Chipping away at the enigma of the Bayon at Angkor
By Jon Fernquest[Introduction|Vocabulary|Article]
[Reading Questions|Answers]
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In today's article, historian of Southeast Asia Dr. Chris Baker simplifies an incredibly large and complex book, about a notoriously enigmatic and ancient Cambodian monument, the Bayon at Angkor.
The book reviewed is the newly published: BAYON: New Perspectives.
If you spot this mighty tome on the shelves of English language bookstores in Bangkok, you're likely to be intimidated by it's size and price (over 2000 baht!).
Where to begin reading such a massive book?
Do I need a PhD before I turn the first page?
Chris Baker provides a wonderful and thorough overview and summary of the main themes of the book
This helps the Angkor neophyte begin to appreciate the ruins of the ancient and powerful Khmer empire that once extended into modern Thailand and even sent military expeditions as far afield as southern Burma during the age of Pagan.
Today's article is also great for vocabulary study, featuring quite a few words for things that are puzzling, mysterious, and difficult to understand, including:
baffling, befuddlement, enigma, a muddle, perplexing, eccentric, an eccentricity, vexed.
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Also check a freely downloadable and wonderfully detailed guide to the ruins of Angkor, a translation of Maurice Glaize's 1994 guide to Angkor.
Read another engaging Bangkok Post article about a trip along an ancient Khmer highway by Sanitsuda Ekachai.
notoriously - well-known for something bad (here difficulty of understanding)
enigmatic (adjective) - mysterious and difficult to understand
The Bayon - monument built by King Jayavarman VII in the 12th century (See Wikipedia)
Angkor - the name for the region of the capital of the ancient Khmer empire (See Wikipedia)
tome - a very large and heavy book
intimidated - lacks confidence from fear of something
neophyte - someone new to a subject or activity
Reading Questions
Here are some questions to guide your reading (See answers at end):1. What kinds of scenes from ancient Khmer life do the stone carvings of the Bayon display?
2. What is confusing about the Bayon?
3. How certain are historians about the dating and meaning of the Bayon?
4. What major historical event separated the older French school of Khmer history from the newer school of Khmer history?
5. What Cambodian King was the Bayon built by?
6. When did Jayavarman VII live? Rule? (Requires some internet or library research)
7. What was the French school's explanation of the Bayon?
8. Why was Jayavarman VII so concerned about Khmer-Cham relations?
9. How was Khmer-Cham warfare related to ethnicity?
10. What brought an end to Jayavarman VIIs' dream of uniting the Khmer and the Cham?
11. What place did the worship of Siva, Vishnu, the Buddha, and local deities have in Jayavarman VII's Kingdom?
12. What is the most striking feature of the big faces on the stone towers of the Bayon?
13. Why might the mysterious eyes of the rock faces be related to tantrism according to one of the authors?
14. What new interpretation is made of the stone carvings of the naval battle scene? Why?
15. Does the new school of Khmer history that replaces the old French school have a unified viewpoint?
16. What two kinds of historians are there in the new school of Khmer history?
17. What would the ideal approach to the history of the Bayon combine?
18. Does this book explain the Bayon once and for all? Why or why not?
Bangkok Post Article September 01, 2007
BOOK REVIEWBefuddled by the Bayon
New research on later Angkor spreads both light and darknessCHRIS BAKER
BAYON: New Perspectives, Edited by Joyce Clark, River Books (2007), 256pp, 2,245 baht, ISBN 978-9-74-986347-3
For many visitors to Angkor, the Bayon is the most powerful and perplexing experience. The grandeur of Angkor Wat is easier to grasp and admire, but the sheer eccentricity of the Bayon's design is unnerving. The muddle of war scenes, religious images and homely vignettes of everyday life in the galleries is baffling. The site itself is a maze. And the faces redefine enigma.
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With peace in Cambodia, scholars returned to Angkor after a long break, equipped with new theories, new technology and big research grants. The old monopoly of the French School no longer holds sway. This book is a first result of this new era. The title could have been Jayavarman VII Reassessed, or New Perspectives on Later Angkor, but the book focuses on the Bayon, perhaps because it is the most extraordinary "document" of its time. But how to read the damned thing?
The conventional story before the interlude in Khmer scholarship went like this. The Bayon was built by Jayavarman VII in the late twelfth century. Angkor at the time was engaged in constant conflict with the Cham, as attested by the war scenes in the Bayon galleries. Although initially interpreted as Hindu, the monument was revealed as Buddhist. The extraordinary faces, locally identified as "Phrom", probably represent Brahma, but the version incorporated into Buddhism rather than a Hindu original. After Jayavarman VII's death, there was a Hindu reaction in which much of the Bayon's statuary was defaced or destroyed. These conflicts of religion and ethnicity somehow contributed to the decline of Angkor, but nobody was quite sure how.
Angkor - the name for the region of the capital of the ancient Khmer empire (See Wikipedia)
perplexing - confusing, difficult to understand and explain
Angkor Wat - a temple at Angkor, Cambodia, built for King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city. The largest and best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre since its foundation—first Hindu, dedicated to Vishnu, then Buddhist (See Wikipedia)
eccentricity - strangely different from others
unnerving - makes you feel worried and uncomfortable
muddle - confusion, all mixed up and out of order
vignettes - short pictures or stories that summarize typical characteristics of something (in this case life in ancient Cambodia)
galleries - places where pictures are displayed
baffling - cannot understand or explain
an enigma - mysterious and difficult to understand
befuddlement - confusing your mind and thoughts
provoked - cause a reaction
holds sway - have power or influence over
reassessed - assessed and evaluated again for a second time
conventional - the usual, commonly accepted
an interlude - a short halt in activity
Cham - an ancient state and ethnic group in Southern Vietnam
as attested by - as shown or proven by
Brahma - the most powerful and greatest Indian god
Claude Jacques and Anne-Valerie Schweyer repaint the picture of a simple Khmer vs Cham hostility. Jayavarman VII spent 15 years of his early manhood in the Cham country and maintained strong political connections there. The scenes in the galleries show mixed groups of Cham and Khmer fighting one another, rather than a simple ethnic divide. Jayavarman VII had ambitions to unite the Khmer and Cham, but this ambition seems to have crumbled amid complex factional quarrels. (Photo on the right is of Jayavarman VII)
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stark - obviously very different
ethnic divide - when two different ethnic groups are separated and don't mix
factional quarrels - conflicts and arguments between different groups of people in a society
black-white - very clear cut nad easy to see
Siva - Indian god (See Wikipedia)
Vishnu - Indian god (See Wikipedia)
studded with - decorated with many things
assimilation - integrating and combining into one unified system
Indic - of India
But who are the massive faces staring down from the great towers, and what do they mean? As no document has been found to answer this question, controversy has been provoked to run riot. Peter Sharrock stokes that controversy. He trawls through all the many candidates offered by previous scholars - Buddha, Lokesvara, Buddharaja, the king himself, a local guardian spirit, Brahma - and rejects all of them. He notes that the striking feature of these faces is the open eyes staring straight ahead. Previous images of the Buddha, Bodhisattvas or the king had eyes closed or lowered. The only analogous images of a Buddhist figure staring so powerfully in all directions, Sharrock claims, are in Nepal. Those originals may date to the same era as the Bayon - a time when Buddhism was being driven out of its Indian place-of-origin by Muslim invaders. In this crisis, Sharrock suggests, Buddhist kings in Nepal and Cambodia were drawn to an image of the Buddha which exuded the power of tantrism. Sharrock suggests the faces are Vajrasattva, a form emerging from tantric meditation. He points to other contemporary examples found at Angkor and Banteay Chamar.
In the longest and most intricate chapter in the book, Olivier Cunin traces the sequence of constructing the Bayon, complete with some extraordinary computer-generated simulations. He argues there were originally several other face-towers, including four on the corners of the outer wall. The monument was not built over a previous building but on a greenfield site. The central shrine on the upper level was constructed first, probably with the original Buddha image already inside. The inner terrace was also built early, within the reign of Jayavarman VII, scotching speculation that its Hindu bas-reliefs may be dated later. A magnetic technique shows that the stone came from seven different quarries, and allows Cunin to map a probable sequence of construction in some detail.
In another exhaustive chapter, Vittorio Roveda catalogues all the scenes carved in the inner gallery, outer gallery and the bases of the towers. He agrees with Groslier that the outer gallery is a personal biography of Jayavarman VII, but disagrees greatly on the detail. Most dramatically, Roveda suggests that the famous scene of a naval battle actually records a festival on the Tonle Sap. Why else would the scene by surrounded by homely vignettes of everyday life? In the inner gallery, he emphasizes the variety of Hindu religious imagery - classic versions of Siva and Vishnu and scenes from the Jataka, Ramayana and Mahabharata.
Claude Jacques trawls through the epigraphy, looking both backwards and forwards from Jayavarman VII's reign. The king's parentage was a mixture of Buddhist and Hindu. Jacques surmises that much of the Bayon was built after his reign.
stoke a controversy - make the argument even more intense and heated
Lokesvara - the most widely revered bodhisattva in Buddhism, also known as Avalokitesvara
Buddharaja - a Buddha-like king like Jayavarman VII
Bodhisattvas - a Buddha in previous lives prior to enlightenment
analogous - similar
exuded - projected, had come out of it
tantrism - a family of esoteric religious practices in the Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain religions, also known as Tantra
Vajrasattva - Vajrasattva is the bodhisattva Samantabhadra in Vajrayana (Tantric) Buddhism
intricate - with many small details and parts
a greenfield site - land that has not been used for any non-agricultural development
scotching - put an end to
bas-reliefs - sculpture carved so that shapes stand out from a background
quarries - a hole in the ground or a hill for obtaining rocks
exhaustive - covering everything
trawls through - searching through a large number of things to find what you need (like a fisherman)
epigraphy - the study of inscriptions, writing in stone, metal, or other materials
These new research reports are fascinating but confusing. In an invaluable introduction, Michael Vickery helps to place them in perspective. He elegantly recapitulates the story of the Bayon's discovery and its vexed interpretation. He warns the reader that the contributors to this book are far from a team. On the one hand there are "idealists" who read the great religious texts and find an idea which they believe helps to explain the monument. On the other hand there are "materialists" who swarm over the stone blocks and try to conjure some meaning out of the physical object. Vickery quietly regrets there is nobody able to use the inscriptions and the physical evidence to impose some sense and some discipline on the use of text-based ideas.
This book is a huge stride away from the old simplicities about empire, ethnicity and religious conflict - ideas which fascinated the middle and late twentieth century. The Bayon era can no longer be pictured as the root of some cataclysmic downfall. Vickery and Jacques argue convincingly against the contention that Jayavarman VII's death led to an almost immediate Shaivite reaction and abandonment of the capital soon after. They suggest that Angkor remained occupied and important for another couple of centuries. There was certainly some religious conflict, carried out with rival chisels, but we are a long way from understanding it.
This book is a marvellous and stimulating collection of new scholarship which will fascinate anyone drawn to Angkor. But, like all pioneering scholarship, it raises more questions than it answers. What lies behind the extraordinary novelty and uniqueness of the Bayon? What prompted such an eccentric design? What is the meaning of the everyday scenes in the galleries - a question even more intriguing following Roveda's reinterpretation of the naval battle scene. What is the significance of the images which Maxwell suspects were placed by nobles and villagers throughout the maze of corridors? In short, do we understand anything more about Cambodian society and mentality in the Bayon era?
Michael Vickery - famous historian of ancient Cambodia (known for being very critical and often very insulting)
recapitulates - tells story once again
vexed - very difficult to solve question
conjure - perform supernatural magic
regrets - wishes a bad situation was different
huge stride away - great move away from (a "stride" is one step taken while walking)
cataclysmic - big devastating event that changed everything
Shaivite - of the Indian god Shiva
chisels - tools for carving rock sculpture
eccentric - strange, weird, and different
intriguing - very interesting
Answer Key:
1. What kinds of scenes from ancient Khmer life do the stone carvings of the Bayon display?
a. war scenes.
b. religious images.
c. homely vignettes of everyday life.
2. What is confusing about the Bayon?
a. The eccentricity of the Bayon's design
b. The muddle of different kinds of images in its galleries
c. The maze-like nature of the site.
d. The enigmatic faces of the towers.
3. How certain are historians about the dating and meaning of the Bayon?
Not very certain at all.
4. What major historical event separated the older French school of Khmer history from the newer school of Khmer history?
A long series of wars and failed states: the Vietnam War, the Khmer Rouge-Pol Pot period, and the post-Vietnam invasion period.
5. What Cambodian King was the Bayon built by?
Jayavarman VII
6. When did Jayavarman VII live? Rule? (Requires some internet or library research)
Historians are not sure but the French historian Coedes (1963) estimated roughly between 1120 to 1219. Wikipedia says 1125 to 1215.
7. What was the French school's explanation of the Bayon?
a. Built by Jayavarman VII
b. In the late twelfth century.
c. Angkor engaged in constant conflict with the Cham
d. A Buddhist monument.
e. Large faces were images of Brahma.
f. After Jayavarman VII's death a Hindu reaction defaced or destroyed much of the Bayon's statuary.
g. These conflicts of religion and ethnicity somehow contributed to the decline of Angkor.
8. Why was Jayavarman VII so concerned about Khmer-Cham relations?
Because he spent 15 years in the Cham country in the early part of his life.
9. How was Khmer-Cham warfare related to ethnicity?
It was not related to ethnicity. Images in the galleries show mixed groups of Cham and Khmer fighting each other.
10. What brought an end to Jayavarman VIIs' dream of uniting the Khmer and the Cham?
Complex factional quarrels.
11. What place did the worship of Siva, Vishnu, the Buddha, and local deities have in Jayavarman VII's Kingdom?
The worship of all of these deities (the Buddha not exactly a deity) coexisted peacefully with some images even being displayed together. Buddhism was accepted more than it had before.
12. What is the most striking feature of the big faces on the stone towers of the Bayon?
The way the faces stare with open eyes staring straight ahead. In previous images eyes were either closed or looking down.
13. Why might the mysterious eyes of the rock faces be related to tantrism according to one of the authors?
Because Like similar images found in Nepal they may date back to the time of the Muslim invasions of India that put an end to Buddhism there. Buddhist Kings in Nepal and Cambodia may have been drawn to the power that seems to eminate from these eyes.
14. What new interpretation is made of the stone carvings of the naval battle scene? Why?
It actually records a festival on nearby Tonle Sap lake and not a naval battle at all.
15. Does the new school of Khmer history that replaces the old French school have a unified viewpoint?
No, as Vickery observes, they are "far from a team."
16. What two kinds of historians are there in the new school of Khmer history?
Some of them are "idealists" who argue that an idea from a religious text explains the monument. Others are "materialists" who try to infer some meaning from physical archeological remains.
17. What would the ideal approach to the history of the Bayon combine?
The ideal approach would "use the inscriptions and the physical evidence to impose some sense and some discipline on the use of text-based ideas."
18. Does this book explain the Bayon once and for all? Why or why not?
No, most pioneering scholarship like this raises more questions than it answers.
