Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c43.37

c43.37

Marking the first stage of the Classical Period, the Formative Phase comprising the two centuries from A.D. 800 to 1000, this opens with a decisive event in the history of the Khmers. For when the king Jayavarman II (802-854) transferred the centre of his rapidly expanding dominions to Angkor, a site on the Mekong near the lake of Tonle-Sap, he not only planned the creation of a capital city, but also began the process of consolidating the empire. This ruler has left behind him the reputation of an ardent builder—a royal palace and important temples being his architectural contributions to the rising metropolis of the Khmers, but particulars of these await exploration. On the other hand, rather later, towards the end of the ninth century, a successor, Yesovarman I (889-910), either re-constituted the original capital or established another on its site which he named Yasodharapura, now only defined by mounds and other extensive remains hitherto unidentified. But some idea of its extent and arrangements have been obtained by an aerial survey, which shows that the quality of spaciousness, afterwards a notable characteristic of the subsequent architectural creations, was in process of germination. For the hill of Phnom Bakheng marking the original temple of the city, indicates the geometric centre of a rectangle about ten square miles in area, with the remains of a wide moat on the west and south sides, while on the east it was aligned parallel to the main city gate. The city temple, the focus of the scheme, raised on an eminence was contained with a walled rectangle having a cruciform terrace in front of the ramp and a stairway leading to its entrance on the east. From a square space which probably corresponded to a forum, or ceremonial parade ground, main roads radiated symmetrically in four directions connecting with the city gates, thus dividing the whole city into four wards each reserved for and inhabited by a certain class of citizen. In addition therefore to the grand dimensions of the layout of this city, it shows a system of town planning in symmetrical lines and rectangles on a broad scale, which seems to have been the ideal underlying most of the Khmers' architectural compositions.