People still have not found the reason why the two greatest kings of the Khmer empire when they were sculpted to worship did not have two hands. The ultimate talent, the miraculous effects on the hands of the two legendary kings were not shown.
However, what the two great kings left to mankind is a huge and wonderful legacy that ordinary people cannot accomplish.
Boeng Mealea is a temple located in the Angkor Wat complex, about 70km northeast of Siem Reap, is considered a version of Angkor Wat, said to be the burial place of the great king Suryavarman II. The sacred temple that shared the same fate with Kulen, Angkor Wat for more than 800 years lost in the jungle was discovered by French archaeological scientists in 1954.
The Angkor dynasty was once the most powerful dynasty in Khmer history, under the reign of King Suryavarman II – the king known as the “invincible king”. It was he who built Angkor Wat – a great work that later people admired. The Khmer empire under his rule, expanded its territory to the border of present-day northern Laos, south to the Malay peninsula, west to the kingdom of Pagan-Myanmar.
After King Suryavarman II died in battle, his death along with the brilliant Angkor Wat dynasty was sunk into oblivion. No one knows and no one can explain the secrets of the kingdom.
According to documents left by the French at the Institute of the Far East, in 1954, French scientists had information about a large temple complex like a version of Angkor Wat located in the old forest not far from Angkor Wat, but absolutely no access. Through ancient documents, on the inscriptions still placed in the temple, it is known that Boeng Mealea Temple is the burial place of King Suryavarman II’s body along with many gold, silver and jewels of the dynasty.
Panorama of Angkor Wat.
But due to the constant war, the Boeng Mealea temple area was submerged in the middle of the wild forest. In 2003, the government cleared a trail leading into Boeng Mealea. This is an area with a lot of landmines that have not been removed after the Ponpot war, so around the temple area, the CMAC force – the international demining force – is still active. The minesweeping area is flagged with red flags and sometimes mines are less than half a meter from the unique road leading to the temple.
Almost the entire temple tower has collapsed, but it can still be recognized as its grandeur and magnificence not inferior to Angkor Wat. Even the stone blocks of this temple are bigger than Angkor’s temples, weighing an average of 8 tons compared to 3-5 tons of Angkor Wat. Boeng Mealea Temple in the past was like a small city with an area of 108ha and surrounded by a moat, up to 45m wide in some places. The temple has three layers of walls surrounded and guarded by giant stone gates, in the middle is a 42m high tower but has been broken.
More specifically, Boeng Mealea has four libraries in four corners of the city in ruins, while most temples of the Angkor period only had two libraries. The center of the temple has the coffin of King Suryavarman II lying on the ground. According to Apsara Committee, since the war years, not only archeological researchers but also ancient tomb digging gangs have come here and excavated this ancient tomb, many gold, silver, and treasures have been taken. Go, the beautiful reliefs on the wall of the temple were also chiseled away and the coffin fell from the temple to the ground. But they could not find the body of Suryavarman II.
Insignia on the wall of Angkor Wat.
After King Suryavarman II died, the sunlight went out, the darkness and despair of the glorious Angkor empire covered a black mourning hair. Internal conflicts, turbulence, power struggles, unfinished temples and towers had to be halted. The war for sand and foreign invaders had long been waiting for the opportunity to invade the Khmer empire. The whole Chan Lap society fell into a serious crisis until a bright new sun appeared in the sky of Angkor… that was Prince Jayavarman VII.
Jayavarman VII (1181-1220) was the king of the Khmer Empire, considered one of the three talented kings, outstanding heroes of the Khmer nation under the Angkor dynasty. He was the son of King Dharanindravarman II (reigned 1150 – 1160) and Sri Jayarajacudamani. He married Jayarajadevi and after her death he married her sister Indradevi. It is said that these two women greatly inspired him, especially his devotion to Buddhism.
Many theories say that after King Suryavarman II died in the forest of Vu Quang, Nghe An province (Dai Viet), in order to avoid being harmed and avenge future generations, the royal family had a solemn ceremony to cremate the body. King as a way to reassure the people and soldiers of the Khmer empire. After that, the ashes were placed in the temple of Angkor Wat, while the coffin and this temple were built to be used only as a place to worship the image of the king.
Before that, only one other king of the Khmer Empire was a Buddhist. He was the one who built many great temples that remain to this day such as: Ta Prohm, Preah Khan, Angkor Thom, Bayon, Jayatataka Baray, Neak Pean, Ta Som, Ta Nei, Ban Teay Chhmar, Prasats Chrung , Elephant Ground, Ta Prohm Kel, Hospital Chapel, Krol Ko, Srah Srang, Royal Place.
Among those temples, the most famous is the citadel of Angkor Thom with Bayon temple being the beauty of architecture and sculpture. This place is also known as De Thich Temple – an architectural masterpiece just after Angkor Wat that his ancestor King Suryavarman II built.
Jayavarman VII, during his lifetime, was handed down by history books as a reclusive person, choosing a poor lifestyle, practicing Buddhist meditation, and was very indifferent to all changes in Khmer political and social life. However, seeing that the country of Chan Lap was so sad because of chaos and being trampled by foreign invaders, he saw no other way but to follow the path of finding a new bow, hoping to save the country through the danger, bringing the country back. prosperity for all peoples and the prosperity of a once proud and powerful kingdom.
At that time, the country of Chan Lap fell into the hands of Champa, the temple of Angkor Wat and all the powerful institutions of the Suryavarman II dynasty were completely wiped out. He raised an army to revolt from the Kulen mountain forest where the First Emperor built his career and gathered the powerful forces who were living in the provinces at that time against the invaders of Champa. After four years of fighting, he drove the Champa army out of the country, restored peace and built a powerful country.
To carry out the cause of national liberation, before taking the throne, Jayavarman VII began to rebuild the army, then conducted many counter-attacks, including the most glorious and glorious naval battle in history. depicted on the relief stone wall at present-day Bayon and Bantay Cherma temples. After regaining independence, Jayavarman VII was crowned King. He immediately began to restore the capital and built here a new citadel called Yaxodarapura .
The inscription recounts in very poetic words that day as follows: “The coronation ceremony of King Jayavarman VII was held four years after the fall of the capital. The capital Yaxodarapura is like a gentle maiden, suitable for her lover, enthusiastic and passionate, decorated with a castle inlaid with gold and jade with rows of citadels wrapped like a ribbon of silk. veiled: that maiden was married by the king to create happiness for all beings in a glorious ceremony, under the shining throne of glory.
Located in the center of Angkor Thom complex and about 300m from Angkor Wat, Bayon is the most impressive temple of Cambodian mountain temple architecture because of the magnificence of the scale as well as the emotion it brings.
From a distance, visitors can feel the wonderful scenery displayed right on the main road leading to the temple gate. Along the two sides of the slate road crossing a dug river, on both sides are 54 giant statues embracing the snake god Nagar divided into two symmetrical rows: on the left are gods, on the right are demons.
Some statues have partial defects of the head, body, limbs due to time and the fluctuations of history and war. Most of these statues have their backs to the temple, leaning back with a strong posture depicting the story of “stirring the sea of milk to find the elixir of life” that King Jayavarman VII and his subjects had longed to find. A thousand-year-old architectural masterpiece still makes posterity flutter.
If Angkor Wat with five large spiers has become the symbol of the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Buddha’s faces carved on the Bayon temple towers are the great pride of the people of this country. That is the ancient message that Bayon wants to send back in the future as an aspiration for peace, compassion and holiness that portrays Bayon’s immortal smile. The face of the giant Buddha carved on stone, standing between heaven and earth, defying the changes of time is the subject of endless debates about the mysteries hidden in the carvings of the people. anonymous stonemason of the past. There are so many Buddhas and Gods in the temple, there are so many different ways to show smiles and look at them.
APSARA dancer at Angkor Wat.
Therefore, 54 towers at Bayon have been designed as a concentric circular maze, on which are engraved hundreds of faces with mysterious smiles that have forever gone down in the history of this ancient land. The most impressive thing about each stupa is the 4 faces of the Buddha rotating in 4 directions with his lips showing a mysterious smile as if sending a message to thousands of samsara.
And Bayon not only contains the secret of the silent smile on hundreds of Buddha’s faces, but each step goes down to the foot of the main tower, on the walls connecting the corridors running through each other like a hidden maze. contains intact the vivid features of hundreds of thousands of Apsara dancers carved on sandstone slabs.
According to ancient Khmer legend, these enchanting dancers were incarnated from the sea when the gods and the snake god Nagar stirred the sea of milk to find the elixir of life. A romantic image like the dance itself that people can feel when looking at the dancers on each stone.
Soft hands, miraculous dexterity, slender back, half-open smile and bouncy legs still follow the beat of drums and the distant sound of a pentatonic. Not only at Bayon but also at all the ancient architectures of this country, pagodas and pagodas, everywhere can admire the winding dance of Apsara dancers on stone statues and carved on stone walls.
If Angkor Wat creates amazement because of its sophisticated and majestic paintings, it is surprising at Bayon, because the reliefs have much richer and more vivid content, including scenes of daily life and religion, history. There, the reliefs vividly depict the relics of religious rituals, festival activities, entertainment scenes, scenes of Khmer warriors fighting with the Champa army by sailors to regain the land. water…
With these reliefs, Bayon has recreated for generations to come an encyclopedia of life, customs, and landscapes of hundreds of years ago. An interesting thing about the caste division in ancient society is also evident here: if the scenes of people’s daily life are touched outside, in the inner corridor, the frescoes depict mainly royal life, the scene of dancing and singing in the court, scenes of kings and mandarins in the royal life.
Thickly covered behind the curtain of time, the golden image of Jayavarman VII’s dynasty as well as hundreds and thousands of anonymous workers who built the Bayon shrine has become a legend, a topic that causes many problems. controversy in the academic world. However, whether or not they know about history, architecture or religion, each person standing in front of the Buddha’s faces carved on each tower smiling and sending to the world clearly feels special emotions. rising in the heart.
And, although dynasties and times have changed, but Bayon – the strangest and most romantic temple of the Khmer people – still stands together with Cambodia and humanity as a historical architectural work full of history. human creativity.
Bayon is an inspiring and creative art temple with beautiful and monumental stone carvings. Bayon Temple was built between the late 12th and early 13th centuries as the official mountain temple of King Jayavarman VII, who believed in Mahayana Buddhism, which was different from Hinduism like previous kings but still followed. Devaraja tradition.
King Jayavarman VII converted to Mahayana Buddhism because he believed that the previous kings who succeeded the great king Suryavarman II were all Hindus, the builder of the legendary Angkor Wat was also defeated by the Champa army. The change in state religion is also the separation of religions and beliefs of all Khmer imperial subjects as an affirmation of the sense of self-reliance and self-reliance of the society and Chan Lap nation since King Jayavarman. VII ascended the throne to reign. Since then, after Jayavarman VII’s death, successive kings with different beliefs such as Hinduism and Theravada Buddhism also built more temples based on their beliefs.
The structure of Bayon consists of three floors, today all three floors are in ruins, bricks and stones are scattered everywhere due to war and eight centuries of wandering in the jungle. The two floors below are arranged in a square shape, adorned with delicate reliefs and carvings on the walls. The third floor is arranged in a circle with many towers whose stone faces are shaped like Buddha’s face.
The corridor downstairs is an art treasure with 11,000 reliefs carved on the stone wall running 1200m long, a mixture of history and legends, depicting parade scenes of kings and royals. , the battles of King Jayavarman VII with Champa with both water and land warfare, in addition to depicting the cultural and social life of a civilization that has been forgotten for centuries. Many walls are still unfinished, leaving only sketches, perhaps unfinished when King Jayavarman VII died.
The most prominent image of Bayon is still the towering spiers in the center of boulders, carved into 2-3 and generally 4 faces looking in four directions. The architecture of Bayon is considered to be in the style of the Baroque school, while Angkor Wat is of the classical school. The similarity of the numerous giant faces on the stupas of Bayon with other statues of King Jayavarman VII has led many scholars to conclude that this is the king’s face.
Some say it is the face of Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Avalokitesvara or Lokesvara). The Angkorian scholar Coedes argues that Jayavarman VII follows the tradition of Khmer kings who considered themselves god kings (Devaraja), unlike previous Hindu kings who claimed to be the image of the god Shiva. while Jayavarman VII was a Buddhist, so the image of Buddha and Bodhisattva is himself. There are a total of 37 stone temple towers carved with many faces looking down and looking in four directions as if observing sentient beings and protecting the country.
Inside the temple, there are two rows of concentric corridors on the lower floor, and one on the upper floor. All are clustered together in a narrow space of 140 x 160m, while the main part of the temple located on the upper floor is even narrower with a size of 70 x 80m, different from Angkor Wat, one must admire with its large scale and spaciousness. Looking at it from afar, Bayon stretches horizontally like a bunch of rocks that want to reach the sky with seemingly unlimited space.
Bayon Temple gives people a feeling of flying and completely conquered by its exemplary and lively beauty. The temple is made up of 50 stone spiers. Its core is an architectural complex built in a terraced style with 16 medium-sized stupas with many small stupas linked together, in the middle is a round golden tower, 45m high. At the top of each tower, all 4 sides have a smiling Buddha image. The stone reliefs at Bayon recount the story of Shakyamuni Buddha and they are a chronicle of Cambodian life during the Angkorian era.
The entire Angkor with its immense towers, temples, reliefs and corridors is made of stacked stones with a very natural appearance, even on the roof of the dome. All the decorative stone motifs such as Buddha, dancers, warriors and lotus images illustrating the epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata are very vivid and soft. With 1,700 Apsara girls in Angkor are 1,700 completely different dancers with beautiful bodies, different facial expressions, postures, and body movements. Why 1,700 and not another number? This remains one of many unanswered questions in Angkor today.
In a certain afternoon, at a certain corner in the corridor of Angkor Wat or Bayon temple, when the afternoon sunlight casts iridescent golden threads covering the magnificent temple area, people will immerse themselves in thoughts and contemplation. Experience and release your soul to catch the cool wind and watch the elephants pounding their feet walking around the citadel to dream of an old day when the legendary great kings of the Angkor dynasty were departing far away…
Back to the old story, why do the statues of the people who built Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom, the legendary Bayon don’t have two hands? Surely there is no human inadvertence but a deliberate attempt so that no one understands the secrets, mysteries and mysteries of the great kings who transformed into Gods and Buddhas in Khmer legends. No one draws a finger on the Buddha’s hand or foot, even though there are millions of Buddha statues built and carved in the world. Just like the great kings who built the legendary Angkor, if it were the hands of ordinary people, it would not be possible to have those great temples.
The story goes that, once upon a time, there was an emperor who wanted talented artists in the world to paint his extremely beautiful Queen image. All talented painters invited to come were kicked out because when they finished painting, the officials praised the beautiful face and pretty eyes, but there were people who criticized the drawing for the hair not being beautiful, the body shape is not the same… The artists in turn were rejected. beheaded for the crime of the army. Suddenly, an artist asked to draw the Queen, everyone was surprised and dissuaded because they did not want to see another head removed from the neck.
The artist quietly drank a few teapots and then drew a few lines with a pen and poured ink on a lot… When the painting was presented, the king was extremely surprised and angry because he could not see the Queen’s figure anywhere. The artist slowly murmured: “Your Majesty, I paint a beautiful Queen sleeping with a blanket. Because when the Queen sleeps in the blanket, no one can see anything. Because no one can draw exactly like the model, just as there is no one in the world who has absolute beauty.” The king understood the matter, stopped needing a painter and rewarded the clever and talented painter.
The legend of Angkor is forever still an immortal legend because of all the mysteries of the two great kings and Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Bayon are forever immortal. Whether or not the king’s arms are on the stone statue is a mysterious mystery. But temples and wonders of humanity are real in the world.