ADM215 – Written Assignment

Ong Fang Zheng

071402B17
Group 5

Angkor Thom: The Value of Co-Existence in Prosperity

Bibliography:

• Bunker, Emma C., and Douglas Latchford, Adoration and Glory The Golden Age of
Khmer Art, Art Media Resources, 2004
• Freeman, Michael, and Claude Jacques, Ancient Angkor, Asia Books, 1999
• Freeman, Michael, and Claude Jacques, Angkor Cities and Temples, Thames and
Hudson, 1997
• Freeman, Michael, and Roger Warner, Angkor The Hidden Glories, A David Larkin
Book, 1990
• Jessup, Helen Ibbitson, and Thierry Zéphir, Sculpture of Angkor and Ancient
Cambodia Millennium of Glory, Thames and Hudson, 1997
• Thierry, Zéphir, Angkor A Tour of the Monuments, Archipelago Press, 2004
 Angkor Thom – The “Great City” – is no doubt a magnificent architecture from

the Khmer Empire. Attacked and conquered by the Chams, Jayavarman VII seized

Angkor back in a victorious battle in 1181. It was later fortified and used as the capital,

while a devotee, Jayavarman made Mahayana Buddhism the state religion. Yet, little or

no changes were made to the geography, which was based on Hindu cosmology. Instead

of rejection, it was embraced by into the new state religion’s concepts until Jayavarman

VIII, who did not permit the divergence of devotion, destroyed the Buddhist images.

Indra – the king of gods – was the ideal for all Khmer rulers, and Angkor Thom

was built to represent his palace on earth. Jampudvipa was ‘reproduced’, and like all

temple mountains, Angkor Thom seeks to portray Mount Meru, the axis of the universe.

The concept of replicating the universe is from the Sanskrit word ‘pratibimba’, derived

from India, to represent the cosmos with a model. The terraced tiers of the buildings also

imitate the ‘successive concentric levels’ of Mount Meru.

Relief panels lined the walls of the towers in Angkor Thom, appearing on every

surface and even in impossible nooks because they serve not the eyes of human but the

pleasure of the gods, where the temple-mountain is their abode on earth. They depict the

battles with the Chams, scenes within the royal palace, everyday life and the Hindu

mythology. After Mahayana Buddhism was made the state religion, the Hindu cults were

continued to be practiced alongside it, together with other indigenous gods and ancestor

rulers, for once crowned, a ruler remains as a protector of the land even in death. The

differing beliefs are ‘accepted as overlapping truths’, avoiding discord among devotees

and allowed religious cohesion.

 The religious tolerance during Jayavarman VII’s reign, his diplomatic skills and

military leadership gave Cambodia its prosperity. The barays, drainage and irrigation

system gained him the power over water, and hence the wealth and health of the country.

His feverous building was less to prove himself a cakravartin but as a pious devotee and

his acceptance of practicing religions showed his magnanimity. It is displayed in the

fusion of the Hindu cosmology in Angkor Thom’s architecture and Mahayana Buddhism,

that shows an open heart that gathers not just the religions, but also the devotees (the

people) together under his rule and brilliant leadership, bringing affluence to the country

and hence, leading it to become the most glorious period in the Khmer Empire history.

(415 words)