Phnom Bakheng
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Phnom Bakheng ( ) is a Hindu temple in the form of a temple mountain in Siem Reap Province,
Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...
. Dedicated to
Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...
, it was built at the end of the 9th century, during the reign of King Yasovarman (889–910). Located atop a hill, it is nowadays a popular tourist spot for sunset views of the much bigger temple
Angkor Wat Angkor Wat (; , "City/Capital of Wat, Temples") is a Buddhism and Hinduism, Hindu-Buddhist temple complex in Cambodia. Located on a site measuring within the ancient Khmer Empire, Khmer capital city of Angkor, it was originally constructed ...
, which lies amid the jungle about 1.5 km to the southeast. The large number of visitors makes Phnom Bakheng one of the most threatened monuments of Angkor. Since 2004, the
World Monuments Fund World Monuments Fund (WMF) is a private, international, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic architecture and cultural heritage sites around the world through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and training ...
has been working to conserve the temple in partnership with
APSARA Apsaras (, , Khmer language, Khmer: អប្សរា are a class of celestial beings in Hinduism, Hindu and Culture of Buddhism, Buddhist culture. They were originally a type of female spirit of the clouds and waters, but, later play ...
.


History

Phnom Bakheng, built more than two centuries before Angkor Wat, was once the main temple in the Angkor region. It was the central architectural feature of a new capital called Yasodharapura, established by Yasovarman when he moved the court from the old capital,
Hariharalaya Hariharalaya (, Hariharalaya) was an ancient city and capital of the Khmer Empire, Khmer empire located near Siem Reap, Cambodia in an area now called Roluos (temples), Roluos (Khmer language, Khmer: រលួស). Today, all that remains of the ...
, in the southeast Roluos area. An inscription dated 1052 AD and found at the
Sdok Kak Thom Sdok Kok Thom (, ''Sadok Kok Thom'', ; , ), or Sdok Kak Thom, is an 11th-century Khmer Empire, Angkorian temple in present-day Thailand, located about northeast of the Thai border town of Aranyaprathet. The temple is in Khok Sung District, Sa Ka ...
temple in present-day
Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
states in
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
: "When Sri Yasovardhana became king under the name of Yasovarman, the able Vamasiva continued as his
guru Guru ( ; International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''guru'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian religions, Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: tr ...
. By the king's order, he set up a linga on Sri Yasodharagiri, a mountain equal in beauty to the king of mountains." Scholars believe that this passage refers to the consecration of the Phnom Bakheng temple approximately a century and a half earlier. Phnom Bakheng is one of 3 hilltop temples in the Angkor region that are attributed to Yasovarman's reign. The other two are Phnom Krom to the south near the Tonle Sap Lake, and
Phnom Bok Phnom Bok () is a hill in the northeast of Eastern Baray in Cambodia, with a prasat (temple) () of the same name built on it. It is one of the "trilogies of mountains", each of which has a temple with similar layout. The creation of the temple ...
, northeast of the East Baray reservoir. Workers built a protective outer moat around the mountain and temple.Avenues were extending in the north, south, east, and west directions from the mountain. A raised pathway, first going northwest to southeast from the old capital to the new capital's outer moat and then turning to go east to west, connected directly to the east entrance of the temple. Later in its history, Phnom Bakheng was converted into a Buddhist temple. A monumental Sitting Buddha, now lost, was created on its upper tier. Across its west side, a Reclining Buddha of similar scale was crafted in stone. The outlines of this figure are still visible.


Symbolism

Phnom Bakheng is a symbolic representation of
Mount Meru Mount Meru (Sanskrit/Pali: मेरु)—also known as Sumeru, Sineru or Mahāmeru—is a sacred, five-peaked mountain present within Hindu, Jain and Buddhist cosmologies, revered as the centre of all physical, metaphysical and spiritua ...
, home of the
Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
gods, a status emphasized by the temple's location atop a steep hill 65 m above the surrounding plain. The temple is built in a pyramid form of seven levels, representing the seven heavens. At the top level, five sandstone sanctuaries, in various states of repair, stand in a
quincunx A quincunx ( ) is a geometry, geometric pattern consisting of five points arranged in a cross, with four of them forming a Square (geometry), square or rectangle and a fifth at its center. The same pattern has other names, including "in saltire" ...
pattern—one in the center and one at each corner of the level's square. Originally, 108 small towers were arrayed around the temple at ground level and on various of its tiers; most of them have collapsed.
Jean Filliozat Jean Filliozat (4 November 1906 in Paris – 27 October 1982 in Paris) was a French writer. He studied medicine and was a physician between 1930 and 1947. He learned Sanskrit, Pali, Tibetan and Tamil. He wrote some important works on the history ...
of the Ecole Francaise, a leading Western authority on Indian cosmology and astronomy, interpreted the symbolism of the temple. The temple sits on a rectangular base and rises in five levels and is crowned by five main towers. One hundred four smaller towers are distributed over the lower four levels, placed so symmetrically that only 33 can be seen from the center of any side. Thirty-three is the number of gods who dwelt on Mount Meru. Phnom Bakheng's total number of towers is also significant. 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-year cycle of Jupiter. According to University of Chicago scholar Paul Wheatley, it is "an astronomical calendar in stone."Time Life Lost Civilizations series: Southeast Asia: A Past Regained (1995) p.93-4 Following Angkor's rediscovery by the outside world in the mid-19th century, decades passed before archeologists grasped Phnom Bakheng's historical significance. For many years, scholars' consensus view was that the
Bayon The Bayon (, ) ( ''BAI-on'') is a richly decorated Khmer temple related to Buddhism at Angkor in Cambodia. Built in the late 12th or early 13th century as the state temple of the King Jayavarman VII (), the Bayon stands at the centre of Jaya ...
, the temple located at the center of
Angkor Thom Angkor Thom ( ; meaning "Great City"), alternatively Nokor Thom ( ), located in present-day Cambodia, was the last and most enduring capital city of the Khmer empire, Khmer Empire. It was established in the late twelfth century by King Jayavarman V ...
city, was the edifice to which the Sdok Kak Thom inscription referred. Later work identified the Bayon as a
Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
site, built almost three centuries later than originally thought, in the late 12th century, and Phnom Bakheng as King Yasovarman's state temple.


Phnom Bakheng in popular media

The view of Angkor Wat from the top of Phnom Bakheng is featured in the movie
Tomb Raider ''Tomb Raider'', known as ''Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'' from 2001 to 2008, is a media franchise that originated with an Action-adventure game, action-adventure video game series created by British video game developer Core Design. The franchise i ...
(when Lara Croft looks through the binoculars upon arriving in Cambodia).


Gallery

File:Angkor Phnom Bakheng Tonle Sap アンコール・プノンバケン DSCF4182.jpg,
Tonlé Sap Tonlé Sap (; , ; or commonly translated as 'Great Lake') is a lake in the northwest of Cambodia. Belonging to the Mekong, Mekong River system, Tonlé Sap is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia and one of the most diverse and prod ...
seen from Phnom Bakheng File:Angkor Phnom Bakheng アンコール・プノンバケン DSCF4168.jpg, Phnom Bakheng is a viewpoint of the setting sun File:Phnom Bakheng Angkor Thom Cambodia.jpg, Phnom Bakheng File:Angkor Wat, Camboya, 2013-08-16, DD 073.JPG, Angkor Wat seen from Phnom Bakheng at sunset File:Phnom Bakheng-1.JPG, General view File:Phnom Bakheng-2.JPG, Upper terrace File:Phnom Bakheng-4.JPG, Stone tower and Angkor Wat far afield File:Relieve en Phnom Bakheng, Angkor, Camboya, 2013-08-16, DD 01.JPG,
Bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...
in Phnom Bakheng


See also

*
Angkor Angkor ( , 'capital city'), also known as Yasodharapura (; ),Headly, Robert K.; Chhor, Kylin; Lim, Lam Kheng; Kheang, Lim Hak; Chun, Chen. 1977. ''Cambodian-English Dictionary''. Bureau of Special Research in Modern Languages. The Catholic Uni ...
* Architecture of Cambodia *
List of archaeoastronomical sites by country This is a list of sites where claims for the use of archaeoastronomy have been made, sorted by country. The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and the International Astronomical Union (IAU) jointly published a thematic study on ...


Notes


References

* * Goloubev, Victor. ''Le Phnom Bakheng et la ville de Yasovarman''. Bulletin de l'EFEO (Paris), 33 (1933): 319–344. * Goloubev, Victor. ''Nouvelles récherches autour de Phnom Bakhen''. Bulletin de l'EFEO (Paris), 34 (1934): 576–600. * * * * {{SiemReapProvince Archaeoastronomy Hindu temples in Siem Reap province Angkorian sites in Siem Reap province 9th-century Hindu temples Angkor Wat