11th century Cambodian temple to be renovated by India
Chim
New Delhi, November 19, 2007
An 11th century temple in Cambodia, located near its border with
Thailand and the subject of lingering tension between the two
Southeast Asian countries, will now be renovated by India.
The Preah Vihear temple has been in the limelight this year over
Cambodia's bid to get a Unesco world heritage status for it, but was
objected to by Thailand.
A senior official in the external affairs ministry said Cambodia had
approached India to take up the conservation of the Preah Vihear
temple about six months ago. "The request had been routed through our
ambassador," the official, who could not be identified as per service
rules, told IANS.
The government has already asked the Archaeological Survey of India
(ASI) to start work on a conservation plan for the temple.
It is expected that an announcement would be made to coincide with the
visit of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen to India next month.
India has been conducting temple diplomacy across Southeast Asia,
harnessing the ASI to renovate important medieval temples in the
region built by dynasties that had links with India.
An ASI team has been conserving the Ta Phrom temple in Cambodia's
world-famous Angkor Wat complex since 2004, with the Indian Institute
of Technology in Chennai conducting the structural study.
Similarly, ASI had also been asked to draw up a conservation plan for
the ruins of Wat Phou temple in Southern Laos. In Indonesia, Indian
archaeologists are helping to renovate the Hindu temples at Prambanan,
Yogyakarta, that were damaged by the 2006 Java earthquake.
Indian diplomats said the strategy is to stress the common cultural
links between India and Southeast Asia as medieval trade links with
south Indian kingdoms led to the spread of Indian religion, language
and culture in the region.
The Preah Vihear temple built during the Khmer empire is perched on a
cliff in Dangrek Mountains, just across the Thai border. In fact, the
easiest access to the temple is from the Thai side, while the
Cambodian way is a ride through a mountain dirt road.
With its grand causeway climbing up the hill, the temple is supposed
to be a stylised representation of Mount Meru, the habitat of gods
according to Hindu mythology. Among the sculptures carved on the walls
is a depiction of the Hindu mythological story of "churning of the
ocean".
In 1962, the International Court of Justice had ruled that the temple
was firmly in Cambodia. But with the country plunging into civil war
soon after, the temple witnessed pitched battles between the Khmer
rouge and the Cambodian army, with the former using it as a military
camp.
Since 1998, the temple has remained open, with the only access being
from Thailand. Six years later, the temple's importance in bilateral
relations again came to the fore when a section of Cambodian media
quoted a Thai professor as saying that Preah Vihear temple should be
handed over to Thailand as compensation for the 2003 anti-Thai riots.
The latest difference of opinion over Preah Vihear between Thailand
and Cambodia took place in June 2007, when the former objected to
Cambodia's application before Unesco to grant the temple a world
heritage site status. Unesco rejected the application this year but
asked Cambodia to reapply in 2008 with a joint management plan with
Thailand. In fact, the Thai embassy even warned its citizens in
Cambodia to remain on alert against riots, which fortunately did not
take place.
Even now, while a majority of the visitors come from Thailand to the
temple, they are greeted by a large Cambodian flag atop the temple and
a signboard, "I have pride to be born as a Khmer".