Dear readers, a few days ago I asked readers to write a full length article about what they think of the Indian replication of Cambodia's iconic Angkor Wat, titled "Angkor Wat replica in India is a good or bad idea?". Many people have commented, with some supporting and some opposing the ideas. I picked three to publish here and one to publish here. Please enjoy reading them.
************************************Anonymous said...
There is no doubt in everyone’s mind that ancient Khmers had the superb knowledge and great architectural skills plus the great vision and determination when they designed and built many temples, monuments, barays (moats) across the landscape of the Khmer Empire.
please do not give much credits to the middle men Indians, but to the real source: the Aryan people who were the ones who brought great knowledge and inspirations to ancient Cambodia. I had even doubted if our ancestors knew the Indians!! They knew the Kloeng [Khmer word for Indian] from Kalingar; the Pallawas, the Sri Lankan, the Kol, the Kaliyan, the Vijayan, the Bengali etc... But Indian was probably a collective name given by the Europeans after the invasion by Alexander the Great? I really really not sure about this!!!
The Indian sub-continent was in the state of decline when we Khmer were at the zenith. The elitist Aryans, who led many so-called Indian states, escaped the Muslim invaders, they run Eastward to Indonesia, Kampucha (Cambodia), Champa and even to Philippines. They were the Aryans and the Brahmin leading classes, not ordinary Indians.
Brahmanism was originated from the Aryan people, while Buddhism from the area in today’s Nepal!! [Nepal was part of India during the time of Budddha 2500 years ago].
The Dravidians or nowadays Indians worshipped Kali and Cows and played with snakes and tricks!
The Varman dynastic Khmer Kings were descended from Kambuja King of the Rajaputra of the area called Maha Janbath which was detailed in Indian epic of Mahabharata (Big Brotherhood). They were in turn related to the Iranian Dynasty.
We owed so little to the Indians. We improved our writing system with so elegant alphabets. Almost all of our alphabets have dome or crown on it and we called them “sok” or hair in English [a diatric put on top of a Khmer alphabet)! The Khmer temples are temples in their own right.
Yes Sihanouk may have owed Nehru the policy of political neutrality and now look at what the state of our country had been during that time (1955-1970)!
So what do I feel about Virat Angkor being the replica of the real Angkor Wat?
Well, Vishnu (and me!) is not happy!
While Angkor was dedicated to god Vishnu,Virat Angkor will be dedicated to too many more deities. But above all, it is the Khmer identity which I am most concerned about. I wish Angkor Wat is unique to Cambodia.
******************************************************
By Indra
I don't agree with the idea of having a replica of Angkor Wat being built in India. As a Cambodian who happens to study Hinduism, I see this as a nationalist pride on the side of the Indians. When you think of Hinduism, naturally India comes to mind. For anyone who's unfamiliar with Angkor Wat, they would think that the largest Hindu temple in the world is probably in India. The fact is, the largest Hindu temple in the world is in Cambodia. Regardless of whether it's now being used primarily for tourism or Buddhist ceremonies, it's still the largest Hindu temple in the world.
My personal view on Mr. Kishore Kunal [the man whose idea it was to build the Angkor Wat replica] is that he wants the world's largest Hindu temple to be in India. When I first heard about this, I assumed by "replica" that they meant a miniature model, sort of like the replica of the Eiffel Tower in Las Vegas. I didn't think he meant a fully-functioning temple. After finding out that Kunal wanted a real temple replica, I didn't see too much of a reason to criticize that idea. Soon, after finding out that he wanted to build a replica larger than the original Angkor Wat, I felt that he simply wanted for the world’s largest Hindu temple to be in India.
He claims that it's for Indians who cannot afford the journey to Cambodia to witness the Angkor Wat itself. So instead, he wants to build a LARGER replica in India for them. I think it's a lame reason for wanting to do such a thing. For example, it would be like saying you're most likely never going to meet your favorite celebrity in person so the next best thing to do is to find somebody in your neighborhood who looks like them and ask for their autograph. You get what I'm saying? I'll take the real McCoy over a replica any day.
As far as tourism is concerned, I don't think it'll affect Cambodia that much or at least not instantly. Cambodia will still receive many tourists even if the replica is up-and-running. As years pass on though, the fact that Angkor Wat is an impressive, large Hindu temple will be overshadowed by the fact that it isn't THE largest. It takes away some of the grandeur, kind of like how Prambanam is a beautiful Hindu temple in Indonesia but it doesn't get as much attention as Angkor Wat because it isn't larger. Overall, it's the mere fact that Angkor Wat is one of, if not the greatest, achievements of the Khmer people. To be impressed by it and wanted to make a copy of this iconic temple as your own is just plain old wrong in my opinion.
If Kunal wants to build temples that's fine, but come up with your own personal ideas and insight on how they should be made. And in no way am I saying that I believe this replica will legitimately be larger and superior to the original. The point is that this man is trying to do so. I'm very displeased with hearing this news and hope that this doesn't go through. Hopefully some of you have read this and tried to understand my point of view and where I'm coming from. There will always be one and ONLY one Angkor Wat. But that doesn't stop people from trying to outdo us.
King Suryavarman II's love and dedication to Lord Vishnu is the reason for the construction of one of mankind's greatest achievements. Kunal's motive is probably hidden jealousy. This is just my opinion.
********************************************
By Matek Kon Khmer
Eventually, I am so happy to have seen all Khmers patriot commented about the replication of Angkor Wat in India, even though it's just a different point of view while the authority is in the the hand of the ruling Cambodia People’s Party (CPP). We Khmers are all always worrying and concerning about our “Nation” because of that we, all together, must be united and find ways on how to develop, recreate, and protect everything Cambodian had been left over after the war, especially Angkor Wat, Prasat Preah Vihear temple and a dozen more, etc. All of those glamorous prides have been built by our Khmer ancestors for generation comes, from one to another, to see and prove to the real world of how Khmer could survive in that era.
Our Cambodia is a place/homeland where all Khmer citizens know that we matter and see it as clearly. However, there is a big obstacle because our Cambodia still remains under the control of Khmer communist’s CPP who held power since 1979.
Now, we understand this predicament that has been put upon by this CPP, the Vietnamese puppet. To me, I have no reason of doubt of the planned replication of Angkor Wat in India because the CPP clique itself was submissive as they have always listened pretty well to their dominant master, the Vietnamese.
Definitely, Angkor Wat has become an attractive place for many locals and Western tourists for a long time. We Khmers are very impressed about that, however, the Angkor Archeological Park was under the control of Sok Kong, a Vietnamese-born entrepreneur. And so, at this stage I will not support the Angkor Wat replication which have been contemplated in India, and I strongly oppose it. When, in the future, we know that we will have a great leadership with a solid government that have a living heart for Cambodia and vision too – to serve, protect and common Khmer interest- then I would obviously support to them as well whatever the cost is in order to justify all the will of the Khmers people.
The Vietnamese purpose is to destroy the structure of the Khmer lifestyle and their well-being in order to expand its own country, and imperialize Cambodia and so does China.
Well folks, with this replica issue, I’m not going to "support" it because it is a Khmer identity and this temple was being built by our ancestors with its original style. Moreover; I just want everyone to concentrate on helping the opposition party, either the party of Mr. Sam Rainsy or Mr. Kem Sokha for next year election to come, which is the most important thing in order to remove the power from Hun Sen, the crappy and the crook of the CPP. Other than that I may not see any better way to help our nation.
As of today Hun Sen is alone and only by himself, acting as the superman. But in reality, he is not. Looking seriously just in one case in Svay Rieng province, the town governor, Chhouk Bandith, had shot and wounded three protesters in front of a garment factory as an example. So, Hun Sen cannot use his power to arrest the suspect yet, when it fact that suspect had already been identified by Sar Kheng, the minister of Interior.
It is very clear and so sad of what it is a dirty trick that Hun Sen (alias Hun Nal) had training many Khmer Viet Minh to really know how to serve their common purpose so then they will give a green light to them with powerful political connections. And again, this is some sort of tricks they have been applying everywhere, from A-Z, from low-ranking to top-ranking government officials. Mainly, it’s been applied to the manpower by all means, e.g all okhnas (knights) have a very important role in which they can commit all of kinds of corruptions in dealing with foreigners as land concession, land grabbing, logging, gas and mineral, etc. as you all have heard so far.
I love all Khmers, but not Khmers who are pro the enemy of the Khmers.
please do not give much credits to the middle men Indians, but to the real source: the Aryan people who were the ones who brought great knowledge and inspirations to ancient Cambodia. I had even doubted if our ancestors knew the Indians!! They knew the Kloeng [Khmer word for Indian] from Kalingar; the Pallawas, the Sri Lankan, the Kol, the Kaliyan, the Vijayan, the Bengali etc... But Indian was probably a collective name given by the Europeans after the invasion by Alexander the Great? I really really not sure about this!!!
The Indian sub-continent was in the state of decline when we Khmer were at the zenith. The elitist Aryans, who led many so-called Indian states, escaped the Muslim invaders, they run Eastward to Indonesia, Kampucha (Cambodia), Champa and even to Philippines. They were the Aryans and the Brahmin leading classes, not ordinary Indians.
Brahmanism was originated from the Aryan people, while Buddhism from the area in today’s Nepal!! [Nepal was part of India during the time of Budddha 2500 years ago].
The Dravidians or nowadays Indians worshipped Kali and Cows and played with snakes and tricks!
The Varman dynastic Khmer Kings were descended from Kambuja King of the Rajaputra of the area called Maha Janbath which was detailed in Indian epic of Mahabharata (Big Brotherhood). They were in turn related to the Iranian Dynasty.
We owed so little to the Indians. We improved our writing system with so elegant alphabets. Almost all of our alphabets have dome or crown on it and we called them “sok” or hair in English [a diatric put on top of a Khmer alphabet)! The Khmer temples are temples in their own right.
Yes Sihanouk may have owed Nehru the policy of political neutrality and now look at what the state of our country had been during that time (1955-1970)!
So what do I feel about Virat Angkor being the replica of the real Angkor Wat?
Well, Vishnu (and me!) is not happy!
While Angkor was dedicated to god Vishnu,Virat Angkor will be dedicated to too many more deities. But above all, it is the Khmer identity which I am most concerned about. I wish Angkor Wat is unique to Cambodia.
******************************************************
By Indra
I don't agree with the idea of having a replica of Angkor Wat being built in India. As a Cambodian who happens to study Hinduism, I see this as a nationalist pride on the side of the Indians. When you think of Hinduism, naturally India comes to mind. For anyone who's unfamiliar with Angkor Wat, they would think that the largest Hindu temple in the world is probably in India. The fact is, the largest Hindu temple in the world is in Cambodia. Regardless of whether it's now being used primarily for tourism or Buddhist ceremonies, it's still the largest Hindu temple in the world.
My personal view on Mr. Kishore Kunal [the man whose idea it was to build the Angkor Wat replica] is that he wants the world's largest Hindu temple to be in India. When I first heard about this, I assumed by "replica" that they meant a miniature model, sort of like the replica of the Eiffel Tower in Las Vegas. I didn't think he meant a fully-functioning temple. After finding out that Kunal wanted a real temple replica, I didn't see too much of a reason to criticize that idea. Soon, after finding out that he wanted to build a replica larger than the original Angkor Wat, I felt that he simply wanted for the world’s largest Hindu temple to be in India.
He claims that it's for Indians who cannot afford the journey to Cambodia to witness the Angkor Wat itself. So instead, he wants to build a LARGER replica in India for them. I think it's a lame reason for wanting to do such a thing. For example, it would be like saying you're most likely never going to meet your favorite celebrity in person so the next best thing to do is to find somebody in your neighborhood who looks like them and ask for their autograph. You get what I'm saying? I'll take the real McCoy over a replica any day.
As far as tourism is concerned, I don't think it'll affect Cambodia that much or at least not instantly. Cambodia will still receive many tourists even if the replica is up-and-running. As years pass on though, the fact that Angkor Wat is an impressive, large Hindu temple will be overshadowed by the fact that it isn't THE largest. It takes away some of the grandeur, kind of like how Prambanam is a beautiful Hindu temple in Indonesia but it doesn't get as much attention as Angkor Wat because it isn't larger. Overall, it's the mere fact that Angkor Wat is one of, if not the greatest, achievements of the Khmer people. To be impressed by it and wanted to make a copy of this iconic temple as your own is just plain old wrong in my opinion.
If Kunal wants to build temples that's fine, but come up with your own personal ideas and insight on how they should be made. And in no way am I saying that I believe this replica will legitimately be larger and superior to the original. The point is that this man is trying to do so. I'm very displeased with hearing this news and hope that this doesn't go through. Hopefully some of you have read this and tried to understand my point of view and where I'm coming from. There will always be one and ONLY one Angkor Wat. But that doesn't stop people from trying to outdo us.
King Suryavarman II's love and dedication to Lord Vishnu is the reason for the construction of one of mankind's greatest achievements. Kunal's motive is probably hidden jealousy. This is just my opinion.
********************************************
By Matek Kon Khmer
Eventually, I am so happy to have seen all Khmers patriot commented about the replication of Angkor Wat in India, even though it's just a different point of view while the authority is in the the hand of the ruling Cambodia People’s Party (CPP). We Khmers are all always worrying and concerning about our “Nation” because of that we, all together, must be united and find ways on how to develop, recreate, and protect everything Cambodian had been left over after the war, especially Angkor Wat, Prasat Preah Vihear temple and a dozen more, etc. All of those glamorous prides have been built by our Khmer ancestors for generation comes, from one to another, to see and prove to the real world of how Khmer could survive in that era.
Our Cambodia is a place/homeland where all Khmer citizens know that we matter and see it as clearly. However, there is a big obstacle because our Cambodia still remains under the control of Khmer communist’s CPP who held power since 1979.
Now, we understand this predicament that has been put upon by this CPP, the Vietnamese puppet. To me, I have no reason of doubt of the planned replication of Angkor Wat in India because the CPP clique itself was submissive as they have always listened pretty well to their dominant master, the Vietnamese.
Definitely, Angkor Wat has become an attractive place for many locals and Western tourists for a long time. We Khmers are very impressed about that, however, the Angkor Archeological Park was under the control of Sok Kong, a Vietnamese-born entrepreneur. And so, at this stage I will not support the Angkor Wat replication which have been contemplated in India, and I strongly oppose it. When, in the future, we know that we will have a great leadership with a solid government that have a living heart for Cambodia and vision too – to serve, protect and common Khmer interest- then I would obviously support to them as well whatever the cost is in order to justify all the will of the Khmers people.
The Vietnamese purpose is to destroy the structure of the Khmer lifestyle and their well-being in order to expand its own country, and imperialize Cambodia and so does China.
Well folks, with this replica issue, I’m not going to "support" it because it is a Khmer identity and this temple was being built by our ancestors with its original style. Moreover; I just want everyone to concentrate on helping the opposition party, either the party of Mr. Sam Rainsy or Mr. Kem Sokha for next year election to come, which is the most important thing in order to remove the power from Hun Sen, the crappy and the crook of the CPP. Other than that I may not see any better way to help our nation.
As of today Hun Sen is alone and only by himself, acting as the superman. But in reality, he is not. Looking seriously just in one case in Svay Rieng province, the town governor, Chhouk Bandith, had shot and wounded three protesters in front of a garment factory as an example. So, Hun Sen cannot use his power to arrest the suspect yet, when it fact that suspect had already been identified by Sar Kheng, the minister of Interior.
It is very clear and so sad of what it is a dirty trick that Hun Sen (alias Hun Nal) had training many Khmer Viet Minh to really know how to serve their common purpose so then they will give a green light to them with powerful political connections. And again, this is some sort of tricks they have been applying everywhere, from A-Z, from low-ranking to top-ranking government officials. Mainly, it’s been applied to the manpower by all means, e.g all okhnas (knights) have a very important role in which they can commit all of kinds of corruptions in dealing with foreigners as land concession, land grabbing, logging, gas and mineral, etc. as you all have heard so far.
I love all Khmers, but not Khmers who are pro the enemy of the Khmers.
2 comments:
Dear Khmerization!
Having been promoted and educated to kon khmer,which is regarded to my posted comment,I'm absolutely proud of you since you have got a plenty of social skills.
Regards,
Mkk
Hi,
I am an Indian. I stumbled upon this when i was researching about Angkor Wat coz my parents are celebrating their 25th anniversary dis year n i wanted dem to visit angkor wat because i think its a beautiful temple, small or large, so unique in its own way.
If u guys r worrying dat Mr Kishore will replicate dis beauty, den don worry coz it won be made. This im saying knowing Indians. This issue did not have much publicity in India, proof enough that this idea was just talk. I would request u to not brand us by saying "jealous Indians". By saying this u call all of us jealous while d actually culprit is just that one person. We Indians would rather prefer the govt. or whoever is ready to spend dat much, to invest the resources where its actually needed. India already has enough temples and enough tourism. If u observe our govt. is in a similar situation as yours, lots of corruption, serving themselves instead of the country etc etc.
After i saw this page i discussed with my friends n none of them(i have a huge gang) wanted a replication. not smaller not larger.It is not coz we don like it or anything. As an architect I love Angkor wat(dats y I wan my parents to visit). Its a totally unique way of architecture. Apart from the basic gopuram n square plans, the khmer and south indian architecture cannot be compared, coz its so different, in its details n everything. Angkor Wat is still preserved in its natural surroundings with which its fabulously merges while the temples here have cities growing around dem so fast that the buildings around dwarf d gopurams, but still it retains its beauty.
Our temples are still functioning n ergo the preists n devotees take care of it and preserve it. So i request you to keep The Angkor wat too functioning because dats d best way to preserve a building.
With love n well wishes from India
Shobana
Post a Comment