|
SITE
The citadel of Banteay Chhmar was commissioned
by the 12th Century Khmer King Jayavarman VII (AD
1181-1219) in honour of four army generals, and his
son, the Crown Prince Indravarman. These five men
were killed defending the Khmer Empire against the
Champa Kingdom, located in what is now Vietnam.
Jayavarman VII is generally considered to be the
Khmer Empire's greatest king, and the most ambitious
and spectacular architectural projects were carried
out during his reign. As a Khmer king he was worshipped
as a god, but unlike previous kings he chose to associate
himself with the Buddhist Bodhisattva Avalokiteshavara,
instead of a Hindu god. A devout Buddhist, he proclaimed
Buddhism the state religion.
Carrying on the tradition of the cult of Devaraja,
or "god-king," Jayavarman had many temples
erected in his own honour. The King's Temples, most
notably the Bayon Temple in Angkor Thom
as well as the temple in Banteay Chhmar, all bear
numerous renditions of the smiling face of Avalokiteshavara.
Sculpture in the Bayon style is characterized by an
extreme sense of spirituality. The figures are imbued
with a serenity that echoes the Buddhist teachings.
Legend has it that the face on these temples is actually
a representation of Jayavarman's face, and the expression
the face bears is often referred to as "the
Khmer smile".
Ironically, Jayavarman's architectural endeavours
are ultimately what lead to his empire's ruin. The
construction of these great temples depleted resources
to a point where the empire could barely support or
defend itself. In 1431 the Thai army defeated the
Khmers and effectively crushed the empire.
ARCHITECTURE
The temple complex lies sixty kilometres north
of Sisophon and just thirteen kilometres from the
Thai border. Originally covering an area of 2.5 x
2 kilometres and surrounded by a moat, the site of
Banteay Chhmar resembles those of the more famous
Khmer temple complexes of Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom.
The site consists of the main temple made of sandstone,
other religious structures, and a baray to the east
of the temple. Outside the main area of the temple,
on the other side of the moat and across from the
temple's eastern entrance lies a rest-house, or dharmasala.
The temple proper is surrounded by a wall measuring
250 x 190 metres, with four gopuras, or entranceways,
in the middle of each wall. The outer faces of the
walls contain three-tiered bas-reliefs depicting alternating
military and religious scenes. Some parts of the walls
have collapsed, but the best reliefs can be found
on the south wall, including a series of eight colossal
standing, multi-armed Lokitesvaras. Much of
the temple itself lies in piles of collapsed walls
and roofs. The central sanctuary (170 x 40m) remains
intact, and many of the towers and gopuras, both with
and without carved faces, also remain. Near the centre
of the jumbled ruins three towers with carved with
faces stand alone as a reminder of the grandeur of
past centuries and the power of the Khmer Empire.
CONSERVATION
During the 1970s, and continuing into the 1990s, the
worst damage was done to the temple complex. During
the rule of the Khmer Rouge all preservation projects
and efforts in Cambodia were abandoned. Banteay Chhmar
was left to crumble deep in the jungle. Rainwater seeped
into the numerous crack and crevices, causing stones
to shift and entire buildings to collapse. In the 1990s,
the site became the favourite target of looters. More
than 50 square metres of bas-relief and countless pieces
of statuary have been stolen from the temple site.
Back
to top |