Stone Description

The ancient Khmers used varied materials for sculpture, including: stone, wood and stucco. Each material reflects a supreme knowledge of carving with the movement, beauty and decor of sculptures dependent on the sculptors' creativity. Khmer sculpture is divided into freestanding, bas-relief, and high-relief categories. Two kinds of stone were used, schist and sandstone (black, red, grey, and white). Most of the religious sculpture was carved in sandstone. There are virtually no traces left today of the techniques and tools used. The technique for maintaining the equilibrium of stone sculptures differed according to the style. In the pre-Angkorian period (VIth-VIIIth centuries), the sculptors used support props like the horseshoe arc. A good example is the Visnu with four arms (no. 1). They also used the lower edges of the ‘sampot’ (skirt) and tenons projecting from the base for stability. In the Angkor period (IXth-XIIIth centuries), supports were abandoned. The ancient Khmers left many masterpieces of Brahmanist and Buddhist divinities for their religious practices. In this sense, Khmer ‘art’ consists of images that are expressions of religious beliefs. The principle figures of Hinduism in Khmer art are: Brahma, Visnu, and Siva (these gods make up the Brahmanic trinity); the incarnations of Visnu: Krsna, Rama, Balarama, & etc.; Harihara (a syncretist image of Visnu and Siva) and other secondary figures such as Garuda (the mount of Visnu), Nandin (the mount of Siva) and mythological birds. In Buddhism, the main image is the figure of Buddha and the numerous stories connected with his life (for the Lesser Vehicle), and the Bodhisattva Lokesvara and Prajnaparamita (for the Greater Vehicle). As part of the works of art cited above, there are many bas-reliefs, which depict different stories of the gods, as well as historic events and the ordinary of lives of the people. Most of these are related to architectural decor (lintels, pediments) and bas-reliefs on the walls of temples.

JAYAVARAMAN VII

Material: Sandstone

Dimensions: H:137. 5 cm

Date: late XIIth - early XIIIth century

Provenance: Krol Romeas, Angkor Thom

(Siem Reap)

Collection: National Museum of Cambodia,

Phnom Penh

B.347 B.19.1 Ka.1703

This statue is dated to the Bayon style. Portraiture art of this period is marked by smiling and mystical expression. The quality of the modelling of this work reveals an exceptional mastery of the art.

His facial expression is accentuated by semi-closed eyes, a light smile, nose with three lobes, large forehead, lips that are neither thin nor thick, and long ear lobes. All these traits represent the Khmer physiognomy. The king’s power as expressed by his facial expression evokes supreme knowledge, compassion and peacefulness.

Biographical Summary of Jayavarman VII

The temples of the Angkor region, as the many other temples spread throughout Cambodia, are an important part of the patrimony of the Khmer nation, the presence of these marvellous temples is a reminder for the present-day Khmer to identify with their glorious past. For nearly 700 years, this civilization has been ravaged by internal wars and foreign invasions.

Today, Cambodians, with support from the international community, are working to resurrect the memory of the Angkor period.

The National Museum recently conserved a statue, which was found in the Angkor region that is presumed to be a likeness of Jayavarman VII. There exist two other statues with identical faces to this work: one is stored in Bangkok, while the other is in the Musée Guimet, Paris.

The history of this king, which reveals one of the most energetic reigns in Cambodian history, is known through inscriptions, Chinese court annals, and works of art discovered in the region. These lines of evidence portray a clear picture of Jayavarman VII.

King Jayavarman VII was the son of King Dharanindravarman II. Following the early death of his first wife, Jayararajadevi, he married Rajendradevi, the older sister of his first wife. His second wife was responsible for the providing a Buddhist education for young girls of the palace. She was a renowned poet whose knowledge of science and philosophy was said to be without equal. One of Jayavarman VII’s sons, Suryakumara, was the author of the Ta Prohm stele. According to the Preah Khan inscription, he had to more sons, Srivirakumara and Sriindrakumara by Queen Rajendradevi.

The name of Jayavarman VII was little known before 1903, at which time the Bulletin EFEO (École Française d’Extrême-Orient) published a study by Louis Finot concerning a Sanskrit inscription discovered by Georges Maspéro in the Say Fong region of Laos (near Vientiane). This inscription proclaims an edict issued by Jayavarman VII concerning the establishment of a hospital in 1186. Finot noted that this text was very similar to another found on a stele in Nha-Trang province (Vietnam). Finot mentions that Jayavarman VII was often cited in Cham inscriptions as having been a great conqueror. He also noted a number of steles distributed throughout Laos, Vietnam and lower Cochinchina that attest to conquests and victories of this king. Other inscriptions mention many generous acts and victories of Jayavarman VII. These inscriptions shed light on a great king from Cambodia’s distant past. Subsequent research has helped to further illuminate the character of this king, considered to be the most dynamic in Cambodian history.

Georges Cœdès studied numerous inscriptions including those of Ta Prohm, Banteay Chhmar, the hospital edicts, Vimeanakas (Phimeanakas), Indradevi’s inscription and an inscription from Mi-Son (Champa). Cœdès made a comparative study of these inscriptions and scenes depicted in the bas-reliefs of the Bayon and at Banteay Chhmar temple that relate to events in Jayavarman VII’s reign.

In 1181, Jayavarman VII became king and established a new capital, Angkor Thom.

During his reign, the Cambodian kingdom spanned a huge area; extending beyond the Menam Basin to the west (the Bayon inscription mentions the existence of two statues of divinities guarding the cities of Ratchaburi and Phetburi in Thailand), as far as the seacoast of Champa to the east, as far as the city of Sukhothai (which was supervised by Khmer functionaries) in the north, all the way down to the southern sea. At the time the Khmers were trading with China, India and other countries of Asia Minor.

King Jayavarman VII was greatly concerned with the well being of his kingdom and wanted to turn it into an earthly paradise. The Ta Prohm inscription comments on this subject:

“He found satisfaction in the nectar of his religion, the Sakyamuni Buddhism of the Greater Vehicle, within which he identified a cult of deceased relatives with the characteristics of the compassionate Bodhisattva and Prajnaparamita.”

With regard to the arts, the king was responsible for the construction of numerous temples in the Angkor region and in other provinces.

The Ta Prohm temple, constructed at Angkor in 11

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