Temples of Cambodia

t h e h e a r t o f a n g k o r

PhotograPhs by barry brukoff

text by helen IbbItson JessuP

The Temples of Cambodia are among The

most complex and imposing architectural creations in

the world, offering nothing less than the embodiment

of Khmer culture. Over a period of five hundred years,

from the seventh to the twelfth centuries, successive

rulers sought to build sacred spaces that bore witness

to the presence of the gods and the legitimacy of the

kings. This volume invites the reader to experience that

remarkable architectural and spiritual achievement

through extraordinary photographs and a text by a

leading Khmer cultural historian.

Organized chronologically, the book opens with

the modestly scaled brick structures of the seventh

and eighth centuries and goes on to explore the first

monumental temple mountains of the ninth century,

the technical advances enabling the fulfillment of a

unique Khmer architectural vision in the tenth, and the

erection of the ambitious Baphuon temple mountain,

among others, in the eleventh, all setting the stage for

the apogee of the Khmer empire in the twelfth century,

and with it, the construction of three massive temple

complexes: Beng Mealea, Bakan, and the supreme

architectural creation of Cambodia, Angkor Wat.

The glories of the Khmer temples do not lack for

exposure in pictorial and scholarly publications. Yet

no other recent publication offers such comprehensive

coverage of the Angkor temples at the heart of

Cambodia. What distinguishes this volume from the rest

are Barry Brukoff’s photographs. Mr. Brukoff has been

photographing the temples for nearly half a century. Not

only do his photographs record temples that have been

destroyed or vandalized but they offer something more:

a uniquely intimate insight into the Cambodian idiom.

The viewer is drawn into the picture plane, can sense the

interior wonders of the monuments, so that for the first

time a two-dimensional expression succeeds in invoking

the third, in inviting the reader to penetrate to the heart

of the temples’ mystery.

a b o u t t h e P h o t o g r a P h e r

barry brukoff is an award-winning photographer

whose books include The Enigma of Stonehenge, text by

John Fowles; Morocco, text by Paul Bowles; Greece: Land

of Light, text by Nicholas Gage; and Machu Picchu, text

by Pablo Neruda in a new translation. He has been

photographing the temples of Cambodia since 1963.

He lives in California.

a b o u t t h e a u t h o r

helen ibbiTson Jessup is founder and President

of the Board of Directors of Friends of Khmer Culture,

an organization established to support Khmer arts

and cultural organizations. A scholar and curator

specializing in the art and architecture of Southeast

Asia, she is the author of Art and Architecture of Cambodia:

Passage to Angkor, with photographs by Kenro Izu, and

Sculpture of Angkor and Ancient Cambodia: Millennium of

Glory. She was curator of the Sculpture of Angkor and

Ancient Cambodia exhibition at the National Gallery in

Washington, D.C. She lives in Connecticut.

The Vendome Press 1334 York Avenue

New York, NY 10021 www.vendomepress.com

Distributed in North America by Abrams Books

Jacket designed by Joel Avirom and Jason Snyder

Front cover: A Buddhist nun walks in the colonnaded fourth enclosure at Angkor Wat (see p. 149).

Back cover: East façade, Banteay Samre, first half of the twelfth century (see p. 153).

Printed in China

Temples of Cambodia

t h e h e a r t o f a n g k o r

P h o t o g r a P h s b y b a r r y b r u k o f f t e x t b y h e l e n I b b I t s o n J e s s u P

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Temples of Cambodia

Temples of Cambodia

t h e h e a r t o f a n g k o r

p h o t o g r a p h s b y b a r r y b r u k o f f

t e x t b y h e l e n I b b I t s o n J e s s u p

T h e V e n d o m e P r e s s

n e w Y o r k

ConTenTs

I n t r o D u C t I o n 7

p h o T o g r a p h e r ’ s n o T e 8

o r i g i n s

1 1

e m b o d y i n g p o w e r

2 9

F o u n d i n g a n g k o r

4 9

e x pa n d i n g T h e e m p i r e

8 9

m o n u m e n T a s C o s m o s : T h e a g e o F a n g k o r waT

1 1 9

T h e u n i v e r s a l m o n a r C h

1 6 5

g l o s s a r y 2 3 8

C o m p a r a t I v e C h r o n o l o g y 2 4 0

s e l e C t e D b I b l I o g r a p h y 2 4 2

a C k n o w l e D g m e n t s 2 4 3

I n D e x 2 4 4

7

To our dear friend Joyce Clark,

without whom this book would never

have come to fruition.

introduction

Great architecture ranks among the highest of human achievements, along with

great music, great literature, and great painting. We can cite countless names

among the progenitors of the last three categories, but many of the ancient

world’s greatest monuments are anonymous. such is the case with Cambodian

temples and their associated sculpture, the creations of Khmer kings and

their artists over more than a millennium. This priceless heritage comprises

more than a thousand structures, some crumbling and almost forgotten, some

carefully conserved and even nominated as World heritage sites. most famous

is undoubtedly the incomparable Angkor Wat, presented as the palladium of the

Khmer kingdom in its appearance on the national flag, but many other temples

qualify as masterpieces of the human attempt to invoke the divine. In this

volume, photographer Barry Brukoff brings the finest of these temples into focus

so that the reader can share the vision.

The monuments again became accessible to visitors in the early 1990s

after the decades of civil war and the Khmer rouge regime ended, and many

have since been recorded in photographic essays and travel guides. But the

rendition of architecture, of three dimensions, in a two-dimensional medium is

a challenge that is more often mastered by the painter than the photographer.

The monuments lose their vitality, their soaring dimensions reduced to a page’s

limits and their space depersonalized. Barry Brukoff’s insight has transcended

these limitations, and the elusive essence of the location, the transporting of the

viewer through the page to the living structure, is a unique achievement. In each

photograph, the intensity of focus, the rendition of the texture of brick and stone,

the awareness of cool shadow and blazing sun are so compelling that one is there,

8

at that specific time and in that particular spot, and is left with an unforgettable

impression of the spirit of place invoked by the ancient Khmer.

A poignant element in Brukoff’s recording of Cambodia’s monuments is the

remarkable span of years encompassed: more than forty. readers can compare

yesterday and today, sometimes sad to see decline, sighing over the evanescent

nature of the built environment, sometimes rejoicing that a disintegrating façade

has been saved, a shattered pediment reconstructed.

It has been inspiring to work with Brukoff’s photographs, which add a

magical dimension to the long and noble achievements of Cambodian architects.

As the book seeks to present the images with as little distraction as possible, its

format has precluded the tools of footnotes and other references. nevertheless,

the author’s debt to more than a century of scholarly devotion and diligence on

the part of many writers, both past and present, is enormous and will be more

fully described in the acknowledgments and the bibliography.

As a general guide to the presentation, it should be noted that dates are

rendered according to the Western usage of the Common era (c.e.), although

the dates cited by the ancient Khmer themselves followed the shaka system,

an Indian chronology that appears as seventy-eight years earlier. diacritical

notations have been omitted and spelling conforms to the phonetic equivalents

of Khmer, sanskrit, and Chinese words. In the absence of the original

nomenclature, temple names accord with today’s usage.

photographer’s note

my lifetime fascination with ruins began in my twenties, when I had the

wonderful opportunity to visit the ruins of Angkor Wat and the adjacent temples.

The sight of these poetic structures rising out of the Cambodian jungle, enmeshed

in banyan, or strangler figs, was not only indelible but inspired my dual career

paths in photography and interior design/architecture. Through the years I

continued to feed my fascination with ruins by traveling to, and producing books

on, other ancient sites around the world. Finally, a few years ago I was able to

return to Cambodia after the Pol Pot regime fell and spend months expanding

my knowledge and photographing many more sites than I was able to do in the

late 1960s.

9

pho Tographer’s no Te

In this book I have attempted to provide more than a mere photographic

record of the temples. What I hope to impart to the reader is a sense of how it

feels to be among these ruins, to walk through the thick jungle and come upon

these magical edifices. In many cases the trees and the temples are bound together

in a symbiotic relationship that is at once heartbreakingly beautiful and eerily

mysterious. The photograph on this page was taken on my first trip and has

remained the iconic image of that symbiosis.

The temple that perhaps best embodies this relationship is Ta Prohm, which

I saw on my initial visit to Cambodia. Until recently it had been agreed to leave

this temple close to the state in which it was originally found, removing just the

brush but leaving the trees intact. Unfortunately, work is now being undertaken

to remove the trees and “protect the ruins.” In my view this is a seriously

misguided endeavor. I feel that it is important for people today to understand

how the temples appeared to visitors a few hundred years ago.

What I have experienced when looking through many of the books in print

on the temples is a cataloging of each site, devoid of the sense of wonder and

excitement I felt as I wandered through them. It is that sense of wonder that I

have strived to capture on film, showing the ruins in a way that emphasizes their

beauty and the quality of their architecture.

11

o r I g I n s

K h m e r C I V I l I z A T I o n h A s endured longer than any other except

the egyptian and the Chinese. Although we do not know what they called their

country, the Khmer people have occupied their heartland in the lower mekong

valley and spoken the same language for almost two thousand years. Blessed

by tropical warmth and monsoon rains, its plains yielded lush rice harvests that

guaranteed prosperity and underlay the growing power of its kings. Its rivers and

lakes teemed with fish. A network of brilliantly engineered canals dug as early as

the second century linked its streams to the southern seacoast, which lay in the

path of international maritime trade. Its port of oc eo (now in Vietnam) thrived

as an entrepôt, or interchange point, for goods flowing from Europe to China, and

archaeologists have found second-century roman coins, Chinese bronze mirrors,

and gold jewelry from India, among other trade goods.

We know about Cambodia’s early history from the Chinese, who were

meticulous record keepers. In the third century of the Common era two envoys

from China’s Wu emperor visited and wrote a report about the country, calling

it Funan. They noted that shipbuilding was practiced, that palaces were walled,

that utensils were often of silver, and that taxes were paid in gems, gold, and

perfumes. They mentioned writing that resembled Indian script, indicating that

cultural borrowings had accompanied mercantile exchanges. From Chinese

annals we also learn that in 243 c.e. the Khmer ruler sent the Wu emperor a gift

of dancers, strengthening the impression that Funan already had a court of some

sophistication. sixth-century travelers observed statues of gods with multiple

arms, evidence that the Indian religions of Brahmanism and Buddhism were

already established.

In addition to international commercial and cultural connections, healthy

primary production with a surplus for trade nurtured a society that gradually

expanded into one of the great empires of the ancient world. When speaking of

The square Ashram Maha Rasei

temple, almost 9 m (29.5 ft.) high

with a base of more than 5 m (16.4

ft.), appears to comprise a main

body surmounted by two receding

storeys. But the interior space is

in fact continuous, the divisions

illusory. This construction technique,

called false storeys, is a pervasive

model in Khmer sacred architecture.

The horseshoe arch forming the

pediment is echoed by similar arches

on the second and third levels, their

cornices decorated with small niches

called kudu. The round colonnettes

decorating the windows and flanking

the doorways are characteristic of

seventh-century style.

12

Temples of Cambodia

empires, images of roman legions in the mediterranean and beyond may spring

to mind, or the spread of British law over several continents in the eighteenth

and nineteenth centuries, or perhaps the dreaded might of Chinggis (Genghis)

Khan. In the case of the Khmer this kind of dominance is not what we see,

despite their expansion over a broad swath of southeast Asia. It is rather a scene

of cultural penetration. Beginning in the sixth century and reaching its zenith

in the twelfth, the Khmer kingdom produced sublime sculpture and what is

undoubtedly one of the world’s most astonishing traditions of architecture. Barry

Brukoff’s empathetic photographs of that heritage will help the reader to see and

understand the triumph of Khmer culture.

In wealth of monuments Cambodia is among the most richly endowed

countries in the world. The temples within its borders number well over a

thousand, most of them built between the ninth and fourteenth centuries, known

as the Angkorian period, and many of remarkable beauty. The best-known

Cambodian entity is certainly Angkor Wat, a twelfth-century temple near the

modern town of siem reap. It is the world’s largest religious monument; its

name, like almost all Khmer temple names, is modern. Wat means “temple”;

Angkor derives from negara, the sanskrit word for “city,” and has come to

designate a five-hundred-year sweep of Cambodian history. In fact, Angkor

Wat expressed the culmination of Khmer power and will be discussed in a later

chapter. But to understand its significance we need to go back many centuries to

the roots of Khmer culture.

funan

The oldest vestiges of the Khmer state are in the south near Angkor Borei, the

probable capital of Funan. The earliest known inscription in Khmer, dated 611

c.e., was found there; it mentions both Indian and Khmer gods, indicating that

indigenous beliefs coexisted with exotic religions, and lists servants, musicians,

and dancers attached to two local temples. The traces of numerous temples,

walls, and water features in Angkor Borei prove that it was an important city, but

all are ruined. not far away, however, are two sites where more has survived: the

hill of Phnom da and the nearby temple of Ashram maha rosei.

13

origins

phnom Da anD the power of Caves

Caves have always held special meaning for human beings. As natural shelters

they protected prehistoric peoples, but they also played a role as sacred places.

Their symbolism of womb and tomb connects them with birth and death, and to

this day mystics and monarchs in Asia go to caves to meditate. Where caves did

not naturally exist, it seems people felt the need to create them: among the oldest

shrines in India are the caves hacked out by hand at ellora and Ajanta. like

them, the caves on the steep slopes of Phnom da (phnom means “mountain”) are

man-made. The largest was once preceded by an elaborate entrance structure,

now vanished, and housed several statues. To enter its darkness (now the realm

of bats) is to step back to a time when the mysteries of nature resonated with the

spirits of the gods.

The entrance of the largest Phnom

Da cave has been carved to suggest

a wall with pilasters surmounted by

a cornice with niches. The interior,

more than 25 sq. m (269 sq. ft.), has

a ceiling with three recesses hollowed

out to accommodate the heads of

towering statues that formerly stood

there. The monolithic standing slabs

shown here, which once formed the

doorway of a now missing entrance

vestibule, collapsed in 2007.

14

Temples of Cambodia

Within the caves and in a later temple on the summit of the hill was found

a collection of statuary representing several manifestations of the god Vishnu

(including Krishna and rama). These are among the oldest Khmer images,

dating from the early seventh century or possibly even the end of the sixth, and

they achieve a level of expressiveness and grace that was scarcely equaled even at

the height of the empire in the twelfth century.

At about the same time as the Phnom da caves and their glorious sculptures

were created, the Khmer were also building small temples in the limestone caves

in modern Kampot province, incorporating their stalactites and stalagmites into

the brick structures. such use of natural phenomena continued throughout

Cambodian history, and to this day shrines are built around rock outcrops.

despite their adherence today to Theravada Buddhism and their embrace for

more than a millennium preceding that of Brahmanism and its many deities, as

well as of mahayana Buddhism, the Khmer have never been divorced from their

original pantheistic beliefs or from faith in the spirits of their ancestors (neak

ta). Their small shrines often shelter a fragment of statuary, an effigy, or a found

object infused with symbolic power. The poignant care for such relics extends to

reverence for the temples whose haunting ruins imbue Brukoff’s vision.

ashram maha roseI

rising from the crown of a steep hill about 800 meters (2,625 feet) from the Phnom

da caves is one of Cambodia’s oldest temples, Ashram maha rosei. In 1935–46 a

successful anastylosis (a procedure in which the structure is completely dismantled

and then rebuilt with sound foundations and the replacement of missing elements)

restored this small temple dating from the early seventh century. With its imposing

rocky setting and graceful proportions, it projects a majesty belying its scale that

must have awed the ancient pilgrim, much as it does today’s visitor.

Inside, a narrow corridor for ceremonial circumambulation surrounds a

cella, or inner chamber, that invokes a meditation cave. Worshipers must have

felt the looming presence of the gods as they squeezed their way around the

inner sanctuary in the ritual to honor the statue of harihara—the god who is half

shiva, half Vishnu—that once stood at its dim heart.

Parashurama is the axe-bearing

manifestation, or avatar, of Vishnu.

This seventh-century sculpture from

Phnom Da is housed in the National

Museum of Cambodia in Phnom

Penh (Ka 1608). The oval face,

refined nose, and almond-shaped

eyes, as well as the triple flexion

of the posture (tribhanga) reflect

stylistic influences from the Gupta

period in India.

15

origins

Ashram maha rosei presents several unsolved mysteries. First, how did it

come to be built of stone at a time when almost all Khmer temples were made

of brick, with stone employed only for doorframes, lintels, and colonettes?

second, why is it built of basalt, found only far to the northeast in modern Kratie

province, when its own site was solid sandstone? how could its builders have

hauled such huge quantities of stone so far? Finally, and strangest of all, the

anastylosis process offered evidence that many of the stones had formerly been

used in a different part of the temple, suggesting that it might originally have

been built at another location, dismantled, transported, and then re-erected.

Intriguingly, there is a smaller but similar basalt temple of Kuk Preah Theat still

standing in hanchei on the mekong near where that stone is quarried.

prasat phnom Da

The glowing red laterite sanctuary tower (prasat)

rearing up through the jungle growth at the peak

of Phnom da belongs chronologically to another

chapter, but as it stands on the vestiges of a much

older brick structure, probably contemporary with

Ashram maha rosei, and because it housed much of

the statuary that had originally stood in the Phnom

da caves, it seems logical to visit it here. dating

from the twelfth century or slightly earlier, it must

have been a major monument, as its interior space is

among the largest of any Cambodian temple.

like most ancient temples, Prasat Phnom da

is still venerated by today’s Buddhist Cambodians

even though it was originally dedicated to the hindu

god Vishnu. The monolithic pedestals that once

formed the bases for the deities’ statues but are now

randomly scattered on the sanctuary’s floor are used

as altars by the local inhabitants and are usually

adorned with offerings of candles, fruit, and flowers.

The flame motifs and upturned

five-headed nagas at the ends of the

pediments surmounting the entrance

door and the three false doors (3 m,

10 ft., high) of Prasat Phnom Da are

common in temples of this period. The

mitered corner joints in the sandstone

monoliths framing the entrance

portal demonstrate the Khmer

practice of applying timber-working

techniques to stone.

16

Temples of Cambodia

Gazing up into the sky

through the ruined tower,

the visitor is awed by the

precision and steepness of

the brickwork, constructed

using the overlapping

technique of corbeling.

This is a view that the

early pilgrim would have

been denied, as the tower’s

interior would have been

concealed by a wood ceiling

resting on the still visible

cornice. Judging from its

angle of ascent, the tower of

Phnom da would originally have risen a further two false storeys, making it one

of the highest prasats in Cambodia.

Towering above the peak of the steep hill at a time before the forest

smothered the slopes and impeded the view, Prasat Phnom da would have

dominated the plains below for a great distance. Its structure is still sound despite

damage from American artillery fire during the Vietnam War. Although its huge

laterite blocks are somewhat clumsy and its decorative carving rather coarse,

the temple’s massive proportions and commanding position still overwhelm the

viewer with an unforgettable impression of power.

As we shall see, the decision to build temples on the challenging summits

of hills was no accident. The mountain was not just an imposing geographical

phenomenon—especially in Cambodia, which is predominantly flat delta

territory—it was also the symbol of the home of the hindu gods. As the

centuries progressed, the Khmer would not only continue to crown the peaks

with monuments but even create their own mountains in the form of massive

pyramids, the temple mountains that form one of the world’s mightiest

architectural achievements.

The monumental scale of the

sandstone pedestals relates to the

immense sculptures of Vishnu

and his avatars (now in the

National Museum of Cambodia

in Phnom Penh) that they once

supported. The projecting spouts

(snonadroni) collected the liquid

from the ceremonial lustration of

the statues and conveyed it to a duct

(somasutra) leading to the exterior

of the temple.

Prasat Phnom Da is almost square in

plan. The sanctuary, about 64 sq m

(689 sq. ft.), is the largest of any Khmer

temple, with walls 3 m (9.8 ft.) thick

and more than 12 m (39.4 ft.) high.

Three interior sections of the steeply

corbeled tower are visible today, owing to

the collapse of the original ceiling.

18

Temples of Cambodia

movIng north: Zhenla anD sambor preI kuk

By the sixth century the prosperity of Funan was waning, perhaps because

improved shipbuilding techniques enabled vessels to cross open seas, making

entrepôt ports obsolete. The center of power moved north to an area now called

sambor Prei Kuk. The Chinese inferred a hostile takeover, stating that another

state, which they called zhenla, had “increased its power at the expense of Funan.”

Cambodian inscriptions inform us, however, that the rulers of zhenla were in

fact of the same lineage as those of Funan, suggesting that the shift in power

reflected an economic adaptation: prosperity was no longer based on maritime

trade but on the agricultural wealth of lands close to the lifeline of the mekong.

Furthermore, the flowering of sculpture and architecture at Angkor Borei in the

south was almost contemporary with the development of the thriving city that was

the center of zhenla, hardly likely in a conquered capital. established by King

mahendravarman in about 600 c.e., zhenla’s capital was brought to its glory by his

son Ishanavarman I (ca. 616–37/38), from whom it derived its name: Ishanapura.

Twentieth-century aerial photography and ground research have established

that Ishanapura included a large urban zone, with enclosure walls and many

man-made ponds, lying west of three major temple groups—designated south

(s), Central (C), and north (n)—and a few outlying clusters. Although some

are now merely mounds, and many are ruined, there were once 257 temples here,

a staggering legacy of the power of this early dynasty.

sambor Prei Kuk is one of Cambodia’s most memorable sites, although the

temples lack the grandeur of later monuments. What might once have been an

ordered, symmetrical assemblage of temples is now a gently wooded location that

feels like the parkland of vanished devotees; it is dotted with some almost intact

structures left isolated by the collapse of satellite buildings and some intricately

carved lintels half-buried by grassy knolls. laterite walls enclose the three main

groups of temples, which are of brick with elements of sandstone for portals and

structural elements. A full exploration would require a large tome, but a focus

on a few outstanding examples will give some insight into this early flowering of

Khmer genius.

The northern group is probably the oldest. most of its temples have a simple

square plan and a sparing use of stone. A typical example is Prasat Chrei (n 18).

o p p o s i t e

Prasat Chrei is square in plan with

three false storeys in gentle retreat.

Its walls are undecorated save for

three false doors projecting from

the central planes; the false doors

are modeled to represent miniature

monuments. The fourth façade is

occupied by the single doorway; the

jambs have an inscription from the

time of Ishanavarman I.

19

origins