Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Bayon Temple
- Date: Late 12th century to early 13th century
- Reign of construction: Jayavarman VII (1181-1220)
- Cult: Buddhist Mahayanism
- Art Style: Bayon
- Clearance work: G. Commaille (1911-1913)
- Excavation: G. Trouvé 1933
- Anastylosis: M. Glaize 1939-1946
The Bayon, is the
exact centre of the town of Angkor Thom. Having to power after the
burning of the capital by a Cham fleet, he rebuilt the city and
surrounded it with a strong wall. This rampart constitutes the outer
enclosure of the Bayon, it is a wide, provided the earth for the
enormous embankment which support it, and makes a boulevard 25m
wide, with four little temples at the corners, called "Prasat Chrung":
the north-east one which is the best preserved, can be reached after
charming walk along the top of the rampart in the thick forest.
The surrounding
wall is opened up by five gates, 4 on the axis of the Bayon, the
fifth is in the axis of Phimeanakas and the second Angkor. These
entrances are splendid examples of carving in the very spirit of the
Bayon; their mass is carried by enormous elephants with three heads
and with trunks touching the ground in the act of picking lotuses.
Above, the structure of triple tower makes the great faces of
Avalokiteçvara, casting this benevolent gaze in all directions. The
doors have lost their façades and have the appearance of pointed
bows, before they were high rectangular bays 7 meter by 3. 50 meter
strengthened with powerful leaves. The road which crosses the moat
was decorated with two imposing balustrades; the churning serpent
drawn by devils at the right (on entering) and by Gods on the left.
The central
sanctuary is a huge mass, the dark centre of which is surrounded by
a narrow corridor. The excavation of G. Trouvé brought it to light.
It is a fine big statue of Buddha sitting on the coils of Naga and
in the shelter of his head; it can be seen, re-installed on a
terrace, on the right hand side of the avenue leads to the victory
gate.
The bas-reliefs on
the outer wall (160m 140m) and on the inner gallery differ
completely and seem to belong to two different worlds. On the
outside is the world of men, of events in history which might
actually have taken place, and on the inside is the epic world of
gods and legends. Many of legendary scenes are found repeatedly on
Cambodian monuments and can be easily recognized. A number of the
historical events pictured by the sculptors have also been
identified since the correct dating of the Bayon in the 12th century
directed research to the history of that time.
The faces ornamenting the towers,
which are also found on the gates of Angkor Thom, of Ta Prohm, of
Banteay Kdei and of great Banteay Chmar, are certainly the features
which most impress the visitors.
Louis Finot formulated a theory (in 1911) that the towers at the Bayon, with
somewhat phallic form, were enormous Lingas sculptured with faces,
sheltering those worshipped in the shrines inside. This theory was
based on the certain belief that the Bayon was a Hindu temple
dedicated to Siva. But this theory had to be abandoned when the
pediment representing Lokeçvara was discovered, a pediment which had
formerly been hidden be the central mass. This indicated that the
original and basic character of the Bayon was a Buddhist temple. The
faces were certainly Buddhist and probably represented the
compassionate Bodhisattva.
Even the archaeologists of the Ecole
Français were not able to decide immediately whether the heads on
the Bayon were Brahma, Siva or Buddha. The distinctions which
clearly different: Brahma: the creator of the universe; Siva spreads
blessings on every region in space; Buddha of the Great Miracle
duplicates himself infinity; and Lokeçvara faces in all directions.
The spirit behind these Indian divinities, which the architect tried
to represent, was not so much a real being or individual, but an
abstraction.
Pierre Loti:
grasped this with the remarkable perception of a poet: from on high,
the four faces on each of these towers face the four cardinal
points, looking out in every direction from beneath lowered eyelids.
Each face has the same ironic expression of pity, the same smile.
The multiplication of these faces to the four cardinal points
symbolizes the idea that the Royal power is blessing the four
quarters of the Kingdom. As for the repetition of these faces on
every tower. The idols worshipped in the chapels inside the towers
were statues of deified princes or dignitaries or else of local
Gods. Each tower corresponded to a province of the Kingdom or at
least to a religious or administrative centre of the province. Thus
if the four faces symbolizes the Royal power spreading over the land
in every direction, placing them over the chapel which was typical
of each province signified that: the king Jayavarman VII's Royal
power was as strong in the province as at Angkor itself. This
accounted for having a four-faced tower to represent each part of
the Kingdom. We now begin to understand this mysterious architecture
as the symbol of the Great Miracle of Jayavarman VII. It represents
his administrative and religious power extending to every
corner of Cambodian territory by mean of this unique sign.
ប្រភព៖ Tourism Cambodia
