Baksei Chamkrong

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View from the east

The Baksei Chamkrong ( Khmer : ប្រាសាទបក្សីចាំក្រុង , in German "bird with protective wings") is a small pyramid temple , built in the 10th century and consecrated to Shiva , on the left of the path from Angkor Wat to Angkor Thom .

History and location

In memory of his father Yasovarman I (reign from 889 to around 915) and his mother, the Angkor king Harshavarman I (reign of around 915 to 923) had an ancestral temple built, the Baksei Chamkrong .

In the plane a mound framed with the moat I. Yasovarman built on a hill state temple Phnom Bakheng . The enclosed area was a rectangle of 650 × 440 m in size to the west-east. The northeast corner of this area was chosen by Harshavarman I for the Baksei Chamkrong . Under Jayavarman IV (reigns 928–941) and Harshavarman II (reigns 941–944) the capital of the Khmer Empire was temporarily about 100 km northeast of Angkor in Koh Ker . The successor and cousin of Harshavarman II, Rajendravarman II. (Reign 944 to 968), resided again in the central Angkor area; He had the not yet completely finished Baksei Chamkrong straightened, covered with stucco decoration and, according to the inscription, consecrated to the god Shiva on Wednesday, February 23, 948 in the morning at 9:40 a.m.

Location map
Layout

Together with the Angkor Wat temple from the beginning of the 12th century and the city complex of Angkor Thom from the beginning of the 13th century, the following picture emerges today: A road leads straight from south to north; to the right of this street is the main entrance of Angkor Wat , after 1200 m on the left the main entrance to Phnom Bakheng , 150 m further on also on the left the Baksei Chamkrong ; After another 300 m the road passes the south gate of Angkor Thom and becomes the main axis of the city complex.

Some Hindu traditions locate Mount Kailasa , which is considered to be Shiva's refuge, in the northwest of the mythical Mount Meru . The location of the ancestral temple dedicated to Shiva in the northwest of the temple mount Phnom Bakheng could indicate a corresponding meaning.

architecture

Stairway to Prasat

According to Zieger, "the elements of the pyramid temple can be easily seen" at Baksei Chamkrong :

  • a four-tier pyramid with four staircases from the cardinal points,
  • then a Prasat (temple tower) with four identical facades, access on the east side, false doors on the other three sides, consisting of a cella (temple interior) and four attic storeys.

The Khmer builders used laterite for the first time for the three lower levels of the pyramid . The top pyramid level consists of profiled sandstone , the Prasat has a sandstone base and consists of brick . At the base the pyramid measures 27 × 27 m, at the top 15 × 15 m; this upper platform is 13 m above the surroundings. Solid walls flank the steep stairs and prevent access to the terraces. With its dramatic rise, the Baksei Chamkrong surpassed all of its predecessors and influenced all subsequent buildings.

Originally there were golden statues of Shiva and his wife Devi in the cella. In the sandstone and brick of the Prasat some beautiful and well-preserved reliefs were made ; the devata (goddesses) carved into the brick at the corners of the Prasat were probably preliminary drawings for the stucco work, which has long since disappeared.

inscription

The eastern door frame bears an important inscription. This was installed in 947 by order of Rajendravarman II. (944 - 968). The occasion was the erection of a golden statue of Shiva (presumably the inauguration of the temple took place at the same time). The Sanskrit inscription includes 48 stanzas. First, there is praise to various gods. Then various foundations of Rajendravarman II are listed. Foundations from predecessors (including Indravarman I.) are also listed. The hermit Kambu Swayambhuva and the Apsara Mera are mentioned; For the first time in a Cambodian inscription the mythical couple Kambu and Mera is mentioned by name (ancestors of the Kambujan nation). Rajendravarman II praises his ancestry, which he traces back to Srutavarman (Solar gender) and Rudravarman of Funan (Lunar gender).

Sources and further information

literature

  • Michael Freeman, Claude Jacques: Ancient Angkor . River Books, Bangkok 1999, ISBN 974-8225-27-5 .
  • Luca Invernizzi Tettoni, Thierry Zéphir: Angkor. A tour of the monuments . Archipelago Press, Singapore 2004, ISBN 981-4068-73-X .
  • Nick Ray: Cambodia . Lonely Planet Publications, Victoria 2005, ISBN 1-74059-525-4 .
  • Johann Reinhart Zieger: Angkor and the Khmer temples in Cambodia . Silkworm Books, Chiang Mai 2006, ISBN 974-9575-60-1 .

Web links

Commons : Baksei Chamkrong  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Translation of the modern, historically irrelevant name after Freeman and Jacques p. 72 ("the bird with sheltering wings").
  2. ↑ These and the following years according to Zieger, pp. 6–7, p. 132 and p. 185.
  3. ↑ Dimensions according to Zieger p. 1.
  4. ^ Freeman and Jacques p. 72.
  5. ↑ Route information according to Freeman and Jacques, pp. 71–72.
  6. ↑ Zéphir and Tettoni p. 20.
  7. ↑ Zieger p. 7.
  8. ↑ Dimensions according to Zieger p. 7.
  9. ↑ All information on the works of art after Freeman and Jacques p. 72
  10. ↑ Jochen Mertens: The Sanskrit inscriptions from Bat Chum. Books on Demand, Norderstedt 2005, ISBN 3-8334-2497-4 , p. 28.

Coordinates: 13 ° 25 ′ 30.8 ″  N , 103 ° 51 ′ 29.1 ″  E