Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c43.10

c43.10

The rise, development, architectural accomplishments, and final dissolution of the Khmers of Cambodia is one of the most remarkable and dramatic episodes in the history of Asia. And the record of their greatness is proved by the size and number of their structural productions. These cannot by any means be described as the result of an Indian colonial settlement, nor the expression of a talented few, but that of a large cultured, organised, and technically qualified race of people. From a relatively insignificant tribe of aborigines, settled on the lower reaches of the Mekong early in the Christian era, in the country of a few hundred years, the Khmers emerged as a nation of mighty warriors, who founded a powerful empire, evolved a civilization of marked intellectuality and refinement, and above all, created a style of architecture having outstanding character and expressed by monuments of such magnitude that in the words of the renowned authority Fergusson, they figure as "one of the greatest building races of the world." Such is a brief outline of the development of the Cambodians up to the twelfth century. Then, equally dramatically, in the thirteenth century came their dissolution, followed by their complete disappearance from the country they had so magnificently ruled. For after consolidating over a large region their imperial power with its enlightened administrative and social system, they were over-run by the Siamese (Thais) and dispersed, forced to abandon their possessions, to desert their cities, palaces and temples, and to leave their architectural monuments to be swallowed up and obliterated by the tropical vegetation and other devastating forces of nature. So completely was this effacement effected that for some four hundred years this once influential empire and its vast structural undertakings were lost to sight as if they had never existed, they passed beyond human ken unknown and forgotten even by the people of the continent in which they had so magnificently flourished During this long period, unchecked, silently, slowly, but with deadly persistence, the sinuous roots of the jungle trees laboured to disintegrate the material proofs of its one time proud glories, built up after centuries of patient endeavour. In one instance, the temple of Angkor Vat, referred to by an authority as "one of the greatest, if not the greatest work of man standing" it seems as if nature, jealous of such an incomparable example of human handiwork, finding it left unguarded, threw a dense screen of vegetation around it and under its cover proceeded remorselessly to tear it to pieces Fortunately complete destruction has been stayed, as by little more than mere chance what remained of these monuments was brought to light. For, as late as the year 1858, a French naturalist¹ while exploring the impenetrable forests surrounding the Mekong and Menam rivers, stumbled on the vast complex of ruins comprising the city of Angkor, the Khmer capital, and from this accidental discovery, the significance of the Cambodian empire, and the grandeur of its building creations became revealed. But so recently has this disclosure been made, that in spite of an intensive study of these remains by eminent scholars, a number of problems relating to the sequence of events in the history of the Khmers, and especially those regarding the founders and dates of their buildings, still await accurate solution