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Above: The barays (tanks) east of Vat Phou.
Vat Phou (Wat Phu) is an ancient Khmer Hindu
temple located in Champasak Province, southern Laos. The name is Lao and means 'The
Temple on The Mountain'. Vat Phou is among the oldest Hindu temples in SE-Asia
and has a unique location on the lower part of the Phou Kao Mountain over-looking the
huge water reservoirs (barays) in front and a
little further east the ancient city, the legendary Shestrapura, which dates
back to the 5th century AD.
Vat Phou is now a World Heritage site, but not as a
single temple. The UNESCO concept, as described in
Champasak Heritage Management Plan,
integrates Vat Phou and several other nearby temples, the Tham Lek Cave, the
Khan Mak Huk lingas in the Mekong River, the two
ancient cities, Shestrapura and Lingapura, the holy mountain Phou Kao -
with
preservation of the area and sustainable tourism development.
The other
nearby temples are Hong Nang Sida, Hong Thao Tao, Tomo (Oumong), and Oumong Nua.
This page will describe the various religious sites,
the ancient cities, and the ancient road /route to Kor Ker and Angkor. Ban
Prasat
, some 20 km south of Vat Phou, will be described in relation to its huge
eastern baray and the ancient road, which passes the site.
A visit in February 2006 inspired to compose
a 2007-solar-tour for a small group of tourists. The concept is to
connect solar events at Vat Phou with similar events at other temples in
Thailand and Cambodia: ''Two Famous Temples in Two Countries - One Astronomical
concept''
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Above: Vat Phou and
two of its barays (reservoirs) are clearly visible. The dikes of the Ancient
City can been seen next to the Mekong. Stippled lines in the river mark a
proposed original extension of the capital.. |
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”A
Chinese 6th century text mentions ”near the capital there is a mountain called
Ling-chia-po-p’o (Lingaparvata), on top of which there is a temple which is
always guarded by a thousand soldiers. It is consecrated to a spirit named
P’o-to-li, to which human sacrifice is made. Each year, the king goes into this
temple and himself offers a human sacrifice during the night”.
(Michael Freeman:
A guide to Khmer Temples in Thailand and Laos, p. 200)
The Barays and the processional causeway
Above:
A GPS-generated map focussing on the orientations of the barays and of the
processional causeway at Vat Phou.
The 'Northern Palace'
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Southern facade of the Northern Palace. Above
right: The inner court (basin?) towards Phou Kao,
which is not observable from the temple area.
Right: Shiva and Uma on
Nandin (eastern pediment).
Below: Details from the Northern Palace. |
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The central Sanctuary
”Some
inscriptions belonging to the 5th and 6th
century do mention a sanctuary built on the hill, contemporary with the
foundation of the city, but this building has gone and is replaced with
the building we see today. This was built during the first part of the 9th
century, with some additions and reconstructions in the 12th
and 13th centuries”.
(Project de Recherches en Archeologie Lao – Research Project in Lao
Archaeology).
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Above:
Kala. 1st room - central lintel.
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Above:
Kala. Central hall, central Lintel.
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Above: Siva
as supreme ascetic.
Eastern pediment above southern door.
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Above: The
abduction of Sida (Ramayana).
Eastern pediment above western door.
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Above:
Indra on 3-headed Airavata.
1st room - southern lintel
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Above:
Indra on 3-headed Airavata.
1st room - central lintel.
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Above:
Apsara. Eastern mandapa on the northern wall.
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Above:
Indra carrying his Vajra (thunderbolt). Detail from above.
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Above:
Krishna defeating Kalya.
Eastern lintel over the southern door.
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Above:
Krishna killing Hansa.
Southern lintel. Inner southern door.
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Above:
Apsara. Eastern mandapa on the southern wall. |
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Above:
Guardian. Eastern mandapa, northern door. |
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North of the Central Sanctuary
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Right: North of
and next to the central sanctuary
a depiction of the Hindu trinity is carved in
the rock. |
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Further north ”Carved blocks (elephant,
crocodile, staircase framed with two snakes) dating from after the 13th century)” …
”The remains of
sandstone meditation cells (monolithic base, walls, and ceiling), maybe
dating to the 7th century, are also seen here”.
(Project de Recherches en Archeologie Lao – Research Project in Lao
Archaeology)
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| Above: The 'crocodile stone'. |
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Above: Elephant and 'food-print' of a deity. |
Artefacts around the Central Sanctuary
Lingapura and the ancient route(s) towards
Koh Ker and Angkor in Cambodia.
Lingapura (the city of the lingas) is located right south of Vat Phou and is
considerably smaller than Shrestrapura.
It dates to the 12th century and the size reflects its later provincial status.
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Above: GPS-generated map of Prasat
Hong Nang Sida and the ancient city Lingapura right south of Vat Phou. |
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The baray
associated with Prasat Nang Sida measures app. 300 by 600 m. The
reservoir contains no water, but the remnants of the ancient dikes are
still traceable on aerial photos and in field as well.
The eastern baray at Prasat Nang Sida is app. double as
big as the eastern baray of Vat Phou to the north (app. 150 by 600 m).
The two shares the same orientation.
The yellow square and rectangle on the map above
measures app. 300 by 300 m and 300 by 600 and represent an interim
proposal to a 1 by 5 temple-baray grid - it was not observed on neither
aerial photos nor in the field except for some
findings, which can have other interpretations. A similar
1 by 5 temple-baray grid
seem to have been used on other contemporary sites in NE-Thailand as
well.
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Above: Satellite photo of
the area south of Vat Phou |
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Above and left: Hathena Satellite image showing the ancient route
('Royal Road') from Angkor to Vat Phou. The baray visible on both images shows Prasat
Ban That some 20 km south of Vat Phou and probably the first 'stop-over' on
the journey. A grid based on the proportions of the baray has been applied
by the author. The area in the NW-corner of the grid will later be checked
on ground for possible remains of ancient dikes and motes.
The size of the baray is app. 190
by
570 m (ratio 1:3). The experimental grid is 190 by 190 m. |
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Literature I:
Champasak Heritage Management Plan, 1999,
p.54.
UNESCO
Bangkok
''The oldest known written evidence for Lingaparvata is found in the
Devanika inscription (or Stele of Vat Louang Kao, K 365), dated to the
second half of the 5th century AD. According to a Chinese source (History
of Sui), dated AD 589, a temple dedicated to Shiva Bhadresvara was built
on the top of the mountain. The cult of Lingaparvata is confirmed by other
inscriptions found in the Vat Phou area as well as in Cambodia, dated from
the 7th to 12th centuries AD.''
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| Literature II:
The Ancient Khmer Empire
by Lawrence Palmer Briggs
Bhadresvara - an aspect of Shiva and the deity of Vat Phou.
Tribhuvanesvara and Bhadresvara
''Another consequence of the sojourn at Chok Gargyar [Koh
Ker] seems to have been the
identification of the devaraja with the Tribhuvanesvara, god of that
region, and its subsequent merger with Bhadresvara, the god of the old
sanctuary of Vat Phu and the tutelary deity of the Cambodian and Cham
nations,' and the merger of the estates of those deities in a movement
which seems ultimately to have imposed on Cambodia a landed theocracy by
the absorption of the cultivable lands and much of the working population
by the gods.
The so-called devaraja of Yasovarman I seems to have been his personal
linga, Yasodharesvara - inseparable in life or death from his corporeal
being. Thus his Vnam Kantal, where it was deposited, became his Central
Temple during his life and his funerary temple after his death. But, after
the sojourn at Chok Gargyar, Rajendravarman I could consecrate his
Rajendresvara in his Vnam Kantal at Phimeanakas and could consecrate
another Rajendresvara at the Mebon and also a Rajendrabhadresvara at Pre
Rup.
From the inscriptions, it seems that, in 921, Jayavarman IV took a new
purohita - Isanamurti - with him to Chok Gargyar and left the old
purohita - Kumarasvami - with Harshavarman I. No doubt the old Sivalinga
- Harshesvara - remained with its king and its purohita at
Yasodharapura, probably at Baksei Chamkrong. Isanamurti consecrated a new
Sivalinga - Jayesvara - for Jayavarman IV at Prasat Thom. The tutelary deity of
that region seems to have been Tribhuvanesvara, another manifestation of
Siva.
Jayavarman IV consecrated his temple, to this god; i.e., gave his
Sivalinga the name Tribhuvanesvara, said to be equivalent to the term
kamraten jagat ta rajya, or more properly, kamraten jagat to rajya, "god of
the royalty", which term had probably not before been used in
the history of the Kambuja. If the term devaraja had been applied to the
king's Sivalinga before this time, it probably had a more personal
meaning. In the face of a personal and older royal linga, Jayavarman IV
seems to have tried to give his new royal linga a national rather than a
personal significance.
The next step was the merger of this new royal linga with
Bhadresvara, who was supposed to be the tutelary deity of the early
Kambuja - probably borrowed from the Chams - but who, up to that date had
not appeared to be much in honor outside of the cradle of the Kambuja -
the region around Vat Phu. The merger of these two concepts was seen in
the establishment of the linga Rajendrabhadresvara at Pre Rup. This merger
of the sanctuaries and their foundations, as will be seen, was taking
place in the reign of Jayavarman V.
Isvarapura and Lingapura
The stele inscription of Banteay Srei, dated 968, and discovered in 1936, is identical, except for a few details, with two other inscriptions
discovered some time ago at little sanctuaries, about ten kilometers apart
- Sek Ta Tuy and Prasat Trapang Khyang (wrongly called Trapang Cong). All
were founded by the guru Yajnavaraha. All these sanctuaries were
dedicated to the linga Tribhuyanamahesvara, which is the name of the god
of Lingapura (Chok Gargyar), and all were made misrabhoga (co-participant)
of certain revenues with the god Bhadresvara.
The Khmer part of the inscription of Banteay Srei, of the same date, is a
royal ordinance of Jayavarman V, prescribing the union of the foundations
of Vajnavaraha in favor of the god Tribhuyanamahesvara to the Bhadresvara
of Lingapura and formulating certain prescriptions which reproduce partly
those of the Sanskrit text.
The Foundations of Divakara and
Indralaksmi
Indralakshmi, daughter of Rajendravarman II and younger sister of
Jayavarman V, married a Brahman bhatta (doctor) from Northern India, named
Divakara, or Divasakara, sometimes qualified as deva or dvijendra. They
made many foundations. Divakara established a triad of gods, consecrated
to Bhadresvara, in a region called Madhuvana, "Forest of Honey," probably at Prasat Komphus, where the
inscription was found, about twenty-five kilometers west of Chok Gargyar.
The temple was completed in 972.''
(pgs 137 and 138,
The Ancient Khmer Empire
by Lawrence Palmer Briggs.)
The Khmer part of the Banteay Srey K 842 inscription calls the in 967 AD
installed linga at Banteay Srey for Tribhuyanamahesvara and mentions the union of
the foundation of this god with those of Bhadresvara of Lingapura.
Vat Phou
''This temple, on the slope of Phu Bassac, about eight kilometers south of
the modern city of Bassac, was located in the cradle of the Kambuja. The
ancient capital of Chenla-Sreshthapura, and probably also the original
Bhavapura, was in that region. In very early time a temple - perhaps the
first temple erected by the Kambuja - was dedicated here to Bhadresvara, the
tutelary deity of the early Chams and the early Kambuja. In the seventh
century Jayavarman I made a stele inscription at this sanctuary, which he
called Lingaparvata, "linga of the mountain." This region was hallowed
ground to the Kambuja. An inscription of A.D. 835 speaks of Sreshthapura
as a Holy City.''
(Page
163,
The Ancient Khmer Empire
by Lawrence Palmer Briggs.)
Inscriptions of Suryavarman I,
1012-1049
''A Khmer inscription of 1038 ... speaks of Lingapura,
of Avadhapura, "the indestructible city," of Bhadresvara, and of
Sikharesvara, "god of the peak." In a Sanskrit inscription of 1041,
Suryavarman asked the people to serve the god Sikharesvara. Aymonier
thinks the inscription giving the genealogy of Sivasakti (which Bergaigne
and Barth thought was of the reign of Yasovarman was dated 1046 or 1047).
A pillar inscription of the temple of Sek Ta Tuy, in Khmer, dated 1039,
very much damaged, refers to a donation to a god called vulgarly
Kamrateng jagat vnam brahmana, "god of the mountain of the brahmans,"
which is apparently Tribhuvanamahesvara.''
(Page
166,
The Ancient Khmer Empire
by Lawrence Palmer Briggs)
Inscriptions of Harshavarman III
''The inscription of Samrong, just north of the northeast corner of Angkor
Thom, says that in the last year of Harshavarman III's reign, purchases of
land and foundations were made in that vicinity, under the direction of
the royal pandit Yogisvarapandita and that the king granted lands and redevances, mostly in the name of Bhadresvara, god of Lingapura, and
ordered the erection of a Sivalinga, a Narayana and a Bhagavati, which the
enemy had pulled up at Stuk Sram''.
(Page
177,
The Ancient Khmer Empire
by Lawrence Palmer Briggs)
Vat Phou
''According to a Khmer inscription, in 1102, a king with the aid of his Holy
Guru, erected some statues of divinities at Vat Phu in honor of
Bhadresvara. Parmentier thinks the anterior hall in front
of the ancient sanctuary belongs to the period between the Baphuon and
Angkor Wat and was probably erected by Jayavarman VI at the beginning of
the twelfth century. He also thinks the series of naga-balustrades and
mile-stones received their final form during this period.''
(Page 182,
The Ancient Khmer Empire
by Lawrence Palmer Briggs)
Dharanindravarman I
''The stele of Samrong commemorates the
foundations made by one Yogisvarapandita to Bhadresvara and the god of
Lingapura during the reigns of Harshavarman, Jayavarman, and
Dharanindravarman. The inclusive dates are 1077 and 1106. The inscription
is thought to date from the later years of the reign of Dharanindravarman
I. Yogisvarapandita, who was also mentioned in the inscription of Nom Van
[Phanom Wan near Phimai in NE-Thailand] is reputed to be the author.''
(Page
184,
The Ancient Khmer Empire
by Lawrence Palmer Briggs)
Suryavarman II
''This period seems to have witnessed the completion, or at least the
decoration and furnishing of the massive temple of Vat Phu, which we have
ascribed to the reign of Suryavarman I. According to Aymonier, between
1102 and 1139, to which latter date he attributes the completion of the
monument and its inscriptions, seven dates are carved on a stele found
there. These inscriptions record the erection of statues and gifts of
donation, in 1102 and 1104, to Bhadresvara, who seems to have been the
principal deity of the temple; impressive ceremonies and donations on the
occasion of the coronation of Suryavarman II in 1113; the erection of a Sankara-Narayana
(diva-Vishnu) in the Vrah Prang, or holy pyramid, in 1122; the erection of
a Vrah Vishnu in between 1118 and 1127, of a Vrah Sri Guru (the sacred
representation of Divakarapandita?) . Finally, in 1139, there took place
there the erection of statues, the founding of villages, the establishment
of sacred slaves, male and female, to the number of 109, each mentioned by
name; the enumeration of the goods given: cattle, male elephants,
implements of cult in gold, silver and bronze alloy, rings, plates, urns,
etc. ; the division of revenues among the divinities, as well as the daily
and New Year's redevances. (While these foundations and
gifts are recorded in an inscription of Vat Phu, they were not necessarily
all made to that temple. )
Aymonier thinks this temple was built during the reign of
Jayavarman VI; but, as we have seen (pp. 163, 188), some of the
decorations certainly assign parts of it to a still earlier period. Coedes thinks the
Divakaratataka, paid to have been dug in this reign, was the great basin
of Vat Phu.''
(Pgs.
188-189,
The Ancient Khmer Empire
by Lawrence Palmer Briggs)
Ban That
''The Sanskrit stele inscription of Ban
That, a group of three prasats, about thirty kilometers southwest of Basak,
gives the genealogy of a matrivamsa which, according to the inscription,
held the hereditary post of chief-priest of a linga on Mount Bhadresvara
(Vat Phu). The founder of the family had acted as hotar of a King of
Cambodia in performing the abhiseka of his son and was granted a piece of
land near Mount Bhadresvara (apparently at Ban That) and founded the
above-mentioned linga. The founder of this family was the sage Vagisvara.
His son-in-law and successor in the matrivamsa was the intelligent
Vijayendrasuri. Then followed the royal pandit Gunaratnavindu, whose
daughter, the brilliant Tilaka, with her son, Subhadra Murdhasiva, as has
been seen, flourished at the court of Jayavarman VI, apparently at the
north before that king's coronation. This pandit performed various charges
successfully under Jayavarman VI, Dharanindravarman 1, and Suryavarman II.
The inscription is undated and seems to celebrate the three towers of Ban
That, dedicated respectively to a linga of Isa (Siva), to Sadanana
(Skanda), and to Gauri Mahishasurari.''
(Page
193,
The Ancient Khmer Empire
by Lawrence Palmer Briggs)
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The sacred spring
”A small temple built in sandstone
and bricks (11th century) wedged below the cliff, would sanctify the
water from the southern spring and would probably have contained a
Linga. Behind this temple under the cliff, small bronze Khmer statues
of Vishnu and a female divinity, and some much later Buddha
representations were found”
(Project de Recherches en Archeologie Lao – Research Project in Lao
Archaeology) |
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