In Kambojadesa

In Kambojadesa
Bina Thomas ( binatho@gmail.com )


I was scheduled to visit only Bangkok. But I also harbored a secret wish - my wish to hop across to Cambodia from Bangkok, to see the Angkor Wat. From the time I read and saw pictures of Angkor Wat, and Bayon, the mega temple complexes in the Siam Reap province of Cambodia, I was truly enchanted. That was a very long time ago, while I was still a student. So I was overjoyed when my wish was granted. I was allowed, not just a leap into Cambodia, but also five days stay!!

Siam Reap is actually a half hour `hop’ by flight from Bangkok. The monument alone attracts more than 4 million visitors in a year. In this small, lush green country, subsisting largely on an agrarian economy along the alluvial plains of the Mekong river and its delta, Angkor Wat is all there is to see, in terms of tourists interest. I would have also loved to explore the fascinating tropical regions along the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers. But there was no time for that exciting adventure!

Declared as a World Heritage monument, Angkor Wat is considered as the world’s largest surviving temple complex. And indeed, there is so much to see at Angkor Wat. Even three full days seemed inadequate to explore the innumerable monuments strewn all over the Angkor complex. Not to mention the many more scattered all over the Siam Reap province and its surrounds. Exploring those would probably take weeks! The monuments and its settings are just so intriguing, that any one would want to dwell deeper into its maze of history, and spend more time exploring further. It is a must see for all interested in ancient art and architecture.

Historians suggest the word `Angkor’ could mean a `city’, a `centre’ or even an `encircled town’ considering that the whole temple complex at Angkor Wat is surrounded by an inner and outer moat. The outer moat is both wide and deep enough to allow ancient trading ships to enter and anchor close to the temple precincts. `Wat’ however is a common word for temple even in Thailand. The monuments and its settings at this `city of temples’ suggest a sudden surge of stone based architectural activity in the 9th Century AD, which included not just temples, but also structures for residential and official purposes. The region was the capital of the Khmer Kingdom for nearly three centuries, till it shifted to another location near Siam Reap and finally to Phnom Penh, the modern day capital of Cambodia.

This brief history of a few hundreds of years at Angkor Wat is marked with an intriguing interplay of Buddhist and well as Hindu architectural features. And I must add, for an Indian, witnessing the ancient cultural links between India and Cambodia, in not just the architecture at Angkor Wat and Bayon, but also in the iconography of gods and goddesses, their names, the depiction of associated mythology, and the epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata on the temple walls, and much more, is truly a happy feeling!!
Like most countries sandwiched between the two ancient civilizations of India and China, Cambodia too absorbed cultural influences from these two nations. Known as Kambojadesa in ancient Sanskrit texts, Cambodia finds mention in the records of journeys conducted by royals and traders to peninsular regions and islands, know as Survana Bhoomi and Suvarna Dweep respectively, in South East Asia. Although we cannot pinpoint when these escapades may have started, they certainly became a planned business and political expansion strategy for the ruling dynasties in Southern India from the 7th century AD onwards.

In fact, temples dedicated to Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva is very common in South East Asian countries. Except for the difference in their racial features and costume, the iconographies of gods remain the same as found in India. It’s amazing how gods travel!! In Cambodia, Hinduism flourished along with the Theravada, one of the oldest forms of Buddhism, during the Khmer Civilization since the 6th Century AD. Many Indian scholars, artists, traders, and religious teachers are said to have traveled to these regions. Most of them were royal guests. Sanskrit literature also flourished with royal patronage. And along with it came our myths, legends, and epics.

I had one more day and so decided to visit Phnom Penh. The four hour drive from Angkor Wat to Phnom Penh along the alluvial plains of the Tonle Sap River, green with paddy fields, was very enjoyable. Phnom Penh, located at the confluence of three rivers, is like a small town in comparison to Bangkok or our own Mumbai. No skyscrapers or glitzy malls or traffic hauls!

I searched the city streets for remnants of French colonial occupation of Cambodia. But found little. But while exploring the city by foot, I was struck by the large numbers of disabled humans, mostly with amputated legs, begging on the streets of Phnom Penh. Cambodia is one of the most land-mined countries in the world. The innumerable unexploded land mines left behind since the 1970’s, particularly in the rural regions, has caused more than tens of thousands of deaths and even more injured children and adults. In that sense, the city and its people, in many ways reflect the after effects of the Vietnam War and the Khmer Rouge regime. A visit to the Tueol Sleng prison, now a Genocide museum is a must, not just to get a glimpse of Cambodia’s brutal war-time history, but to just stand in those empty `torture’ rooms, with walls lined with photographs of the hundreds tortured and killed there, and make a solemn promise to oneself to always strive for world peace!!

But for a country emerging out of the violent political turmoil in the recent past Cambodia is doing very well. Besides agriculture and tourism, Cambodia also has a thriving garment industry. I remembered how in Bangkok, road side garment stalls would deliberately cross out the `Made in Cambodia’ labels on cheap but good quality export surpluses imported from Cambodia. The country may not be hip and happening like Bangkok, but it is certainly working hard towards a promising future.
***************