If stones could talk...

D B N Murthy
The Deccan Herald, India
Monday 12 December 2011

The great Cambodian (Khmer) kings, who ruled from the 9th century to the 13th century, fashioned temples out of stone with great care and devotion.

exquisite The Angkor Wat Temple (pictured) in Cambodia. They entrusted the work to master-craftsmen who painstakingly carried out the design ordered by the king, his ministers and the priests who played an important part in the life of citizens and kings alike. The walls of the temples were richly embellished by panels of bas-relief whose figures stood out boldly. If only stones could talk, they would have told us an interesting story of those times.

Bas-relief is a form of sculpture or carving in which the figures project slightly from the background. These figures stand out clearly and are used to represent various scenes, objects, animals or men. This type of architecture has developed over the centuries and the Khmers (people of Cambodian origin) specialised in it to demonstrate their devotion by depicting religious scenes and objects as well as leave a record of history about those times and scenes. The king’s battle achievements found a pride of place in bas-relief.

The renovated Angkor Wat Temple is famous for its six galleries stretching to 800 m around the inner walls of the temple. Scenes depicted include processions, battle scenes and a guru teaching his disciples. Animals like horse, deer and tiger are depicted too.

Boating was a favourite with the Khmers, which is shown in another bas-relief with rowers in a boat ferrying a nobleman. An interesting bas-relief panel shows an ordinary market scene with people shopping for fish, fighting dogs, and people carrying food in baskets. In some panels, characters that appear like Chinese are seen, which could mean that the Chinese had trade relations with the Khmers.

Ancient Hindu legends like Samudramanthana find a place in one of the bas-relief panels spanning an entire corridor. The earlier Khmer kings were Hindus but became Buddhists with the spread of Buddhism in Cambodia. Some panels are damaged due to natural causes and efforts are currently on to restore these. Since some of the bas-relief figures are not clear, oil is applied on them to make it easy for viewing. To understand the panels better, a note detailing the scene is put up.

One could spend several hours viewing bas-relief panels and wonder at the creative skills of an ancient civilisation. Viewing them is not only enjoyable, but educative too, as they tell us about the life and culture of the Khmers.