Ancient Khmer sculpture

THE HERITAGE OF KHMER SCULPTURE

Once upon a time the demons and the gods agreed to put aside their differences in order to obtain an elixir from the Cosmic Ocean made of milk. Using Mount Mandara as a churning stick and balancing the stick on the shell of a huge turtle at the bottom of the ocean, the stick was whisked this way and that way by the gods and demons. Acting as a churning rope was an enormous snake named Vasuki. "As the gods vigorously hurled the snake Vasuki about, winds full of smoke and flame came out of his mouth, and these masses of smoke became clusters of clouds with lightning, and they rained down upon the bands of gods who were exhausted and over-heated by the exertions." This colorful passage from the Indian epic the Mahabharata is perhaps the very one that Khmer kings and nobles read with delight, translated into ancient Khmer from the original Sanskrit by court brahmins.

Out of the Ocean of Milk sprang the Goddess of Fortune, a wish-fulfilling cow, a white horse symbolic of the sun, and the physician of the gods. In sum, many of life’s necessities were born from this auspicious ‘churning.’ But the demons lost their share of the elixir, since the god Vishnu disguised himself as a lovely woman to trick the demons to release the ambrosia to her.

This heroic tale of the ‘churning’ was one of numerous Hindu myths that the Khmers of Cambodia borrowed from India during the first millennium. At the Khmer capital, Angkor, the myth plays a special role, since these ancient peoples believed that their kings, like Vishnu, were put on earth to fashion order from chaos. Indeed, the Khmer monarch was expected to ensure prosperity to the kingdom and to protect its inhabitants, as Vishnu and the gods defeated the demons.

As a measure of this myth’s importance, the theme of the Churning appears as a major sculpted relief at Angkor Vat, a principal Khmer temple. The same myth was also "visualized" in an unprecedented format at Angkor — colossal demons and gods rendered fully in the round, each pulling upon the snake entwined in their arms. This three-dimensional conceptualization of this Hindu myth is unique to the Khmers, since it is never found in India. Such a bold, inventive and truly whimsical interpretation of the Indian myth at Angkor distinguishes the sculpture of ancient Cambodia. Indeed, Khmer sculpture effortlessly embraces these playful elements, making Cambodian figural art so provocative for the modern viewer. At the same time, Khmer sculpture succeeds in uniting complementary spiritual and sensual qualities in a way that has never been surpassed.

The Khmers dominated the political and cultural life of mainland Southeast Asia for over six hundred years, between ca. 800 and ca. 1450. Before the rise of Angkor in the ninth century, influences from India filtered into the country, beginning as early as the first century A.D. During this early period much of what became later Cambodia was known as Funan, as it was called in early Chinese sources. A third-century Sanskrit stone inscription suggests that Indian traders and brahmins were active in mainland Southeast Asia by that time. Commercial relations even existed with Rome, evidenced by a number of surviving artifacts and objects, such as coins representing Marcus Aurelius. The Chinese chronicle, A History of the Liang (502-556) refers to the worship of "heavenly deities made of bronze" with multiple faces and arms. These are likely Hindu deities but Buddhism was also present. Little indigenous sculpture, however, can be attributed to this early phase.

Significant traces of monumental art only begin to appear in the seventh and eighth century. By that time the region was known to the Chinese as Zhenla. Its center was probably in southern Loas but important temple cities were found over much of Cambodia. This era is conventionally labelled the "pre-Angkorian" period by art historians and encompasses the seventh and eighth centuries when a number of small local dynasties probably competed for power.

Architecture and sculpture in the pre-Angkorian period varied tremendously, with regional centers evolving their own distinct idioms. A number of "schools" have been identified, known after key temple sites. Two important styles were Phnom Da and Prasat Andet. The former boasts the earliest Hindu sculpture, notably a superb triad of Vishnu and two of his manifestations (avataras), Rama and Krishna’s brother, Balarama.

Cambodian sculptors planned their work by fashioning first the torsos and heads and then finally finishing off with the outer appendages. Sculptures were carved from a single block of stone, but cases exist of arms being separately attached. Schist was occassionally used in the pre-Angkorian period, but sandstone was the favored medium. In the early phases of Cambodian sculpture, the outstretched arms of standing figures were connected to a horseshoe shaped arch that resembled a complete body halo. Since the arch was sculpted from the original single block of stone, it provided the figure with great stability. Such framing arches are unknown in Indian art, reflecting an indigenous solution to a universal problem.

Sculpture may have been painted, as in ancient Greece, but we cannot be sure. There are traces of original gilding on certain sculpture, however. Throughout Khmer history metalwork also flourished. Even as early as the seventh century, an inscription refers to a gold lingam (a phallic representation of Shiva) and a silver Nandin, Shiva’s bull. But it was not until November 10, l983, that the inscriptional evidence could be fully confirmed with the unexpected discovery of a silver bull. Wood sculpture was also important but only a handful of examples have survived.

Sculptors probably worked in hereditary guilds but we know little about their organization or the extent to which they moved from site to site. There is not a single signed work from among the thousands of sculptures and kilometers of stone relief work, suggesting that the sculptors were probably considered artisans and not "artists" as we know the term today. This is also consistent with Indian traditions where the names of artists are met with only rarely.

By the ninth century the Khmers claimed Angkor as their spiritual and adminstrative center. It was designed with scores of enormous temples that extended over many square kilometers of thick jungle, surrounded by complex artificial reservoirs essential for agriculture. Indeed, much of the society’s success rested on hydraulic systems whose sophistication still inspire awe. Water assumed tremendous signifcance for the Khmer. Born from the water was a snake-goddess who wed a brahmin priest; from their sexual union arose an early royal lineage.

Khmer architecture was ultimately inspired by Indian religious ideals. Temples were viewed as abodes of the gods. Since the Hindu gods resided in the Himalayas, temples were conceived in the form of mountains. That the Sanskrit word for temple, sikhara, is synonymous with moutain underscores this mythic correspondence between between the temple and a sacred mountain region. Epigraphs will sometimes poetically liken the temple to even specific peaks sacred to certain deities. In one Sanskrit inscription the poet has even suggested that the temple’s splendor is so great that Shiva, who has metaphorically inhabited the temple, "has never turned this thoughts to dwelling on Mount Kailasa ." One of the names of Shiva’s consort, Parvati, means "Daughter of the Mountain".

Despite the enormous size of the temples at Angkor, the central sanctums are proportionately small. This reflects the Hindu idea of gods residing in caves within mountains. This metaphor is enhanced because the inner san-ctum walls are normally plain and the inside is poorly lighted, resembling a cave. Khmer architects inherited the corbelling method of construction from India to construct temple towers. In this system, stones are balanced one upon the next, the top stone protruding ever so slightly beneath the one below. One disadvantage is that this vaulting technique makes it difficult, if not impossible, to bridge wide spaces. In addition, the walls must be extremely thick to support the towers, providing little provision for windows. This also explains why Khmer temple corridors, although great in length, are very narrow. On the other hand, the corbelling system was ideally suited to the special needs of Indian and Southeast Asian builders. The sole Asian country to expirement with the so-called "true-arch" was Burma whose temples at Pagan were provided with large covered spaces.

These Hindu ideals which connect the temple to the notion of sacred mountain help us to understand much of the symbolism inherent in the temple. For example, the celebrated damsels ornamenting the walls in low relief at Angkor Vat are celestial maidens (apsaras) and goddesses (devis). In this tradition, worshippers felt as if they were "seeing" and participating in the heavenly spheres.

Khmer kings also identified themselves with their tutelary deity, normally Shiva. In this way monarchs were considered god-kings (deva-raja). A Chinese visitor to Angkor in the thirteenth century captures the veneration that a monarch enjoyed when he describes the king alighting from a golden palanquin : "Two girls of the palace lift up the curtain of the palanquin with their slender fingers and the King, sword in hand, appears standing in the golden window. All present join their hands and touch the earth with their forheads, lifting up their heads only when the sound of conches has ceased."

Perhaps the most impressive Khmer temple is Angkor Vat, constructed by Suryavarman II (1113-1145). This temple occupies an area of 1500 meters and is surrounded by an enormous moat. The central portion of the temple is comprised of five enormous towers, an architectural plan rarely used in India. Angkor Vat’s relief sculpture includes a portrait of the king, shown in discussion with court brahmins, and two enormous narratives depicting the "Churning of the Cosmic Ocean" and the Battle of Lanka that is told in the Hindu epic, the Ramayana.

Although the majority of kings advocated Hinduism, an important Buddhist phase began during the reign of Jayavarman VII (1181-1218). The key monument in his reign is the temple-city of Angkor Thom, located slighly north of Angkor Vat. In the center of an enormous walled compound stands the Bayon. This temple is mainly known for its enormous sculpted visages that adorn the multiple towers of the temple and which gaze out in all directions. The identity of the faces is still uncertain, but perhaps at least some of them represent Lokeshvara, a Buddhist deity favored by Jayavarman VII. The temple itself may represent Mount Mandara, the moutain that was used for a churning stick, agitated back and forth by Vasuki, the snake. To reinforce this symbolism huge free-standing gods and demons stand in rows holding the snake. As in the myth, all of life’s good things are meant to emanate from the temple. An alternative explanation proposed by Jean Boisselier maintains that the mountain is a vast assembly hall of the gods (Suddhamasabha) and that the temple thus represents the City of Indra. In any case, the meaning of the monument must remain a challenging but delightful enigma. The Khmers controlled most of modern Cambodia and vast portions of eastern Thailand at the height of their power. (Few today realize that spectacular Khmer temples can be visited in Thailand). Angkor was overrun by Thai forces from Ayuthia in 1431. Khmer civilization never fully recovered its vitality, although the statuary retained many of the qualities for which earlier sculpture is celebrated. Even before the Thai conquest, the religious life of the country had slowely moved from a mixture of Hinduism and late Mahayana and Tantric Buddhism to the Theravada faith prevalent in neighboring Thailand and Burma. Cambodians today count themselves as Theravada, thereby linking their country to a wider Southeast Asian world that includes Sri Lanka.

The discovery, restoration and conservation of Angkor have been nearly exclusively in French hands since the site was uncovered in the mid-nineteenth century colonial period. Sculptures and plaster casts of images were taken first to Paris in the l870s and l880s by Louis Delaporte who, unable to interest the Louvre, deposited them in the the Palais du Trocadero. Eventually these same sculptures augmented the small Khmer collection that was started at a Paris museum founded by Emile Guimet in l889. Thanks to Joseph Hackin, the curator at the Musée Guimet from l923 to l941, the collection grew to be the premier assemblage of Khmer sculpture outside of Cambodia. French scholarship has also reigned supreme in Khmer sculpture. Many were associated with Ecole francaise d’Extrème-Orient, begun in Hanoi in l898. Louis Finot, Alfred Foucher, Henri Marchal, George Coedes, and George Groslier are just a handful of the great personalities in Khmer studies.

Khmer sculpture’s increasing popularity has prompted ever more sophisticated forgeries over the last few decades. These imitations of ancient styles have even made their way into museum galleries. For this reason it is especially important to rely on older, secure collections, namely the Musee Guimet and the National Museum, Phnom Penh. In l997 an important international exhibition brought works from these two institutions together for the first time, at least on such a large scale. The catalogue, Sculpture of Angkor and Ancient Cambodia: Millennium of Glory, provides an important source of photographs of objects of indisputable provenance.

After decades of civil war, Cambodia is slowely rebuilding its infrastructure and the restoration of its monuments has resumed after a long hiatus. The challenges of preserving hundreds of temples often seem so great that we can hardly excuse ourselves for wishing for an avatara of Vishnu to appear to restore the monuments instantly. Yet with each new passing generation, there is a growing appreciation for the beauty of Khmer sculpture. Indeed, it is this very enchantment that will ensure its survival.

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