Religion in the Khmer Empire: Hinduism Buddhism (Mahayana and Thevarada)

1. KHMER EMPIRE: Angkor
Religion and Politics

2. Mind Map
Khmer
Empire
Geography
Kings
Wealth
Trade
Your map should start to
look something like this

3. Religion
 What was the original religion of the Khmer people?
 The temple Angkor Wat is modelled on which religion?
 The temple Angkor Thom is located on which religion?
 Which ruler was against the Hindu religion and destroyed all of the previous Hindu
temples and shrines which were already located in Angkor?
 At the end of the empire which religion do you think the Angkor people conformed to?

4. God-King ‘deja rava’
 Khmer people believed their Kings were ‘deva raja’ or
‘God-Kings’
 Kings were divine
 Incarnations of the God Shiva
 Shiva was considered the protector of the empire
 Beliefs were passed on by word of mouth through
generations into the future

5. Angkor Wat – Hindu Temple

6. Hinduism
 Khmer people believed in the Hindu Trinity:
- Shiva (God of Rebirth and Destruction)
- Vishnu (The Protector)
- Brahma (The Creator)
 Khmer people worshipped Shiva through a ‘linga’ which is a stone pillar dedicated to him
 Brahma is less well known and is seen
 Angkor Wat was built as a representation of Mount Meru
 The temple is a built as a religious shrine to the Hindu God Vishnu
 The largest religious temple in the world
 Khmer people also praised the Hindu God Shiva
 The Khmer people would pray in Angkor Wat to honour Vishnu through the God-King Suryavarman II – He believed himself to be the real life version of the God and that is why
he was known as the ‘God-King’
 Hindu priests and ceremonies were held for the elite, nobles and ruling class
Which
Hindu
God do
you
think
this is?

7. Hinduism
Where do you think these objects would have been found?
What do you think is being depicted in these objects?

8. Buddhism
 12th century most of the Khmer Empire was Mahayana Buddhist
 Believed in the ‘new Buddhas’ (Bodhisattvas)
 Stop their progress just before enlightenment to help the human race
 Sri Lankan influence spread throughout Asia when the Khmer people
started trading with them
 Spread Thevarada Buddhism through Khmer Empire which is the Buddhism
that is practiced today in Cambodia
 Angkor Thom was built by Jayavarman VII in late 12th century and was
dedicated to the Mahayana Buddhist tradition

9. Bayon Temple – Angkor Thom

10. Paragraph Writing
T = TOPIC
SENTENCE
E + EXPLANATION
E = EVIDENCE
L = LINK