The Khmer civilization, today embodied by the
temples and ruins of Angkor, one of mankind's
most astonishing and enduring architectural
achievements, flourished from 802-1431 A.D.
From the great citadel of Angkor, the kings of
the Khmer empire ruled over a vast domain that
reached from what is now southern Vietnam to
Yunan, China and from Vietnam westward to the
Bay of Bengal. The original city was built around
the Phnom Bakeng, a temple on a hill
symbolizing the mountain that stands in the
center of the world according to Hindu
cosmology. Successive kings enlarged the city,
building other temples devoted to various Hindu
deities and large reservoirs used for irrigation,
which also symbolized the ocean surrounding
the holy central mountain.
Architecture reached its peak during the Angkor
Wat style, certainly best revealed in the grand
Visnuite temple after which this style is named.
However, during this period of architectural
innovation, sculpture instead aesthetically
returned back to an earlier era, specifically the
first half of the 10th century. The sculptural
archaism of this period may have been
influenced by the politics. Thus, the renewed
grandeur of Angkor Wat sculpture reflected the
power of the king. It is also possible that
sculptors looked longingly back at the motifs
and styles of previous periods that had fallen
into disuse. This sculpture of the Buddha, seated
in the Vajraparyanka lotus posture, with
his hands resting in the Dhyana mudra,
the mudra of meditiation, dates from the Angkor
Wat period of Khmer art. Here, the Buddha wears
heavy ornaments that weigh down his ears,
indicative of his aristocratic past. The large
conical bump on top of his head, known as an
ushnisa, symbolizes his overwhelming
wisdom. More than a gorgeous work of art, this
sculpture is a memorial to perhaps the most
flourishing creative period in the great history of
Angkor.
- (FZ.413)
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