The present shape of Kuti Rishi Ban Khok Muang dates to the beginning of the reign of Jayavarman VII (late 13th century). Fine Arts Department suggests that the temple or 'hospital'-shrine is build atop an older site
The suggestion by Fine Arts department is based on the presence of artefacts predating Jayavarman and Bayon style. The are decorating the central tower and the eastern wall.
Kuti Rishi Ban Khok Muang is a typical Jayavarman VII 'hospital' consisting of a central sanctuary facing east and with only one entrance, gopura. The 'library' in the SE-corner of the enclosure faces west. The central tower and the 'library' are surrounded by a wall with an eastern cruciform shaped entrance, gopura, towards east. The whole construction is made of laterite on a laterite base with only the door- and window-frames made of sandstone with no ornamentations. The gopura hosts a square sandstone pedestal with one slot. The central sanctuary hosts a 3-slotted-pedestal, the latter most probably a Bayon style pedestal with a slot for each Mahayana Buddhist deity. Various religious figures made of light brown sandstone are placed on the roofing of the central tower and on the eastern wall. The guardians are of similar style (Baphoun) to those at Kuti Rishi Nong Boa Lai, another nearby 'hospital'. The site has been renovated and many of the stones seem placed by random. Some of the stones now forming the doorframe in the eastern gopura seem to have had another use - e.g. the lintel. The door-ways are not aligned, which makes observation of solar alignment difficult. Right west of the surrounding wall we find the usual pile of stones - like left-overs from an un-finished jigsaw puzzle.
Like at most
other Jayavarman VII hospitals there is a small reservoir (sra nam)
rioght outside the NE-corner of the compound (not shown on the
GPS-based maps).
General information about arogaya-salas – 'hospitals'.
''The inscription of Ta Prohm says there were 102 'hospitals' in the various provinces of the country. They were dedicated to Bhaishajyaguru, god of healing''. (Briggs, p. 233) Prasat Ta Prohm is located next to Angkor Wat in present day Cambodia, and was build in the beginning of the reign of King Jayavarman VII (1181 – ca. 1218 A.D.), who was a fervent Mahayana Buddhist. Numerous similar stone inscriptions, written in ancient Khmer and Sanskrit, have been found throughout the ancient Khmer Empire and as the text is nearly identical, these inscriptions are known as the 'Hospital Inscriptions'. They have been discovered at various 'hospitals', arogaya-salas: 17 in Cambodia and 4 in Thailand (Ta Muan Tot, Prasat, Dan Pra Kham, and Phimai). The northernmost is found at Sayfong, just below Vientiane in Laos P.D.R.
The ''Hospital Inscriptions'': ''The foundation steles give us interesting information on the organization of these establishments, which were placed under the protection of the healer Buddha, Bhaishajyaguru Vaiduryaprabha, "the master of remedies who has the brilliance of beryl," who is still one of the most popular Buddhas today in China and Tibet'' (Coedes, page 176) ''These inscriptions generally begin with an invocation to the Buddha and two bodhisattvas who have for special attribution the healing of the sick - Suryavairocana and Candravairocana - who, Finot says, "hold an important place in the Buddhism of China, Tibet and Japan." Then follows a eulogy of the king, containing an allusion to the disasters which had overcome Kambujadesa before his coming to the throne and the improved conditions under his reign. The spirit of the inscription is expressed in stanza 13: "He suffered from the maladies of his subjects more than from his own; for it is the public grief which makes the grief of kings, and not their own grief." Then comes a regulation of the personnel and furnishings of the hospital. The personnel numbered 98, in addition to two sacrificers and one astronomer, bringing the total to 101. Conformably to the spirit of Buddhism, the hospital was open to the four castes. The inhabitant of the vicinity of the hospital were granted unusual privileges, which shows that they must have been in some way connected with the care of the hospital or its inmates. They were not liable to imposts or corvees''. The only crime for which they were punishable was the infliction of suffering on living creatures'' (Briggs, p. 233). These inscriptions would begin by paying homage to the Lord Buddha and respect to Bhaishajyaguru. The mere invocation of the latter's name would protect all from illnesses. Respect is also paid to the bodhisattvas Suryavairocana and Chandravairocana, who have the power of healing the sick. The name of the king Jayavarman VII is then invoked, describing his policy of having healthcare centres built to wipe out the diseases inflicting on his people, because ''He suffered from the maladies of his subjects more than from his own, for it is the public grief which makes the grief of kings, and not their own grief''. (Prasat Phanom Rung Information Centre – 2004). The weapon used to battle diseases is bhaishajya (medical remedies). Images representing Bhaishajyaguru, Suryavairocana and Chandravairocana, were built and dedicated to each healthcare centre. The king appointed officials to the different section of these centres, such as those looking after the healthcare areas, doctors, pharmacists, caterers, those looking after religious shrines, and those responsible for preparing the herbal medicines. The number of officials differed according to the sizes of the healthcare centres. At the end of the inscriptions there would be lists of things donated to the centres. (Prasat Phanom Rung Information Centre – 2004).
On the names: ''Avalokitesvara: พระโพธิสัตว์อวโลกิเตศวร'' (Phra Phothisatawa Lokitesvara). ''Bhaishajyaguru or the 'God of Healing' is in Chinese called Yao che lieou li kouang jou lai, in Sanskrit พระไภษัชยคุรุไวฑูรยประภาสุคต (Bhaishajyaguru Vaiduryaprabhasukhota)'' (Rungroch, p. 24) - (My transcriptions in parenthesis). Suryavairocana: Surya means Sun Chandravairocana: Chandra means Moon.
The construction: 'Many small laterite constructions in Isan, colloquially called Kuti Rishis ('hermit's dwellings'), were actually either arogaya-salas ('hospitals' / 'nursing houses') or dharma-sala ('rest-houses'). One must assume that the laterite arogaya-salas and dharma-salas actually were religious shrines connected to the 'hospitals' and 'rest-houses', these being made of wood and therefore now decayed. On the compound there probably were gardens of medical herbs.' 'The hospital shrines of Jayavarman VII normally consists of a medium sized central sanctuary facing east. There would be a ''library'' (bannalai) – facing west – in the south-eastern part of the compound, which was surrounded by a rectangular wall with an entrance porch (gopura) to the east. In Isan the construction material is laterite with door- and window-frames in sandstone. There would normally be a square pond lined with laterite located near the north-eastern corner of the compound. Some 'hospitals', like Kuti Rishi Ban Khok Muang, also had a large reservoir (barai) to the east.' 'The vestibule of the main temple probably housed the images of worship in accordance with the practices of Mahayana Buddhism, comprising the image of the Buddha seated on the naga, which represented the Adi Buddha, as the principal image, with the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara on the right and the Prajnaparamita on the left. The pedestals for sculptures always have three slots prepared for placing these three images. The 'library' was probably for keeping manuscripts or religious texts and could have also housed the images of Bhaishajyaguru, Suryavairocana and Chandravairocana, as mentioned in the inscriptions. In addition, the 'libraries' of the 'Hermit's Cells' were probably also used to store medical herbs.'
Rungroch Phiromanukul,
Bangkok 2004.
Angkor Thom, Bayon, Ta Prohm, Preah Kahn (1191), Jayatataka baray, Neak Pean, Ta Som, Ta Nei, Banteay Chmar, Prasat Chrung, Elephant Terrace, Ta Prohm Kel, Hospital Chapel, Krol Kö, Srah Srang, Royal Palace, The constructions of Jayavarman VII belongs according to Briggs to four periods: 1. Bantay Kdei, Ta Prohm (1186), Prah Khan (1191) 2. Enclosure and Giant’s Causeway added to Preah Khan, the enclosure added to Bantay Kdei, Neak Pean, Ta Som, and the enclosure, gates and Giant’s Causeway of Angkor Thom. 3. Bayon, and chapels, annexes and galleries added to the previous monuments. 4. Terraces of the Elephant and of the Leaper King, bas-reliefs added to the great basin of the Royal Palace, later bas-reliefs of the Bayon.
Inscriptions of Jayavarman VII: The earliest inscription mentioned by Coedès is dated to 1186 A.D. (Ta Prohm) – the last to 1213 A.D. Inscriptions du Cambodge, George Coedès, Hanoi, 1937.
References: The Indianized States of Southeast Asia, George Coedès, University of Hawaii, Honolulu. Inscription du cambodge, 8 vol. 1937-66, George Coedès The Ancient Khmer Empire, Briggs, Philadelphia, 1951. Arokhayasala: Khwamru thoaby lae Khosangket buangton, Rungroch Phiromanukul, Bangkok 2004. (อโรคยศาล : ความรู้ทั่วไปและข้อสังเกตเบื้องต้น รุ่งโรจน์ ภิรมย์อนุกูล. คณะศิลปศาสตร์และวิทยาศาสตร์ มหาวิทยาลัยธุรกิจบัณฑิตย์) 1. Arthur Anthony Macdonell: A PRACTICAL SANSKRIT DICTIONARY, Digital Dictionaries of South Asia
18 June 2007 © Asger Mollerup
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
