History of Bayon Temple

Bayon Temple Name: Bayon Temple Builder: King Jayavarman VII Date of construction: Late 12th century Dedicated to: Buddha and Bodhisattva Lokeshvara Architecture: Khmer Location: Angkor Thom, Siem Reap Province Bayon Temple is located in the center of Angkor Thom. The temple was built in the late 12th and early 13th centuries by King Jayavarman VII. The temple has four towers, each with 49 spires and five gateway spires, for a total of 54 spires, representing the 54 provinces of Cambodia at that time. Some scholars believe that the four faces represent the Bodhisattva Lokeshvara, while others believe that they represent King Jayavarman VII. Bayon has a three-story layout. The first and second floors have galleries with beautiful arches. The central 16th and third floors are in the shape of a cross. The Bayon structure is complex, with galleries, walkways, and stairs. In addition to the smiling faces of the Bayon, the temple has exquisite carvings depicting mythological stories in the inner and outer galleries, depicting the daily lives of the people during the Angkor period, including markets, fishing, festivals, boxing, cockfighting, etc., and even depicting historical events, battles, and processions. The carvings are more elaborate than those at Angkor Wat, but are simpler in style. The views of the carvings are shown in rows of two or three panels.[1] == Vachyum is the palace of Indus. According to the text "Laek Angkor Wat", written in the Middle Ages, Indus sent the sage Pishnukara (Vibhakamaran) to the middle world to build a temple for Ketumalaya, which is reminiscent of his palace in Khmer thought, the Pichyumun Ratna or Devachyumun. The name comes from the many reproductions and depictions of the Buddha's handiwork on the earth.[2] The Buddha at Bayon A sculpture of the Buddha with a dragon head in a meditative posture was discovered at the bottom of a well in the center of Bayon in 1932. This sculpture of the Buddha reveals the political mindset of King Jayavarman VII in the late 12th and early 13th centuries. Dr. Michel Trane, a specialist in cultural history, said that in addition to showing the political ideology of King Jayavarman VII in that century, this ancient stone carving has another important meaning: it shows the change from the theocracy to the Buddhaocracy during the reign of King Jayavarman VII. Because the throne or Hindu deity was replaced by a statue representing the Buddha or Avalokiteshvara, as in the case of the Buddha statue above. The professor continued that this change in the religious system can be highlighted through the image of the king, which represents the image of the great hero, King Jayavarman VII. This is the most important point. According to archaeological and epigraphic research, the professor said that carving the image of the king under the image of the Buddha or giving the name of the king to the image of the Buddha was a common tradition in ancient Khmer society. Mr. Trane stated that these factors show us that the Buddha image of Bayon Temple, which is now kept in the building near the Kamalang Palace, truly represents the Buddha, instead of the Deva. The movement to change the system of thought from the Deva to the Buddha has received support from great scholars such as Groslier and Sedes. It is worth recalling that our Great Buddha was repaired because it was broken into several pieces and thrown into the bottom of a well after the Shaivism reaction to Buddhism after the death of King Jayavarman VII [3]. The Bayon and Angkor Wat Fish Sculptures The low reliefs on the wall of the eastern pavilion of the southern wing of Angkor Wat depict a mythological story about the “Churning of the Sea of ​​Milk”. The sculpture is 50 meters long and is divided into three parts. The upper part of the sculpture shows the Apsaras dancing in the air. The middle part shows the churning of the sea of ​​milk by the Asuras and the gods with Naraya as the referee. The Asuras standing at the bottom represent various types of aquatic animals in different shapes. Some of these fish have very strange shapes and are never seen in nature. According to the story above, the milky sea has been around for 1,000 years. Various figures appear, such as apsaras, elephants, horses, elephants, Lakshmi, and many more. The last one is Amrit, a sacred water that can make life immortal. In addition to Angkor Wat, fish carvings are also shown on the walls of other temples. Bayon Temple, built during the reign of King Jayavarman (VII), depicts historical, mythological, and daily life stories of the people. The carvings in the southern pavilion of the east wing of the temple show the use of fishing tools such as fishing rods and nets. In addition, the carvings seem to show the benefits of fish in the daily life of the people of the Angkor period. In addition, these carvings look like fish swimming naturally in the water. Through the thesis of Mr. Chey Chhon (1973), we can recognize the names of some of the fish carved on the walls of Bayon Temple. Analyze all these fish species. With the help of Mr. Touch Sieng Tana, a fisheries expert at the Mekong River Commission, and Ms. Barbara Albrecht, we were able to identify the species of fish, and sometimes even the species, carved on the walls of the South Pavilion of the Bayon and the East Pavilion of Angkor Wat. Of the 16 species of fish depicted on the walls of the Bayon and Bayon temples, we were able to identify 13 species. Direct observation of the sculptures of these two temples revealed 1,193 fish. This number includes fish that are clearly visible. In addition, there are many more fish that we cannot analyze because some of the sculptures are not yet complete, and some have decayed due to natural and human damage. The fish sculptures are not only carved on the walls of the two temples above. On the walls of the Sra Srei (ancient name “Silat Dak”) in the Angkor Royal Palace and the walls of the King’s Palace, many fish are also carved. But here we will only study the fish sculptures at Angkor Wat and Bayon. The sculptures at Angkor Wat show many species of fish with scales. It is believed that these species of fish with scales make up about 78% of all fish species. In addition, the species of scaly fish is 7%, the species of ras fish is 4%, and the species of phtong fish is 4.6.