Banteay Chhmar
Coordinates: 14 ° 4 ′ N , 103 ° 7 ′ E
Banteay Chhmar ( Khmer បន្ទាយឆ្មារ ) is one of the largest enclosed temples in Cambodia . It is located in the town of the same name (Banteay Chhmar Commune) in the province of Banteay Meanchey , about 60 kilometers north of Sisophon and about 20 kilometers east of the border with Thailand . The builder of the Buddhist monastery town was Jayavarman VII , who ruled over the Khmer Empire from 1181 to around 1218 . The complex includes the main temple complex, a large baray with a mebon (island temple) and eight satellite temples. Today around 80% of the walls and buildings are in ruins. But the remains with the large reliefs in Bayon style are impressive; The multi-armed representations of Lokeshvara ( Avalokiteshvara ) are unique . Because of its remote location, Banteay Chhmar was often haunted by art thieves. The investigations of the archaeologists are well advanced; extensive restoration and reconstruction work is in progress.
Banteay Chhmar Community-Based Tourism (CBT) brings together a group of ambitious locals who are committed to protecting the temple complex and promoting sustainable tourism.
Banteay Chhmar has been on the list of candidates for UNESCO World Cultural Heritage since 1992.
geography
Banteay Chhmar is located 165 kilometers west of Angkor and 30 kilometers from the foothills of the Dangrek Mountains in a semi-arid region. The climate is harsh, the forests with deciduous trees are often sparse, the soil is sandy and loamy. Banteay Chhmar was not on one of the great connecting roads of the Khmer Empire, but about 60 kilometers from the road that led from Angkor to Phimai . The question is not yet clear why the important temple city was built in such a remote and inhospitable region.
Until about 2004, Banteay Chhmar could only be reached with great effort. George Groslier, who researched the temple complex in the first half of the 20th century, complained that it could only be reached for two months a year. Now a wide, well-developed dirt road leads from Sisophon to Banteay Chhmar and on to Anlong Veng . The temple area is now in the middle of the settlement area. The village of Banteay Chhmar hugs the inner moat, which the connecting road also leads along (on the south and east side). The ditch still serves as a water reservoir for the population. Rice and cassava (manioc) are mainly grown in the Banteay Chhmar region today . Apart from agriculture and a silk manufacture, there are hardly any jobs in the region. Great hopes are placed in the burgeoning tourism around the temple site.
exploration
The French Étienne Aymonier and Lunet de Lajonquière visited Banteay Chhmar in the second half of the 19th century. Each of them published an article on this temple site at the turn of the century. Both noted that the temple complex of Banteay Chhmar was the most disintegrated and the most chaotic of all Khmer temples.
When George Groslier (a Frenchman who was born in Cambodia) carried out four surveys in Banteay Chhmar in the first half of the 20th century (1914, 1924, 1934 and 1935), the plant's decline was more advanced and he was glad that he could rely on the descriptions of Aymonier and Lajonquière. Based on his research, Groslier assumed that there were a total of 55 towers in Banteay Chhmar, half of them face towers. He estimated the construction time of the temple complex to be 34 years. In view of the size of the plant, however, he did not trust his calculations and postulated a construction time of 50 to 60 years. Groslier made the first architectural study of the complex and drew the first precise plan.
Various universities and institutions have been involved in Banteay Chhmar since the beginning of the 21st century. Olivier Cunin, a French architect, spent 10 years researching the temples of the Bayon period in Cambodia and Thailand and made extensive research in Banteay Chhmar. He could u. a. prove that there were various construction phases (changes and extensions) in Banteay Chhmar and that at least 50 face towers were made after the completion of the complex. Cunin calculated 30 to 35 years for the entire construction period. He and his team succeeded in creating a precise, three-dimensional model of the temple complex.
The historical name of the temple city is unknown. Aymonier wrote in 1901 that the name Banteay Chhmar means "small citadel" or "citadel of cats" (in the Khmer language the terms for "cat" and "small" sound very similar). In 1911 Lajonquière listed the temple site Banteay Chhmar in his inventory of the Khmer monuments in Cambodia and Thailand under the inventory no. IK.816 and called it "Citadel of Cats". Possibly the designation "Small Citadel" was meant in contrast to the "Big City" Angkor Thom (the area of the temple complex of Banteay Chhmar takes up about 40% of the area of Angkor Thom).
Building history
Banteay Chhmar was already a religious center before Jayavarman VII came to power in 1181. Jayavarman II (790 - 835) probably built a sanctuary on the site of today's main temple of Banteay Chhmar. This was later renovated by Suryavarman II (1113 – ca. 1150). After his accession to the throne, Jayavarman VII started an extensive building program, which included Angkor Thom with the state temple Bayon as well as the large Buddhist monastery towns Ta Prohm, Preah Khan (Angkor), Banteay Kdei and Banteay Chhmar as well as numerous smaller shrines. He also realized important buildings in the temple city of Preah Kahn of Kampong Svay.
As the first monument of Banteay Chhmar, Jayavarman VII had the central sanctuary built, which consisted of three connected towers and a surrounding wall (1st wall). Later another temple was added to the east and west side of the first wall and the second surrounding wall was built. Over the years the transformation into a complex and important temple city took place. Two libraries were built east of the Central Sanctuary; the 1st enclosure wall was provided with four corner towers. The hall of the dancers, the three shrines and extensive changes and extensions followed. A Sanskrit inscription found on the door post of the most recently built building 45 states 1216 as the year of completion. In the same year, according to Peter D. Sharrock, the temple was dedicated. The sanctuary was to commemorate Crown Prince Indravarman (son of Jayavarman VII) and four officers who perished trying to protect the prince's life.
The ruins of Banteay Chhmar remained unrestored for a long time. It was only in 2008 that the Global Heritage Fund of California (GHF) started an extensive conservation and training project.
Building material
Analyzes of the sandstone used show that only four quarries can be considered as material suppliers for the monuments of Banteay Chhmar. The sandstone blocks were most likely broken 20 km northwest of the temple complex at the foot of the Dangrek Mountains. The other three quarries are 80 km, 160 km and 220 km away from the temple complex. Laterite was widely used (for both walls and buildings); it occurs in the soil in many places in the region of Banteay Chhmar. Holes for fixing wooden beams in the stone were discovered in several places in the temple complex.
During restoration work in 2011, a gilded bronze spire was excavated next to a face tower at a depth of 1.5 meters. It is the first artifact of its kind found in Banteay Chhmar.
The extent of the destruction in Banteay Chhmar is greater than in comparable temple sites. The construction of the facility was most likely under great time pressure. The stones were not always selected with the necessary care, as evidenced by the different colors in some parts of the wall. The sandstone was often not of the best quality and the processing of the blocks was often not precise enough.
religion
The state religion in the Khmer Empire before Jayavarman VII was Hinduism ( Shivaism ). Jayavarman VII was a follower of Mahayana Buddhism , but was tolerant of other beliefs. Shaivism returned briefly under his successors; Theravada Buddhism subsequently became the state religion.
Even before Jayavarman VII there was a Hindu temple in Banteay Chhmar. Jayavarman VII had an enclosed sanctuary with three towers built at this point, which he had expanded over the course of 30 years into a Buddhist monastery town in which several thousand monks lived. The three shrines dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma in the main temple complex of Jayavarman VII are Hindu.
Under the successors of Jayavarman VII, iconographic changes were made to all temples of the Bayon period as a result of the change in state religion, but not to Banteay Chhmar.
style
Banteay Chhmar is built in the Bayon style (1181-1243), which followed the Angkor Wat style (1080-1175). The architecture of the complex is very similar to the other Buddhist monastery complexes of Jayavarman VII (Ta Prohm, Preah Khan, Banteay Kdei and Preah Khan of Kampong Svay). The temples are expansive and have complex floor plans. Face towers characterize the entrance gates and tower above the sanctuaries. Extensive bas-reliefs tell of everyday life and battles. Naga balustrades with rows of gods and demons flank the bridges and dams that span the moats.
Temple city
The entire temple city (Baray, moats, ramparts and walls, satellite temples etc.) are east / west oriented. As Aymonier, Lajonquière and Groslier already stated, the temple area is a single field of ruins. Probably no restoration work has taken place since it was completed in 1216 and the temple grounds were left to the overgrown plants, wind and weather and looters for almost 800 years. Today around 80% of the walls and buildings are in ruins. It is not easy to find your way around (it is advisable to hire a guide for the visit).
Baray
The Baray (water reservoir) is 1.7 km long and 800 m wide. The approximately 3 m high dam is clad on all four sides with laterite steps. There is a landing point for boats on the west side of the Baray. On the artificial island in the Baray are the ruins of the island temple ( Mebon ), which had a face tower. Not only the usual moat belongs to the sanctuary; In addition, there is a round water basin on the east and west side as well as a wave-shaped moat on the north and south side. Today there is partly water in the Baray even during the dry season. The water reservoir was part of a hydraulic city that included a complex canal system.
Outer enclosure
Banteay Chhmar was a large city measuring 2.2 km by 1.7 km with the main temple in the center. The town was surrounded by a 3 m high earth wall and a moat. Only minor traces of the outer enclosure (earth wall and moat) have survived.
Inner enclosure
The inner moat measures 770 m by 690 m and is 63 m wide. On the east and west side a dam, on the south and north side a bridge with Naga balustrades crossed the moat. The nagas were carried by gods on one side and giants on the other (as in Angkor Thom and Preah Khan). The Naga balustrades of the southern bridge have been excavated and partially reconstructed.
Main temple
The main temple is a Buddhist complex (Mahayana Buddhism) which also includes three Hindu shrines dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma. Like every other monument of the Bayon period, Banteay Chhmar is the result of different construction phases. The plan of the temple complex of Banteay Chhmar is very similar to the plan of Preah Khan in Angkor. The main temple complex has three enclosing walls.
The 1st (inner) wall measures approx. 45 m by 40 m. In the first construction phase, it was built around the central sanctuary (A), which initially consisted of only three towers attached to one another. Later a further sanctuary (B and C) was added on the west and east side of the 1st wall.
The 2nd enclosure wall encloses the row of the three assembled sanctuaries (A, B and C). It measures 130 m by 120 m. The three temples take up about a third of the area that lies within the 2nd wall. The north and south sides of the 2nd wall are each pierced by a shrine, whereby the northern Shiva and the southern Brahma are consecrated (in the Preah Khan temple in Angkor the corresponding shrines do not pierce the wall). The so-called hall of the dancers connects directly to the east entrance of the 2nd wall. On the west side of the 2nd wall there is another shrine on a pedestal (some distance away), which is dedicated to Vishnu. It consists of a small step pyramid surrounded by a wall.
The 3rd enclosure wall measures 250 m by 200 m. On the outside there are the galleries with the reliefs. A gate with three entrances stood on all four sides of the 3rd enclosure wall. The main entrance was on the east side.
There are a total of 6 water basins on the temple area: there are four water basins between the 3rd and 2nd wall ring, 2 are in the northeast and southeast corner and two are located north and south of the Vishnu shrine. Within the 2nd wall there is a small water basin in the northeast and in the southeast corner.
Reliefs
The reliefs of Banteay Chhmar are on the outside of the 3rd enclosure wall. With a total of 538 meters, the relief surface is 223 meters longer than the outer gallery of the Bayon (on the Bayon the outer gallery measures 315 meters). In Banteay Chhmar there are one or two registers (a picture strip or two superimposed picture strips), of which the upper one was not always completed (in Bayon there are three registers).
In Banteay Chhmar, as in the Bayon, religious and historical scenes as well as everyday situations were depicted. In several places there are reliefs that are practically identical to pictures on the Bayon. Historical scenes take up a lot of space. The battle between the Khmer and Cham can be seen on the southern wall (attack of the Cham on Angkor). Battle scenes on Tonle Sap Lake are depicted on the southeast wall.
The representations of the multi-armed Lokeshvara ( Avalokiteshvara ) with a single head and up to 32 arms are unique . Originally eight depictions of Lokeshvara adorned the southwest wall. Four of these were stolen at the end of 1998 (a total of 11 meters of wall was dismantled). The Cambodian police discovered the blocks of two reliefs in a truck near the Thai border in 1999. These are now in the National Museum in Phnom Penh. The situation today is as follows: two multi-armed Lokeshvaras (one with 32, the other with 22 arms) are at the original location, two in the National Museum in Phnom Penh, two are still missing and two are in ruins on the spot.
There are numerous apsaras at the monuments of Banteay Chhmar; but without exception all of them were stripped of their heads. Are u. a. Garudas with arms raised.
Faces towers
Face towers are a Bayon style innovation. They do not appear until the second Bayon period and in three places: in Angkor, in the temple city of Preah Khan of Kampong Svay ( Preah Vihear Province ) and in Banteay Chhmar.
In Banteay Chhmar there were towers with faces and without them. The Central Shrine initially had no face towers. In a later construction phase, two face towers were built on the east side of the central courtyard; others followed in other places in the main temple. Cunin determined the number of face towers based on the fragments of eyes, mouth and ears found and calculated that there were at least 50 face towers in the final construction phase. Face towers crowned in Banteay Chhmar u. a. the entrance gates of the 3rd enclosure wall, the two temples east and west of the central sanctuary, and the north and south shrines. The Mebon (island temple) had a face tower and seven of the eight satellite temples had a face tower (exception: the satellite temple, which is located southeast of the inner moat).
In Banteay Chhmar one can distinguish three types of faces; there is only one type at the Bayon Temple. The four faces of a tower each look in the main directions. They represent Jayavarman VII as the Bodhisattva , the enlightened one.
Dharamsala
Inside the inner moat and northeast of the temple is a well-preserved dharamsala . The purpose of this monument (fire sanctuary or pilgrim house) is not clear.
Satellite temple
Not counting the mebon (island temple), 8 satellite temples surround the main temple complex. Six of them stand in pairs on the main axes of the temple (two each on the north, west and south axes). The two satellite temples on the east side of the main temple are an exception. One is on the main axis, the other is about 200 m from the southeast corner of the inner moat. Two of the eight satellite temples are outside the outer enclosure. The satellite temples have the following names:
- To the east: Ta In and Yeay Chou (to the southeast)
- In the south: Ta Phlang and Ta Prohm
- To the west: Ta Naem and Samnang Ta Sok
- To the north: Yeay Kom and Ta Phai
- Mebon (see above)
Of the eight satellite temples, only the one in the southeast did not have a face tower. All eight satellite sanctuaries were surrounded by an enclosure wall averaging 25 meters by 38 meters and at least one moat. Ta Prohm is the only one of the satellite temples that is relatively well preserved. It is located in the middle of the rice fields and is easily accessible. The tower is largely intact, the surrounding wall partially collapsed, and the moat is filled with water. The Prasat Ta Naem (IV) is the only standing example with a face tower of the 2nd type. The other satellite temples are in ruins and some of them are hidden under thick wood.
Importance of the plant
Banteay Chhmar is one of the four largest, enclosed temple cities of the Khmer Empire (together with Preah Khan of Kampong Svay, Angkor Thom and Angkor Wat). The architecture of the Buddhist flat temple is very similar to the temple complexes Ta Prohm, Preah Khan (Angkor) and Banteay Kdei. In contrast to these, Banteay Chhmar is the only temple complex of the Bayon period whose Buddhist iconography has not been changed since the 12th century. Only in Banteay Chhmar there are three types of face towers and only here there were originally eight representations (reliefs) of the multi-armed Lokeshvara. Banteay Chhmar is a unique historical document.
Prasat Banteay Torp
The Prasat Banteay Torp, which stands about 15 km south of Banteay Chhmar on a small hill, was built by order of Jayavarman VII, probably at the same time as Banteay Chhmar. The name means citadel of the army. The monument is surrounded by two low walls and a moat. Four towers were originally arranged around a larger central tower ( quincunx ) and connected to this and to each other. Today only the ruins of three towers tower up. Entire side walls are missing; trees grow from the remains at high altitudes. In some archways of the towers, original 800-year-old wooden beams have been preserved. They have ornaments with notched circles.
literature
- George Groslier : Une merveilleuse cité khmère. Banteai Chhma, ville ancienne du Cambodge . In: L'Illustration , April 1937, N ° 4909, pp. 352-357
- Peter D. Sharrock, Claude Jacques, Olivier Cunin, Thierry Zephir: Banteay Chhmar, Uncovering th Last Great Forest Temple of Ancient Cambodia . River Books (Not yet published. Date of publication: November 2013, possibly summer 2013), ISBN 978-616733920-7
- Charles Higham : The Civilization of Angkor . Univ. of California Press, 2004, ISBN 0-520-24218-1 .
Web links
- Aerial view of Banteay Chhmar. oknation.net
- O. Cunin: "The Small Citadel": Reconstructing the Ruined Buddhist Complex of Banteay Chhmar . youtube.com
- Banteay Chhmar - Working to Save Another Angkor. devata.org
- Holger Dambeck: Virtual archeology: a collapsed temple is rebuilt in the computer. In: Spiegel Online . July 26, 2011, accessed May 9, 2020 .
- Banteay Chhmar Conference 2009. banteaychhmar.net
- Temple Conservation. visitbanteaychhmar.org
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x O. Cunin: “The Small Citadel”: Reconstructing the Ruined Buddhist Complex of Banteay Chhmar . youtube.com
- ↑ a b spiegel.de
- ↑ whc.unesco.org
- ↑ a b c d Banteay Chhmar 937 - Ancient Khmer City in Cambodia Archive link ( Memento of the original from March 24, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Banteay Chhmar 937 - Ancient Khmer City in Cambodia . ( Memento of the original from March 24, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ A b Marilia Albanese: "Angkor, Splendors of the Khmer Civilization", White Star Publishers 2002, ISBN 978-88-544-0566-0 , p. 265
- ↑ a b c d e f Dawn Rooney: Angkor, Cambodia's Wondrous Temples , 2006, ISBN 978-962-217-802-1 , p. 368
- ↑ iccrom.org ( Memento of the original from October 18, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF)
- ↑ Helen Ibbitson Jessup: Art & Architecture of Cambodia . Thames & Hudson world of art, 2004, ISBN 978-963-08-0470-7 , p. 189
- ↑ Michael Freeman, Claude Jacques: The Old Angkor . River Books, 2006, ISBN 974-9863-35-6 , p. 31
- ^ Charles Higham: "The Civilization of Angkor", Univ. of California Press 2004, ISBN 0-520-24218-1 , p. 131
- ↑ world-archaeology.com
- ^ Dawn Rooney: Angkor, Cambodia's Wondrous Temples . 2006, ISBN 978-962-217-802-1 , p. 373
- ^ Dawn Rooney: Angkor, Cambodia's Wondrous Temples , 2006, ISBN 978-962-217-802-1 , p. 371
- ^ Charles Higham: The Civilization of Angkor . Univ. of California Press, 2004, ISBN 0-520-24218-1 , p. 121
