Hindu Mythology, stambha, is believed to be a cosmic

column. DESIGN: A stambha consists of a circular column or shaft slightly tapering towards
the summit (monolithic). On top of this shaft is the Persepolitan bell or the inverted lotus
shaped base. Above this is the abacus on top of which rests the crowning sculpture. These
three portions were carved out of a single stone (monolithic). The famous iron pillar from the
Gupta period is a fine specimen, withstanding exposure to rain & storm, yet remaining
smooth and unrusted bearing testimony to the mastery of Indian metal-casting.
Iron Pillar Ashokan Pillar

CHAITYAS -A Buddhist shrine or prayer hall with stupa at one end. Made for large
gatherings of devotees. Made in rock-cut due to permanency of structure. Chaityas were
influenced by ascetic lifestyle of Vedic period and tendency of hermits to retire in solitude.
Basic Characteristics Accommodates Stupa. Apsidal Plan. No division between nave and
chaitya i.e space for congregational service not clearly defined. Vaulted hall. Colonnades.
Side aisles.

Why a Chaitya Hall? : The stupa evolved from being a funerary mound carrying object of
worship, had a sacral value. Building needed to accommodate copies of stupa and provide
shelter. A structural house for religious activities. Birth of temples with idol worship.
Building had almost circular plan and a domed roof.

Chaityas (caves) The next significant development was the rock-cut architecture. Its earliest
and most imp. Marvel was the Lomas Rishi Cave, at Barabar hills, Bihar. Derived from
timber huts and wooden arch. of Vedic times. They were rectangular halls, with finely
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polished interior walls. There were a number of well proportioned pillars, generally around
35, and a semi-circular roof. Opposite one entrance stood a stupa. All the pillars have
capitals on them, with carvings of a kneeling elephant mounted on bell-shaped bases.

Architecturally, chaityas show similarities to Roman Design concepts of columns and arch.
The monks built many structures which were carved out of a single massive rock, done with
hammer and chisel, bare hands. The chaityas were almost 40 meters long, 15 meters wide
and 15 meters high. Chaityas (caves)

DESIGN: The pillars had three parts: prop, which is the base which is buried into the
ground; the shaft, the main body of the pillar which is polished and chiseled; and capital, the
head of the pillar where figures of animals are carved. The Stupa at the end of the Chaitya
Hall has an umbrella at the top. This Umbrella suggests association with Buddhism. There is
a wooden facade, made out of teak wood. The facade makes it look as if the entire structure
was resting on the back of an elephant with ivory tusks and metal ornaments.
Architectural Features: Wooden construction inspired from Vedic period imitated in
natural rock. Supplemented with wooden surfaces for e.g.. Screens etc. (half timber
construction) Shows similarities to Roman concept of column and arch, but no
evidence of any relation.

Architectural FeaturesRectangular halls with finely polished interior walls. Well

proportioned pillars with capitals(around 35). Semi circular roof. Pillar had three
parts: prop, base buried in ground and shaft. Stupa at the end. Extensive use of
motifs, decorative and symbolic.

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 Chaitya Arch : Chaityas normally had a great-horseshoe archway with a wall or
screen below. There was sun window in center of the archway for light.
Evolution of Chaitya Hall

VIHARAS A monastery, arrangement of cells for accomodation of monks

Dwellings were simply wooden construction/thatched bamboo huts Near settlements
on trade routes After first century AD, Viharas came in as educational institutes

Basic Characteristics Quadrangular court for gathering Surrounded by small cells

Front wall incorporated a shrine for image of Buddha Cells had rock cut platforms
for beds Viharas were not alike in design Doorways were on sides of the walls of
main hall.Construction and Materials Rock-cut architecture basically used wooden
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 construction down to joinery details Hardly structuralIn brick, corbelled arches are
used, and very large bricks to for large span motifs used floral patterns, animals(used
throughout the kingdom)

Vihaaras (MONASTRIES) They were the residential places of the Buddhist

priest(monks). The main hall was entered through a doorway, leading to an assembly
hall, dining chambers and meditation cells. The walls depict figures of the Buddha.
The columns were of 60 meters height and well-chiselled. Typical Plan of a Vihaara

WHY WESTERN GHATS •Uniformity of texture in hills. Horizontally stratified.

Ends in perpendicular cliffs. BUILDING STRATEGYCliff was made perpendicular
Entry was made A small excavated for architect monk Excavation from top to bottom
.Subsequently other cells were build. Ajanta Cave No. 10 100ft by 40ft by 33ft Same
roof ribs Two tiered stupa with circular base and elongated dome. Bhaja(150 b.c)
Most primitive hall. 55ft by 26ft, side aisles 3.5ft wide and high stilted vault 29ft
high with closed rank wood ribs. Facades have numerous mortice holes for fixing
elaborate wooden frontages Simple stupa with cylindrical base and a wooden
harmikaa and chhatri. One central doorway+2 side ones. Projection balcony
supported on four pillars. H shaped framework held by projection beams.

Ajanta No.9 Entire hall rock carved. Rectangular plan, ceilings of side aisles flat with
perpendicular pillars. Doorway in centre and a window on either side, topped by
elegant cornice. Lattice windows around archways. No wooden ribs bracing the
vaults.

Mahayana Phase- 400 A.D -600 A.D: Basic Characteristics -Main seats of this
school were Ajanta, Ellora, Auarngabad. There was a change in iconography since
both schools perceived different imagery of Buddha. Elements of Chaitya Halls
remained same. Viharas became finer and more elaborate. Ajanta Cave No. 26 •68ft
by 36f by 31 ft. Last Ajanta Hall. More ornamented, right from pillars, elaborate
triforium, and recessed panels. Portico had 3 doorways with Chaitya window above.
Decline of style by excessive workmanship.

Ellora Caves:Caves excavated out of low ridge hills, Buddhists occupied best site.
Dhedwada group(caves 1 to 5) and 6 to 12 were two main groups Mahanwada
cave(no.5) had both monastery and hall, it had two parallel platforms for seating of
priests Later group had chaitya hall no. 10 Cave no. 2 has 48 pillars colonnade
attached with side gallery. Cushion pillar comes in focus now.Caves 66 to 12 -
Largest monasteries. No. 12 is knows as tin thaal(thre stories), can lodge 40 priests
(108ft by 60 ft). Does not have any ornamentation. Access is through pillared
verandah. All three floors are different.

Inspiration and influence.Inspired from Vedic wooden construction techniques,

prevalent to Buddhism coming in vogue. Inspired Indian temples, for eg. Early
Brahmanical temples in South India (for eg. Chaitya window motif), temples at Sanchi.
Even Jain caves got influenced from Buddhism, fro eg. Udaigiri. Spread to North
East.Temples Since the same guild of artists worked for all the religions, there is hardly
any difference in the treatment of the Buddhist, Brahmanical and Jain temples in a
particular region at a given period. The oldest existing temple is temple at Sanchi, which
is also the earliest known example of Gupta temple style. The only décor was at the
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entrance present with bands of scrolls and pillars. This temple lays the logical foundation
of temple architecture in North India, which developed in due course a shikhara over its
basic form.
The Mahabodhi Temple is a Buddhist temple in Bodh Gaya, marking the location where
the Buddha, is said to have attained enlightenment. Bodh Gaya is located about 96km
from Patna, Bihar. Next to the temple, on its western side, is the holy Bodhi tree and the
monastery there the Bodhimanda Vihara. The tallest tower is 55 metres (180 ft) tall. Holy
Bodhi tree Mahabodhi Temple

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The 'Great Stupa' at Sanchi is the oldest stone structure in India. Sanchi Stupas is located on
the top of the Sanchi hill, which raise about 100M high above the plain. Sanchi Stupa was
built by Ashoka (273-236 B.C.) Sanchi Stupa is located 40 km north east of Bhopal, and 10
km from Besnagar and Vidisha in the central part of the state of Madhya Pradesh.

LOCATION: Stupas were erected over the sacred relics of the monks and worshiped with
great reverence. They are therefore known as Relic-Shrines. The stupa more then a funeral
mound was planned like a Vedic village.
Great Stupa, Sanchi (Madhya Pradesh)- Dharmaksha stupa
SITE PLANNING

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There are four gateways known as Toronas at the cardinal points of the campus. Toronas
built by ivory or metal worker. Plan and elevation of Sanchi Stupa.The terrace (midi) 4.87M
high from the ground was added thus creating a separate and upper ambulatory passage 1.8M
wide. At the base of the dome is a high circular terrace probably meant for parikrama or
circumambulation and an encircling balustrade.  a railing enclosed called Vedica which is
about 3.35 M high leaving an ambulatory passage or pradikshina path with the gateways.  a
large hemispherical dome which is flat at the top, and crowned by a triple umbrella or
Chattra on a pedestal surrounded by a square railing or Harmika.  The dome is a solid brick
work is 36.60M in dia, and 16.46M high. The spherical dome symbolized the infinite space
of the sky, abode of God. The dome is called as anda or egg or.

The top panels is crowned with Tri-Ratna symbol of the Buddhist trinity, Buddha, the law
(dharma) and monastic community (sangha) with wheels of justice in the centre which rest
on elephant s The panels have volutes at their terminal ends surmounting with animal
sculpture.  These columns support three separate horizontal panels between each of which
is row of ornamental balusters.  Torona consist of 2 square upright columns with capitals or
lion of elephant heads denoting strength.  The total height of this erection is about 10. 36M
with a width of 3M. Ashok chakra The Gateway ‘Torona’haped pedestal.

FEATURES Harmika or triple umbrella Upper Ambulatory 1.8m wide3.35m high Stone
vedica Ushnisha Urdhava patas 45cm dia 60-90 cmc/c Suchi 60 cm dia Lower Ambulatory
3.35 m. high Steps leading to upper ambulatory. Front View of sanchi stupa Column of
Torna Front View of Torna Elephants and Yakshi of the Eastern Torana, Great Stupa,
Sanchi, mid-1st century BC - AD 1st century View of Torna from upper ambulatory. these
niches were mostly provided to erect Buddha’s statue. Delicately carved with beautiful floral
and geo-metrical patterns. Site Map a line of sculptured ornaments.run below it The
facing of stone basement has 8 niches, The Stupa consist of large tower built in stone
masonry at the basement for a height of 13M and in brick masonry above for a height 34M.

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built by Ashoka and later rebuilt in the Gupta period.  situated Benares. 6.5KM to the north
of a commemorative Stupa, built in 7th centuary.

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MANDALA AND HINDU TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE
Although there have been various arguments by authors of Indian temple architecture like
Stella Kramrisch and Michael W. Meister about the applicability of the Vastu Purusha
Mandala as a governing device for temple architecture, it is safe to say that for formulating
the layout of the temple, the Vastu Purusha Mandala has been an imperative tool. Though the
8 x 8 grid or the Manduka Vastu Mandala has been used in various temples of Indian
architecture, it is to be noted that regional differences have played a major influence on the
workability of the mandala design throughout India. Customarily, mandalas were spaces for
the symbolic consciousness of universal theories which help in the awakening of the
individual psyche. The mandalas can be thought of as diagrams that function as a cue to
reach a contemplational state which is the primary aim of the tradition. The form of the
temples that are based on the regulating lines of the mandala were meant to create spaces that
bring about a “physical and spatial” communion between God and man. 1
The Vastu Purusha Mandala contains a minimum of nine sections signifying the directions
north, south, east, west, northeast, northwest, southeast, southwest and the centre represented
as square grids. In the Vastu Purusha Mandala, the Purusha’s head is located in the northeast
direction and this is considered utmost sacred. In the southwest are his feet and his knees and
elbows in the northwest and southeast. Kept open and clear in the centre part of the diagram
are his main organs and his torso. Starting from a single undivided square of 1 x 1 there are
grid patterns ranging up to 32 x 32 thus making it 1024 sections. Architecturally, the
adaptation of the Vastu Purusha Mandala has been seen in the design of houses, palaces,
temples and even cities. Integrating it into the design brings a certain amount of order in the
design. Here, the squares are assumed as cubes of architectural spaces.

The five elements of earth, water, fire, air and space correspond with specific sections of the
Vastu Purusha Mandala. The south-west direction is associated with the element of
earth(Bhumi); south-east with the elements of fire (Agni); north-east with the element of
water (Jala); north-west with the element of air (Vayu) and the centre space with the element
of space (Akasha). 2
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Indian temples are microcosm of Cosmos, acting as a connecting bridge between physical
world and divine world through their proportional arrangement. Mandapa, which were
entrance porches in the beginning became an integral part of the temple plan in providing
additional functions and in form providing an ex- pression of cosmos especially in elevation.
Ashapuri temples analyzed here, corresponds to Nagara temple proportions varying in
proportionas they belong to two different styles of nagara Architec- ture. From the study of
Adam Hardy it is said that they possessed temples of different styles in Nagara other than
these two. The site of Ashapuri seems to be a place for the development of the Ngara school
of archigtecture.
ANGKOR WAT
Angkor Wat was built by the king of the Khmer Empire first as a Hindu, then a Buddhist
temple complex. It is known as one of the largest monuments ever built. Hence, this great
Buddhist temple provides clear, physical evidence that Hinduism and Buddhism were
brought to the region by the Indians, and adopted by early Southeast Asian empires like the
Khmer Empire.

The pagodas of Angkor Wat are also a physical depiction of the Hindu concept of Mandala.
In addition, the gates of the temple also resemble the gates of the symbol of Mandala. This
concept is Hindu in nature and is believed to have been brought to pre-modern Southeast
Asia from India. It is probable that these ideas were then "borrowed" by the Khmer Empire,
and depicted through its great temple.

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Angkor Wat also has a Gopura. A Gopura is a monumental tower often built at the entrance
of temples - a distinctive feature of South Indian architecture. The presence of this structure
at Angkor Wat indicates that there was Indian influence in the architecture of the Khmer
Empire.

In addition, the temple has many bas-reliefs depicting stories from the Indian epics,
the Mahabharata and Ramayana. This shows that these stories were clearly influential in
early Southeast Asia as they repeatedly adorn the walls of Angkor Wat, which was seen as a
sacred and important place. This demonstrates just how strong Indian influence was in the
Khmer Empire.

Furthermore, even though hundreds of years have passed, Angkor Wat is still a national
symbol and major source of pride of Cambodia today. The fact that Indianisation of the
Khmer Empire from the 7th to 14th century has continued to shape the heritage and identity
of modern Cambodia indicates the lasting impact Indianisation had on the region.
Mandala in Meenakshi temple Madurai with biggest GOPURAMs in the world
Temple Structure
The entire structure, when viewed from above, represents a mandala. A mandala is a
structure built according to the laws of symmetry and loci. There are various shrines
built within the temple complex.
The temple occupies a huge area in the heart of Madurai as it spreads over 14 acres. The
temple is enclosed with huge walls, which were built in response to the invasions. Apart
from the two main shrines, which are dedicated to Sundareswarar and Meenakshi, the
temple has shrines dedicated to various other deities like Ganesha and Murugan. The
temple also houses goddesses Lakshmi, Rukmini, and Saraswati.
The temple also has a consecrated pond named ‘Porthamarai Kulam.’ The term
‘Potramarai Kulam’ is a literal translation of ‘pond with a golden lotus.’ The structure of
a golden lotus is placed at the center of the pond. It is said that Lord Shiva blessed this
pond and declared that no marine life would grow in it. In the Tamil folklore, the pond is
believed to be an evaluator for reviewing the worth of any new literature.

Image Credit:
The temple has four main towering gateways (gopurams) that look identical to each
other. Apart from the four ‘gopurams,’ the temple also houses many other ‘gopurams’
that serve as gateways to a number of shrines. The temple has a total of 14 towering
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gateways. Each one of them is a multi-storey structure and displays thousands of
mythological stories and several other sculptures. The major ‘gopurams’ of the temple
are listed below:
 Kadaka Gopuram – This towering gateway leads to the main shrine that houses
Goddess Meenakshi. The gateway was rebuilt by Tumpichi Nayakkar during the
mid-16th century. The ‘gopuram’ has five storeys.
 Sundareswarar Shrine Gopuram – This is the oldest ‘gopuram’ of the temple
and was built by Kulasekara Pandya. The ‘gopuram’ serves as a gateway to the
Sundareswarar (Lord Shiva) shrine.
 Chitra Gopuram – Built by Maravarman Sundara Pandyan II, the gopuram
depicts the religious and secular essence of Hinduism.
 Nadukkattu Gopuram – Also called as the ‘Idaikattu Gopuram,’ this gateway
leads to the Ganesha shrine. The gateway is placed right in between the two
main shrines.
 Mottai Gopuram – This ‘gopuram’ has fewer stucco images when compared to
the other gateways. Interestingly, ‘Mottai gopuram’ had no roof for nearly three
centuries.
 Nayaka Gopuram – This ‘gopuram’ was built by Visvappa Nayakkar around
1530. The ‘gopuram’ is astonishingly similar to another gateway called ‘Palahai
Gopuram.’
The temple also has numerous pillared halls called ‘Mandapams.’ These halls were built
by various kings and emperors and they serve as resting places for pilgrims and
devotees. Some of the most important ‘mandapams’ are given below:
 Ayirakkal Mandapam – It literally translates to ‘hall with thousand pillars.’
The hall, which was built by Ariyanatha Mudaliar, is a true spectacle as it is
supported by 985 pillars. Each and every pillar is sculpted magnificently and has
images of Yali, a mythological creature.
 Kilikoondu Mandapam – This ‘mandapam’ was originally built to house
hundreds of parrots. The parrots that were kept there in cages were trained to say
‘Meenakshi’. The hall, which is next to the Meenakshi shrine, has sculptures of
characters from Mahabharata.
 Ashta Shakthi Mandapam – This hall houses the sculptures of eight goddesses.
Built by two queens, the hall is placed in between the main ‘gopuram’ and the
gateway that leads to the Meenakshi shrine.
 Nayaka Mandapam – ‘Nayaka Mandapam’ was built by Chinnappa Nayakkar.
The hall is supported by 100 pillars and houses a Nataraja statue.

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ANGKOR WAT
Angkor Wat was built by the king of the Khmer Empire first as a Hindu, then a Buddhist
temple complex. It is known as one of the largest monuments ever built. Hence, this great
Buddhist temple provides clear, physical evidence that Hinduism and Buddhism were
brought to the region by the Indians, and adopted by early Southeast Asian empires like the
Khmer Empire.

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 The pagodas of Angkor Wat are also a physical depiction of the Hindu concept of Mandala.
In addition, the gates of the temple also resemble the gates of the symbol of Mandala. This
concept is Hindu in nature and is believed to have been brought to pre-modern Southeast
Asia from India. It is probable that these ideas were then "borrowed" by the Khmer Empire,
and depicted through its great temple.

Angkor Wat also has a Gopura. A Gopura is a monumental tower often built at the entrance
of temples - a distinctive feature of South Indian architecture. The presence of this structure
at Angkor Wat indicates that there was Indian influence in the architecture of the Khmer
Empire.

In addition, the temple has many bas-reliefs depicting stories from the Indian epics,
the Mahabharata and Ramayana. This shows that these stories were clearly influential in
early Southeast Asia as they repeatedly adorn the walls of Angkor Wat, which was seen as a
sacred and important place. This demonstrates just how strong Indian influence was in the
Khmer Empire.

Furthermore, even though hundreds of years have passed, Angkor Wat is still a national
symbol and major source of pride of Cambodia today. The fact that Indianisation of the
Khmer Empire from the 7th to 14th century has continued to shape the heritage and identity
of modern Cambodia indicates the lasting impact Indianisation had on the region.

Note how the architectural layout of the temple greatly resembles the symbol of
Mandala.For example, you can spot the building's centre point, as well as
the four gates on the outermost wall.

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Rough Layout of Angkor Wat

154
The Third Tier GOPURAM

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“The Vastu Purusha Mandala represents the manifest form of the Cosmic Being; upon
which the temple is built and in whom the temple rests. The temple is situated in Him,
comes from Him, and is a manifestation of Him. The Vastu Purusha Mandala is both the
body of the Cosmic Being and a bodily device by which those who have the requisite
knowledge attain the best results in temple building.” – Stella Kramrisch ; The Hindu
Temple, Vol. I

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 Vastu Purush Mandala has been in existence for thousands of years, will continue till
eternity. It is the fundamental principle which continues to create and run the whole
universe - both at the macro and the micro level If we can decode it's secret and follow
its eternal principles for construction, we can ensure a life full of health, wealth, peace
and prosperity.

The Vastu Purush Mandala is a cosmic geometrical wonder used to design temples
amongst other structures. When we observe the energy fields that develop at different
stages of a building – starting from the stage of a vacant plot - to the digging of land - to
the laying of the foundation - to the completion of the building - and finally to the point
when it is inhabited by the people – we unravel the secrets of the Vastu Purusha
Mandala.

Image of the Universe: The Vastu Mandala is the omnipresent, omnipotent soul of
every building. It is based on the principle that Man and Universe are analogous in their
structure and spirit. Vastu Purush Mandala is thus a Yantra or an image of the Universe
.Hindus believe that the body is the image of the entire Universe( See figure below).
Vastu Purusha Mandala is a combination of 45 Devtas and Asuras present in a
geometrical figure. The Devtas represent our consciousness and the Asuras our ignorance
and fear. The war between consciousness and ignorance goes on each moment within all
of us. It is not just a Puranic story, it’s the reality we live in each moment.

DECODING THE DEVTAS & ASURAS The 45 Energy Fields PADAVINAYASA

ModularGrid After Shilanyas and construction of foundation walls, this is the first
energy field to develop in the plot.

BRAHMA DEVTASvsASURAS THE ETERNAL WAR- Energy Fields Next to

Brahma ARYAMA The Power of Connections VIVASWAN The Power of Revolution
or Change MITRA The Power of Inspiration & Action BHUDHAR The Power of
Manifestation DEVA VITHI

The 8 Energy Fields in the Diagonal Directions NORTH EAST Apaha Apahavatsa
SOUTH WEST Indra Indrajaya SOUTH EAST Savita Savitur NORTH WEST Rudra
Rajyakshma MANUSHYA VITHI

1. NORTH EAST APAHA Igenerates the energies responsible for healing

APAHAVATSA Carries the healing powers to the occupants ww.anantvastu.com

2. SOUTH EAST SAVITA Energies that help to initiate any process or action
SAVITUR Energies that give capibilities to continue those actions and overcome all
challenges

3. . SOUTH WEST INDRA Energies that establish stability and enhance growth
INDRAJAYA The tools and the channels through which one can achieve growth

4. .NORTH WEST RUDRA Energies responsible for support and ensure flow of
activities and life RAJYAKSHMA Energies which uphold the support and stabilise
the mind . The 32 Energy Fields of the Outer Periphery PAISHACHA VITHI . These
are also the 32 Possible Entrance Locations . The 32 Energy Fields of the Outer
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 Periphery ADITI Mother of the Devtas, this energy field provides security and helps
one connect with himself/herself) DITI Mother of the Asuras, this energy field gives
the powers of a wider vision and to see the actual truth of life.SHIKHI Symbolic of a
pointed flame, this field gives the power of ideas and the ability to project one’s
thoughts to the world PARJANYA The giver of rains, this field has the powers to
bless the occupants with fertility and fulfilment of all their wishes NORTH EAST

5. SOUTH EAST BHRISHA The power of friction needed to initiate any action ,
thinking or activity AAKASH The energy that provides the space for manifestation
ANILA The energy of air or vayu, it helps to uplift the fire or push further the actions
initiated PUSHAN The energy of nourishment, it blocks the path of enemies The 32
Energy Fields of the Outer Periphery.

6. SOUTH WEST BHRINGRAJ The energy which extracts nutrients from the food and
removes the waste MRIGHA The energy that drives curiosity and imparts skills
PITRA The energy of the ancestors which provides all means of safety and happiness
required for existence DAUWARIK The safe keeper, represents lord Nandi-the trusted
vehicle of lord Shiva. The energy of being genius and highly knowledgeable The 32
Energy Fields of the Outer Peripher

7. NORTH WEST SHOSHA The power of detoxification from negative emotions

PAPYAKSHMA The energy which gives addiction, diseases and the feeling of guilt
ROGA The energy which provides support in the hour of need NAGA The energy
which gives emotional enjoyments and cravings The 32 Energy Fields of the Outer
Periphery

8. NORTH MUKHYA The chief architect or lord Vishwakarma, this energy field
defines the main purpose of the building & also helps in their manifestation
BHALLAT The energy field which grants colossal abundance, it magnifies the efforts
and their results SOMA The energy field of Kubera - the lord of all wealth and money.
It ensures a smooth flow of money and opportunities BHUJAG The the lord of hidden
treasures, this energy field is the preserver of medicines. It safeguards the health of the
occupants The 32 Energy Fields of the Outer Periphery

9. EAST JAYANT The energy which gives the sense of being victorious, it refreshes the
mind and body MAHENDRA The energy which grants the power of administration
and connectivity SURYA The core controller, this energy fields imparts health , fame
and farsightedness SATYA The energy which establishes goodwill, status,
authenticity and credibility The 32 Energy Fields of the Outer Periphery

10. SOUTH VITATHA The energy field of falsehood, pretension and the unreal
GRUHAKSHAT The power which binds the mind and defines its limits YAMA The
power of expansion, this energy field binds the world in laws GANDHARVA The
energy of preservation of health & vitality. This energy also governs all kinds of arts
and music The 32 Energy Fields of the Outer Periphery

11. WEST SUGREEV The power which grants the ability to receive all knowledge
PUSHPADANT The power which grants blessings and fulfills all desires VARUN
The lord of the seas, this energy field observes and runs the whole world. It is the
granter of immortality ASURA The the energy field that releases the mind from
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 temptations and gives depth in spirituality The 32 Energy Fields of the Outer
Periphery.

REFERENCES
1. Bindu and Mandala: Manifestations of Sacred Architecture,Conference: ICABE-
2016
Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. Paper presented by Jaffer Adam,Deepika Varadarajan.

2. THE MANDALA AS A COSMIC MODEL USED TO SYSTEMATICALLY

STRUCTURE THE TIBETAN BUDDHIST LANDSCAPE,Ping Xu,Journal of
Architectural and Planning Research,Vol. 27, No. 3 (Autumn, 2010), pp. 181-
203,Published by: Locke Science Publishing Co.
3. On the Idea of the Mandala as a Governing Device in Indian Architectural
Tradition,Sonit Bafna,Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians,Vol. 59,
No. 1 (Mar., 2000), pp. 26-49,Published by: University of California Press on behalf
of the Society of Architectural Historians,https://www.jstor.org/stable/991561

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CHAPTER
163
 CHAPTER IX
The Temple Mountain of Baphuon

SHORT VERSION

In many ancient religions, mountain tops—from the Greeks’ Mt. Olympus to the
highest Himalayas of Hindu mythologywere believed to be the privileged home of
the gods. Southeast Asia, largely dependent on India for its principal religions of
Hinduism and Buddhism, is no exception. On the island of Java in Indonesia, for
example, the ancient holy site of Dieng was established in the crater of an extinct
volcano. Its name in old Javanese, Di Hyang (in Sanskrit, Devalaya), means, in
effect, “home of the Gods.” According to Thierry Zephir, Khmer architecture, of
which the temple-mountain is at once the best-known and most important
expression, remains one of Asia’s major contributions to the world’scultural patri-
mony. Despite the considerable number of studies, both general and specific,
devoted to it, it is far from having been completely explained. It still constitutes a
field of exploration and research as rich as the religious traditions that gave rise to
it.1

In Cambodia, in the classic Khmer architecture of the Angkorean period, we find a

temple type in which the sanctuary is built atop a stepped pyramid. Nineteenth
century archaeologists called these “temple- mountains.” Each important sovereign
was apparently obliged to build one in order to establish his power. Baphuon is
one such temple at Angkor, Cambodia. It is located in Angkor Thom, northwest of
the Bayon.

Built in the mid-11th century, it is a three-tiered temple mountain built as the

state temple of Udayadityavarman II dedicated to the Hindu God Shiva. It is the
archetype of the Baphuon style with intricate carvings covering every available
surface. The temple adjoins the southern enclosure of the royal palace and
measures 120 metres east-west by 100 metres north-south at its base and stands
34 meters tall without its tower, which would have made it roughly 50 meters tall.
Its appearance apparently impressed Temür Khan's late 13th century envoy Zhou
Daguan during his visit from 1296 to 1297, who said it was 'the Tower of
Bronze...a truly astonishing spectacle, with more than ten chambers at its base.
_________________________________________________________________________________
___

1.Zephir, .Thierry"The Angkorean Temple-Mountain" Expedition Magazine 37.3 (1995): n.

pag. Expedition Magazine. Penn Museum, 1995 Web. 18 Sep 2021
<http://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/?p=4853>

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This symbolism of temple-mountains is unique to Khemer Architecture inspired
perhaps to the presence of Mount Kulen the holiest mountain to the Khemer
People blended with the Hindu Concept of Mount Meru the celestial center of the
Universe and the home of Lord Vishnu, the Hindu diety they reveared. The oldest
temple-mountain available for study is the Bakong (founded A.D. 881). Within its
first enclosure is a series of five rectangular buildings of which four are symmetri-
cally distributed north and south of the monument’s principal east-west axis.
These buildings are normally called long rooms. Although not found at Phnom
periphery of the first levels of the pyramids of the Eastern Mebon (A.D. 952) and
Pre Rup (A.D. 961). At the unfinished temple of Ta Keo (end of the 10th, beginning
of the 11th century and our Baphuon.

The Temple Mountain of ANGKOR WAT

The temple mountain form was meant to represent Mount Meru. The five towers
are arrayed in quincunx form; four at the corners and one in the center.

Angkor Wat is a Hindu temple complex at Angkor, Cambodia, built for the king
Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and part of his
capital city. (The Angkorian period dates 802-1432). As the best-preserved temple
at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre since
its foundation–first Hindu, dedicated to the god Vishnu, then Buddhist. Angkor
Wat combines two basic plans of Khmer temple architecture: the temple mountain
and the later galleried temple, based on early South Indian Hindu architecture. It
is designed to represent Mount Meru, home of the devas in Hindu mythology:
within a moat and an outer wall 3.6 kilometres (2.2 mi) long are three rectangular
galleries, each raised above the next. At the centre of the temple stands a quincunx
of towers. Unlike most Angkorian temples, Angkor Wat is oriented to the west. A
UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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Angkor Wat is said to be the largest religious monument in the world. Its
name, which translates to “temple city” in the Khmer language of the region,
references the fact it was built by Emperor Suryavarman II, who ruled the
region from 1113 to 1150, as the state temple and political center of his
empire . In 1840s “ re-discovered” by the French explorer Henri Mouhot, It
impressed him so much that he wrote that the site was “grander than anything left
to us by Greece or Rome.”

The compliment can likely be attributed to the temple’s design, which is supposed
to represent Mount Meru, the home of the gods, according to tenets of both the
Hindu and Buddhist faiths. Its five towers are intended to recreate the five peaks of

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Mount Meru, while the walls and moat below honor the surrounding mountain
ranges and the sea.

In his article- Mountains and Cities in Cambodia: Temple Architecture and Divine
Vision, Michael Meister exclaims the similarity of modern American cities with that of
ancient Khemer ones such as the Angkor Wat, towering towers.1

1. Meister, M. W. (2000). Mountains and Cities in Cambodia: Temple Architecture

and Divine Vision. International Journal of Hindu Studies, 4(3), 261–268.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/20106740

Udayadityavarman II ruled the Angkor Kingdom from 1050 to 1066 A.D. He was
the successor of Suryavarman I but not his son; he descended from Yasovarman
I's spouse.He built the Baphuon Temple to honor the god Shiva, but some of the
sculptures are dedicated to Buddha. He also completed the construction of
the West Baray reservoir and built the West Mebon, a raised-earth island in the
center.
During his reign, several attempted rebellions, in 1051 and 1065, were crushed by
his general Sangrama.

The Angkorian architects and sculptors created temples that mapped the cosmic
world in stone. Khmer decorations drew inspiration from religion, and mythical
creatures from Hinduism and Buddhism were carved on walls. Temples were built
in accordance to the rule of ancient Khmer architecture that dictated that a basic
temple layout include a central shrine, a courtyard, an enclosing wall, and a moat.
Khmer motifs use many creatures from Buddhist and Hindu mythology, like the
Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, use motifs such as the garuda, a mythical bird in
Hinduism.

The architecture of Cambodia developed in stages under the Khmer empire from
the 9th to the 15th century, preserved in many buildings of the Angkor temple.
The remains of secular architecture from this time are rare, as only religious
buildings were made of stonpe. The architecture of the Angkor period used specific
structural features and styles, which are one of the main methods used to date the
temples, along with inscriptions.

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The Sdok Kak Thom temple, located near the present day Thai town
of Aranyaprathet, was also constructed during his reign. The temple is perhaps
most famous as the discovery site of a detailed inscription recounting the sequence
of previous Khmer kings. The inscription stele is now part of the collection of the
national museum in Bangkok. He was succeeded by his younger brother
Harshavarman III.

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‘The Construction of the Baphuon was part of a major dynastic change and
florescence of the Hindu-Mahayana Buddhist state and the modification is the key
evidence of Theravada Buddhist power after Angkor's decline in the 15th century.
Using a newly-developed approach based on AMS radiocarbon dating to directly
date four iron crampons integrated into the structure, the first direct evidence was
oroduced for the history of the Baphuon. Both construction and modification were
a major temple associated with the imperial reformations and territorial
consolidation of Suryavarman I (1010–1050 AD) for whom no previous building to
legitimize his reign could be identified.The Theravada Buddhist modification are a
hundred years earlier associated with the Ayutthayan occupation of Angkor in

the 1430s and 40s .

1

_________________________________________________________________________________
___ Leroy S, Hendrickson M, Delqué-Kolic E, Vega E, Dillmann P (2015) First Direct
Dating for the Construction and Modification of the Baphuon Temple Mountain in
Angkor, Cambodia. PLoS ONE 10(11): e0141052.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0141052

169
170
171
In the late 15th century, the Baphuon was converted to a Buddhist temple which
explains the presence of the Buddha images- probably added later on.

The foundation of the Angkor monuments is artificial soil embankment, so-

called “rammed earth”, and its compaction quality affects significantly on the
stability of the buildings. 1
________________________________________________________
1.Ryota Hashimoto, Tomofumi Koyama, Mamoru Kikumoto, Toru Saito, Mamoru
Mimura, Stability Analysis of Masonry Structure in Angkor Ruin Considering the
Construction Quality of the Foundation, Journal of Civil Engineering Research,
Vol. 4 No. 3A, 2014, pp. 78-82. doi: 10.5923/c.jce.201402.13.

172
 The walls of the Baphuon are double walls

TODAY a double wall (also called component wall) is made of two concrete slabs
with a thickness of 5–7 cm each that are held together with truss-type
reinforcement. In these concrete panels, the structural reinforcement for the entire
concrete wall is built into the precast concrete component.

After the installation of the double walls, the remaining void is filled with mix-in-
situ concrete; therefore, this double wall is a semi-precast part. This produces a
monolithic, dense and extremely solid concrete wall. The double walls thus
combine the major advantages of prefabrication with the advantages of a wall that
has been produced on site with concrete poured into casing. Double walls are used
for the walls in basements and each storey.
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Often, double walls are produced with core insulation (with insulation inside them)
so as to be able to guarantee compliance with regulations concerning thermal
insulation. For structural calculations, a double wall is treated on the basis of its
full thickness in exactly the same way as a wall that has been produced by
concrete poured into casing.

The temple itself was surrounded by a wall 125 by 425 m the central tower was
probably gilded wood, which has not survived.

However by the 20th century, much of the temple had largely collapsed, and
restoration efforts took on an epic quality. A large-scale project to dismantle the
temple so that its core could be re-enforced before the whole is re-constructed
again—a process known as anastylosis—was abandoned after civil war broke out
in 1970. The workers and archaeologists were forced to leave 300,000 carefully
labelled and numbered blocks organized across 10 hectares surrounding the
temple. However, the plans identifying the pieces were lost during the decade of
conflict and the Khmer Rouge that followed.

A second project to restore the temple was launched in 1996 under the guidance of
architect Pascal Royère from the EFEO. It took the team another 16 years to
complete what had become known as the "largest 3D jigsaw puzzle in the world".
In April 2011, after 51 years of work, the restoration was completed and the temple
formally re-opened. King Norodom Sihamoni of Cambodia and Prime
Minister Francois Fillon of France were among those who first toured the
renovated temple during the inauguration ceremony on July 3, 2011.

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175
 THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE BAPHUON

Architecture. The Baphuon temple is the prototype for the Baphuon style of
design which covers every available surface with intricate carvings. These carvings
include both realistic and fanciful depictions of lotus flowers, wild animals and
hunters, devata figures, and men in battle. There are also carvings with indirect
references to Hindu mythology and scenes illustrating epic poems such as the
Ramayana. The sandstone temple-mountain symbolically represents the sacred
five-peaked Mount Meru important in both Hindu and Buddhist cosmology. There
are three enclosures in the Baphuon temple complex, and the main structure is
situated on a high base. With the bronze tower that was part of the original
structure it would have been roughly 50 meters high, but without this tower it
stands 34 meters tall.
Zhou Daguan, a Chinese 'ambassador' in the 13th century, speaks glowingly of the
temple, describing it as a 'copper tower'. This suggests that the entire temple may
have once been sheathed in bronze plates.

As with Angkor Wat, the Baphuon was converted to a Buddhist temple in the 16th
century. This involved the demolition of the outer galleries, causeway stones, and
other structures to reuse the material for construction of an enormous reclining
Buddha statue on the west side of the temple. The work was never completed,
however, and the half-finished Buddha is only barely distinguishable.

As the Baphuon was built on unstable soil it has not proven as durable as other
nearby temples. As early as the 1960s the EFEO (École française d'Extrême-Orient)
decided to begin restoration of the temple using the anastylosis technique, which
involved disassembly of large portions of the temple and reconstruction using the
original stones and replacements as needed. However, this work had to be
abandoned in the 1970s when the Khmer Rouge came to power. By that time, the
EFEO had completed the disassembly phase of the reconstruction. Over 300,000

176
stones were laid out in a 10 hectare area surrounding the temple. The EFEO
maintained careful records of the original position of each of the stones, but the
records were lost or destroyed during the Khmer Rouge period. In spite of this,
archaeologists working from 1995-2002 were able to reassign the locations of most
of the stones, and reconstruction was carried out from 2002-2011. The reopening
of the temple took place on July 3, 2011.

Plan of Baphuon
Drawn by Timothy M Ciccone following Claude Jacques, Michael Freeman, and Jean Laur.

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The period between 12th and 19th century was largely of religious wars and geo-
political instability across the Indian subcontinent, and the literature of this era do
not mention Masrur temples or present any scholarly studies on any Hindu, Jain
or Buddhist temples for that matter, rather they mention iconoclasm and temple
destruction.

After the 12th century, first northwestern Indian subcontinent, then India, in
general, witnessed a series of plunder raids and attacks of Turko-Afghan sultans
led Muslim armies seeking wealth, geopolitical power and the spread of
Islam. Successive Muslim dynasties controlled the Delhi Sultanate as waves of
wars, rebellions, secessions, and brutal counter-conquests gripped Indian regions
including those in and around Kashmir. The Mughal Empire replaced the Delhi
Sultanate in early 16th-century. The Mughal dynasty ruled much of the Indian
subcontinent through early 18th-century, and parts of it nominally through the
19th century.

The Kangra valley region with Masrur in the Himalayas was ruled by
smaller jagirdars and feudatory Hill Rajas who paid tribute to the Mughal
administration for many centuries. The arrival of the colonial era marked another
seismic shift in the region's politics. By the late 19th century, British India officials
had begun archeological surveys and heritage preservation efforts. The first known
visits to study the Masrur temples occurred in 1887.

COMPARISON of the DESIGN of PRASAT AUK UM and the 11 th

Century BAPHUON with MASRUR temple India

Masrur temple: symmetry of design

At first, it seems an extravagant and confused mass of spires,
doorways and ornament. The perfect symmetry of the design,
all centering in the one supreme spire, immediately over the
small main cell, which together form the vimana,
can only be realized after a careful examination of each part
in relation to the other.
—Henry Shuttleworth, 1913

The Masrur temple and the 8th-century Prasat Ak Yum and the 11 th Century
Baphuon temple found in Siam Reap, Cambodia have parallels, in that both are
temple mountains with a symmetric design . The main monument at the Masrur
temples site appears, at first sight, to be a complex of shrines, but it is an
integrated monument Its center has a principal shrine which unlike most Hindu
temples does not face east, but faces Northeast towards the snowy Himalayan
peaks of Dhauladhar range. The main spire is flanked by subsidiary spires of
smaller size, all eight symmetrically placed to form an octagon (or two rotated

178
squares). These spires of the temple seem to grow out of the natural rock that
makes the mountain. Above the main sanctum, the rock was cut to form the flat
roof and the second level of the temple naturally fused with the rising main spire
(shikhara) as well as the eight subsidiary shrines.
Some structures and the plan at Masrur temple (1913 sketch, incomplete)

The main sanctum has four entrances, of which one on the east side is complete,
two on the north and south side are partially complete and the fourth can be seen
but is largely incomplete. The eastern entrance had a large mandapa and a portico,
but this was destroyed in the 1905 earthquake, its existence known from site visit
notes prior to the earthquake. Attached to this mandapa were two stairs to take
the pilgrims to the upper-level views. The stairs were set inside smaller two
rotating stair spires, but much of the structure of this too is gone. Thus, at one
time the main temple had 13 spires according to Hargreaves count, and 15
according to Shuttleworth's count, all designed to appear growing naturally out of
the rock.

According to Meister, the early descriptions though well-intentioned were based on

information then available and clouded by the presumptions of those authors.
These presumptions and generally damaged condition of the complex, for example,
led Shuttleworth and Hargreaves to describe the temple in terms such as
"subsidiary" and "shrines" instead of witnessing the integrated plan and
architecture in early Hindu texts on temple design.

Material of construction
The temple complex was carved out of the natural sandstone rock. In some places,
the rock is naturally very hard, which would have been difficult to carve, but is
also the reason why the intricate carvings on it have preserved for over 1,000
years. In other places the stone was soft or of medium quality. In some cases, the
artists carved with a bit softer stone and this has eroded over time from natural
causes. In other cases, the stone's hardness was so low that the artists cut out the
stone and substituted it with better stone blocks. Then they added their friezes or
sculptures. The substituted blocks have better resisted the effect of nature and
time.
Pool and mandapa

The temple complex has a sacred pool in front on the east side. The construction of
the sacred pool is dated to the early 8th century. Its rectangular dimensions are
about 25 by 50 metres (82 ft × 164 ft), or two stacked squares. The temple had an
outside square mandapa with about 27 feet (8.2 m) side and 20 feet (6.1 m) height.
It had a solid 1.5 feet (0.46 m) thick roof supported by four carved massive pillars.
The platform had a covered drainage system to allow water anywhere on the
mandapa to naturally drain off. This was visible before the 1905 quake, now only
remnants of the floor and a pillar remain.

179
Two views of the temple pool.
The entrances lead the pilgrim and visitor towards the main sanctum, through a
series of mandapas with wall carvings and then an antarala (vestibule). They also
connect the created space to a pair of covered stairs, on the north and south side,
to the upper floor from where he or she can complete
a pradakshina (circumambulation) to view more sculptures and the mountain
scenery, all of this space and structure created from the pre-existing monolithic
rock.
Sanctum and ceiling.

1. The garbhagriha, in a square plan with each side of 13 feet (4.0 m). The
main sanctum has a four faced Shiva.
2. The ceiling of various mandapa and the sanctum inside the temple are fully
carved, predominantly with open lotus.

However, the inside walls remained incomplete. This may be because the artists
carving into the rock worked on cutting and finishing the ceiling first, then moved
on to cutting, finishing and decorating the inside walls and creating pillars below
those ceilings. The wall height is 16 feet (4.9 m), and only the eastern entrance and
passage into the sanctum is fully complete, while the side entrances are not and
the fourth western entrance being the least complete. The site suggests that the
work was completed in parallel by teams of workers. This is a common style of
construction found in numerous Hindu temples that have survived, at least in the
ruins form, from the 1st millennium. The 8th-century three-entry, four-faced Shiva
found at the Masrur temple is not unique as the same plan is found in the
Jogesvari Cave temple near Mumbai. The Jogesvari is dated to have been
completed between 400-450 CE, or several centuries before the Masrur temple's
construction, suggesting a common thematic foundation that inspired these
temples pre-existed in the Hindu texts.
The art historian Stella Kramrisch identified one of these Hindu architecture texts
to be the Visnudharmottara, dated to have existed by the 8th-century (floruit), and
whose manuscripts have been found with Hindus of the Kashmir valley. This is
one of such texts that describe "hundred-and-one [Hindu] temple"
designs. According to Meister, the sanctum and spire plan for the Masrur temple
fits one of these, where it is called the Kailasa design.

The Kailasa style of Hindu temple is one with a central Shikhara (spire)
symmetrically surrounded by four smaller spires set between the four entrances
into the temple from the four cardinal directions, a format that matches the
Masrur temple plan. Further, the Visnudharmottara text also describes the
principles and procedures for image making and painting, the former is also found
preserved in the Masrur temple mandapa and sanctum. Further, the Jogesvari and
Masrur are not the only surviving temples that correspond to this style, others
have been discovered that do, such as the Bajaura Hindu temple in Kulu valley of
Himachal Pradesh which is another stone temple.

The multi-spire style, states Meister, is possibly inspired by the Indian Meru
mythology shared by Buddhists, Hindus and Jains. Lush mountainous Meru is
heaven and the abode of gods, but mountains are not singular but exist in ranges.
The highest Mount Kailasha is the abode of Shiva, and the secondary spires
symbolize the mountain range. Eight heavenly continents surround the Mount
Kailasha in this mythology, where all the Deva (gods) and Devi (goddesses) live

180
together. The Masrur temple symbolically projects this mythical landscape,
narrating the Indian cosmology from stone, into stone.
Spire design
All spires in the Masrur temple are of Nagara style, an architecture that was
developed and refined in central India in the centuries before the 8th-century.
More specifically, these are what Indian texts called the latina sub-style, from lata.
These are curvilinear spires composed of a rhythmic series of superimposed
shrinking horizontal square slabs with offsets, each offset called lata or grape vine-
like, in principle reflecting natural growth on a mountain in stone.

One of the spires with lintel carvings. BAPHUON on the RIGHT 2 pics
The superstructure towers embed styles that are found in Indian temples from the
7th and 8th-century such as in the Mahua Hindu temple and the Alampur
Navabrahma Temples, but these are no longer found in temples that can be firmly
dated after the 8th-century. This supports dating the Masrur temple to about mid
8th-century. The spires show differences, but all spires that are symmetrically
position in the temple mandala show the same design. The stairway spire is based
on four turned squares, and features eight rotating lata spines that alternate with
eight right-angled projections.
The temple complex also has two free-standing sub-shrines near the sacred pool.
These have spires with sixteen lata spines, a style that is uncommon in India and
found associated with Shiva temples associated with Hindu monks of the
Matamayura matha between the 7th and 12th century CE such as the Bajaura
temple in nearby Kulu valley and the Chandrehi temple in central India.
Sculpture and reliefs
The main sanctum has nine seated deities. The center one is Shiva, and with him
are others including Vishnu, Indra, Ganesa, Kartikiya and Durga. The shrines
around the central shrine feature five Devis in one case, while other shrines
reverentially enshrine Vishnu, Lakshmi, Ganesha, Kartikeya, Surya, Indra and
Saraswati. The avatars of Vishnu such as the Varaha and the Narasimha are
presented in the niches. In the ruins have been found large sculptures of Varuna,
Agni and others Vedic deities. The temple also includes fusion or syncretic ideas
revered in Hinduism, such as Ardhanarishvara (half Parvati, half Shiva), Harihara
(half Vishnu, half Shiva) and a three faced trinity that shows Brahma, Vishnu and
Shiva in one sculpture. The temple also has secular images from the common life
of people, of couples in courtship and various levels of intimacy (mithuna), people
making music and dancing, apsaras and ornamental scrollwork.
The surviving structures in the Masrur temple lacks any image of Lakulisa, the
founder of Pashupata Shaivism, which makes it unlikely that this temple was
associated with that tradition. According to Meister, the wide range of Shaiva,
Vaishnava, Shakti and Saura (Surya, sun god) themes displayed within the Masrur
temple suggest that it was built by those who cherish ecumenism or henotheism,
of the style commonly found in Pancharatra literature of Hinduism.

181
The Masrur rock-cut temple presents a diversity of iconography, likely reflecting
ecumenism or henotheism in 8th-century Hinduism. Above: Incomplete
iconography locations.[
Pilgrim resthouse
According to Hargreaves, when he visited the temple for the first time in 1913, the
temple complex had a dharmashala (pilgrim's resthouse), a kitchen and there was
a priest for whom there was a small integrated living quarters. The temple work
was priest's part-time work, while his main source of livelihood was from
maintaining cattle and working in farms.
.

First Direct Dating for the Construction and Modification of the Baphuon Temple
Mountain in Angkor, Cambodia

182
Sampled parts within each crampon are shown in white. Schematic drawings of
the microscopic metallographic observation on the cross-section after Nital etching
enlighten the distribution of the carbon content within the metal. The black marks
within the metal of the most carburized samples, selected for the radiocarbon
measurements, indicate the fingerprint of the drill samples. 2 dates were obtained
for each crampon BPN-30001 and BPN-30002. Both samples BPN-30009(1) and
BPN-30009(2) from BPN-30009 could be dated therefore providing 2 dates for the
crampon.

Documentation of the dated specimens.//

doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0141052.g003

REFERENCES
Meister, M. W. (2006). Mountain Temples and Temple-Mountains: Masrur. Journal of the
Society of Architectural Historians, 65(1), 26–49. https://doi.org/10.2307/25068237

183
Cambodian Architecture, Eighth to Thirteenth Centuries, Authors: Jacques
Dumarçay and Pascal Royère

Series: Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 3 Southeast Asia, Volume: 12

Bapuon បរាសាទបាពួន (p. 1). (n.d.). [Photographs].

https://jstor.org/stable/community.27703029
Mountain Temples and Temple Mountains: Architecture, Religion, and
Nature,Nachiket Chanchani,Global South Asia,Seattle, WA: ,University of Washington
Press,, March, 2019.

Baphuon Relief work on stone to extreme RIGHT

184
Water colour painting of Baphuon by Lucien Fournereau

185
 Front Door

CHAPTER

186
 COMPARISON Between the MOUNTAIN Temple at Angkor Wat
CHAPTER X
Cambodia (VISHNU) and Shiva MOUNTAIN Temple at Elephanta Caves
India

Comparative research studies should be used when comparing two temple

designs, often cross-nationally. These studies analyze the similarities and
differences between these two groups in an attempt to better understand
both groups. Comparisons lead to new insights and better understanding of
all participants involved. In her paper” A Comparative Analysis of the
Temples of Khajuraho and the Ruling Chandellas of India, “ Chelsea Gill in
her Senior Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for
the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Archaeological Studies University of
Wisconsin-La Crosse points out that:

“For generations archaeologists have debated the reasons for the rise of
complex societies and what material remains are associated with
development of complex society. Throughout history around the world there
have been many power shifts and changing political systems that have
affected urban development. Empires have been an important part of this
research because they represent one of the most complex societies. Empires
are “states that expand rapidly, often through military conquest: they
maintain standing armies. Empires are very large in terms of territory and
population, and they maintain sovereignty over all people and lands in their
realm; they are diverse ecologically and ethnically and are organized to
handle this diversity” (Smith and Schreiber 2006:3). One significant aspect of
empires that archaeologists can study is monumental architecture.
Monumental architecture includes large homesteads, palaces, public
buildings, and special purpose buildings, such as the focus of this paper:
temples (Trigger 1990:119). Temples are buildings that suggest that there
was some powerful individual or state that had the time, skill, and resources
to build a monument above what the practical utility of the building required
(Trigger 1990:119-122). A temple’s architectural extravagance can reveal the
level of political and economic power ruling groups or upper class had. Ruling
groups or individuals will produce extravagant temples in order to physically
express their abilities and superiority over other groups. The temples
extravagance reflects the available resources of the people responsible for
building the temples.”

In that spirit this article is written to understand both temples from a new
perspective.

Location:

Angkor Wat, temple complex at Angkor, near Siĕmréab, Cambodia, that

was built in the 12th century by King Suryavarman II (reigned 1113–c.
187
1150). The vast religious complex of Angkor Wat comprises more than a
thousand buildings, and it is one of the great cultural wonders of the world.
It is an architectural masterpiece and the largest religious monument in the
world – covering an area four times the size of Vatican City. It is almost 900
years old.It is a Temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu and was later converted to
Therdava Buddhist Temple by the then Ruler who changed his religion from
Hinduism to Buddhism. Elephanta Caves however remained as hindu
caves.

Elephanta: The small island of Elephanta on which the Shiva

temple is located provides evidence of occupation by humans
from as early as 2 n d century B.C The cave temple, dedicated to Lord
Shiva, was excavated sometime in the 8th century by the Rashtrakuta kings,
who ruled the area between A.D. 757-973. The caves are located in the
Arabian Sea and hence are highly impacted by saline activity as
well as natural climatic changes. High water seepage in the
caves due to heavy rainfall during the monsoon season has also
been causing intense damage. Rock erosion is also corroding
the sculptures, creating a need for strong technical
safeguarding. Another threat comes in the form of industrial
development in the area which is hazardous to the longevity of
the caves. Some of the pillars inside the caves are in bad shape
and need urgent restoration. Cracks have developed in certain
areas which require immediate repair. Hence the caves call for
a planned management of conservation and preservation along
scientific lines.

Angkor and Shiva Elephanta Temple are both Hindu temples Angkor
was later converted to Buddhist Temple by addition of a few statutes but
basically remaining as a Hindu temple in toto. In the 12th century, King
Suryavarman II of the Khmer Empire began work on a 500-acre (200
hectare) temple in the capital city of Angkor, in what is now Cambodia. The
complex was built to honor the Hindu god Vishnu, but 14th-century leaders
converted the site into a Buddhist temple.

Although the plan, form and symbols differ, Angkor Vat is cathedral-like
in its harmonious mix of small details and massive architecture. Plan
consists concentric rectangles. Orderly and balanced. Logically
symmetrical.

Principal approach is from the west. Why the main gateway, flanked by
libraries at right, faces west is unclear. The other temples face east, away
from the direction of the dead. Partly to bring it into alignment with the
royal city.

Façade consists of elaborate storied structure breaking the long lines of

arcaded enclosure. Gateway interiors of the portico resolves itself into a
square plan of pillared halls with two diametrical corridors.

188
Angkor

Entire scheme was laid out in 650 ft water moat. Broad square in plan.
Total length of 24 miles. Communication across the water barrier was by a
bridge on western side and approached by a pave of 36/1500 ft. Stone
platform on which it stands is square in plan. Water Moat Stairway
continuing the axial line of the portico ascends to the second terrace. At
each angle of the terrace, the inner space of which is a square of 130 ft side
is a Sikhara.

The name Angkor is a corruption of the Sanskrit “Nagara”, meaning city

or capital while “Vat” is a relatively modern Siamese name, so the name
means “City Temple.” Angkor Wat The temple was dedicated to the Hindu
God Vishnu, by the fall of the empire in 15th century, the site had become a
Buddhist shrine. Angkor Wat is partly protected from its most lethal
destroyer, water, by a network of hidden drains emplaced in the 1960’s by
the French scholar and former conservator Bernard Philippe Groslier and
his staff of 1000.

Angkor Wat ( Plan above left) is considered to be the largest and most
impressive stone temple in existence. This magnificent architectural
composition was the conception of King Suryavarman II. Howvever it
completed during the reign of King Dharanindravarman II.

The epic symmetries of Angkor Vat begin with the outer gallery that runs
in a circumference of half a mile. Within the gallery sculptures in bas-relief
unfold narratives from the myths of Vishnu, Krishna and Rama. One
189
section of gallery top left that sheltered the depiction of a Hindu creation
myth was removed for restoration. The stones were catalogued and neatly
laid out in the grassy area beyond.

Shiva temple at Elephanta is Rock-cut architecture which is the

creation of structures, buildings, and sculptures by excavating
solid rock where it naturally occurs. Rock-cut architecture is designed and
made by man from the start to finish. In India and China, the
terms cave and cavern are often applied to this form of man-made
architecture. However, caves and caverns that began in natural form are
not considered to be rock-cut architecture even if extensively
modified. Although rock-cut structures differ from traditionally built
structures in many ways, many rock-cut structures are made to replicate
the facade or interior of traditional architectural forms. Interiors were
usually carved out by starting at the roof of the planned space and then
working downward. This technique prevents stones falling on workers
below. The three main uses of rock-cut architecture were temples (like those
in India), Rock-cut architecture, though intensely laborious with ancient
tools and methods, was presumably combined with quarrying the rock for
use elsewhere; the huge amounts of stone removed have normally vanished
from the site. It is also said to be cut, hewn, etc., "from the living
rock". Another term sometimes associated.

190
Indian rock-cut architecture is more various and found in greater
abundance in that country than any other form of rock-cut architecture
around the world. Rock-cut architecture is the practice of creating a
structure by carving it out of solid natural rock. Rock that is not part of the
structure is removed until the only rock left makes up the architectural
elements of the excavated interior. Indian rock-cut architecture is mostly
religious in nature.
There are more than 1,500 known rock-cut structures in India. Many of
these structures contain artwork of global importance, and most are
adorned with exquisite stone carvings. These ancient and medieval
structures represent significant achievements of structural engineering and
craftsmanship.[4] The effort expended often astonishes visitors, but seen
191
from one aspect, a rock-cut structure is a decorated rock quarry; most of
the stone removed was typically put to economic use elsewhere.
In India, caves have long been regarded as sacred places. Caves that were
enlarged or entirely man-made were believed to be as sacred as natural
caves. The sanctuary in all Indian religious structures, even free-standing
ones, was designed to have the same cave-like feeling, as it is generally
small and dark, without natural light. The oldest rock-cut architecture is
found in the Barabar caves, Bihar, which were built around the 3rd century
BC. Other early cave temples are found in the western Deccan; these are
mostly Buddhist shrines and monasteries, dating between 100 BC and 170
AD. Originally, there were probably wooden structures associated with
them, which would have deteriorated over time.
Historically, artisans carried forward design elements from wood in their
rock-cut temples: skilled craftsmen carved rock to imitate timber texture,
grain, and structure. The earliest cave temples include the Bhaja Caves,
the Karla Caves, the Bedse Caves, the Kanheri Caves, and some of
the Ajanta Caves. Relics found in these caves suggest a connection between
the religious and the commercial. Buddhist missionaries are known to have
accompanied traders on the busy international trading routes through
India. Some of the more sumptuous cave temples, commissioned by wealthy
traders, included pillars, arches, and elaborate facades. They were made
during the period when maritime trade boomed between the Roman Empire
and south-east Asia.
Although free-standing structural temples were being built by the 5th
century, rock-cut cave temples continued to be built in parallel. Later rock-
cut cave architecture became more sophisticated, as in the Ellora Caves.
The monolithic Kailash Temple is considered to be the peak of this type
construction. Although cave temples continued to be built until the 12th
century, rock-cut architecture became almost totally structural in nature.
That is, rocks were cut into bricks and used to build free-standing
structures. Kailash was the last spectacular rock-cut excavated
temple. Numerous rock reliefs, relief sculptures carved into rock faces, have
been found outside caves or at other sites. New discoveries of relatively
small rock-cut sites, mostly Buddhist, continue to be made in the 21st
century, especially in the Deccan.
The earliest caves used by humans were natural caves that they occupied
or used for a variety of purposes, such as shrines and shelters. Evidence
suggests that the caves were first occupied and slightly altered during
the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods, up to about 6000 BC. These
changes are not classified as architecture. Early examples included
decorating overhanging rock with rock-cut designs.[9] The Rock Shelters of
Bhimbetka, now designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, are located
on the edge of the Deccan Plateau, where dramatic erosion has left
massive sandstone outcrops. Researchers have found primitive tools and
decorative rock paintings made by humans in the area's many caves
and grottos, the earliest paintings dating to circa 8,000 BCE.

192
During the time of the Buddha (c. 563/480 or c. 483/400 BCE), Buddhist
monks were also in the habit of using natural caves, such as
the Saptaparni Cave, southwest from Rajgir, Bihar. Many believe it to be the
site in which Buddha spent some time before his death, and where the first
Buddhist council was held after the Buddha died (paranirvana).
The Buddha himself had also used the Indrasala Cave for meditation,
starting a tradition of using caves, natural or man-made, as religious
retreats, that would last for over a millennium.
After the Barabar Caves, huge efforts were made at building religious caves
in Western India until the 6th century CE. However, the polishing of cave
walls was abandoned, never to be revived. Such grandiose caves as Karla
Caves (1st century CE) or the Ajanta Caves (5th century CE) do not have
any polishing either. This may be due to the fact that Mauryan caves were
dedicated and sponsored by the Mauryan Imperial government, allowing for
huge resources and efforts to be spent, whereas later caves where
essentially the result of donations by commoners, who could not afford as
high a level of spending.
First wave of construction (2nd century BCE–4th century CE)

The Great Chaitya in the Karla Caves, Maharashtra, India, 1st-century CE.

Probably owing to the 2nd century BCE fall of the Mauryan Empire and the
subsequent persecutions of Buddhism under Pushyamitra Sunga, it is
thought that many Buddhists relocated to the Deccan under the protection
of the Andhra dynasty, thus shifting the cave-building effort to western
India: an enormous effort at creating religious caves (usually Buddhist or
Jain) continued there until the 2nd century CE, culminating with the Karla
Caves or the Pandavleni Caves. These caves generally followed
an apsidal plan with a stupa in the back for the chaityas, and a rectangular
plan with surrounding cells for the viharas.

193
When Buddhist missionaries arrived, they naturally gravitated to caves for
use as temples and abodes, in accord with their religious ideas
of asceticism and the monastic life. The Western Ghats topography, with its
flat-topped basalt hills, deep ravines, and sharp cliffs, was suited to their
cultural inclinations. The earliest of the Kanheri Caves were excavated in
the 1st and 2nd centuries B.C., as were those at Ajanta, which were
occupied continuously by Buddhist monks from 200 BCE to 650 AD. As the
Buddhist ideology encouraged involvement in trade, monasteries often
became stopovers for inland traders and provided lodging houses
along trade routes. As mercantile and royal endowments grew, cave
interiors became more elaborate, with interior walls decorated in paintings,
reliefs, and intricate carvings. Numerous donors provided the funds for the
building of these caves and left donatory inscriptions, including laity,
members of the clergy, government officials, and even foreigners such
as Yavanas (Greeks) representing about 8% of all inscriptions. Facades
were added to the exteriors while the interiors became designated for
specific uses, such as monasteries (viharas) and worship halls (chaityas).
Over the centuries, simple caves began to resemble free-standing buildings,
needing to be formally designed and requiring highly skilled artisans and
craftsmen to complete. These artisans had not forgotten their timber roots
and imitated the nuances of a wooden structure and the wood grain in
working with stone.
Early examples of rock-cut architecture are the Buddhist
and Jain cave basadi, temples and monasteries, many
with gavakshas (chandrashalas). The ascetic nature of these religions
inclined their followers to live in natural caves and grottos in the hillsides,
away from the cities, and these became enhanced and embellished over
time. Although many temples, monasteries, and stupas had been destroyed,
by contrast, cave temples are very well preserved as they are both less
visible and therefore less vulnerable to vandalism as well as made of more
durable material than wood and masonry. There are around 1200 cave
temples still in existence, most of which are Buddhist. The residences of
monks were called Viharas and the cave shrines, called Chaityas, were for
congregational worship.[31] The earliest rock-cut garbhagriha, similar to free-
standing ones later, had an inner circular chamber with pillars to create
a circumambulatory path (pradakshina) around the stupa and an outer
rectangular hall for the congregation of the devotees.

194
 Manmodi Caves in Junnar, 2nd century CE.

Udayagiri and Khandagiri Caves, 2nd century BCE.

Materials:
Both are made of rocks. Angkor with Rock “Bricks” whereas
Elephanta are carved out of volcanic granite found on the hills of
the island of elephant.
195
Restoration: Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat Restoration efforts since the Angkor Wat temple "discovery" in
1860 have been numerous. In 1866, following the publication of Henri
Mouhot's memoirs in Europe, a French expedition set up to search new
trading routes with China along the Mekong would become the first step to
a conscientious research of Angkor Wat. The expedition members surveyed
the ruins, and their observations are recognised today as pioneering in
French research at Angkor. In 1898 EFEO (Ecole Francaise D'extreme
Orient) was established in Cambodia and started working toward clearing
the monuments from the jungle and consolidation and restoration of the
196
monuments. In 1908, the EFEO assisted with setting up Angkor
Conservation in Siem Reap, the archaeological directorate of the Cambodian
Government.

Interruption
The restoration of Angkor Wat came to a halt in the 1970s and 1980s
following the civil war in Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge regime. However,
despite the war, very little damage was done to the temple, as in the Khmer
psyque Angkor Wat history is sacred and cherished. Overall, the Angkor
temples were abandoned to the jungle for almost twenty years. Only the
archaeological Survey of India managed to do work on the temples during
1860 and 1866, but their conservational efforts have been greatly criticized
due to the use of their methods and materials. In the early 15th century
Angkor was abandoned. Still Theravada Buddhist monks maintained
Angkor Wat, which remained an important pilgrimage site and continued to
attract European visitors. Angkor Wat was “rediscovered” after the French
colonial regime was established in 1863.

In the 20th century various restoration programs were undertaken, but

they were suspended amid the political unrest that engulfed Cambodia in
the 1970s. When work resumed in the mid-1980s, the required repairs were
extensive. Notably, sections had to be dismantled and rebuilt. In 1992 the
Angkor complex, which included Angkor Wat, was designated a World
Heritage site by UNESCO and was immediately added to the list of World
Heritage in Danger. In the ensuing years, restoration efforts increased, and
Angkor was removed from the danger list in 2004. Today Angkor Wat is one
of the most important pilgrimage shrines in Southeast Asia and a popular
tourist attraction. The temple complex appears on the Cambodian flag.

Angkor Wat temple, Siem Reap

197
Angkor Wat into the future
Since the 1990s Angkor Wat has experienced consistent conservation
efforts and has become the main tourist attraction for Siem Reap, and
Cambodia in general. This is mainly due to the fact that Angkor was named
a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 1992. The funds and technical expertise
provided by UNESCO have consolidated the restoration plan of the temple.
The APSARA authority ("The Authority for the Protection of the Site and the
Development of the region of Angkor) manages the conservation and protection of
Angkor.

Since 1995 a team from Cologne University of Applied Sciences has been working
to prevent further decay. The restoration and conservation measures are being
carried out by lecturers and students from the Institute of Restoration and
Conservation Science in cooperation with a team of Cambodian conservators. The
project also receives support from external scientists in the fields of geology,
geomicrobiology and chemistry.

Every natural stone has its own characteristic properties; each one reacts
differently to the effects of the weather. Since 1995, therefore, the sandstone
blocks used to build Angkor and the damage already caused have been the subject
of detailed investigation so that decisions can be taken on the most suitable
conservation methods. Every situation, every temple, is considered individually,
and all steps in the process must be documented in detail.

A thorough survey revealed that about 300 apsaras and a large number of reliefs
on the pediments of Angkor Wat were so badly damaged that large pieces of stone
could fall off at any time. Since 1998 the weather-beaten reliefs have been
undergoing painstaking conservation. However, it will not be possible to prevent
further damage

198
199
Angkor and Shiva Elephanta Temple are both Hindu temples Angkor
was later converted to Buddhist Temple by addition of a few statutes but
basically remaining as a Hindu temple in toto. In the 12th century, King
Suryavarman II of the Khmer Empire began work on a 500-acre (200
hectare) temple in the capital city of Angkor, in what is now Cambodia. The
complex was built to honor the Hindu god Vishnu, but 14th-century leaders
converted the site into a Buddhist temple.

Although the plan, form and symbols differ, Angkor Vat is cathedral-like
in its harmonious mix of small details and massive architecture. Plan
consists concentric rectangles. Orderly and balanced. Logically
symmetrical.

Principal approach is from the west. Why the main gateway, flanked by
libraries at right, faces west is unclear. The other temples face east, away
from the direction of the dead. Partly to bring it into alignment with the
royal city.

Façade consists of elaborate storied structure breaking the long lines of

arcaded enclosure. Gateway interiors of the portico resolves itself into a
square plan of pillared halls with two diametrical corridors.

200
The epic symmetries of Angkor Vat begin with the outer gallery that runs
in a circumference of half a mile. Within the gallery sculptures in bas-relief
unfold narratives from the myths of Vishnu, Krishna and Rama. One
section of gallery top left that sheltered the depiction of a Hindu creation
myth was removed for restoration. The stones were catalogued and neatly
laid out in the grassy area beyond.

Shiva temple at Elephanta is Rock-cut architecture which is the

creation of structures, buildings, and sculptures by excavating
solid rock where it naturally occurs. Rock-cut architecture is designed and
made by man from the start to finish. In India and China, the
terms cave and cavern are often applied to this form of man-made
architecture. However, caves and caverns that began in natural form are
not considered to be rock-cut architecture even if extensively
modified. Although rock-cut structures differ from traditionally built
structures in many ways, many rock-cut structures are made to replicate
the facade or interior of traditional architectural forms. Interiors were
usually carved out by starting at the roof of the planned space and then
working downward. This technique prevents stones falling on workers
below. The three main uses of rock-cut architecture were temples (like those
in India), Rock-cut architecture, though intensely laborious with ancient
tools and methods, was presumably combined with quarrying the rock for
use elsewhere; the huge amounts of stone removed have normally vanished
from the site. It is also said to be cut, hewn, etc., "from the living
rock". Another term sometimes associated.

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Indian rock-cut architecture is more various and found in greater
abundance in that country than any other form of rock-cut architecture
around the world. Rock-cut architecture is the practice of creating a
structure by carving it out of solid natural rock. Rock that is not part of the
structure is removed until the only rock left makes up the architectural
elements of the excavated interior. Indian rock-cut architecture is mostly
religious in nature.
There are more than 1,500 known rock-cut structures in India. Many of
these structures contain artwork of global importance, and most are
adorned with exquisite stone carvings. These ancient and medieval
structures represent significant achievements of structural engineering and
craftsmanship.[4] The effort expended often astonishes visitors, but seen
from one aspect, a rock-cut structure is a decorated rock quarry; most of
the stone removed was typically put to economic use elsewhere.
In India, caves have long been regarded as sacred places. Caves that were
enlarged or entirely man-made were believed to be as sacred as natural
caves. The sanctuary in all Indian religious structures, even free-standing
ones, was designed to have the same cave-like feeling, as it is generally
small and dark, without natural light. The oldest rock-cut architecture is
found in the Barabar caves, Bihar, which were built around the 3rd century
BC. Other early cave temples are found in the western Deccan; these are
mostly Buddhist shrines and monasteries, dating between 100 BC and 170
AD. Originally, there were probably wooden structures associated with
them, which would have deteriorated over time.
Historically, artisans carried forward design elements from wood in their
rock-cut temples: skilled craftsmen carved rock to imitate timber texture,
grain, and structure. The earliest cave temples include the Bhaja Caves,
the Karla Caves, the Bedse Caves, the Kanheri Caves, and some of
the Ajanta Caves. Relics found in these caves suggest a connection between
the religious and the commercial. Buddhist missionaries are known to have
accompanied traders on the busy international trading routes through
India. Some of the more sumptuous cave temples, commissioned by wealthy
traders, included pillars, arches, and elaborate facades. They were made
during the period when maritime trade boomed between the Roman Empire
and south-east Asia.
Although free-standing structural temples were being built by the 5th
century, rock-cut cave temples continued to be built in parallel. Later rock-
cut cave architecture became more sophisticated, as in the Ellora Caves.
The monolithic Kailash Temple is considered to be the peak of this type
construction. Although cave temples continued to be built until the 12th
century, rock-cut architecture became almost totally structural in nature.
That is, rocks were cut into bricks and used to build free-standing
structures. Kailash was the last spectacular rock-cut excavated
temple. Numerous rock reliefs, relief sculptures carved into rock faces, have
been found outside caves or at other sites. New discoveries of relatively
small rock-cut sites, mostly Buddhist, continue to be made in the 21st
century, especially in the Deccan.

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The earliest caves used by humans were natural caves that they occupied
or used for a variety of purposes, such as shrines and shelters. Evidence
suggests that the caves were first occupied and slightly altered during
the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods, up to about 6000 BC. These
changes are not classified as architecture. Early examples included
decorating overhanging rock with rock-cut designs.[9] The Rock Shelters of
Bhimbetka, now designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, are located
on the edge of the Deccan Plateau, where dramatic erosion has left
massive sandstone outcrops. Researchers have found primitive tools and
decorative rock paintings made by humans in the area's many caves
and grottos, the earliest paintings dating to circa 8,000 BCE.
During the time of the Buddha (c. 563/480 or c. 483/400 BCE), Buddhist
monks were also in the habit of using natural caves, such as
the Saptaparni Cave, southwest from Rajgir, Bihar. Many believe it to be the
site in which Buddha spent some time before his death, and where the first
Buddhist council was held after the Buddha died (paranirvana).
The Buddha himself had also used the Indrasala Cave for meditation,
starting a tradition of using caves, natural or man-made, as religious
retreats, that would last for over a millennium.
After the Barabar Caves, huge efforts were made at building religious caves
in Western India until the 6th century CE. However, the polishing of cave
walls was abandoned, never to be revived. Such grandiose caves as Karla
Caves (1st century CE) or the Ajanta Caves (5th century CE) do not have
any polishing either. This may be due to the fact that Mauryan caves were
dedicated and sponsored by the Mauryan Imperial government, allowing for
huge resources and efforts to be spent, whereas later caves where
essentially the result of donations by commoners, who could not afford as
high a level of spending.
First wave of construction (2nd century BCE–4th century CE)

The Great Chaitya in the Karla Caves, Maharashtra, India, 1st-century CE.
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Photograph of the Trimurti of Shiva in the cave temple of Elephanta (
ABOVE PIC TO RIGHT ) in Maharashtra from the 'Lee-Warner Collection:
'Bombay Presidency. William Lee Warner C.S.' taken by an unknown
phototgrapher in the 1870s. The temple on the small island of Elephanta,
off the coast of Bombay, is celebrated as one of the greatest achievements in
rock-cut architecture in India. The temple is dedicated to Shiva, dates to the
sixth century and consists of a series of chambers cut from the rock. There
are five caves in total, but only the great cave can still be visited. The temple
stands at 250 feet above sea level and measures 130 feet square, 17 feet
high. At the centre of the cave is a hypostyle hall of 20 pillars in which
stands the linga shrine, flanked by two excavated courts to the east and
west of the shrine. The north entrance of the temple leads to the Trimurti of
Shiva. The central face is calm and detached, the left profile expresses the
feminine and the peaceful and the right profile reveals the fierce and
masculine. The three faces symbolise the nature of the Divine, which
combines and trascends all opposites.

Vishnu
All of the original religious motifs derived from Hinduism, and the temple
was dedicated to the gods Shiva, Brahma, and Vishnu. The five central
towers of Angkor Wat symbolize the peaks of Mount Meru, which according
to Hindu mythology is the dwelling place of the gods.
Who appears in the reliefs at Angkor Wat?:- Mandara represented by
Vishnu (in the center). Several things happen while the churning of milk
takes place. One event is that the foam from the churning produces apsaras
or celestial maidens who are carved in relief throughout Angkor Wat (we see
them here on either side of Vishnu, above the gods and demons).

Cambodia was first influenced by Hinduism during the beginning of the

Kingdom of Funan. Hinduism was one of the Khmer Empire's official
religions. Angkor Wat, the largest temple complex in the world (now
Buddhist) was once a Hindu temple. ... Vishnu and Shiva were the most
revered deities worshipped in Khmer Hindu temples.While most temples in
this region face east, Angkor Wat faces West. This is to do with the temple's
original link to Hinduism. Hindu deities are believed to sit facing east, while
Vishnu, as supreme deity faces left. With Angkor Wat being dedicated to
Vishnu, its temples do the same.

The main entrance faces north, while two side entrances face east and west.
The cave's main entrance is aligned with the north–south axis, unusual for
a Shiva shrine (normally east–west). However, inside is an integrated square

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plan Linga shrine (garbha-griya) that is aligned east–west, opening to the
sunrise.

Probably owing to the 2nd century BCE fall of the Mauryan Empire and the
subsequent persecutions of Buddhism under Pushyamitra Sunga, it is
thought that many Buddhists relocated to the Deccan under the protection
of the Andhra dynasty, thus shifting the cave-building effort to western
India: an enormous effort at creating religious caves (usually Buddhist or
Jain) continued there until the 2nd century CE, culminating with the Karla
Caves or the Pandavleni Caves.[20] These caves generally followed
an apsidal plan with a stupa in the back for the chaityas, and a rectangular
plan with surrounding cells for the viharas.
When Buddhist missionaries arrived, they naturally gravitated to caves for
use as temples and abodes, in accord with their religious ideas
of asceticism and the monastic life. The Western Ghats topography, with its
flat-topped basalt hills, deep ravines, and sharp cliffs, was suited to their
cultural inclinations. The earliest of the Kanheri Caves were excavated in
the 1st and 2nd centuries B.C., as were those at Ajanta, which were
occupied continuously by Buddhist monks from 200 BCE to 650 AD. As the
Buddhist ideology encouraged involvement in trade, monasteries often
became stopovers for inland traders and provided lodging houses
along trade routes. As mercantile and royal endowments grew, cave
interiors became more elaborate, with interior walls decorated in paintings,
reliefs, and intricate carvings. Numerous donors provided the funds for the
building of these caves and left donatory inscriptions, including laity,
members of the clergy, government officials, and even foreigners such
as Yavanas (Greeks) representing about 8% of all inscriptions. Facades
were added to the exteriors while the interiors became designated for
specific uses, such as monasteries (viharas) and worship halls (chaityas).
Over the centuries, simple caves began to resemble free-standing buildings,
needing to be formally designed and requiring highly skilled artisans and
craftsmen to complete. These artisans had not forgotten their timber roots
and imitated the nuances of a wooden structure and the wood grain in
working with stone.
Early examples of rock-cut architecture are the Buddhist
and Jain cave basadi, temples and monasteries, many
with gavakshas (chandrashalas). The ascetic nature of these religions
inclined their followers to live in natural caves and grottos in the hillsides,
away from the cities, and these became enhanced and embellished over
time. Although many temples, monasteries, and stupas had been destroyed,
by contrast, cave temples are very well preserved as they are both less
visible and therefore less vulnerable to vandalism as well as made of more
durable material than wood and masonry. There are around 1200 cave
temples still in existence, most of which are Buddhist. The residences of
monks were called Viharas and the cave shrines, called Chaityas, were for
congregational worship.[31] The earliest rock-cut garbhagriha, similar to free-
standing ones later, had an inner circular chamber with pillars to create
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a circumambulatory path (pradakshina) around the stupa and an outer
rectangular hall for the congregation of the devotees.

Manmodi Caves in Junnar, 2nd century CE.

Udayagiri and Khandagiri Caves, 2nd century BCE.

Materials:
Both are made of rocks. Angkor with Rock “Bricks” whereas
Elephanta are carved out of volcanic granite found on the hills of
the island of elephant.

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Elephanta The earliest attempts to prevent further damage to
the caves were started by British India officials in 1909. The monuments
were restored in the 1970s. In 1987, the restored Elephanta Caves were
designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is currently maintained by the
Archaeological Survey of India (AS

Elephanta island has multiple Hindu caves and Buddhist monuments, as well as
excavated caves that were left incomplete. This essay focuses on one particularly
remarkable rock-cut cave that is an early example of an unconventional and
innovative religious program in stone. The cave temple is dated to the sixth
century and is dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva.

In Hinduism, god transcends form. But an emphasis on an underlying omnipotent

and universal spirit (Brahman) allows for the existence of a large pantheon of
deities. Each deity can, in turn, have many embodiments and a range of
iconographic representations are employed in Hindu sacred art to tangibly portray
the gods.

The cave of Shiva at Elephanta has at least ten distinct representations of Shiva;
two of these – Shiva as Ardhanarishvara, in which Shiva and the goddess Parvati
are joined as one, and Shiva as Gangadhara, in which Shiva is shown bearing the
force of the river goddess Ganga’s descent to earth, are referenced below. Shiva’s
manifestation as Sadashiva wherein the manifold aspects of Shiva are depicted on
multiple faces is also discussed, as is the cave’s Shiva linga. Like Sasashiva, and
the many other forms of Shiva at Elephanta, the linga references the all-pervading
nature of the deity, but does so in the form of an aniconic (non-representational)
symbol.

The resources that it must have taken to conceptualize, excavate, and execute this
cave suggests a considerable investment on the part of its patron or patrons.
Scholars have suggested that the cave may have been sponsored by Krishnaraja I
(who ruled from c. 550 – 575 C.E), a known Shiva devotee and ruler of the
Kalachuri kingdom that was active in the region in the sixth and seventh
centuries. Krishnaraja’s coins have been found at the site, but the extent of the
Kalachuris’ direct involvement with the cave remains unresolved.

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Eastern entrance, Elephanta’s Cave of Shiva, c. 6th century C.E. Gharapuri island (photo: Elidioo, CC BY-
SA 4.0)

Main features of Elephanta’s Cave of Shiva, c. 6th century C.E. Gharapuri island.
Plan adapted from fig. 1, p. 18 of George Michell’s “The Architecture of Elephanta”.
Photo credits for insets (from left to right): Shiva dances (Jean-Pierre Dalbéra, CC
BY 2.0), Shiva as the lord of yogis (Scott McLeod, CC BY 2.0), Shiva subdues
Ravana (Sivaraj D., CC BY-3.0), Shiva and Parvati play a game of dice on mount
Kailasa (Andy Hay, CC BY 2.0), Ardhanarishvara (Ricardo Martins, CC BY
2.0), Sadashiva (Ronakshah1990, CC BY-SA 4.0), Shiva supports the descent of
the Ganges (Sivaraj D., CC BY-SA 3.0), Shiva and Parvati marry (Sivaraj D., CC
BY-SA 3.0), Shiva slays Andhaka (Elroy Serrao, CC BY-SA 2.0); Linga shrine
(Ricardo Martins, CC BY 2.0).

A pillared hall with a shrine at the end

The interior of the cave measures approximately 130 x 130 feet.[2] Its pillared hall
is lit by natural light from just three openings — one each at the east, the north,
and the west ends of the cave. The openings at the east and the north sides of the

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cave serve as entrances with sunken courtyards and impressive porticoes. The
opening on the west opens to a small open-air corridor that leads to a side shrine.

As we enter the cave from the eastern entrance, we encounter an impressive row of
tall pillars and a large square shrine situated near the far west end of the cave (see
image below). The pillars have fluted tops and cushion capitals and four small
seated figures at each corner of their plain rectangular bases. At a height of about
sixteen feet, carved beams with brackets that rest on the pillars’ capitals travel
east to west in the cave’s ceiling. With the exception of the nine large bas-
reliefs (illustrated in the plan above) and the guardian figures on the shrine and on
the cave’s south wall, the walls of the cave and of the shrine are undecorated.

Looking towards the west end of the cave at the shrine with the Shiva linga, Elephanta’s Cave of Shiva,
c. 6th century C.E. Gharapuri island (photo: Jean-Pierre Dalbéra, CC BY-SA 2.0)

The entire cave and everything in it can be seen as one large sculptural piece that
embraces both the character of the hill from which it is carved and the design of
built structures that were likely in vogue in the sixth century. The inclusion of the
pillars in the cave gives the impression that they are weight-bearing columns that
reinforce the roof as they would in a built structure, and that they are aided in
that task by the ceiling beams.

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View of the linga shrine and its guardians before reconstruction, photo taken c. 1875, Elephanta’s Cave of
Shiva, c. 6th century C.E. Gharapuri island (photo: public domain)

A shrine for Shiva linga

The shrine near the far west end of the cave is carefully subtracted from the hill to
appear free-standing. But the shrine, along with the Shiva linga within it, is a part
and parcel of the hill. A short set of stairs on all four sides of the shrine leads to
four open doorways and there is enough space within the shrine to allow the
devotee room to circumambulate the linga. When devotees pray to the linga, they
are praying to an aniconic representation of Shiva and acknowledging the sacred
generative aspect of the universe.

Each of the shrine’s four entrances are flanked by majestic guardian figures who
are as tall as the shrine. Some of these figures are accompanied by smaller
attendants and hierarchic scale is employed to indicate the relative importance of
the larger figures.

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The linga and the shrine’s guardians (each in a “three-bent pose”), Elephanta’s Cave of
Shiva, c. 6th century C.E. Gharapuri island (photo: Ricardo Martins, CC BY-2.0)

The guardians are shown wearing elaborate crowns and jewelry including earrings,
armbands, necklaces, and belts. Each pair of guardians at each entrance is also
shown in the tribhanga (three-bent pose) in such a way that they appear to balance
one another. The figure to our left in the image above, for example, leans to their
left whereas the figure to our right leans to their right. The resulting effect is subtle
but provides a remarkable quality of naturalism to the enormous stone figures.

It is difficult to know for certain what the guardians once held in their hands. The
extensive damage, particularly to the lower half of these figures and the cave’s bas-
reliefs, was caused by artillery training conducted by Portuguese forces in the
sixteenth century.

Sadashiva, south wall of Elephanta’s Cave of Shiva, c. 6th century C.E. Gharapuri island
(photo: Ronakshah1990, CC BY-SA 4.0)

The many faces of Shiva

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If we enter the cave again, this time via the northern entrance, we again encounter
the same pillared hall. But as we move further into the cave, a centerpiece in
shadow at the far end of the cave comes into view. Here we find a deeply recessed,
nearly 21 foot tall, three-headed Shiva known as Sadashiva (see above). A fourth
head at the rear and a fifth head at the top is implied. Again, tall guardian figures
and attendants flank either side of the icon just as they do at the four entrances of
the shrine dedicated to the aniconic linga.

We only see a part of Sadashiva, that is, from the chest upwards, and the
suggestion is that the god is emerging from the mountain. The artists have carved
the image with such skill that the broad shoulders of the central face appears to
seamlessly carry the heads shown in profile. The faces each acknowledge an aspect
of Shiva — the image at the center is calm and welcoming while the face to the
viewer’s left shows Shiva’s ferocious aspect. His fierceness is emphasized by a
twisted mustache, frowning expression, skulls and snakes in his matted hair, and
earrings in the form of snakes. The face on the viewer’s right is meant to signify a
gentler aspect of Shiva. This face is shown with soft curls, wearing a sweet-
tempered smile, and carrying a lotus.

Theatrical opposites
The cave continues exploring Shiva’s various aspects in bas-reliefs that are carved
in deeply framed niches that are as tall as the height of the cave. Eight sculptural
panels — two each at the three entrances into the cave and two flanking
the Sadhashiva are carved facing one another. Each representation of Shiva is
large and impressive and the scenes are filled with subsidiary figures — divine and
otherwise — who witness and participate in each episode. The subsidiary figures,
even the gods, are rendered much smaller than Shiva.

Shiva impales the demon Andhaka (left) and Shiva and Parvati marry
(right), Elephanta’s Cave of Shiva, c. 6th century C.E. Gharapuri island
(photo: Arathi Menon, CC BY-SA 4.0)
The eight bas-reliefs are as follows:

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Chart of bas-reliefs (clockwise from eastern entrance) at Elephanta’s
cave of Shiva, 6th century C.E., India. Shiva’s active moods are
marked in purple and his passive moods in blue.

Architectural historian George Michell has suggested that Elephanta’s

artists intentionally wove an exploration of the active and passive moods of
Shiva in the sculptural program of the cave’s bas-reliefs. Michell’s theory is
compelling; in the chart above, purple is used to denote the bas-reliefs that
celebrate Shiva’s dynamic, energetic, and vigorous moods and the color
blue is used to denote calmer episodes. This oppositional formula also
extends to the iconic Sadashiva with its fierce and gentle aspects, as well as
to the linga and Sadashiva as unmanifested and manifested representations
of Shiva respectively.

The bas-reliefs that flank Sadashiva at the south wall are somewhat
different in their antithetic message. To the viewers’ left we find Shiva and
the goddess Parvati joined as one, in a manifestation known
as Ardhanarishvara. As is common in representations of Ardhanarishvara,
which translates literally to Shiva as half-woman, the deity is presented as
a composite male and female figure. Fused at the exact center, the male half
of the body is shown leaning on Shiva’s vahana (vehicle), the bull.

Size: Angkor is Vast as compared to Elephanta, spread across 400 square

kilometers with over 70 temples and monuments, the Angkor Archaeological
Park contains the remains of architectural wonders that span from the 9th
to 15th centuries. The sheer scale of many temples enabled the Khmer to
give unprecedented expression (through architectural design) to religious
symbolism. Angkor Wat is the symbolic microcosm of the Hindu universe
and was essentially the abode of the gods (atop Mount Meru), a heavenly
complex, carved in stone, found on earth. Besides the magnificence of the
scale of the ruins themselves, one of the real gems of this world heritage site
is the iconography and imagery found on a smaller scale in the bas-reliefs.

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One of the best bas-reliefs is to be found on the wall of the east gallery of
Angkor. The myth of creation, displayed as the Churning of the Sea of Milk
unfolds across 49m of continuous panel scenes. The Hindu creation myth is
a complex, lively narrative with great visual detail. At first glance it looks
like a tug of war with a giant serpent serving as the rope; at the gallery’s
center you notice the serpent or naga is coiled around a mountain. The
gods and demons pull back and forth on the serpent for 1,000 years,
churning the cosmic sea to produce the elixir of immortality, amrita. The
composition is so skillful that the entire relief appears as a massive chain of
movement.

Visiting the galleries of the bas-reliefs can be done at any time of day. As
the galleries are sheltered it’s a good place to spend time during the
monsoon’s afternoon showers.

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In the panel on the right, we see a representation known as Shiva Gangadhara, that
is, Shiva as the bearer of the river Ganga. The river Ganges (also known as Ganga)
is personified here as a three-headed goddess in the process of descending to earth
via Shiva’s matted hair. By supporting goddess Ganga’s descent, Shiva softens the
considerable force of the river’s descent to our world, which would otherwise shatter.
Art historian Vidya Dehejia has pointed out that the goddess Parvati, conceivably
annoyed at her husband’s role in the episode, is shown by the artist as moving
away from Shiva in a subtle foreshadowing, perhaps, of disconcert. [In Hinduism,
images of the gods are embodiments of the gods and to enter a temple is to enter the
home of god. Devotees are happy to take the pilgrimage necessary to see and to be
seen by god in an act of darshan (auspicious sight). At Elephanta, in this grand cave
temple with Shiva’s manifest and unmanifest forms and his fierce and pleasant
selves, the intention appears to have been to offer the devotee much more. With each
theatrical introduction to Shiva, the devotee is offered again and again the
opportunity to honor and to know their god in a multitude of profound ways.

Angkor
Angkor is one of the most important archaeological sites in South-East Asia. Stretching
over some 400 km2, including forested area, Angkor Archaeological Park contains the
magnificent remains of the different capitals of the Khmer Empire, from the 9th to the 15th
century. They include the famous Temple of Angkor Wat and, at Angkor Thom, the Bayon
Temple with its countless sculptural decorations. UNESCO has set up a wide-ranging
programme to safeguard this symbolic site and its surroundings.

Angkor (Cambodia) © Ko Hon Chiu Vincent

Outstanding Universal Value

Brief synthesis
Angkor, in Cambodia’s northern province of Siem Reap, is one of the most important
215
archaeological sites of Southeast Asia. It extends over approximately 400 square kilometres
and consists of scores of temples, hydraulic structures (basins, dykes, reservoirs, canals)
as well as communication routes. For several centuries Angkor, was the centre of the
Khmer Kingdom. With impressive monuments, several different ancient urban plans and
large water reservoirs, the site is a unique concentration of features testifying to an
exceptional civilization. Temples such as Angkor Wat, the Bayon, Preah Khan and Ta
Prohm, exemplars of Khmer architecture, are closely linked to their geographical context as
well as being imbued with symbolic significance. The architecture and layout of the
successive capitals bear witness to a high level of social order and ranking within the
Khmer Empire. Angkor is therefore a major site exemplifying cultural, religious and
symbolic values, as well as containing high architectural, archaeological and artistic
significance.
The park is inhabited, and many villages, some of whom the ancestors are dating back to
the Angkor period are scattered throughout the park. The population practices agriculture
and more specifically rice cultivation.
Criterion (i): The Angkor complex represents the entire range of Khmer art from the 9th to
the 14th centuries, and includes a number of indisputable artistic masterpieces (e.g.
Angkor Wat, the Bayon, Banteay Srei).
Criterion (ii): The influence of Khmer art as developed at Angkor was a profound one over
much of South-east Asia and played a fundamental role in its distinctive evolution.
Criterion (iii): The Khmer Empire of the 9th-14th centuries encompassed much of South-
east Asia and played a formative role in the political and cultural development of the
region. All that remains of that civilization is its rich heritage of cult structures in brick and
stone.
Criterion (iv): Khmer architecture evolved largely from that of the Indian sub-continent,
from which it soon became clearly distinct as it developed its own special characteristics,
some independently evolved and others acquired from neighboring cultural traditions. The
result was a new artistic horizon in oriental art and architecture.
Integrity
The Angkor complex encompasses all major architectural buildings and hydrological
engineering systems from the Khmer period and most of these “barays” and canals still
exist today. All the individual aspects illustrate the intactness of the site very much
reflecting the splendor of the cities that once were. The site integrity however, is put under
dual pressures:
1. endogenous: exerted by more than 100,000 inhabitants distributed over 112 historic
settlements scattered over the site, who constantly try to expand their dwelling areas;
2. exogenous: related to the proximity of the town of Siem Reap, the seat of the province
and a tourism hub.
Authenticity
Previous conservation and restoration works at Angkor between 1907 and 1992, especially
by the École Française d’Extrême-Orient (EFEO), the Archaeological Survey of India, the
Polish conservation body PKZ, and the World Monuments Fund have had no significant
impact on the overall authenticity of the monuments that make up the Angkor complex
and do not obtrude upon the overall impression gained from individual monuments.
Protection and management requirements
The property is legally protected by the Royal Decree on the Zoning of the Region of Siem
Reap/Angkor adopted on 28 May 1994 and the Law on the protection of the natural and
cultural heritage promulgated on 25 January 1996, the Royal Decree on the creation of the
APSARA National Authority (Authority for the protection of the site and the management of
the Angkor Region) adopted on 19 February 1995, the No. 70 SSR government Decision,
dated 16 September 2004 providing for land‐use in the Angkor Park: “All lands located in
zone 1 and 2 of the Angkor site are State properties”, and the sub-decree No. 50 ANK/BK
on the organisation and functioning of the APSARA National Authority adopted on 9 May
2008, specifically provided for the establishment of a Department of Land‐use and Habitat
Management in the Angkor Park.
In order to strengthen and to clarify the ownership and building codes in the protected
zones 1 and 2, boundary posts have been put in 2004 and 2009 and the action was
completed in 2012.
As off 1993, the ICC-Angkor (International Coordinating Committee for the Safeguarding
216
and Development of the historic site of Angkor) created on 13 October 1993, ensures the
coordination of the successive scientific, restoration and conservation related projects,
executed by the Royal Cambodian Government and its international partners. It ensures
the consistency of the various projects, and defines, when necessary, technical and
financial standards and calls the attention of all the concerned parties when required. It
also contributes to the overall management of the property and its sustainable
development.
The successful conservation of the property by the APSARA National Authority, monitored
by the ICC-Angkor, was crowned by the removal of the property from the World Heritage
List in danger in 2004.
Angkor is one of the largest archaeological sites in operation in the world. Tourism
represents an enormous economic potential but it can also generate irreparable
destructions of the tangible as well as intangible cultural heritage. Many research projects
have been undertaken, since the international safeguarding program was first launched in
1993.The scientific objectives of the research (e.g. anthropological studies on socio-
economic conditions) result in a better knowledge and understanding of the history of the
site, and its inhabitants that constitute a rich exceptional legacy of the intangible heritage.
The purpose is to associate the “intangible culture” to the enhancement of the monuments
in order to sensitize the local population to the importance and necessity of its protection
and preservation and assist in the development of the site as Angkor is a living heritage site
where Khmer people in general, but especially the local population, are known to be
particularly conservative with respect to ancestral traditions and where they adhere to a
great number of archaic cultural practices that have disappeared elsewhere. The
inhabitants venerate the temple deities and organize ceremonies and rituals in their honor,
involving prayers, traditional music and dance. Moreover, the Angkor Archaeological Park
is very rich in medicinal plants, used by the local population for treatment of diseases. The
plants are prepared and then brought to different temple sites for blessing by the gods. The
Preah Khan temple is considered to have been a university of medicine and the NeakPoan
an ancient hospital. These aspects of intangible heritage are further enriched by the
traditional textile and basket weaving practices and palm sugar production, which all
result in products that are being sold on local markets and to the tourists, thus
contributing to the sustainable development and livelihood of the population living in and
around the World Heritage site.
A Public Investigation Unit was created as « measure instrument » for identifying the needs,
expectations and behaviors of visitors in order to set policies, monitor its evolution, prepare
a flux management policy and promote the unknown sites.
The management of the Angkor Site, which is inhabited, also takes into consideration the
population living in the property by associating them to the tourist economic growth in
order to strive for sustainable development and poverty reduction.
Two major contributions supporting the APSARA National Authority in this matter are:
1. The Angkor Management Plan (AMP) and Community Development Participation
Project (CDPP), a bilateral cooperation with the Government of New Zealand. The AMP
helps the APSARA National Authority to reorganize and strengthen the institutional
aspects, and the CDPP prepares the land use map with an experimental participation
of the communities and supports small projects related to tourist development in order
to improve the income of villagers living in the protected zones;
2. The Heritage Management Framework composed of a Tourism Management Plan and a
Risk map on monuments and natural resources; a multilateral cooperation with the
Government of Australia and UNESCO. Preliminary analytical and planning work for
the management strategy will take into account the necessity to preserve the special
atmosphere of Angkor. All decisions must guarantee physical, spiritual, and emotional
accessibility to the site for the visitors.

Elephanta Caves
The 'City of Caves', on an island in the Sea of Oman close to Bombay, contains a
collection of rock art linked to the cult of Shiva. Here, Indian art has found one of
its most perfect expressions, particularly the huge high reliefs in the main cave.

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Elephanta Caves © UNESCO https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/244/
Outstanding Universal Value
Brief synthesis
The Elephanta Caves are located in Western India on Elephanta Island (otherwise
known as the Island of Gharapuri), which features two hillocks separated by a
narrow valley. The small island is dotted with numerous ancient archaeological
remains that are the sole testimonies to its rich cultural past. These archaeological
remains reveal evidence of occupation from as early as the 2nd century BC. The
rock-cut Elephanta Caves were constructed about the mid-5th to 6th centuries
AD. The most important among the caves is the great Cave 1, which measures 39
metres from the front entrance to the back. In plan, this cave in the western hill
closely resembles Dumar Lena cave at Ellora, in India. The main body of the cave,
excluding the porticos on the three open sides and the back aisle, is 27 metres
square and is supported by rows of six columns each.

The 7-metre-high masterpiece “Sadashiva” dominates the entrance to Cave 1. The

sculpture represents three aspects of Shiva: the Creator, the Preserver, and the
Destroyer, identified, respectively, with Aghora or Bhairava (left
half), Taptapurusha or Mahadeva (central full face), and Vamadeva or Uma (right
half). Representations of Nataraja, Yogishvara, Andhakasuravadha,
Ardhanarishwara, Kalyanasundaramurti, Gangadharamurti,
and Ravanaanugrahamurti are also noteworthy for their forms, dimensions,
themes, representations, content, alignment and execution.

The layout of the caves, including the pillar components, the placement and
division of the caves into different parts, and the provision of a sanctum
or Garbhagriha of sarvatobhadra plan, are important developments in rock-cut
architecture. The Elephanta Caves emerged from a long artistic tradition, but
demonstrate refreshing innovation. The combination of aesthetic beauty and
sculptural art, replete with respondent Rasas, reached an apogee at the Elephanta
Caves. Hindu spiritualistic beliefs and symbology are finely utilized in the overall
planning of the caves.
Criteria (i): The fifteen large reliefs surrounding the lingam chapel in the main
Elephanta Cave not only constitute one of the greatest examples of Indian art but
also one of the most important collections for the cult of Shiva.
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Criteria (iii): The caves are the most magnificent achievement in the history of
rock-architecture in western India. The Trimurti and other colossal sculptures with
their aesthetic setting are examples of unique artistic creation.

Integrity
All the archaeological components in the Elephanta Caves are preserved in their
natural settings. There is further scope to reveal archaeological material and
enhance information by exposing the buried stupas. At the time of the listing the
need was noted to safeguard the fragile site from nearby industrial development.
Currently, saline activity and general deterioration of rock surface are affecting the
caves. Management of the property would be enhanced through the adoption of a
Conservation Management Plan to guide restoration and conservation works.

Authenticity
The authenticity of the property has been well maintained since its inscription on
the World Heritage List, despite certain repairs on the façade and pillars that have
been carried out to ensure the structural stability of the monument. Besides the
caves, Elephanta Island possesses archaeological remains from as early as the 2nd
century BC and from the Portuguese period, as witnessed, respectively, by stupas
buried towards the eastern side of the hillock and a canon located at its top.
Moreover, the caves are preserved in the form of monolithic
temples, sarvatobhadra garbhgriha (sanctum), mandapa (courtyard), rock-cut
architecture, and sculptures. Since inscription, a number of interventions have
been made to enhance visitors’ experience and to conserve the site. These include
the construction of pathways, conservation of fallen and broken pillars,
conservation of fallen and collapsed facades, construction of flight of steps leading
to the caves from island’s jetty, repair to the Custodian’s Quarters, and setting up
of a Site Information Centre.

Management and protection requirements

The property is protected primarily by the Archaeological Survey of India, which
also undertakes the management of the Elephanta Caves with the assistance of
other departments, including the Forest Department, Tourism Department,
MMRDA, Urban Development Department, Town Planning Department, and the
Gram panchayat of the Government of Maharashtra, all acting under the various
legislations of the respective departments, such as the Ancient Monuments and
Archaeological Sites and Remains Act (1958) and Rules (1959); Ancient
Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (Amendment and Validation)
Act (2010); Indian Forest Act (1927), Forest Conservation Act (1980); Municipal
Councils, Nagar Panchayats and Industrial Townships Act, Maharashtra (1965);
and Regional and Town Planning Act, Maharashtra (1966).

Sustaining the Outstanding Universal Value of the property over time will require
completing, approving and implementing a Conservation Management Plan to
guide restoration and conservation works; addressing saline activity and the
general deterioration of the caves’ rock surfaces using internationally recognised
scientific standards and techniques; safeguarding the property from nearby
industrial development; and considering exposing the buried stupas. The
restoration of some of the pillars that was carried out in 1960s needs to be
dismantled and redone as cracks have developed. Additional resources (technical
specialist advice) and funding are required to conserve this site and protect the
archaeology.

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 THE PORTION BELOW IS A REPRODUCTION OF THE EXCELLENT
ARTICLE BY THE AUTHOR MENTIONED BELOW

Elephanta Caves: An Overview

VISUAL AND MATERIAL ARTSBUILT SPACES
in Overview-Published on: 22 April 2016

Dulari Qureshi is an art historian and a former professor at

Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University. She is noted for her
expertise on the monuments of Western Deccan, Aurangabad district in
particular. "Art and Vision of Aurangabad Caves" and "Tourism Potential
in Aurangabad" are among her many publications.
History of the Caves
Unlike all other caves of western India, these cave temples have
no authentic history; much of what has been written on them
has been based on conjectures and assumptions by various
scholars and historians. There has been a controversy around
the dating of Elephanta but no one as yet has been able to
arrive at any definite conclusions.
Unfortunately, a large stone inscription found on the site by
the Portuguese has been irretrievably lost. Diogo de couto made
the following entry in the Annals, “When the Portuguese took
Bacain and its dependences they went to this pagoda and
removed a famous stone over the entrance that had an
inscription of large and well written characters, which was sent
to the king, after the Governor of India had in vain endeavored
to find out any Hindu or Moor in the East who could decipher
them. And the king D. Laao-III also used all his endeavors to
the same purpose, but without any effect, and thus the stone
remained there and now there is no trace of it”. Considering the
fact that the Brahmi script was first deciphered by James
Prinsep in 1837, an official of the Calcutta Mint and Secretary
of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, it is not surprising that the
Portuguese king could not find anyone who could read the
inscription.
Since no inscription now exists, the dating of the Elephanta
caves is purely conjectural as mentioned earlier. Many opinions
have been expressed on their chronology. Besides the early
scholars like James Burgess, James Fergusson, Stella
Kramrisch and Hirananda Sastri who have given dates ranging
from the 5 t h century A. D. to 8 t h century A. D. (they have
however not justified these dates), other scholars like Dr. V.V.
Mirashi, Dr. Walter Spink and Dr. Y.R. Gupte have very lucidly
discussed the dating and have tried to logically prove their
contention. The caves have been attributed by Y.R. Gupte to
the Maurya dynasty. Dr. Mirashi accepts Gupte’s dating, but
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attributes their excavation to the Kalachuris. Benjamin
Rowland supports James Burgess’s dating of the latter part of
the 8th or the beginning of 9th cent. A.D. Fergusson placed
them in 750 A.D. Stella Kramrisch considers them of
Rashtrakuta period and places them in the 8 t h cent A.D.
However, none of them discuss the chronology.
Dr. Mirashi however, who dates the caves to the early half of
the 7 t h century, gives arguments which are partly historical and
partly those of religious affiliation. He disputes Gupte’s
contention that the cave was excavated by the Mauryas of the
Konkan on the grounds that since they were merely feudatories
of the Kalachuris, they could not have commanded the
resources required for the excavation of such a rock temple. He
further contends that though the Chalukyas of Badami
conquered Gharapuri in the second half of the 7 t h century A.D.,
the caves however cannot be attributed to them as they were
devotees of Vishnu and therefore could not have carved Shiva
temples.
According to Walter Spink, in his The Great Cave at Elephanta:
A Study of Sources, the ownership of the caves has been
attributed to the Kalachuri dynasty. Dr. Shobhana Gokhale’s
paper concluded that copper coins issued by King Krishnaraja,
the great Kalachuri ruler, have been found in fair numbers in
western India in the mid-6th century. Thousands of coins have
turned up on the island of Gharapur. With the logical support
of coins discovered at Elephanta, Spink contends that
Elephanta is a mid-6th century Kalachuri monument sponsored
by the great king Krishnaraja.
Dr. Ramesh Gupte has categorically refuted both the arguments
of Dr. Mirashi as well as Dr. Spink and asserted strongly the
influence of Chalukyas due to the presence
of maniyajnopavita (pearled sacred thread) as the mani (pearl)
and pushpa (flower) yajnopavita adorn all the sculptures of
Chalukyas such as those at the Aihole, Badami and Pattadakal
temples. Other indications of Chalukya influence are the
armlets (keyuras) with kirti-mukha (Face of Glory), and also the
presence of Saptamatrikas, Karttikeya and Shiva, as it is well
known that the Chalukyas were their followers. Furthermore,
the Chalukyas in the 6 t h century A.D. had defeated the
Kalachuris. Later dynasties like the Rashtrakutas and the
Gujarat Sultanate surrendered Gharapuri to the Portuguese.
The Portuguese later left in 1661 as per the marriage treaty of
Charles II of England with Catherine of Braganza, daughter of
King John IV of Portugal. This marriage shifted the possession
of the island to the British Empire.
However, during the rule of the Portuguese the caves were
grossly vandalized by them and damaged to a huge extent. They
removed the valuable inscription mentioned earlier from its

221
place and used the sculptural reliefs as target practice, thus
marring a great number of sculptures.
Cave Details
As mentioned earlier, the island has two group of caves in the
rock architecture style. The first group consists of five Hindu
caves while the second group of two Buddhist caves.
The Main Cave or Cave-I also called the Shiva Cave-I or the
Great Cave is of huge dimensions: it is 38.40 meters deep and
37.80 meters wide. Rows of columns divide the hall into
corridors (Fig.3). Twenty-four columns support the ceiling of
the hall. At the back end of the temple is the famous
Maheshamurti, while the shrine with the linga, the main object
of worship in a Saiva temple, is on the right side.

Fig.3. Main Cave-1

(Photo courtesy: American Institute of Indian Studies, Gurgaon)
The ground plan of the temple clearly indicates that the
northern entrance was the principal one. Though Maheshamurti
is considered by most to be the principal object of worship, it is
the linga shrine which stands facing the Nandi that is the main
object of worship. The roof of the column has concealed beams
supported by stone columns joined together by capitals. The
cave entrance is aligned with the north-south axis, unusual for
a Shiva shrine which generally has an east-west axis.
The northern entrance, which has 1000 steep steps, is flanked
by two panels of Shiva dated to the Gupta period. The left panel
depicts Yogishvaraj (Shiva as the Lord of Yoga) and the right
shows Nataraja (Shiva as the Lord of Dance). The central shrine
is a free standing square cell with four entrances, located in
the right section of the main hall (Fig.4). There are smaller

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shrines located in the east and west end of the caves. The
eastern sanctuary serves as the ceremonial entrance.

Fig.4. Linga shrine with four entrances

(Photo courtesy: commons.wikimedia.org)
The chief attraction of Elephanta is the sculptures in the main
temple. These are carved in fairly deep recesses in almost full
relief. Generally it is best to begin from the first sculptural
panel left of the northern entrance, which is now the principal
and only entrance, and go clockwise in the same manner as
Hindus circumambulate while visiting a temple. As one stands
at the northern entrance, the magnificent sculpture of
Maheshmurti overwhelms everything else.
Maheshamurti, which is reached through a colonnade of
pillars, dominates Elephanta. The following are some details of
the sculptures.
Shiva as Mahayogi - Shiva is seated in a yogic pose, his eyes
look practically closed (Fig.5). His crown of matted hair is
decorative. His hair falls in ringlets on either shoulder. He
wears a necklace of beads. Both his arms are destroyed from
near the shoulder and the legs too are destroyed. He is
in padmasana (lotus pose) seated on a lotus stalk held by two
Nagas. A number of figures are carved on either side of Shiva,
including Vishnu and Brahma. As one enters the main temple
of Elephanta, this figure is situated on the left. The sculpture
has been a subject of much controversy as some identify it as
Yoga-Dakshinamurti, while others identify it as Lakulisa.

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Fig.5. Shiva as Mahayogi
(Photo courtesy: American Institute of Indian Studies)
Ravananugraha-Murti - This panel depicts the story of
Ravana’s humiliation at the hands of the almighty Shiva and
his submission to the Supreme Deity, whereupon Shiva confers
a boon upon him (Fig.6). Ravana had humiliated and defeated
the powerful Kubera and become the Lord of Lanka. Flushed
with his fresh victory, he was flying over the snow-clad
mountains of the Himalayas, when he located a beautiful
garden and proceeded to go there. However, his vehicle was not
permitted to go further as Uma and Maheshvara were engaged
in sports. Ravana insulted Nandikeshvara, the leader of Siva’s
hosts. Enraged, Ravana then got under the mountain with the
intention of lifting the mountain from its base and overthrowing
it. He shook the great mountain. Shiva gently put his foot on
the ground and Ravana became imprisoned under the snow-clad
mountains. Repentant, Ravana praised Shiva. Pleased with his
devotion, Shiva conferred a boon on him and presented him
with a sword while allowing him to leave.

224
Fig.6. Ravanugrahamurti
(Photo courtesy: American Institute of Indian Studies, Gurgaon)
This panel is very badly damaged. Uma is seated with Shiva on
Mount Kailash, their abode. Maheshwara had originally eight
hands. He wears a decorative crown, necklaces, armlets and a
waist-belt. His hair falls in curls on either side. His left leg is
folded. The figure of Uma is badly mutilated. The
Ravanaguhamurti at Kailash in Ellora is far superior to this
panel as the panic of Parvati and the other characters present
is depicted very realistically.
Uma-Mahesvara-Murti - In this panel Shiva and Sakti are
emanations of the undivided absolute (Fig.7). Shiva here
symbolizes the passive male principle, while Uma or Parvati
represents the active female principle, the principle of energy.

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Fig.7. Umamaheshvaramurti
(Photo courtesy: American Institute of Indian Studies, Gurgaon)
Unfortunately this panel is in bad condition. Uma and Mahesha
are seated in Kailash. Shiva’s countenance is defaced. He sits
in the ardha-paryankasana (half-seated posture), reclined to
the left. The figure of Uma too is damaged. Below Uma, Nandi
and a winged dwarf are seen, while above them are flying
figures and male and female attendants on either side.
Ardhanarisvara-Murti - This is the form of Shiva as half man
and half woman (Fig.8). It is said that Brahma created the
Prajapatis, who were all male, and assigned to them the task of
creation. He was baffled when they were unable to do so and
promptly proceeded to meet Shiva to seek counsel for this
problem. Shiva appeared before him in the form Ardhanavisara,
half man and half woman. Brahma immediately realized his
error and created a woman.

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Fig.8. Ardhanarishvaramurti
(Photo courtesy: American Institute of Indian Studies, Gurgaon)
In another story with a similar theme, sage Bhringi refused to
worship Parvati and only worshipped Shiva. Parvati undertook
severe austerities and became one with Iswara (Shiva), but still
Bhringi only circumambulated Iswara. Parvati incensed rid
Bhringi of his flesh and blood and turned him into a skeleton.
He could not stand and Shiva in compassion gave him a third
leg. Eventually, Shiva helps them reconcile while emphasizing
the unity of the male-female principles.
The Elephanta Ardhanarisvara looks elegant and impressive.
The four-handed Ardhanarivsara stands majestically on Nandi.
The left half of the sculpture, which represents Parvati, has a
breast, exaggerated rounded hips and is shown holding a
mirror. On the right side, Shiva’s crown has a crescent and his
body is more muscular. He holds a cobra in his hand. There are
a number of other interesting figures in the panel of various
divinities seated on their mounts: Indra is seated on Airavata,
Brahma on a lotus, Varuna on a crocodile, Kartikeya on a
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peacock and Vishnu on Garuda. This is one of the most unique
panels in terms of its grace and perfect balance.

Maheshmurti - Right in the center, as one enters the cave

temples, is one of the grandest compositions of Elephanta, the
Maheshmurti (Fig.9). Shiva here is portrayed as the creator,
protector and destroyer. The right half-face is benign, peaceful
and feminine, depicting Shiva’s aspect as a creator. The central
face shows introspection and reveals the protective aspect. The
left-half face is hideous, displaying great anger. It symbolizes
his power to dissolve the universe. The three aspects of divinity
are combined in one.

Maheshamurti
(Photo courtesy: American Institute of Indian Studies, Gurgaon)
This sculpture is majestic not only in its conception but also in
its size: it stands tall at 18 feet. The central bust wears a
decorative crown. The coils of matted hair are held within this
elegantly carved crown. The chief element is
its kirtimukha decoration, a typically Chalukyan element. The
whole crown is adorned with elaborate jewelry comprising of
pearls and diamonds. On the right side of the crown is a half

228
moon. Kirtimukha is a special emblem of Shiva believed to be
guaranteeing the true devotee with peace.
The central face of the deity is executed in very high relief. The
other two side faces appear to recede in the background
compared to it. The sculpture represents Mahadeva, the Great
Lord as Tatpurusha, Aghora and Vamadeva.

Gangadhara–Murti - Next to the Maheshmurti is the

Gangadhara-murti panel, which narrates the story of the
descent of the river Ganges from heaven to the earth (Fig. 10).
The king Bhagirath practiced severe austerities to win over the
river Goddess Ganga, to persuade her to leave her heavenly
abode and descend on the Earth. Ganga was pleased and agreed
to leave her celestial abode but requested Bhagirath to
persuade somebody to receive her fall, as otherwise the force of
her descent on the earth would split it in half. Bhagirath again
undertook severe penance to persuade Shiva to receive the
powerful descent of the waters of the mighty river. Shiva was
pleased and granted his request. To humble Ganga, who fell
with great force, Shiva made her wind through his matted
hair—which is symbolic of the variegated universe—thus,
preventing her from descending. Bhagirath once again prayed
to Shiva, requesting him to allow Ganga to come down to the
earth. Emerging from Shiva’s locks, Ganga finally falls on the
earth.

Gangadharmurti(--Photo: American Institute of Indian Studies, Gurgaon)

In sculptural form Ganga appears in the matted hair of the
mighty Shiva. Because Ganga descended on the earth due to
Bhagirath’s severe austerities, she is called Bhagirathi, the
daughter of Bhagiratha. In the Elephanta panel, Shiva is seen
standing with the right leg reclined. His left leg is bent a little
at the knee. Shiva is of tall stature and slim body. His torso is
inclined to the left. Over the head of Shiva are three heads
representing the three sacred rivers of India, Ganga, Yamuna
229
and Saraswati. Shiva has four hands. On the left of Shiva,
Parvati stands gracefully in the tribhanga pose. Her diaphanous
lower garment is held in place by a girdle. She wears a simple
crown and a few select ornaments.
This is one of the most beautiful panels at Elephanta. It is a
masterpiece composition. The main attraction are the figures of
Shiva and Parvati. There is a rhythm which binds these two
figures together in a harmonious whole.

Kalyanasundara-Murti (Marriage of Shiva-Parvati) - According

to the Shanti Parva of the Mahabharata, the main character
Daksha, one of the twelve Prajapatis, performed a great
sacrifice to which all the gods were invited except Shiva, his
son-in-law, the husband of his daughter Sati. This angered
Sati, who insisted on Shiva’s attending the sacrifice, but Shiva
declined. Sati then went to the sacrifice alone but was
humiliated by her father, following which she jumped into the
sacrificial pit. When the story of his wife’s humiliation reached
Shiva, he was inconsolable and created the terrible Virabhadra,
who destroyed Daksha’s sacrifice and made him supplicate to
Shiva.

Sati was reborn as the daughter of Himavan and Menaka, and

once she came of age she began to practice penance to be
blessed once again with Shiva as a spouse. Shiva was engaged
in severe austerities. At the time the asura Taraka was getting
stronger and becoming a menace to the gods. It was said that
he would be destroyed by Shiva’s son. So Shiva had to be
persuaded to give up his austerities and get into wedlock.
Kamadeva was entrusted with this task. As he was the God of
Love, he used his arrows on Shiva successfully. Shiva opened
his eyes and saw Parvati, and the marriage was celebrated with
great ceremony. Brahma acted as the sacrificial priest, and
Vishnu and Lakshmi gave Parvati away in marriage to Shiva.

The marriage of Shiva and Parvati is beautifully delineated at

Elephanta. The figure of Parvati looks young, charming and full
of joy and contentment. She is shown as a traditional young
bride with her head bowed down. Adding to her charm is the
small crown she wears and the stanahara (a stringed necklace).
The figure of Shiva is well-matched to that of Parvati. He looks
young, tall, slim and well-formed. He wears a simple crown and
his curly hair falls on his shoulders.

230
Kalyanasundaramurti
)
Brahma, as a priest, sits on the left of Shiva, close to the
sacrificial fire. Vishnu is seen behind. Parvati’s father Himavan
is just behind her. Close to him stands a very graceful figure,
who is probably Menaka. There are several other figures
attending the divine marriage including the flying figures
above.

Andhakasuravadha Murti (The killing of the Demon

Andhaka) - This theme of the Lord Shiva killing the demon
Andhaka is popular even at Ellora . The story goes that the
demon Andhaka who had become extremely powerful and was
harassing the gods, had heard about the beauty of Parvati and
cultivated a desire for her. He dispatched a demon Nila to kill
Shiva. Nila assumed the form of a huge ferocious elephant to
fulfill his task. Virabhadra, the mighty son of Shiva, slayed him
and presented the elephant skin to his father. Shiva, joined by
Vishnu and others, united in battle against Andhaka. However,
Andhaka had special power that created a problem for Shiva.
Out of every drop of his blood that would spill in the battle,
another demon would come to life. To solve this problem Shiva
created Yogesvari and each God created his respective Shakti
(Brahma-Brahmani, Vishnu-Vaishnavi, Varaha–Varahi etc.) and
in this way the Saptamatrikas (seven divine mothers) were
created. They drank up the demon’s spilt blood. Vishnu killed
all the subsidiary demons and when Shiva was about to kill
Andhaka, the demon begged for forgiveness and thus obtained
his pardon and grace. Shiva made him commander of
his ganas (attendants) and he was named Bhringisha or
Bhringirishi.
231
Andhaka’s blindness is symbolic and emphasizes the
superiority of knowledge over ignorance and darkness. In the
Elephanta panel Shiva is seen in an aggressive mood. His whole
stance gives the impression of belligerence (Fig.12).
Unfortunately, both the sculpture’s legs are broken.
His jatamukuta shows a skull, cobra and a half moon. The eyes
seem to protrude out of the sockets while the third eye is open
in anger. The hair falls on his shoulders. He wears a decorative
necklace, armlet and a mundamala (a garland of skulls). He has
eight hands. The elephant Nila is seen on his right. Virabhadra
is seen presenting the elephant skin. A sword is held in a
threatening manner in the right hand. In one left hand is held a
skull cup for Andhaka’s drops of blood. A number of flying
figures carrying offerings are carved. An object in the centre
looks like a stupa with an umbrella. The flying couples on the
sides are beautifully carved.

Andhakasurvadhamurti

Nrittamurti Shiva - Shiva is the divine master of dance. In

Bharata’s Natyashastra where 108 kinds of dance poses are
listed, Shiva is proclaimed as the Nataraja, or king of dance.
Dance is almost like a form of magic in its ability to transform
the personality of the dancer, who appears to be possessed by
supra-terrestrial powers in the process. Like yoga, dance
induces ecstasy, the mergence with and experience of the
divine. Dance is considered to be an act of creation.

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Nrttamurti

The dancing figures of Shiva as Nataraja are some of the most

attractive manifestations of the Indian art tradition. The dance
posture depicted at Elephanta is what is described
as lalitam (Fig. 13). The figure’s legs are broken as are some of
the hands. Though the figure is mutilated, it has not lost its
charm. The figure pulsates with life and movement, and has a
rhythm and grace which even the broken limbs are not able to
conceal. The face which is slightly tilted towards the left hand
adds further charm to the figure. A number of musicians are
shown seated around Nataraja, though in a damaged condition.
The figure of Parvati also looks graceful. Other gods seen are
Brahma, Ganesha and Kumara. Besides these there are other

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smaller panels of Kartikeya, Matrikas, Ganesa, Dvarapalas, etc

Kartikeya panel

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Matrika figures with Ganesha BELOW

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Dvarapala (Photo courtesy: American Institute of Indian Studies, Gurgaon).
Dvarapala (Photo courtesy: American Institute of Indian Studies, Gurgaon)

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Cave 2 is located to the southeast of the Great Cave. It faces east
and has a shrine at its northern end. The cave has four pillars and
is badly damaged. Traces of sculptures still remain. The damage was
caused by the heavy monsoons in the region, especially due to the
resultant accumulation of water.
Cave 3 is towards the south of Cave 2 with six columns and two
pilasters visible at the entrance. These pillars are in fairly good
condition as they have been reconstructed. The veranda is 80 meters
in width and 35 meters in length. At the north end of the veranda is
a large raised chamber supported by four octagonal pillars and two
pilasters. The capitals of these pillars are similar to those in the
main cave though with one difference. The amalaka or cushion
member here looks compressed. The dimensions of the chamber are
impressive. It is 11.9 meters in width and 6.7 meters in depth. The
walls of the chamber are bare.
Cave 4 has a plan that is similar to Cave 3. The veranda is 15.2
meters in breadth. Carved into the back wall are three cells and a
linga shrine. The shrine is 5.7 meters in width and 6 meters in
depth. The dwarapalas (gatekeepers) that once existed here have
now disappeared. On either side of the veranda are chambers which
are 4.6 meters square in area. Each of them are supported by two
pillars and two pilasters. The doors of the side chamber shrines
have chaitya ornamentation.
In front of these caves is a ravine that one needs to cross and
ascend to a height of about 30 meters to reach caves 5 and 6 which
are located in the eastern hill. Cave 5 has a veranda and a shrine
with a yoni and linga. Cave 6, further north-east, appears to be
unfinished
.
Shrine in the East wing - In the east wing of the main cave is
another shrine similar in plan to Ramesvara (Cave No.21) at Ellora.
There are also sculptures of Ganesha and Saptamatrikas.

West Wing - There is a chapel in the west wing. In the veranda is a

sculpture of Shiva as a yogi (Fig.15). To the south of the linga
shrine is a six- handed dancing figure of Shiva accompanied by
V i s h n u r i d i n g G a r u d a , Y a m a o n h i s buffalo and Brahma (Fig.16).
They are now in a damaged condition.

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Shiva as Yogi LEFT To RIGHT Shiva accompanied by Vishnu, Yama
and Brahma

Angkor was built as a symbol to exhibit the greatness of a Monarch to the

world whereas Elephanta had other purpose as mentioned below. The cave
sculptures were carved out of volcanic rock as a monolith — from top to
bottom and back to front. As you enter, the first thing you notice are the
pillars that divide the cave into squares, apparently in the shape of a
mandala. The pillars near the entrance, however, are not original. Badly
damaged over time, they were reconstructed in the 1960s. The caves were
built primarily for tradesmen, seafaring men, and fisher-folk as a mere
stopover, which may explain why there is little else on this island. They are
labelled sequentially from Cave 1 to Cave 7.

Cave 1 is the best preserved and, at 39 metres long, the largest. The
highlight of the island, it contains impressive sculptures of Shiva in 10
different avatars. The other caves are more dilapidated but house idols like
a Shivaling, Ganesh, Karthik, and Ashta Matrikas. There is even a Buddhist
stupa on site.

The highlight of the island has to be the 10 forms of Shiva in Cave 1. Each
is fascinating in its own right, but three are not only glorious to behold but
also tell incredible stories.

Still worshipped as it has been for nearly a millennium, the Shivaling (the
phallic stone idol that represents Shiva) today sees about 30,000 devout
visit on Mahashivratri (the birthday of Lord Shiva) .

Shiva as Bridegroom
Well-preserved enough for the facial expressions to be clearly evident are
the shy face of Parvati, the bride and to her left, serene and proud, the
bridegroom Shiva. In the representation of Hindu idols, wives stand to the
left of their husbands; because of this, we know that, in this avatar, they
are yet to be wed. Brahma, the god of creation, officiates at this wedding.
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Vishnu and Himavat, Parvati’s father, are wedding guests. Chandra is
holding the kalash or the auspicious pot, and a retinue of gods hovers
above to bless the couple.

The marked Greek and Roman influences in the rendering of the hair and
jewellery in these sculptures is thanks to the ancient trade routes between
Elephanta and Greece and Rome. It is striking how these influences render
a common Hindu mythological scene anew.

Maheshmurti or Shiva as Trimurti

This is the best-known of all the idols here with an impressive height of
seven metres or 22 feet. At first glance, this sculpture may remind you of
the Bayon temple in Angkor Wat, Cambodia. The central avatar of Shiva is a
doppelganger of King Jayavarman VII or the Lokeswara Bodhisatva in the
Bayon temple. The three faces of Shiva signify creation, protection, and
destruction. Not only is the hair different for each sculpture, but the facial
features are also unusual, reminiscent of Buddhist sculpture. Each avatar
holds something different — a flower in the first, a fruit in the second, and a
cobra in the last. There were meant to be five faces; one more at the back to
signify regeneration and a face on top to signify salvation, but these were
never built.

Legend has it, at a tea party for King Edward VII held on the island, the
British actually clambered on top to see if there were two more faces. They
likened the sculptors to Amazons, based on the height of these sculptures.
It was only after this that the Archaeological Society of India (ASI) was
formed and the caves were declared a heritage monument in 1909.

The remaining sculptures show Shiva in various avatars — from an angry

warrior to a householder who cheats at dice, from a voluptuous and
androgynous Shakti to a sagacious Yogi. Once done with the caves, you
could hike up to the stupa or to see the cannons the British left behind.
You can also grab a bite to eat or get a drink at one of the cheap and
cheerful restaurants along the steps.

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 CHAPTER
Celestial Significance of the
TEMPLE MOUNTAIN of Angkor Wat
With rare paintings of the Temple

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Legend behind Angkor: Angkor the most mysterious of temple mountains, has intrigued
humanity from the day it was “discovered”. We have been trying to understand how it was
constructed and how such a detailed design could me made as a drawing to start with and
then brought into fruition by completing the construction within 40 years.
I have written 3 books on the Angkor DEVRAJA in which I have described in detail the
construction design elements together with my co-autor Srishti Dokfras who happens to be
and Architect and also my daughter. We have worked together on 7 books and 167 research
papers and articles. We recommend you go to academia.edu and researchgate.net for some
delightful readings of this book. You will also find a tome on the Borobudur temple there.

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To start with let us examine the legend behind it.

The most widely accepted legend is that of a Brahmin prince by the name of Kaundinya who
hailed from South India, married a Naga princess from this region and thus started the rule of
the Somavansha or the race of the moon. This is supported by inscriptions found at Misan in
Champa (present-day Vietnam). There are some other non-supported legends about a
banished Hindu prince, who married a Naga lady, daughter of Nagaraja and established the
kingdom of Kambuja (old name of Cambodia). Another legend holds that the union of
Maharshi Kambu and the Apsara Mera symbolized the merger of the Solar and Lunar
Dynasties that resulted in Kambuja. Ancient Indian civilization had expanded towards the
east and had come into contact with inhabitants of this area and thus was born the nation of
Cambodia with Indic Influences (Hinduism and Buddhism).
Sandstones of Angkor
Structure: The height of Angkor Wat from the ground to the top of the central tower is
surprisingly high-213 meters (699 feet). The height was achieved with three rectangular or
square levels. Each one becomes progressively smaller and higher starting from the outer
limits of the temple. Covered galleries with columns define the boundaries of the first and
second levels.

The third and uppermost level supports five towers-one in each of the corners and one in the
middle-which are the most prominent architectural feature of Angkor Wat. Graduated tiers,
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one rising above the other, give the towers a conical shape and, near the top, rows of lotus
flowers taper to a point. The overall profile of each tower is reminiscent of a lotus bud.

Several lines stand out in the architectural plan of Angkor Wat. The eye is drawn left and
right to the horizontal aspect of the levels and upward to the soaring height of the towers.
The ingenious plan of Angkor Wat only allows a view of all five towers from certain angles.
They are not visible, for example, from the main entrance. Many of the structures and
courtyards are in the shape of a cross. A curved sloping roof on galleries, chambers, and
aisles is a hallmark of Angkor Wat. From a distance the roof looks like a series of long
narrow ridges but close-up one sees gracefully arched rectangular stones placed end to end.
Each row of tiles is capped with an end tile at right angles along the ridge of the roof. The
scheme culminates in decorated tympanums with elaborate frames. Several elements
repeated throughout the monument give an architectural rhythm to the whole. Galleries with
columns, towers, curved roofs, tympanums in sects of graduated sizes, structures such as
libraries and entry towers in a cross-shaped plan, and steps and steps and steps occur again
and again. By combining two or more of these features and superimposing them, height was
achieved and one part of the monument was linked to another. Roofs were frequently layered
to add height, length, or dimension.

A smaller replica of the central towers was repeated at the outer limits of two prominent
areas-the galleries and the entry towers. Angkor Wat occupies a rectangular area of about
500 acres defined by a laterite wall. The first evidence of the site from the west is a moat
with a long sandstone causeway stretching for 200 meters across it and serving as the main
access to the monument. At the end of the causeway there is a massive entry tower
consisting of three sections. The upper portions have collapsed and thus do not reveal the full
impact of the original
form. A long covered gallery with square columns and a curved roofs extends along the moat
to the left and right of the entry tower. This majestic facade of Angkor Wat is a model of
balance and proportion and is a fine example of classical Khmer architecture.
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Visitors can easily miss the beauty of Angkor Wat at this point as they rush on to see the
more renowned sight of the five towers-visible only beyond the first entry tower. As one
passes through this tower, there is an even longer causeway of 350 meters bordered on each
side by a low balustrade resembling the body of a serpent.

Straight ahead is the celebrated view of Angkor Wat-the symbol of unity that appears on the
new Cambodian flag. Standing at this point one feels compelled to 'get to the wondrous
group of the five domes, companions of the sky, sisters of the clouds, and determine whether
or not one lives in a world of reality or in a fantastic dream'. Walk slowly down the
causeway and take in the architecture along the way which gradually introduces the visitor to
the style that culminates on the third level. Two buildings, so-called libraries, stand in the
courtyard on the left and right of the causeway. These rectangular buildings usually occur in
pairs outside the sacred enclosure. Their function is unknown but they may have served as a
store rooms for offerings and sacred objects. The designation 'library' originated with French
archaeologists who discovered scenes from a Hindu legend of the 'Nine Planets of the Earth'
carved on the libraries. Because of the association with astronomy they interpreted this to
mean that the building served a scholarly function and named it a library.

The modern name, Angkor Wat, means "Temple City" or "City of Temples" in Khmer;
Angkor, meaning "city" or "capital city", is a vernacular form of the word nokor (នគរ),
which comes from the Sanskrit word nagara (नगर). Wat is the Khmer word for "temple
grounds" (Sanskrit: वाट vāṭa ""enclosure").

Religious architecture varies from culture to culture, as not all civilizations subscribe to the
same religious beliefs. Even those that embraced the same religion as Christianity do not
celebrate their beliefs in the same manner. Likewise, the architecture in their places of
worship is unique depending on the aesthetics, cultural patterns, and the activities of the
community.
Religious Buildings, Structure, and Inclusivity.

Nowadays, religious buildings like churches and mosques are places where a whole
community could come together and worship. This was not always the situation when it
came to the ancient civilizations. Synagogues, mosques, temples, and churches held the
images and important artifacts of their religions, but they were not open for public usage.
The exclusivity of these ancient religions shows in their place of worship, which are
commonly built for the extravagance of their deities and the entrance of religious personnel
or persons of privilege.

For example, in India and ancient Egypt, religious structures can only be entered by priests
as they are believed to be the residences of the deities themselves. While in Ancient Greece,
people are allowed to glimpse the images of their deity; however, worship rites are only done
outside the temple. In Mayan and Aztec culture, even a few prominent people in the
community are allowed to approach their temple’s immediate vicinity.

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Even though a lot of mainstream religions today are communal and inclusive, only a few of
the early faiths encouraged communal participation, and these are Islam, Christianity,
Buddhism, and Judaism. The aspect of a whole community gathering can be reflected in
these buildings.

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Shrines and Funerary Art
Angkor Wat in Cambodia is believed to be the funerary temple for King Suryavarman II.
It’s an orientation to the west to conform to the symbolism between the setting sun and
death. Angkor which signifies “incredible city” was the capital of the Khmer Empire.Shrines
are holy places that commemorate the life of a religion’s founder, gods, saints, or deities.
These buildings contain religious images and artifacts that are of significance to the faith and
246
the god or person that the building celebrates. In the Christian religion, the most famous
shrines are the Church of the Nativity located in Bethlehem which commemorates the life of
Jesus Christ, and the lives of the Apostles and the early Church Fathers such as the famed St.
Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

Angkor Wat, located at 13°24′45″N 103°52′0″E, is a unique combination of the temple

mountain (the standard design for the empire’s state temples) and the later plan of
concentric galleries. The construction of Angkor Wat also suggests that there was a celestial
significance with certain features of the temple. This is observed in the temple’s east-west
orientation, and lines of sight from terraces within the temple that show specific towers to be
at the precise location of the sunrise on a solstice..The temple is a representation of Mount
Meru, the home of the gods: the central quincunx of towers symbolises the five peaks of the
mountain, and the walls and moat symbolize the surrounding mountain ranges and
ocean. Access to the upper areas of the temple was progressively more exclusive, with the
laity being admitted only to the lowest level.

Angkor Wat, Siem Reap Overview

In Northern Cambodia lies one of the largest monuments in the world. Angkor Wat is a
treasured Buddhist temple and the allure of the Angkor Archaeological Park. Located 6
kilometres north of Siem Reap, Angkor Wat is considered as the gateway to the ruins of
Angkor. This temple is a national icon and source of pride for Cambodia, and is also
proudly displayed on the national flag.
The city of Angkor in which lies the Angkor Wat temple was built in the 12th century
by King Suryavarman II of the Khmer empire. The park is spread across an area of
roughly 400 square kilometers, making it the largest pre-industrial city in the world.
The park shouldn’t be considered as just a collection of different temples and
monuments. Angkor was a well-established city, and the temples were a part of that
flourishing city. The main temple among them all was Angkor Wat, which has been
rebuilt many times by different kings of the Khmer empire and later the kings of other
dynasties according to their preferences. The ruins of Angkor feels like you’ve entered
a completely different world where the lines of reality and fantasy have become
blurred.

Angkor Wat History and Significance

Built between roughly A.D. 1113 and 1150, and encompassing an area of about 500
acres, Angkor Wat is one of the most significant religious monuments ever constructed.
The temple was initially designed and built during the first half of the 12th century on
the orders of the then emperor Suryavarman II. Originally a temple dedicated to Lord
Vishnu, Angkor Wat gradually shifted from a Hindu center of worship to a Buddhist
one in the 14th century. The original name is still unknown since no inscription or
foundation stela was found from that time.
Angkor Wat temple has a 65 meters central tower which is surrounded by four smaller
towers and a series of enclosure walls. The layout is similar to that of Mount Meru, a
legendary place in Hindu mythology that is said to lie beyond the Himalayas and be the
home of the gods.

One of the most exciting and mystical elements of the temple is the location. Angkor
Wat is located at 13.41 degrees north in latitude and that the north-south axis of the
central tower's chamber is 13.43 cubits long. Historians have debated that this location
is not an accident. This location is along the axis of the earth, in the centre to be
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precise. In the central sanctuary, Vishnu is not only placed at the latitude of Angkor
Wat, but he is also positioned along the axis of the earth. It was the knowledge that the
Khmer people possessed at a time when the world was thought to be flat. This location
is a marvelous example of how this civilization already knew that the earth was round.

Not just these, but the sophisticated geometry of the structures indicates that celestial
significance was kept in mind while designing the temple. It perfectly aligned with the
constellation Draco as it appeared in the sky during the spring equinox of the year
10,500 BC which is considered remarkable knowing that they had no assistance from
advanced technology. In short, Angkor Wat is, arguably, the most spectacular temple
you will ever see, on a scale you can’t imagine.
The civilization in the Indian Subcontinent had been highly developed since ancient time.
When trades became flourished between the East and the West, the Indian traders sailed to
this region to establish Indian trading posts in order to collect goods and products during the
off monsoon season. These traders brought with them their civilization, cultures, philosophy
and religions. During those days, the indigenous people were far less civilized than the
Indian travelers and it was not surprising to find that they accepted many aspects from their
foreign folks by which they deemed to be better and beneficial.
Among these aspects were the religious and cultural elements of the Indian civilization. The
natives adopted Hinduism as their religion and its gods Shiva and Vishnu were revered as
their supreme gods. During the Funan period (I – IX centuries), which was a predecessor of
the Khmer civilization, the Brahmins, a learned caste of India, were invited into the royal
courts to help in administration.In addition to the religious belief, the natives also learned the
engineering skills such as the irrigation system as well as stone carving from the Indian
Brahmins.
When the Khmer civilization evolved in early 9th century, the Khmers inherited several
elements from its precursor as well as those from the Indian civilization. Along with many
other aspects of their culture, the Cambodians inherited Indian methods of architecture and
then absorbed them into their own architectural style. Once the Indian influence on the
kingdom was no longer significant, by the seventh to eighth centuries AD, Khmer
architecture began to develop independently. It flourished under ambitious kings who ruled
an empire rich in manpower and wealth. Both these factors were essential in bringing about
the larger building projects undertaken at Angkor in the 11th and 12th centuries.
Devraja: Khmers’ first king Jayavarman II (800 – 850) introduced the cult of devaraja into
Cambodia, establishing the king as a representative of the Hindu god Siva. His regime was
more or less a model of the successful Indian monarchy. Numerous impressive temples and
monuments were built throughout the empire during those successive centuries in order to
praise the Hindu gods. From this time temples were being built to honor both the god and the
king. During the next two reigns, the practice of each new king building his own temple,
which became his tomb on his death, was firmly established (Angkor Wat). We collectively
know these monuments as the Angkor Temples, and the most famous ones are the Angkor
Wat and the Angkor Thom, both of which resided on the vast plain of Siemreap in
Cambodia. The word “Angkor” is derived Sanskrit, an ancient Indian language, of “Nagara”
which means “City”. Angkor Wat literally means “City of Temple” and Angkor Thom “The
Magnificent City.”
Angkor Wat is the world’s largest religious building and the finest of all the Khmer
architectural wonders. It is but the most impressive and most perfectly constructed of
numerous temples whose extensive ruins survive to form one of the world’s largest historical
sites. Taking 37 years to complete and involving the labor of an estimated 50,000 artisans,
workers and slaves, the temple forms a rectangular enclosure measuring 1,500 meters by
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1,300 meters and surrounded by a moat 200 meters wide. Inside the outer walls, the structure
is built up over three levels rising to a central core topped by five distinctive towers, the
tallest reaching 65 meters. The proportions alone are spectacular, while the long galleries
feature walls decorated with low-relief scenes of epic legends, war and courtly life. All the
temple mountains of Angkor were filled with three-dimensional images and every inch of the
walls are covered by sculptures. Virtually every surface in a labyrinth of chambers and
courtyards is richly decorated and carvings of nearly 2,000 apsaras, or celestial dancers,
appear like a visual refrain of a beautiful melody (Angkor Wat).
Angkor Wat complex spreads an area of some 400 square kilometers and there are
more than 100 major archaeological monuments and numerous lesser remains. The
lands where the city of Angkor stands were not chosen as a settlement site because of any
pre-existing sacred importance, but rather for their strategic military position and agricultural
potential. In time however, over the half-millennia of Khmer occupation, the city of Angkor
became a great pilgrimage destination. Angkor Thom Temple was also significant in the
evolution of Khmer architecture as the first temple complex. It is quadrangle of defensive
walls totaling 12 kilometers that once protected the Khmer capital. It built in the late 12th
and early 13th centuries by King Jayavarman VII. The walls are divided by two axes running
north-south and east-west. A gateway lies at the end of each axis, four in total, facing the
four cardinal directions. It was a well-planned and well laid out series of buildings
surrounding several central shrines. These buildings were set around courtyards, and
avenues linked each courtyard. The less important buildings were located at the outer edges
of the complex, with the most important ones and the shrines in the center. The whole
complex was surrounded by a moat.
Cambodians in ancient were superstition; thus, they built their buildings base on the
legends they believed. According to Hinduism, the gods reside in the five sacred mountains
with central Mount Meru and these mountains are surrounded by the cosmic ocean. The
structure of the Khmer temples mostly symbolizes the heavenly residence of the gods with
five towers, called prasats. The central dominant tower or prasat represents the Mount Meru
with four smaller ones, each at its corners, to represent the other four sacred mountains of the
heaven. In some temples, there are galleries connecting the towers. The moat surrounding
the temple symbolizes the cosmic ocean. As the residence of gods, the temples were made up
of more endurable materials such as the bricks, laterites and sandstones. Numerous stones
were carved with artistic craftsmanship to portray the gods and the deities, the epics of
Mahabharata and Ramayana, and in many instances, the important events of Khmer history
as well as that of the king who was its founder. For the temples dedicated to Buddhism in the
later centuries, the architecture is much less prominent with some stone carving related to the
stories of Lord Buddha and his teaching.
The houses of the local people in ancient Khmer were more or less similar to those
found today in villages of modern Cambodia. It was elevated about two and a half meters
above the ground with the wooden ladder and was built by wooden piles, which supported
the floor, the walls and the roof. The wall was made up of either the straws or the bamboo
with the roof covered with the thatched leaves of dry coconut palms (Architecture). The
architecture of the dignitaries’ houses and the palaces was somewhat different from those of
the laymen, and differed in sizes, layouts and dimensions. The materials used to build the
house consisted of stronger wooden planks, generally made up of teakwood, and the roof
was covered with tiles for the inner rooms and with thatched leaves for the outer corners.
These differences clearly identified the classes of the people by which the laymen were not
even dare to put up a single tile

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on their roof.
The architectural vividness of Angkor was not separated from its engineering genius. In
addition to the remarkable temples, the ancient Khmer also had showed its architectural
genius by building large reservoirs and dikes, which were essential in agriculture as well as
for the survival of the people. The two largest reservoirs were the East Baray and the West
Baray. The former one, built during the reign of Yasovarman I, was 7 1/2 kilometer long and
1 km 830 meters wide with the depth of 4-5 meter. The latter was almost twice larger. These
reservoirs collected the water from the nearby rivers through dikes and help significantly to
prevent floods by collecting water from heavy rainfall during the Monsoon season. There
were also smaller reservoirs; many ponds and moats, which were constructed in the vicinity
of the various temples, and thus further helped in water storage. This water was used in
everyday life of the Khmer people, and irrigated to the farmland during the dry season.
In so mastering the annual cycle of floods and drought brought about by the alternating
monsoon seasons, the ancient Khmer were able to harvest two and even three rice crops a
year. From this rich agricultural base Angkor built up its power. As Coedes has commented
in Angkor: An Introduction, there is a vital connection between the regal power symbolized
in the temple-mountain and the practical mastery of water. “The fact is well known,” the
historian wrote, “that a rice-growing country is dependent upon a regulated system of
irrigation which in turn is dependent on a strong and stable central authority. If the control
breaks down, the water ceases to work its benefits, and abundance gives way to misery.”
(Coedes). Bountiful crop production not only sustained a huge population perhaps as high as
one million – it also freed large numbers of peasants from agricultural work. Manpower was
thus available for extending and securing the boundaries of the empire and for building the
massive stone temples of the god-kings (Angkor Wat). There was also extensive road system
in ancient Angkor Empire during its peak. These roads were built by raising the earth as the
pavement, however, most parts of these roads were lost but some vestiges remain. The
Angkor being at the center of the civilization had its roads branching out in all directions.
Multi towers: As the Khmer civilization reached its full flowering the temple form evolved
from a single tower to a multi-towered structure of Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom.
Moreover, while early shrines stood at ground level, later temples were grandiosely raised on
terraced pyramids. Vaulted galleries were introduced to link individual sanctuaries into a
single, intricate temple complex. Materials also evolved, from wood for the earliest
prototypes to brick, laterite and finally sandstone, the last lending itself to the relief carving
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which defines Angkor’s finest temples almost as distinctively as the architecture itself. These
and other changes reached a climax at Angkor Wat.
Problems: There were, however, significant problems, which the architects had to overcome
and some of their building methods contributed to the early collapse of their temples.
Sandstone blocks were prepared carefully to fit together, but vertical joints were allowed to
run on top of one another making walls very unstable. So, often a whole wall fell if one stone
near the base became dislodged. No mortar was used; just a good fit, weight and gravity was
thought sufficient. The Khmers never learnt how to build an arch. European architects who
built the vaulted Gothic cathedrals used complex arches to cover a space, a technique that
had been handed down to them from the Romans over centuries of development. The
Khmers had no such example to copy. In order to overcome this difficulty, they used the
false arch, or corbelling. Large stones were piled on top of one another, reaching inwards as
far as possible and touching at the top. An arched roof over a space was thus formed, but it
was not as stable as the real arch, and these vaults often collapsed (Architecture).
In the beginning of 1200, the Angkor and the Khmer empire started to decline. As
neighboring states of the Angkor grew, they became a major threat to the empire. When
Jayavarman VII died, the Thai Empire in the West emerged as a major power in the region.
In order to protect the empire, the Angkor had to direct portion of its manpower to secure
strong armed forces, which in turn, deprived itself from giving good maintenance to its
irrigation system. The road network built by Jayavarman VII had aided the transports of
products and trades throughout the empire and also facilitated the Khmer troops to quell its
neighbors. It had became a double-edged sword when the Angkor became weak as the
invaders could easily marched in through this road network, instead of previously sailing up
from the Mekong River. This turned out to be true when the newly emerged Ayuthaya, a
Thai kingdom in the West became stronger. They use this road to march to attack right at the
heart of Angkor and finally sacked the empire in 1431. The glory of the Angkor Civilization
was terminated since that time. The city was deserted and the capital was moved to Eastward
to the region of the present capital Phnom Penh (Britannica).
Relics: , Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom and several other Khmer temples are undoubtedly the
relics of the past Khmer Civilization. Angkor is prominent because of its temples, and these
massive stone monuments that constitute the Khmer civilization’s greatest legacy. Angkor
represents one of humankind’s most astonishing and enduring architectural achievements.
Lawrence Briggs makes the point in his book The Ancient Khmer Empire. “The Khmers,”
he wrote, “left the world no systems of administration, education or ethics like those of the
Chinese; no literatures, religions or systems of philosophy like those of India; but here
oriental architecture and decoration reached its culminating point.” (Briggs).
H
istory and Significance of the Temple
Angkor Wat’s original name in Sanskrit was Vrah Viṣṇuloka or Parama Viṣṇuloka which
translates as “the sacred dwelling of Vishnu.” Its current name of Angkor Wat was derived
from the Khmer language, which means “City of Temples” or “Temple City.” The temple is
located 3.4 miles north of Siem Reap, a modern Cambodian town. Legends surround the
origin of the temple. A Chinese traveler from the 13th century, Zhou Daguan, held the belief
that the temple rose up in a single night due to the work of a deity. Other stories tell that the
temple was ordered to be constructed to serve as a palace for Precha Ket Mealea, the son of
Indra.
In light of these legends, historic annals record that the design and construction of the temple
could be tracked back to the twelfth century under the reign of Khmer ruler, Survayaman II
from 1113 to 1150. The temple initially served as a temple to the Hindu god, Vishnu and the
as the capital city and state temple of King Survayaman II. During the late 12th century,
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Angkor Wat gradually converted into being a Buddhist temple and exists as a center for
Buddhism up to the present time.

The Architecture of Angkor Wat

As a temple, Angkor Wat is a combination of architectural temple plans prevalent in Khmer
culture. This includes the newer galleried temple and the temple-mountain structure.
Locations of certain towers indicate important points during solstices, which suggests that
the planning of the temple’s layout was based on some significant celestial considerations.
he mountain temple of Angkor Wat is also considered to be a representation of Mount Meru.
It is a five-peaked mountain that is of religious significance to Hinduism, Buddhism, and
Jain cosmology. It is the center of the universe and considered to be the dwelling place of the
gods. The parallelism with Mount Meru could be seen in the quincunx towers central to the
temple which mirrors the five peaks of the mountain while the surrounding walls and Moat
of the temple were made to represent the ocean and mountain ranges surrounding Mount
Meru.
The decorative style of the temple also reflects Khmer architecture. Elements of this historic
architectural style include towers shaped similar to lotus buds or the ogival towers; cross-
shaped terraces along the main temple, and axial and half-galleries that connect to other
areas of the temple. Decorative elements include narrative scenes and elaborate garlands in
the temple pediments. Apsaras or devatas, the depiction of nymphs or heavenly female
figures dancing, and bas-reliefs can also be found in the structures of the Angkor Wat.

Angkor Wat combines two basic plans of Khmer temple architecture: the temple-
mountain and the later galleried temple, based on early Dravidian architecture, with key

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features such as the Jagati. It is designed to represent Mount Meru,

home of the devas in Hindu mythology: within a moat and an outer wall 3.6 kilometres (2.2
mi) long are three rectangular galleries, each raised above the next. At the centre of the
temple stands a quincunx of towers. Unlike most Angkorian temples, Angkor Wat is oriented
to the west; scholars are divided as to the significance of this. The temple is admired for the
grandeur and harmony of the architecture, its extensive bas-reliefs, and for the numerous
devatas adorning its walls.
Historical Significance
The Angkor Wat served as the capital of the Khmer Empire, and also a strategic military
post.
With curosity the original name of the Angkor Wat is unknown, Historians have been unable
to locate any artifacts or inscriptions that refer to the temple complex by it’s name.
Large amounts of the Angkor Wat remain unfinished, though due to historian research and
theory it is thought that construction stopped when Suryavarman II died.

Cultural Significance
Suryavarman II greatly respected the god Vishnu, a god often painted and seen as a
protecter, so Suryavarman II installed a statue of the god Vishnu in Angkor Wat’s central
tower. This devotion can be seen as one of the most remarkable reliefs at the Angkor Wat,
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with the god located in the southeast of the temple. This relief shows a chapter in the Hindu
story of the creation known as the ‘churning of the sea of milk’
Bayon-Historical Significance
There was originally 49 towers standing but today only 37 are standing.
Most towers have four carved faces on each cardinal point, though there are some with three
faces or even two.
The Bayon has had several architectural changes, this is because the city of Angkor Thom
was so well fortified that later kings relised it would be easier to re-model the Bayon instead
of removing it and creating their own state temple which would have been in the exact same
place (at the centre of the city).

Bayon-Cultural Significance
The temple is very complex when it comes to structure and meaning, having it passed
through different religious phases from Pantheon of the Gods, Hindu Worship and
Buddhism.
This is one of most enigmatic and powerful religious structures in the world.

Cosmological Connection
Perhaps the most striking characteristic of Angkor Wat is that it perfectly aligns with the
constellation Draco as it appeared in the sky during the spring equinox of the year 10,500
BC. Many speculate at the significance of this and how it could have been accomplished in
an age without assistance from advanced technology, but it is an undeniable fact that Angkor
Wat was constructed to fit harmoniously with the world surrounding it. The overwhelming
level of sophistication within the temple geometry shows that its builders hoped to create a
deeper connection with the universe through what they believed to be sacred numerology.
Angkor Wat was not built out of the vanity of a dictating leader, but instead was made as a
tool to help people make a tangible connection with divinity. Each measurement is

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connected to each other measurement based on ancient astrological observations, and it has
even been postulated that Angkor Wat could be a sort of highly sophisticated calendar or
cosmic clock.
The mysteries of the complex at Angkor Wat have puzzled man for generations, and it will
continue to draw attention as more people attempt to spread the word of its incredible secrets
in the hopes that the truth will be exposed. The whole city of Angkor was said to have been
built as a colossal diagram of precession to embed specific astronomical numbers and
constants. One of these “cosmological myths” portrayed at Angkor is the famous Churning
of the Sea of Milk. It covers a bas-relief almost 50 meters long inside Angkor Wat’s eastern
gallery. 92 Deva and 88 Asura (for a total of 180 figures) pull the serpent Vasuki for one
thousand years around Mount Mandara, which serves as the axis of the World and
(according to Santillana and Von Dechend), the ecliptic North Pole around which the
constellations revolve as a consequence of precession. More recently, the Angkor expert
Eleanor Mannikka has pointed out that even the division in 92 Deva and 88 Asura very
accurately marks the number of days between the Winter solstice and the Spring equinox in
March and the number of days between the Summer solstice and the equinox respectively.
Also, the whole of Angkor Wat would have functioned as a giant calendrical clock,
providing a 3-days warning of the Spring Equinox: An observer along the Western causeway
would have seen the sun rising exactly on top of the central tower of Angkor Wat on each of
the 3 days preceding the Equinox and then on the Equinox day from a different position
moved more towards the center of the platform. Similarly, the lateral towers of the Western
gateway would have served as solstitial markers for an observer located right outside the
bridge main entrance.

While this can certainly be no coincidence, the ancient builders of Angkor Wat also
embedded a wealth of astronomical information in the main dimensions of their temples. The
main axial measurements of the temple as taken from the moat and along the western
causeway yield, with almost exact precision, the values of the Hindu cosmological cycles of
432,000; 864,000; 1,296,000; 1,728,000 years (here expressed in Khmer cubits of 43.54 cm).
Also, the sum of the lengths of the axes of the perimetral wall of Angkor Wat (divided by 12)
yields a length of 365.24 cubits, which is the same as the length in days of the solar year.
The same figure for the outer encircling wall (divided by 24, as the number of lunar half-
phases in one year) yields 354.36 cubits, which is the length (in days) of the lunar year.
According to another scholar, the historian and mathematician Shubash Kak, Angkor Wat
consists of at least three astronomical and architectural units which are part of single giant
cosmic diagram .

1. The central sanctuary (that is Mount Meru), symbolizing the celestial North Pole, the
Earth axis and the spring Equinox
2. The outer corridors and concentric galleries, which symbolize the ecliptic and the Earth’s
and planetary orbits, the cycles of the moon, the constellations and the solar and lunar years
3. The four axes of the temples, which represent the cosmic ages and the cycles of time.
The most strikingly astronomic monument is however located a mere hundred meters from
Angkor Wat, on the mountain Phnom Bakheng. It is a 5-tiered pyramid, 76 meters wide at its
base, surmounted by 4 towers and a central sanctuary. A total of 104 smaller towers stand on
the lower terraces, which add up to 108 once the 4 towers on the top are added. This makes
27 towers on each side, the same as the number of days in a lunar month. In turn, the lateral
towers and the central sanctuary mark the position of the Sun at the two Solstices and at the
Equinox. Of the 60 towers that stand on the upper 5 terraces, there are 12 on each terrace, the
same as the number of years in the Jupiter cycle, considered the base of the Khmer sacred
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calendar. Not surprisingly Phnom Bakheng has been described as an astronomic calendar in
stone. But the same may be said of other famous Angkor monuments, such as the Bayon,
with its 54 towers, and the Pre Rup, which also contains a total of 27 towers.

Moving further into the field of Earth-Sky analogies, independent researchers Jean-Pierre
Lacroix and Robert Bywater believe they have found proof of gigantic planetary diagrams on
the ground of Angkor, modeled after ancient Hindu astronomic systems. The theory of
Lacroix and Bywater is too complex to be treated in sufficient detail so only the outline will
be given hereIt is “a theory about the relationship between the locations of the principal
Khmer monuments (and in many instances their orientation and internal measurements) and
components of enormous Indian planetary diagrams “drawn virtually” on the Angkorian
ground using the parameters of the “Midnight System”.

The “midnight system” is in fact one of two geocentric models proposed by the Hindu
astronomer and mathematician Aryabhata in the early 6th Century AD. The model allows to
predict with a high degree of accuracy the exact position of the inner and outer planets
(including that of the Sun and the Moon) on a specific date, based on the intersection of a
circle called deferent (centered on the observer) and a combination of two epicycles called
Manda and Sighra. The two authors believe they have found proof of the knowledge of the
“midnight system” by the ancient Khmer in an inscription from the temple of Banteay Srei
referring to the position of the planets during a highly significant planetary alignment that
was recorded by Khmer astronomers on the midnight of April 22nd, 967 AD. On that date the
planets were clustered around the same portion of the night sky within the Pisces
constellation as they were at the beginning of the Kali Yuga – the last cycle in Hindu
cosmology – which supposedly began on February 17th, 3,102 BC. The origin of this
planetary model may indeed be extremely ancient, as it is found already in pre-Vedic
inscriptions and astronomical recordings from the Harappan culture at Harappa and
Mohenjo-Daro.

The ancient Khmer, however, did not clearly limit themselves to recording astronomical
dates, but wanted to portray them through colossal diagrams on the ground as part of their
own sacred geography. Astonishingly, Lacroix and Bywater believe that “The Khmer kings
moved their successive capitals across Cambodia for various political reasons, but we
suggest they wanted also, in some cases, to obey the rules of sacred geography related to
planetary diagrams or, conversely, to use a new location to create or complete a planetary
diagram”; thus providing an explanation for the unexpected surge in building activity that
characterized the beginning of the Khmer empire. According to the two authors, this set of
planetary diagrams that covered the whole of the ancient Khmer empire, were brought to
light by temples built on key locations, which in turn “reveals capacities, in the fields of
astronomy, land-surveying and cartography, which exceed by far the know-how and
accuracy previously attributed to Middle-Age scholars”.

By establishing their prime meridian across the sacred mountain of Phnom Bakheng, the
ancient Khmer were able to carry out a comprehensive survey of their vast empire, locating
cities and monuments according to a celestial design. As an example, the two authors cite the
anomalous orientation of the ancient site of Preah Khan of Kampong Svay, which is oriented
28° East from true North. This is along the same orientation of a line connecting the center
of the Sighra epicycle used to describe the position of Saturn with an imaginary observer
located on the hill of Phnom Bok nearby Angkor. Also, when measurements are taken using
the krta yuga of 752.46 meters as the ancient Khmer land surveying unit, the distances
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between the neighboring as well as the more distant sites surprisingly yield exact integer
numbers which are multiples of the main planetary dimensions and the measures of the
epicycles.

Quincunx: Quincunx patterns occur in many contexts:

The flag of the Solomon Islands features a quincunx of stars.A quincuncial

map.Cosmatesque pavements with the quincunx pattern

 In heraldry, groups of five elements (charges) are often arranged in a quincunx pattern,
called in saltire in heraldic terminology. The flag of the Solomon Islands features this
pattern, with its five stars representing the five main island groups in the Solomon
Islands. Another instance of this pattern occurred in the flag of the 19th-century Republic
of Yucatán, where it signified the five departments into which the republic was divided.
 In architecture, a quincuncial plan, also defined as a "cross-in-square", is the plan of an
edifice composed of nine bays. The central and the four angular ones are covered with
domes or groin vaults so that the pattern of these domes forms a quincunx; the other four
bays are surmounted by barrel vaults. In Khmer architecture, the towers of a temple,
such as Angkor Wat, are sometimes arranged in a quincunx to represent the five peaks of
Mount Meru.
 A quincunx is one of the quintessential designs of Cosmatesque inlay stonework.
The colossal complex of lotus bud-shaped structures form a quincunx at the heart of the
temple, creating a visual arrangement that resembles the home of the Hindu Gods- Mount
Meru. This sacred abode is known to Hindus, Buddhists, and followers of Jainism as the true
center of the spiritual and physical universe, around which the sun and planets are said to
orbit.
Aspects of Angkor Wat seem to have a directional and proportional significance, hinting at a
very sophisticated architectural scheme. The anterior face of the temple had a western
orientation, diverging from the traditional Khmer building method which favored orientation
to the east. The Western orientation of architecture symbolizes the underworld in Greek and
Etruscan cultures, giving substance to the possibility of a similar association taking place at
Angkor Wat.
Furthermore, bas-relief sculptures were arranged along the chambers and passageways of the
temple, depicting stories that proceed in a counter-clockwise fashion- a reverse order which
hinted at the rituals of a Brahminic(Hindu) funeral. This motivated many academics to infer
that Angkor Wat was used as a funerary temple for Suryavarman II.

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Crowd waiting for sunrise during the equinox at Angkor Wat temple
Equinox, an astronomical event that marks a change in season, is the time
in which the sun passes over the celestial equator causing the length of
night and day to be roughly equal. In the northern hemisphere vernal
equinox marks the beginning of spring while autumnal equinox marks the
beginning of autumn. Vernal equinox is usually celebrated in March while
autumnal equinox in September. In the southern hemisphere, it is the other
way around.

Mount Meru: In the middle of the earth, surrounded by cosmic oceans, sits mythical
mount Meru--840,000 miles high and home of the gods. The stars, planets, and even the
earth itself revolve around it. Here is a diagram showing Mount Meru with the heavens
above, and hells below.

The mountain appears in many Hindu myths, and is the model for the temple-city of Angkor
Wat.The city's 200m wide moat is said to represent the cosmic oceans, and the steep,
many-.

258
Surrounding the temple are galleries with long bas-relief carvings depicting scenes from
Hindu mythology and the city's history. They don't make very dramatic photos (at least, not
for me), but contain innumerable interesting small depictions.

These two details, for example, is from a 50-meter long depiction of the epic battle of
Kurukshetra--a battle between two sibling clans for the throne of Hastinapura. It is believed
that the battle took place around 3067BC in the modern state of Haryana, India.

259
Here, for a sense of scale, is the full length of panels.

Phnom Penh

260
A set of interconnected planetary diagrams covering the Ancient Khmer Empire and
brought to light by temples built on key locations reveals capacities, in the fields of
astronomy, land-surveying and cartography, which exceed by far the know-how and
accuracy previously attributed to Middle-Age scholars.
As a matter of fact, the locations provided by the inscription are fully correct if we suppose
the degree zero of the first house-sign was Spica instead of zeta Piscium. It is worth
remembering the Indian (and the Khmer) used to measure the « ayanamsa » ie the difference
of ecliptic longitude between the vernal equinox and the star used as degree zero of their
zodiac. These stars were either Spica or zeta Piscium.
By using Spica (the house numbers become those written in green colour in figure):
- Sun, Mercury and Saturn in house-sign 6 ( Aries is house-sign 6 if Spica is degree zero).
- Mars, Jupiter and Venus in house-sign 5 (Pisces is house-sign 5 if Spica is degree zero).
- Moon in house-sign 10 (Leo is house-sign 10 if Spica is degree zero)

261
The basis of this research is the stanza XLIV of the inscription carved on the stele
discovered in the fourth enclosure’s gopura of the Banteay Srei temple. We are able to
demonstrate the stanza provides the houses-signs where the planets, the Sun and the Moon
were located on 22 april 967 CE (Julian calendar) at midnight (24 h) although the indicated
locations are not, at first sight, compatible with the year when the temple was consecrated.
The « Siddhantic » software (HIC), created by Lars Gislén Calculates the following locations
(figure here below) :

- Sun, Mercury and Saturn (red numbers 1, 4 & 7) were located in the house-sign 0
(numbers written in black colour in the figure). With zeta Piscium used as degree zero
(usual convention), the three objects were crossing, roughly, the Aries constellation.
)
It is worth remembering the houses-signs were numbered from 0 to 11.
( F.G. Faraut : « Astronomie cambodgienne »)
- Mars, Jupiter and Venus (red numbers 3,5 & 6) were located in the house-sign 11 which
corresponded to Pisces.
- The Moon (red number 2) was crossing the house-sign 4 which corresponded to Leo
Those locations are confirmed by modern software.

The stele’s inscription provides houses-signs which don’t correspond to the month (nor to
the year) of the temple’s consecration (22 April 967):
- Sun, Mercury and Saturn are described to be in house-sign 6 (at first sight Libra).
- Mars, Jupiter and Venus are described to be in house-sign 5 (at first sight Virgo).
- Moon is described to be in house-sign 10 (at first sight Aquarius). (more precise data
provided by
http://ancientcartography.net/22-04-967-midnight-4.pdf
A1I1V7QUWSMY kMbiFcVy1DkT7q

BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Angkor: Celestial Temples of the Khmer Hardcover – April 26, 2002
2. by Jon Ortner (Author), Ian W. Mabbett (Author), James Goodman (Author), Ian
Mabbett (Author), &2 more

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3. “Angkor Wat.” Britannica Student Encyclopedia. 2004. Encyclopædia Britannica
Premium Service. http://www.britannica.com/ebi/article?eu=294605>
4. Coedes, George. Angkor: An Introduction. Oxford University Press; Reprint edition
1986.
5. “Angkor Wat. Design and Architecture.” Angkor Wat Information Pages. Homepage.
2003 <http://www.angkorwat.org/design_contents.html#design>
6. “Architecture. Khmer Civilization.” History of Cambodia. Cambodia Travel
Homepage. 2004 <http://www.cambodia-travel.com/khmer/architecture.htm>
7. Briggs, Lawrence Palmer. The Ancient Khmer Empire. White Lotus Co., Ltd. 1999.
8. Fleming, Stuart (1985). “Science Scope: The City of Angkor Wat: A Royal
Observatory on Life?”. Archaeology. 38 (1): 62–72. JSTOR41731666.

9. Aveni, A.; Romano, G. (September 1994). “Orientation and Etruscan ritual”.

Antiquity. 68 (260): 545–563. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00047049. ISSN0003-598X.

10. Tabish Khair, ed. (2006). Other Routes: 1500 Years of African and Asian Travel
Writing. Indiana University Press. p. 115. ISBN978-0253218216.

11. The Architecture of Angkor Wat ,Dawn Rooney | Publication date 12 March 1993
|
12. Angkor: Celestial Temples of the Khmer Hardcover – April 26, 2002 , Jon Ortner
(Author), Ian W. Mabbett (Author), James Goodman (Author), Ian Mabbett (Author),
&2 more

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 CHAPTER XI
Earth’s magnetic fields and Temple
Construction and Location
- Saarthak Dulgaj in Culture-Vulture, Sci-Tech, Society, 2020

Ater reading this Chapter you will find that no study has been made on whether or
not the Angkor Temple Mointain and other Temple Mountains are placed on any
Magnetic Axis. That is the lacunae in the research and the reason is that there is
TOURISM RESEARCH and TOURISN ANTHROPOLOGY with regards to the
Temples of Cambodia. People who are doing research have no knowledge of
Hinduism, Hindu temples and Sanskrit- not gto mention the AGAMAS or Hindu
Gexts that talk about how to build temples.RExample Codes, George the French
archeologist translated DEVRAJA as GOD KING whereas in fact it means SHIVA olr
kING OF GODS.

264
Let us consider the fact that the Earth is a giant magnet. It has magnetic North and
South poles, where the magnetic field of lines are in a dense state. People who claim
dense magnetic field in temples fraudulent because they don’t have any
measurement to prove their claims. It is impossible to find a magnetic field in dense
state at a small place such as the moolasthanam. Magnetic poles are spread over
kilometres.

Earth’s liquid iron core convects because it is heated from beneath by the inner core.
Because iron is a metal and conducts electricity (even when molten), its motion generates a
magnetic field.

Earth’s magnetic field is defined by north and south poles representing lines of magnetic
force flowing into Earth in the northern hemisphere and out of Earth in the southern
hemisphere (Figure 3.15). Because of the shape of the field lines, the magnetic force is
oriented at different angles to the surface in different locations. The tilt, or inclination of
magnetic field lines is represented by the tilt of compass needles in Figure 3.15. At the north
and south poles, the force is vertical. The force is horizontal at the equator. Everywhere in
between, the magnetic force is at an intermediate angle to the surface.

In Advances in Residential Design Related to the Influence of Geomagnetism, Francisco

Glaria et al, (Int J Environ Res Public
Health.(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5858456/) 2018 ) describe that
geomagnetic aspects can affect health of humans if the geomagnetic field variability of the
rest of the variables exceeds the minimum required dosimetry and one can conclude that the

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causes of architectural components that can influence, to a greater or lesser extent,
geomagnetic field variability are as follows:

 The arrangement of parking spaces in the basement floors of the building.

 The arrangement of metal masses in the basement floors of the building.
 Variability in storm water due to the flow of underground streams.

You may have come across many articles and videos where they give scientific
reasons behind the geography and architecture of temples. Their choice of
explanation makes you feel that it is very scientific — they cleverly use appealing
scientific words like energy, vibration, magnetic field and electric field, amongst
others. The most persistent rumour is that temples were purposely constructed at a
place where the Earth’s magnetic wave densely pass through. Apparently, these
temples are located strategically at a place where there is abundant positive energy
from the magnetic and electric wave distribution of the north/south pole thrust.

Before jumping into the discussion about myths on Hindu temples, first, we should
try to understand how these magnetic fields and electric fields originated on Earth
and how they interact with the human body. As we know, iron is a magnetic material
and the Earth’s core is filled with iron in a molten state, which generates a magnetic
field on Earth. This is why we call our blue planet a giant magnet. Earth is
surrounded by an infinite number of charged particles, or ions, and these particles,
present in the core of Earth, are the source of electric field lines.

F= qE + q(v x B),

where F is the force exerted by the electric field E and magnetic field B on the
charged particle q moving with the velocity v.
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This is the famous Lorentz Equation that describes the effect of the magnetic and
electric field on charged particles. The first term is contributed by the electric field,
while the second is contributed by the magnetic field. Our body contains charged
particles, and nerve cells communicate through electric signals, which can get
affected by the magnetic and electric field.

Now, let’s talk about some myths surrounding Hindu temples.-Temples are found
deliberately at places where abundant positive energy is available from the magnetic
and electric wave conveyances of north/south post push. The main idol is placed at
the core centre of the temple, known
as ‘Garbhagriha’, ‘Garbhagriya’ or ‘Moolasthanam’. In fact, the temple structure is
built after the idol has been placed. This moolasthanam is where Earth’s magnetic
waves are found to be maximum.

Positive energy? What does that really mean? It sounds very scientific and
attractive, surely. Energy is the measurement of the ability to do work. If this
magnetic field is concentrated in temples and gives out so-called positive energy,
then people who live at the magnetic poles must have this energy, too. “Copper
plates are buried at the moolasthanam that absorb the Earth’s magnetic field and
radiate it out to the surroundings.” Copper is a non-magnetic material, whereas
iron, cobalt and nickel are attracted to magnets, as their magnetic permeability is
very high. Copper doesn’t radiate magnetic field lines.

“Remove footwear before entering the temple because temples are

places that contain pure vibrations of magnetic and electric fields with
positive energy. It will be easy to pass positive energy through the
feet.” There is nothing like positive or negative vibrations. Vibrations are simply
vibrations — the to and fro motion of particles. Superconductors are the only
materials that show obstacles to a magnetic field. Magnetic field lines can penetrate
any material except superconductors. Our body contains charged particles that can
be affected by the magnetic field. If this magnetic field gives out so-called positive
energy, then it will be better to go to the magnetic North or South poles. And surely,
people who live there must be full of this positive energy.

In Temple Science- Shocking science behind Hindu Temples -Suhasini

Reddy says that the purpose behind building Temples is to create a pathway
between the divine and the human- a link between God and Man. The building f
temples is not just a mere art; it is a science involving every single facet of it - from
the size of the idol to the directions and the sanctum.Temple architecture is and was
-a highly developed science.

India is the country which is known for its rich Hindu Culture and Tradition. There
are hundreds of mesmerizing Hindu temples across the country in different design,
shape, locations; but not all temples are built as described in Vedic literature.

Temples are found deliberately at a place where the positive energy is available
abundantly from the magnetic and electric wave conveyances of north/south post
push. The idol of God is set in the core center of the temple, known as" Grabhagriha"
or "Moolasthanam". Ideally, the structure of the temple is built after the idol has
been placed in a high positive wave centric place.

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In olden days, temples were built in such a way that the floor at the center of the
temple were good conductors of these positive vibrations allowing them to pass
through our feet to the body. Hence it is necessary to walk barefooted while you
enter the center of the temple. Five senses of the body get activated when you are
inside the temple if the positive energy inside the temple is absorbed properly that is
only if you ensure that all the five senses are activated in your body while in the
temple. The senses of the Human Body are Sight, Hearing, Taste, Sight, And Smell.

Also, the place of worship is said to be pleased only if your five senses are pleased. A
Temple is more than a Building. People put aside any constraints of money to erect
inspiring structures which we can say are built on faith, science, and mystery. For
most of us, the science of temples built on thousands of years of research and
development has been lost.By understanding the science of Indian temples, one can
experience the intelligence, power, and miracles that these structures were made
from and for.

The Divine aspects of a Temple: The temple is comprised of five senses and a
presiding deity. The temple is an outgrowth of the deity which has its own
independent intelligence and from which energy is constantly radiating. Temples are
places where mind spontaneously moves within and meditation happens effortlessly.
Every aspect of the temple, from the architecture to the rituals to the kinds of
worship offered, has been consciously created to make this experience happen.

Energy Centres If you look into the ancient past and the temples, it reveals the
fundamental science and purpose behind temple building. Far from being a place of
prayer or worship, temples were created as powerful spaces where an individual
could imbibe the enshrined energies. Most temples were created to address a
particular aspect of life and were thus consecrated to activate one or two particular
chakras, the main energy centers within the human system. The chakra means
“wheel” and refers to energy points in your body. They are thought to be spinning
disks of energy that should stay “open” and aligned, as they correspond to bundles of
nerves, major organs, and areas of our energetic body that affect our emotional and
physical well-being.

Deities are not gods! They are just the mirrors of spiritual reality

Vedic Temple design

A temple has a very unique design according to Hindu mythology. The

construction of a normal house and a temple are very different. There are many
points which are to be taken care of while constructing a temple. It is supposed to
be connected with the nature, the universe and the Supreme Power that is
controlling and driving the whole universe. We specialize in in the designing of
Vedic temples.

We take care of all the important points that are to be considered while
constructing a fruitful Temple. A temple is considered to be a place where we
connect ourselves with gods. If there is any error in building a temple, the results
are exactly opposite. A temple must be promote the constructive elements of the
universe and control the negative energies. The purpose of the Vedic Knowledge of
Sthåpatya Veda—Våstu Vidyå—is to maintain individual life in harmony with Cosmic
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 Life, and save the individual from being torn apart by the disharmonious influence of the
surroundings he has created around him—his house, his village, his city, etc.

This is being mentioned here to explain the need for everyone in the world to live and work in an
auspicious Våstu building and enjoy the support of Natural Law in daily life.In Vedic
Architecture, the geographical centre of the country holds special significance for the
support of Natural Law for the progress and prosperity of the whole country.This science of
Vedic Architecture is not a matter of belief or faith; it is as concrete as the burning nature of fire
and the cooling nature of ice.

Selecting the site

We first of all examine the site to consider it to be perfect for the site for a temple. It
is not an individual’s choice. One must consider the presence of other temples. If
there is temple of a particular God, it is advisable to build another Temple of some
other god or goddess. This is to help the society. Temples are not built only to fulfill
an individual’s wish. Suppose a temple is being built to give a tribute to a beloved
person whose soul is taking a rest in peace, then the site of the temple must be
definitely taken care of. Facilities available near the temples must be considered.
There has to be water supply 24 by 7. The soil has to be fertile. If all these
parameters are getting fulfilled, then only our architects and sculptors approve the
site.

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 Direction of Idols
We take good care of the direction of the placement of the deities and idols. There
are different stories associated with the direction of different Gods and Goddesses. If
they are placed in the respective directions, the results achieved are quick according
to Vedic astrology. For example, the idols of most of the Gods and Goddesses are
south facing or west facing but the idol of Lord Hanuman must be placed in the
manner it faces the north direction. It is so because Lord Hanuman went to Sri
Lanka and got victory over Sri Lanka. It is in the south direction. Therefore, Lord
Hanuman was victorious in the southern direction. Thus, it is believed that if we
worship the idol of Lord Hanuman that faces the north direction shall give the best
results. It is also said that, the direction of riddles actually does not matter but it is
the direction of the human beings that matters. We must face the north and the east
direction while worshipping.

There is one more reason to support the placement of most of the idols in north east
direction. There is magnetism in this direction of any place, be it a house or a
temple. We need to attract the Gods, therefore we plce their idols in this direction so
that the idols for the souls of the Gods can remain attracted to the place with the
help of magnetism.

Determining the size

Before beginning the construction, we determine the size of the idol or the deity that
is to be built. There is a dome that is built in correspondence with the temple. A
Hindu temple is believed to have the dome for sure. After determining the size of the
idol, the architect will make a complete plan and then the construction will begin.

Ganesh Pooja and Vastu Pooja

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We Indians never begin anything without worshipping Lord Ganesha. After
worshipping Lord Ganesha, we also go for Vastu Pooja to please Vastu Devta. It is
very necessary to do everything in the construction of a temple absolutely correctly.
It is said that, what starts well, gets completed perfectly.

Consideration of Vedic astrology

We consider Vedic astrology at every step of construction. Every inch is constructed
keeping in mind the rules and regulations mentioned by the Vedic Shastra. Our
architects and sculptors are well trained in all the aspects that are to be considered
as per Vedic astrology.

Using the Nakshatra

Before the construction of the temple takes place, our Vedic astrologers check.
The Nakshatra of the founder of the temple. It has to be in correspondence with the
possibilities or yog of construction of a temple. The Nakshatra of the place or the
village is also taken into consideration.
Material used
The kinds of material that are used for the construction of a temple are gold, silver,
copper, etc; but not iron. Iron attracts negative energy. It is very necessary to avoid
the usage of iron. In case iron is used in the construction of the temple, it becomes
necessary to make sure that all other particulars are followed while building the
temple so that it can attract the positive energy only.
Formation of grid
While building the temple, it is very necessary that there must be strict grids. The grids are
made up of equilateral Triangles and squares. Everything has a very strong and in-depth
religious significance. Even if we do not know the scientific reason behind it, we don’t
hesitate in following it because we have complete faith in Vedic astrology. There must be
either 64 or 81 squares. The idol of the temple is with the square that is in the center.

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The plan or GRID

The 8x8 (64) grid Manduka Hindu Temple Floor Plan, according to
Vastupurusamandala. The 64 grid is the most sacred and common Hindu temple
template. The bright saffron centre, where diagonals intersect above, represents the
Purusha of Hindu philosophy.
The design, especially the floor plan, of the part of a Hindu temple around the
sanctum or shrine follows a geometrical design called vastu-purusha-mandala. The
name is a composite Sanskrit word with three of the most important components of
the plan. Mandala means circle, Purusha is universal essence at the core of Hindu
tradition, while Vastu means the dwelling structure. Vastupurushamandala is
a yantra.[32] The design lays out a Hindu temple in a symmetrical, self-repeating
structure derived from central beliefs, myths, cardinality and mathematical
principles.
The four cardinal directions help create the axis of a Hindu temple, around which is
formed a perfect square in the space available. The circle of mandala circumscribes
the square. The square is considered divine for its perfection and as a symbolic
product of knowledge and human thought, while circle is considered earthly, human
and observed in everyday life (moon, sun, horizon, water drop, rainbow). Each
supports the other. The square is divided into perfect square grids. In large temples,
this is often a 8x8 or 64 grid structure. In ceremonial temple superstructures, this is
an 81 sub-square grid. The squares are called ‘‘padas’’. The square is symbolic and
has Vedic origins from fire altar, Agni. The alignment along cardinal direction,
similarly is an extension of Vedic rituals of three fires. This symbolism is also found
among Greek and other ancient civilizations, through the gnomon. In Hindu temple
manuals, design plans are described with 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64, 81 up to 1024
squares; 1 pada is considered the simplest plan, as a seat for a hermit or devotee to
sit and meditate on, do yoga, or make offerings with Vedic fire in front. The second
design of 4 padas has a symbolic central core at the diagonal intersection, and is also
a meditative layout.

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The 9 pada design has a sacred surrounded centre, and is the template for the
smallest temple. Older Hindu temple vastumandalas may use the 9 through 49 pada
series, but 64 is considered the most sacred geometric grid in Hindu temples. It is
also called Manduka, Bhekapada or Ajira in various ancient Sanskrit texts. Each
pada is conceptually assigned to a symbolic element, sometimes in the form of a
deity or to a spirit or apasara. The central square(s) of the 64 is dedicated to the
Brahman (not to be confused with Brahmin), and are called Brahma padas
In a Hindu temple's structure of symmetry and concentric squares, each concentric
layer has significance. The outermost layer, Paisachika padas, signify aspects of
Asuras and evil; the next inner concentric layer is Manusha padas signifying human
life; while Devika padas signify aspects of Devas and good. The Manusha padas
typically houses the ambulatory. The devotees, as they walk around in clockwise
fashion through this ambulatory to complete Parikrama (or Pradakshina), walk
between good on inner side and evil on the outer side. In smaller temples, the
Paisachika pada is not part of the temple superstructure, but may be on the
boundary of the temple or just symbolically represented.
The Paisachika padas, Manusha padas and Devika padas surround Brahma padas,
which signifies creative energy and serves as the location for temple's primary idol
for darsana. Finally at the very centre of Brahma padas is Garbhagruha(Garbha-
Centre, gruha- house; literally the centre of the house) (Purusa Space), signifying
Universal Principle present in everything and everyone.[2] The spire of a Hindu
temple, called Shikhara in north India and Vimana in south India, is perfectly
aligned above the Brahma pada(s).

A Hindu temple has a Shikhara (Vimana or Spire) that rises symmetrically above the
central core of the temple. These spires come in many designs and shapes, but they
all have mathematical precision and geometric symbolism. One of the common
principles found in Hindu temple spires is circles and turning-squares theme (left),
and a concentric layering design (right) that flows from one to the other as it rises
towards the sky.
Beneath the mandala's central square(s) is the space for the formless shapeless all
pervasive all connecting Universal Spirit, the Purusha. This space is sometimes
referred to as garbha-griya (literally womb house) - a small, perfect square,
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windowless, enclosed space without ornamentation that represents universal
essence. In or near this space is typically a murti. This is the main deity image, and
this varies with each temple. Often it is this idol that gives it a local name, such as
Vishnu temple, Krishna temple, Rama temple, Narayana temple, Siva temple,
Lakshmi temple, Ganesha temple, Durga temple, Hanuman temple, Surya temple,
and others. It is this garbha-griya which devotees seek for ‘‘darsana’’ (literally, a
sight of knowledge, or vision[).
Above the vastu-purusha-mandala is a high superstructure called the shikhara in
north India, and vimana in south India, that stretches towards the
sky.[31] Sometimes, in makeshift temples, the superstructure may be replaced with
symbolic bamboo with few leaves at the top. The vertical dimension's cupola or
dome is designed as a pyramid, conical or other mountain-like shape, once again
using principle of concentric circles and squares (see below). Scholars such as
Lewandowski state that this shape is inspired by cosmic mountain of Mount Meru or
Himalayan Kailasa, the abode of gods according to its ancient mythology.

Mandapa of a temple in South India. Much temple sculpture was originally painted.
In larger temples, the outer three padas are visually decorated with carvings,
paintings or images meant to inspire the devotee. In some temples, these images or
wall reliefs may be stories from Hindu Epics, in others they may be Vedic tales about
right and wrong or virtues and vice, in some they may be idols of minor or regional
deities. The pillars, walls and ceilings typically also have highly ornate carvings or
images of the four just and necessary pursuits of life—kama, artha, dharma, and
moksa. This walk around is called pradakshina.
Large temples also have pillared halls called mandapa. One on the east side, serves
as the waiting room for pilgrims and devotees. The mandapa may be a separate
structure in older temples, but in newer temples this space is integrated into the
temple superstructure. Mega temple sites have a main temple surrounded by smaller
temples and shrines, but these are still arranged by principles of symmetry, grids
and mathematical precision. An important principle found in the layout of Hindu
temples is mirroring and repeating fractal-like design structure, each unique yet also
repeating the central common principle, one which Susan Lewandowski refers to as
“an organism of repeating cells”

Exceptions to the square grid principle

Predominant number of Hindu temples exhibit the perfect square grid principle.
However, there are some exceptions. For example, the Teli ka Mandir in Gwalior,
built in the 8th century CE is not a square but is a rectangle consisting of stacked
squares. Further, the temple explores a number of structures and shrines in 1:1, 1:2,
1:3, 2:5, 3:5 and 4:5 ratios. These ratios are exact, suggesting the architect intended

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to use these harmonic ratios, and the rectangle pattern was not a mistake, nor an
arbitrary approximation. Other examples of non-square harmonic ratios are found
at Naresar temple site of Madhya Pradesh and Nakti-Mata temple near Jaipur,
Rajasthan. Michael Meister states that these exceptions mean the ancient Sanskrit
manuals for temple building were guidelines, and Hinduism permitted its artisans
flexibility in expression and aesthetic independence.

The Hindu text Sthapatya Veda describes many plans and styles of temples of which
the following are found in other derivative
literature: Chaturasra (square), Ashtasra (octagonal), Vritta (circular), Ayatasra (r
ectangular), Ayata Ashtasra (rectangular-octagonal fusion), Ayata
Vritta (elliptical), Hasti Prishta (apsidal), Dwayasra Vrita (rectangular-circular
fusion); in Tamil literature, the Prana Vikara (shaped like a Tamil Om sign, ) is
also found. Methods of combining squares and circles to produce all of these plans
are described in the Hindu texts.
Entrance: North or East
It is preferred that the entrance of the temple must be in the east direction. It means
that the sunlight of the rising Sun must enter the temple. Sunlight has the power to
kill the bacteria and microbes present in the air. Therefore it is very good, if sunlight
can enter the temple. The purity of a place is decided with cleanliness. All the rights
and rituals are directed towards killing the bacteria and microbes and ultimately the
negative energy. This makes the environment positive and therefore people feel nice
and light-hearted when they come to a temple. If it is not possible to make the
entrance of the temple from the east direction, at least it must be the north direction.

Major elements of a temple

There are four important elements of a temple. The first one is the porch. The porch
has to be at the entrance of the temple. The second element is a Mandap or hall. This
Mandap can be attached with the temple or detached. But it has to be there. The
third element happens to be Garbh Griha. It can be understood as the womb
chamber or the inner sanctum. The fourth element is the Dom or the tower that is
constructed directly above the womb chamber.

Importance of proper orientation

It is very necessary to understand that a temple that is not built in in accordance
with the proper orientation may bring misfortunes. Please take the services of
Himani Agyani to save you from the destructive results. Show that whenever the
spiritual rites and rituals are performed, only the positive results and blessings I
received by the people. If the construction does not take place in the right manner, it
will be difficult for the souls of human beings to get connected with the souls of gods
and it will result in the attraction of negative energy.

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 Checking the geo thermal energy

Every place has its own geo thermal energy. We take care of the different kinds of
energies and the construction of the temple should take in the manner that the
negative energies get purified and the temples constructed give the positive results.
First used in Italy in 1904, geothermal has been a consistent – and expanding –
source of energy in recent years. According to the International Renewable Energy
Agency (IRENA), geothermal energy has grown steadily from around 10GW
worldwide in 2010 to 13.3GW in 2018.

So what is geothermal energy, how does it work and where is it prevalent?

Where does geothermal energy come from?

Geothermal energy is the heat that comes from the sub-surface of the earth. It is
contained in the rocks and fluids beneath the earth’s crust and can be found as far
down to the earth’s hot molten rock, magma.

To produce power from geothermal energy, wells are dug a mile deep into
underground reservoirs to access the steam and hot water there, which can then be
used to drive turbines connected to electricity generators. There are three types of
geothermal power plants; dry steam, flash and binary.

Dry steam is the oldest form of geothermal technology and takes steam out of the
ground and uses it to directly drive a turbine. Flash plants use high-pressure hot
water into cool, low-pressure water whilst binary plants pass hot water through a
secondary liquid with a lower boiling point, which turns to vapour to drive the
turbine.

Where it’s used

Geothermal energy is used in over 20 countries. The United States is the largest
producer of geothermal energy in the world, and hosts the largest geothermal field.

Known as “The Geysers” in California, the field is spread over 117 square kilometres
and formed of 22 power plants, with an installed capacity of over 1.5GW.

The energy source is also prevalent in Iceland, where it has been used since 1907.
Describing itself as a ‘pioneer’ of geothermal power, the country produces 25% of its

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energy from five geothermal power plants. This is due to the 600 hot springs and
200 volcanoes in the country.

Problems due to wrong construction

There can be many problems faced by the founder of the temple or the family
associated with the temple if there is any error in construction of the temple or the
placement of the idol or statue.

1) Restlessness and tensions at home and workplace

2) Health issues
3) More unnecessary expenses
4) Poor relations among family members
5) Poverty, anxiety, aggression and constant fear
6) Unnecessary struggle
7) Less income

Intricacy: The prominent feature

The designs of the temples must be highly intricate. You can see the complexity in
the designs of the temples in the ancient times also. It is very minute work. It takes a
long time and effort to construct a temple. It is not so easy to create the complex
designs with accuracy. Himani Agyani has a lot of experience in designing such
intricate temples.

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Principle of Building in Accord with Natural Law-Aligning any Building
with the Evolutionary Power of Natural Law

The principle of building in accord with Natural Law—aligning any building with the
evolutionary power of Natural Law—comes from the ancient Vedic Literature. This is
the Science and Technology of Consciousness—the supreme structuring dynamics of
creation—which maintains every particle of matter, everything in creation, in perfect
harmony with everything else, and thereby maintains eternal order in the ever-
expanding, ever-evolving universe. The purpose of the Vedic Knowledge of
Sthåpatya Veda—Våstu Vidyå—is to maintain individual life in harmony with Cosmic
Life, and save the individual from being torn apart by the disharmonious influence of the
surroundings he has created around him—his house, his village, his city, etc.

This is being mentioned here to explain the need for everyone in the world to live and
work in an auspicious Våstu building and enjoy the support of Natural Law in daily life.
In Vedic Architecture, the geographical centre of the country holds special
significance for the support of Natural Law for the progress and prosperity of the whole
country
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 This is because the inner intelligence of everything is Cosmic in such a way that it
sustains every individual structure; at the same time, permeating everything in
creation, it sustains the holistic value of the universe.This omnipresent, all-pervading
intelligence—the Unified Field of all the Laws of Nature—renders every single structure in
the nature of itself, which is both individual and Cosmic. The reality is: the individual is
Cosmic.

Individual intelligence and its connectedness with the Cosmic Intelligence of the
galactic universe is the most precious feature of life. This makes it clear that on the level
of intelligence, everything is well connected with everything else in the whole
universe.Sthåpatya Veda is one of the forty areas of the Vedic Literature. It details the laws
of structuring, or laws of building, any structure so that structurally and functionally
man’s creation is naturally in harmony with Nature’s creation—the creation of
Natural Law.

This Vedic Science of Structuring, or Vedic Science of Building, which is Nature’s own
system of structuring, or building, can be seen as the system of harmonizing individual
life with Cosmic Life. Every humanly designed, man-made structure should conform
to the Natural Laws of structuring if that structure is to be in harmony with the
structure of the universe—the expression of Cosmic Intelligence.
Such a structure has that quiet influence of order and harmony in its environment which
harmonizes individual life with Cosmic Life.

If there is some knowledge which can be helpful to harmonize human creation (man- made
structures) with Nature’s creation, it is wise to make use of this knowledge so that
individual life may enjoy that supreme level of order and harmony of Natural Law which
belongs to the universe, and to the essential nature of every individual.

Now is the time, in this scientific age, to reconstruct the world and free mankind from
problems and suffering that have been continuing for a long time. The principles and
programmes of Sthåpatya Veda will eradicate the basis of the age-old suffering caused by
the violation of Natural Law.

Sthåpatya Veda, as brought to light by Maharishi, will remove the obstacles to

perfection in life by providing housing according to Natural Law, and by offering the
knowledge and programmes through which every individual can always gain the full
support of Natural Law for success and fulfilment in daily life:

* People need homes built in accord with Natural Law to gain the support of Natural
Law and promote harmonious family life;
* Parents need schools, colleges, and universities built in accord with Natural Law to
bring the support of Natural Law to their children;
• Patients need hospitals built in accord with Natural Law to gain the support of Natural
Law for fast and complete recovery;
• Executives and employees need office buildings and factories built in accord with
Natural Law to gain the support of Natural Law for unrestricted, fulfilling success (both
for employers and employees);

(The effect of routine work is restrictive to the blossoming of creativity. But when life
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 is lived in accord with Natural Law, under the influence of auspicious Våstu, the
irresistible power of evolution neutralizes the negative effect of routine work, and
individuals enjoy the theme of evolution—increasing health, happiness, and
prosperity—all the time.)
• Mayors need garden cities and communities built in accord with Natural Law (free
from crime, congestion, pollution, and stress) to bring the support of Natural Law
to the whole population;
• Administrators need administrative buildings built in accord with Natural Law to
bring the support of Natural Law to government—for conflict-free politics;
• Heads of State, governors, and national leaders need to redesign and rebuild the
whole country in accord with Natural Law, to bring the support of Natural Law—health,
wealth, and happiness—to the whole nation, generation after generation.

Bringing the Support of Natural Law to the Whole

Population

Meissner Effect
The principle of the Meissner Effect from Quantum Physics verifies that the
inner coherence and harmony of a system expels disturbing influences. This
explains how the order, harmony, and good fortune, generated by an ideal
Våstu, disallow the penetration of any harmful, negative influence. (Refer to
diagram at the end of this text.)

Bringing the Support of Natural Law to the Whole Population

The principle of the Meissner Effect from Quantam Physics verifies that the
inner coherence and harmony of a system expels disturbing influences.
This explains how the order, harmony, and good fortune, generated by an ideal
Våstu, disallow the penetration of any harmful, negative influence.

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Auspicious and Inauspicious Influences due to the Orientation of Buildings—North,
South, East, or West

Vastu Effect
The example of coherence and invincibility through the establishment of an ideal Våstu
is described in the ancient literature of Sthåpatya Veda, which maintains that by virtue of
the internal orderly structure of the Våstu, all negative influences have to remain beyond
the boundaries of a building’s Våstu demarcation—or in the case of a city—at the outskirts
of the city—beyond the Våstu demarcation—creating the ground for ideal, harmonious
living conditions in accord with Natural Law for the fortunate residents of that
building or city.

The Våstu Effect not only prevent any negative influence penetrating the Våstu of any
building, town, or city, but in the case of the individual living in an ideal Våstu, the self-
repair mechanism of his own physiology is not disturbed or diminished; its orderly
functioning is maintained.

Thus the phenomenon of the Våstu Effect, which corresponds to the Meissner Effect in
Physics, presents the need for the complete reconstruction of the whole world for the
world to be really healthy on a permanent basis. Sthåpatya Veda will provide ideal
housing for all those who are living and working under the negative influence of a wrong
Våstu, and to especially help those who need financial assistance to improve their
quality of life through the quality of their housing.

‘People do not generally know that the orientation (north, south, east, west) of
residential and office buildings contributes a great deal to success and progress
in professional life; and health, happiness, and fortune on the individual
level.
‘A considerable amount of ill health, misfortune, and suffering can be
eliminated by living and working in properly oriented homes and offices.
‘Sthåpatya Veda promotes construction according to Natural Law, which
takes into account the orientation of buildings in view of direction—north,
south, east, and west.’

—Maharishi-Mahesh Yogi

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Temple designing at home
While designing a temple at one’s home, one must take care of many aspects. We
build the temple in the north-east direction only. It is very important to understand
that the Shadow of the temple must never reach the house. If you are getting a
temple constructed in your veranda or Garden, please note that the shadow of the
Dome of the temple should not reach your house at any cost. In fact, the shadow of
any Temple should not be on any house. The people living in that house have to face
adverse results in case it happens. This is the reason; people avoid taking a piece of
property immediately near a temple.

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The Temple Mountain Concept in Hindu Temple
Constructionains and Hindu Temple Art
Dr Uday Dokras PhD Stockholm SWEDEN

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