Pancaratra and Angkor Wat temple
and/or www.mantra.com/jai
Pancaratra and Angkor Wat temple
http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.com/2011/08/pancaratra-and-angkor-wat-temple.html
Monday, August 29, 2011
Pancaratra and Angkor Wat temple
Vishnu with four hands, two hands carrying shankh and chakr. Part of
NW corner pavilion which also depicts Krshn and Gopis.
Vishnu on the shoulders of Garud, NW corner pavilion (together with
narrative of Krishna bringing back Mount Maniparvat)
This monograph seeks to establish that Angkor Wat temple was a temple
in the Pancaratra tradition, a temple for Vishnu -- Vrah Vishnulok
(Sacred Abode of Vishnu), presiding deity Vishnu, to whom the temple
complex is dedicated. In the 13th century the Khmers embraced
Buddhism and King Jayavarman VII absorbed Bauddham Wat into Vrah
Vishnuloka. That is why these temples are inclusive of Hindu dharm
and Bauddha dhamma traditions of worship.
King Jayavarman VII, National Museum, Phnom Penh, twelfth century. A
number of similar statues have been found, and are also presumed to
be his likeness. There is no intimation, in these statues, that the
King was venerated or worshipped in a temple. In the Pancaratra
tradition of temple construction and consecration of murti-s,
artistic embellishments are invariably found in all murti-s to
connote their sacredness (such as a mukuta or ear or neck ornaments).
Such embellishments are absent in the statues of King Jayavarman VII,
thus belying the hypotheses of some scholars who claim that some
temples were 'funerary temples'.
Soldiers descend from Mount S'ivapada. Inscription K.268 was
translated by E. Aymonier (1904) and George Coedes (1911).
Represented twice are the king, two of his ministers and the
rajahotar. Total 19 dignitaries are shown: Vrah kmraten an - VKA (His
Lordship) are six; kamraten an - KA (Lord) are two and Anak sanjak -
AS(protectors of the king) are eleven. The inscription records 'tnvay
kamraten an pandita' ('the presents from the honorable pandits');
'samtac vrah pada kamraten an paravishnuloka na stt nau vnam
S'ivapada pi pancuh vala' ('His Majesty Paramavishnuloka, at the
moment when he is on Mt. S'ivapada to make the army descend'); VKA's
are: 'Shri Virasinhavarman', 'Shri Jayendravarman Ldau'; 'Shri
Virendradhipativarman Chok Vakula'; 'Shri Virayudhavarman'; 'Shri
Mahipatindravaman Canlattai'; 'Shri Ranaviravarman'; 'Shri
Rajasinhavarman'; 'Narapatindravarman'; 'Shuradhiparivarman'; KA's
are: 'Dhananjaya', 'Shri Varddha'; AS's are: Kancas Pryak, Mat Gnan
ti hau; Vidyashrama ti hau; Virajaya, Aso Vnya Chlan to hau. Another
message of the inscription is: 'Vrah pada kamraten Paramavishnuloka'
('The holy feet of his Grace Paramavishnuloka'. King Suryavarman II
stands on the royal elephant turning his head back, accompanied by 15
parasols, five fans, six flywhisks, four banners and a standard with
a statuette of Vishnu on the shoulder of Garud.
A carved pedestal supports a linga. Tra Kieu. Ht. 43 cm. (Courtesy
Paisarn Priemmattawat). Tr Kieu was known as Simhapura to the Chams.
Glover (Glover, I.C., 1997, The excavations of J.Y. Claeys at Tra
Kieu, Central Vietnam, 1927-28 from the unpublished archives of the
EFEO, Parts and records in possession of the Claeys family, JSS 85:
173-86) identified the settlement to the 5th and 6th centuries, with
initial occupation in the last two or three centuries BCE. A fragment
of pottery from the lowest layer has been identified as rouletted
ware closely paralleling Arikamedu finds in India. This suggests
maritime exchange was in place during the late first millennium BCE.
(cf. Charles Higham, Early cultures of Mainland Southeast Asia,
Chicago, Art Media Resources Ltd., p. 273)
Paramavishnuloka is a reference to the memory of the ancestor,
Suryavarman II 'he who has reached the realm of Vishnu'. All
Suryavarman's ministers and associates are united on Mount S'ivapada.
Rajahotar's presence denotes a s'raddha observance (remembering the
ancestors). Vrah Vlen 'sacred fire' is carried in an ark on a type of
palanquin, preceded by an orchestra.
From S'ivapada of Chams to Vishnuloka of Suryavarman II is a
remarkable syncretism of the traditions which have been documented in
Indian traditions documented in Pancaratra samhitas (e.g. Sattvata
and Ahirbudhnya Samhitas), Ramayana and Mahabharata -- and adapted in
Angkor Wat and associated sites of the Cham-Kampuchean-Thai peoples
who orgnized themselves into a state, Rajyam governed by dharm-
dhamma Hindu-Bauddham continuum.
Royal sacred power derives from adherance to dharm-dhamma, the
eternal, cosmic, universal law. The sacred temples of Angkor are a
testament to the sacred power of dharm-dhamma. Ancestors are deified
and merit is earned by constructing temples, constructing reservoirs
and performing dharmic acts.
From Vishnuloka to S'ivapada, the function of the temple is to depict
the steps for final liberation and attainment of Vrah Vishnuloka.
This panel is the closest one gets to a s'raddha, an event venerating
the ancestors with specific reference to royal associates in King
Suryavarman II's reign.
It will be an incomplete representation of the message of the temple
to view it as a 'funerary temple' for some kings of ancient Cambodia
(cf. George Coedes, 1963,Angkor, an introduction, London, OUP, p.
38). Nor is it valid to record that the parikrama (circumambulation)
of the temple praakaara has to be done counter-clockwise because in
the Indian historical tradition, Ramayana chronologically precedes
Mahabharata.
Banteay Srei lintel, 10th century. Valin and Sugriva of Ramayana
Banteay Srei lintel, tenth century. Ravana shakes Moutn Kailasa. Like
Meru, it is shown as a temple-mountain, a pyramid with several
layers. S'iva and Parvati are enthroned on top. Below is a row of
ascetics, people in masks and animals fleeing in fear.
Angkor Thom and Angkor Wat depictions of Samudra manthanam 92 asuras,
88 devas pulling the snake Vasuki.
Both the epics do recount the narrative of Samudra manthanam
(churning of the ocean).
The divinity common to both the epics is Hanuman. The parikrama is
done as in any Mandiram (temple) clockwise - starting with the Battle
of Lanka narrative from Ramayana. Yes, there are narrative panels of
Raja Suryarman's army on the march close to the Kurukshetra war
narrative panel. This interpolation clearly demonstrates that there
is no counter-clockwise parikrama prescribed for the worship in the
temple of Angkor Wat.
That the main entrance to the temple is from the West is not enough
justification to indulge in flights of imagination that the temple
has been constructed as a mausoleum for Kings and their ancestors.
Yes, there is veneration of ancestors in both Hindu dharm-Bauddha
dhamma traditions. The entire galaxy of divinities are deva-s who are
pitr-s (ancestors). Rajadharma was the dominant theme and the Rajas
were required to protect and promote dharm handed down from
generation to generation. Dharma-dhamma is inviolate, eternal.
(After Fig. 21 in Vittorio Roveda opcit.: Dharma and Citragupta)
Dharma is personified in the Sattvata and Ahirbudhnya Samhitas as one
of the 39 Vyuhas (divine emanations). In a remarkable panel as part
of the narratives describing svarga and naraka (heaven and hell),
Dharma pronounces and Citragupta records the judgement on one's
merits related to life-performance. Aymonier (1904,Le Cambodge,
Leroux, Paris, III: 265) and Coedes (1911, Les bas-reliefs d'Angkor-
Vat, Bulletin de la Commission Archeologique de l'Indochine, Paris:
204) have provided a reading of the inscriptions explaining the
nomenclature of 32 naraka (hells) starting from Avici to Raurava (See
below).
Kriminikaya naraka (After Fig. 20, Vittorio Roveda opcit.)
Bas relief panels showing 37 svargga (Top register) and 32 naraka
(Bottom register)
Names of 32 naraka detailed in 36 inscriptions (also listed in
Sukhathai dynasty King Luthai's Trai Phum Phra Ruang, or the Three
Worlds of King Ruangwhich describes cosmology of Bauddham, classifies
people by their karmic merit and narrates traditions of Thai
cakravartin (universal ruler)of the first realm; the next realm is
Caturmaharajika (rulers of four directions); the third is Tavatimsa,
realm of 33 divinities ruled by Indra. Emulating Indra, cakravartin
becomes Indra. King Luthai became Mahathammaracha (Mahadharmaraja
1346-1374 CE) due to the righteous rule under dharm and Sukhothai
with a Buddha stupa, became Indra's city. cf. Grace Morley, Arputha
Rani Sengupta, 2005, God & King, the devaraja cult in south Asian art
and architecture, Daya Books; M. Roeske, 1914, L'enfer cambodgien
d'après le Trai Phum 'les Trois Mondes',Journal Asiatique, novembre-
décembre 1914, t. IV, série XI : 587-606):
Avici, Kriminikaya, Vaitarani nadi, Kutsthalmali, Yogmaparvata,
Nirucchvasa, Ucchvasa, Dravattrapu, Taptalakshamaya, Asthibhanga,
Krakaccheda, Puyapurnahrada, Asrikpurnahrada, Medhoharada,
Tikshnyastunda, Angaricaraya, Amvarisa, Kumbhipaka, Talavrksavana,
Kshuradharaprvata, Santapana (-), Sucimukha, Kalasutra, Mahapadma,
Padma, Sanjivana, (Inscripitons 31 and 32
unreadable),Shita,Sandratamah,Maharaurava, Raurava.
In 921 CE King Jayavarman IV transferred Indresvara, S'iva in Phnom
Bakheng to Koh Ker, the short-lived capital. At the summit of the
central pyramid,was the kamrateng jagat ta rajya 'lord of the
universe who is royalty'.
That this was no intimation of the King as God or that there was no
intent to built up any 'cult' is evident from the following epigraphs
of King Yasovarman and King Rajendravarman.
In the final lines of an inscription, he asks his successors to
maintain Lolei where the statues of his parents were erected: 'Guard
this dharm which for me is like a bridge.' In an inscription at Pr
Rup, King Rajendravarman proclaims: 'They claim correctly that
supplication is the death of kings, as it has for a goal the
fulfilment of their wishes. But what I proffer, out of a passion for
dharm, and having only the well-being of this dharm in mind, is
that this supplication is for the immortality one should try to
achieve.' (loc.cit. Coedes, opcit., p. 27). In these inscriptions,
dharm refers to 'sacred establishment', 'eternal law', 'religious
practice' and also 'rajadharma' (or royal responsibility to protect
dharm) - a responsibility which has to be perpetuated. The 'bridge'
referred to by King Yasovarmaqn is a continuum which links the
ancestors remembered in statues and the descendants who have to carry
on this sacred responsibility of protecting dharm.
Two brothers, Po Khun Bangklanghao and Po Khun Phameung (Po Khun was
a Siamese title of high nobility) took Sukhothai from Mon hands in
1239. Bangklanghao ruled Sukhothai as Sri Inthraditaya – and began
the Phra Ruang Dynasty - he expanded his primordial kingdom to the
bordering cities. At the end of his reign in 1257, the Sukhothai
kingdom covered the entire Upper Chao Phraya valley.
(After Fig. 17 Fork in the road which leads to either the Heavens or
the Hells in: Vittorio Roveda, 2008, Sacred Angkor - the carved
reliefs of Angkor Wat, River Books, Weatherhill, Inc., CT, USA))One
inscription on this bas relief engraved between parasols of figures
ascending the 'middle path' (that is, the middle register)reads:
'These, the two higher (ways), are the route to the heavens
(svargga).
The panel includes a narrrative portraying divinity (wearing conical
caps) carried on palanquins on the high path to Svargga. (After Fig.
18, Vittorio Roveda opcit.)
In the Bhagavata Purana tradition describing the process of creation,
both Rama and Krshn are recognized as avatara-s. Avatara is a sacred
place, a tirtha. It is the descent of divinity upon earth to enable
people to cross the continuum of life-and-death, to attain mokSa,
reach svarga, Vrah Vishnuloka.) ----- [p= 99,1] [L=17339] m. ( Pa1n2.
3-3 , 120) descent (especially of a deity from heaven) , appearance
of any deity upon earth (but more particularly the incarnations of
------ in ten principal forms , viz. the fish tortoise , boar , man
lion , dwarf , the two ---s , ----- , ----- , and ----- MBh. xii ,
12941 seqq.) In Pancaratra tradition related to temple construction
and worship, there are 39 Vyuha (including the ten Avatara), detailed
in this monograph.
The central theme of Angkor Wat mandiram is the Samudra manthanam
(Churning of the Ocean) which is a narrative of creation cosmology in
the Hindu dharm-Bauddha dhamma traditions.
Read on...
http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.com/2011/08/pancaratra-and-angkor-wat-temple.html
S. Kalyanaraman
https://sites.google.com/site/indianoceancommunity1/
http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.com
http://tinyurl.com/3w6ojj6 (Indus Script Cipher)
http://tinyurl.com/4xguuoh (Rastram: Flipkart in India)
End of forwarded message from S. Kalyanaraman
Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti
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Forwarded post from S. K.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
I happened to visit China on a conducted tour from HongKong sometime
back. We were taken to a temple on the top of a hill near Shen Zen
and there were rock carved idols, statues and other artifacts similar
to the South Indian temples there, with lighting of oil lamps and
plenty of huge- foot or two long Agarbathi-s carried as sticks and
placed in front of the deity.
What surprised me was the two sculpted dragons- Vyazhi-s as well see
them in many South Indian temples with Lion head and trunk of
elephant there. One pair of such Vyazhi-s had a ball of rock rolling
within the half open mouth of the Vyazhi, which every tourist is
asked to roll by hand inside its mouth cavity, but cannot be taken
out, a marvel of rock sculpture of ancient times.
Similar sculpted vyazhi-s are present in Madurai Meenakshi Temple at
the inner entrance to the temple, a stone ball sculpted within the
mouth of the Vyazhi and rolling within but cannot be taken out.
I also found a musical pillar as we find in Meenakshi Temple and many
others in South, sculpted out of a single rock with pillars of
different lengths giving the Sapta swara-s in 12 minitones as in any
other musical instrument, and with a small stone we could play the
music on this pillar, like the Jalataranga!!
Could you find any correlation how China had temples and rock
sculptures similar to Tamilnadu, esp. Madurai in ancient times?
End of forwarded post from S. K.