LIGHTHOUSE_of_ANGKOR.pdf

Dr U. DOKRAS PhD Stockholm
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LIGHTHOUSE of ANGKOR
Dr UDAY DOKRAS Ph D Stockholm, SWEDEN

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CONTENTS page 3
CHAPTER I-AngkorTheSurprisingDiscoverypage4
CHAPTER II-Angkor -SPIRITUAL LIGHTHOUSE-To
Hinduism and Buddhism page 10
CHAPTER III-The Role of Astronomy at Angkor Wat page
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CHAPTER IV The Bas FRelief Galleries at Angkor page 35
CHAPTER V
THE STORY OF ASTROLOGY IN ANGKOR WAT &
OTHER KHEMER TEMPLES page 74
CHAPTER VI-Role od n Astronomy in ANGKOR page 106
CHAPTER VII- What is an Aedicule in architecture? Page
114
CHAPTER VIII- The SPIRES of ANGKOR VAT page 130
ABOUT THE AUTHOR page 228

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INTRODUCTION
Writing is a continuous process. As soon as 10-12 essays get written
on the same domain, I put them together as a book. So many books
are born, yet they are all collections of my and my daughter Srishti’s
essays.
The Angkor Wat as well as the Khmer Architecture is a never
ending supply of knowledge to many authors, researchers and story
tellers ( like me) who churn out dozens of serious and semi -serious
articles on this ENIGMA called ANGKOR.
However, the word encompasses several items not just this temple or
that, this king or that but entire gamut of Sanskritization of these
far away lands. Far away, from the birthplace of Sanskrit- the
Hindu Country of what today is India and what in the olden days
was called BHARAT. I collaborate and try to collaborate with
various writers who ask me who I am? So I tell them that I am the
ultimate perfect person to write about the Sanskrit speaking S.E.
Asian countries. A Brahmin and a practicing Hindu – I am what
Jayavarman II and others were!
This gives me a wonderful advantage, insight and a quick grasp of
the subject. I thank the readers who have held me in love and
affection by becoming almost a million who read and appreciate my
work. But million, billion are just numbers the real love is in
devoting your time to appreciate mine. “A reader lives a
thousand lives before he dies . . . The man who never
reads lives only one.” -George R.R. Martin producer of Game of
Thrones. May you live a million, my dear reader.
Dr. UDAY DOKRAS

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CHAPTER I
Angkor The Surprising Discovery
Thelargestreligiousstructureonearthhaspuzzledandenchantedvisitorsforcenturies.Howdiditcometobe?JonathanGlancey
investigates. By Jonathan Glancey14th March 2017
The first Western visitor to Angkor
One hundred years after the fall of Angkor, in app.1550 or 1951, which when
King Satha Ang Chan went for a hunt he stumbled upon the ruins of the
Angkor Wat temple complex in the jungles. It is a known fact that Sâtha
became fascinated with Angkor having made it his capital (1571-
1576) commanding the partial restoration of the town.
António da Madalena a Portugese frair visited and stayed in
Angkor giving a detailed and faithful description of the town, in
particular of its many fountains and conduits that contributed to
make it “…the finest, the best regulated, and the cleanest of all
[cities] in the world.” Madalena’s narration to his friend Diogo do
Couto was lost for some years drawing a veil over the fascinating
city with its temples and palaces in these words :
“On one of the sides of this town there were incomplete
monuments which seem to have been the palaces of kings, because
the workmanship, sump- tuousness and grandeur immediately look
royal in their numerous cornices, leaf decoration, figures and other
or- namentation which delight the eye and witness to the skill of
their sculptors.”

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Henri Mouhot's diary
Bernard-Philippe Groslier became the first European to visit Angkor after a
long interregnum. In 1952-1953, he undertook his first excavations at Angkor, at
the Palais Royal of Angkor Thom. This was followed by a second season under the
EFEO at the Palais Royal and Rolous (Hariharalaya) in 1958. While the Franciscan
friar António da Madelena praised the beauty of the religious complex "like no other
monument in the whole world" he correctly attributes an Indian origin to the Khmer
architecture. In 1604, Dominican friar Gabriel Quiroga de San Antonio believed it
could be a temple of the of the lost tribes of Israel in these words:
It “is of such extraordinary construction that it is not possible to describe it with a
pen, particularly since it is like no other building in the world. It has towers and
decoration and all the refinements which the human genius can conceive of.”
By the time of Madelena’s visit, the once mighty Khmer Empire that had built Angkor
and its temple dedicated to Vishnu – mistaken by visitors even today for a walled and
towered city – had fallen. Three centuries later, Europeans were baffled by what they
found at Angkor. Henri Mouhout, a young French naturalist and explorer who died
here in 1861 and whose writings, published posthumously, encouraged successive
waves of archaeologists to Cambodia in pursuit of a lost ancient civilization, could
make neither head nor tail of what he saw.
“One of these temples – a rival to that of Solomon and erected by some ancient
Michelangelo might take an honorable place beside our most beautiful buildings,” he
wrote. “It is grander than anything left to us by Greece or Rome, and presents a sad
contrast to the state of barbarism in which the nation is now plunged.”
The zenith of their once dynamic empire that, founded in 802, fell in 1431 when the
rival King of Thailand Ayutthaya kingdom sacked Angkor. The seat of the remnant
Khmer kingdom moved to Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital today.
Stranded in the jungle
Thanks to the forensic aerial mapping conducted since 2007 by Damian Evans and
Jean-Baptiste Chevance, using ground-sensing radar developed by Nasa we recognize
that Angkor Wat was the epicentre of a sprawling city at least as big as Berlin. At its
zenith during the reign of Jayavarman VII (1181-1218), it was the mighty heart of the
largest empire of its time.

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Angkor Wat has a massive moat surrounding the central temple complex – seen from the air, the entire site is
remarkable for its precise 90-degree angles
Mind boggling Angkor
Helen Churchill Candee's classic 1024 AD tale of Asian adventure Angkor- The Magnificent - Wonder
City Of Ancient Cambodia further attracted attention to Angkor. "The tale of it is
incredible; the wonder which is Angkor is unmatched in Asia." So begins Helen
Churchill Candee's classic tale of Asian adventure. Today, readers can again
experience the mystery of Cambodia's vast jungle temples through her eyes. Helen
Churchill Candee is best known for surviving the sinking of the RMS Titanic.
Candee was traveling in Europe in the spring of 1912, completing research for The
Tapestry Book, when she received a telegram from her daughter, Edith, advising that
Candee's son, Harold ("Harry"), had been injured in an accident. From Paris, Candee
hurriedly booked passage home on the new luxury ocean liner, the RMS Titanic. On
the voyage, she socialized with other prominent travelers, such as President Taft's
military aide, Major Archibald Butt, Col. Gracie, and the painter Francis Davis Millet.

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Since baggage and personal items were not allowed aboard the lifeboats, Candee gave
two precious items, an ivory cameo miniature of her mother and a small flask of
brandy, to a male friend, New York architect Edward Austin Kent who had pockets.
These were later retrieved from his floating remains and, in 2006, sold at auction for
around $80,000 for the locket and $40,000 for the flask. Candee was able to
board lifeboat 6 but fell and fractured her ankle in the process. Also aboard was first
class passenger Margaret Brown (aka "the unsinkable Molly Brown"); both women
manned the oars of the lifeboat.
Candee subsequently gave a short interview about her experiences to the Washington
Herald and wrote a detailed article on the disaster for Collier's Weekly. This cover story
was one of the first in-depth eyewitness accounts of the sinking published in a major
magazine. The article hinted at a romantic involvement with an unidentified male
passenger, believed to be an amalgam of two of her escorts en route, New York
architect Edward Austin Kent and London investor Hugh Woolner.
Candee's Titanic injury required her to walk with a cane for almost a year, but by
March 1913, she was able to join other feminist equestriennes in the "Votes for
Women" parade down Pennsylvania Avenue (Washington, D.C.), riding her horse at the
head of the procession that culminated at the steps of Capitol Hill.
During World War I, Candee worked as a nurse in Rome and Milan under the auspices
of the Italian Red Cross, which decorated her for her service. One of her patients in
Milan was Ernest Hemingway.
After the war, she traveled to Japan, China, Indonesia, and Cambodia, and her
adventures became the basis for two of her most celebrated books: Angkor the
Magnificent (1924) and New Journeys in Old Asia (1927). Candee was honored by the
French government and the King of Cambodia for these works; she was also
commanded to give a reading of Angkor to King George V and Queen
Mary at Buckingham Palace.
Helen Candee, son Harry, their guide, and "Effie" the elephant at Angkor Wat (1922)
Angkor the Magnificent was the first major English-language study of the ruins of
the ancient Khmer temple Angkor Wat and its environs. Called the "Lost City" or the
"Wonder City", Angkor Wat is considered one of the great man-made wonders of the
world. Largely unknown to Westerners until the publication of Candee's book, its
subsequent popularity laid groundwork for the modern tourist market in

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Cambodia. On Candee's initial southeast Asian trips in 1922-23 she was accompanied
by her son, Harry, with whom she trekked through the then dangerous jungles with
their native guide, riding atop the great elephant she named "Effie". On later visits, the
author was joined by her friend and collaborator, illustrator Lucille Douglass.
Although The Tapestry Book was the most lucrative book Candee wrote, Angkor the
Magnificent was the most acclaimed.
The success of Angkor and New Journeys led to a prosperous secondary career for
Candee as a lecturer on the Far East, while her work as a journalist continued apace.
She was briefly Paris editor for Arts & Decoration (1920–21) and remained on that
publication's editorial advisory staff for several years.
In 1925, Candee was among the nine founding members of the Society of Woman
Geographers. As late as 1935-36, when she was almost 80, Candee was still traveling
abroad, writing articles for National Geographic magazine. She walked with kings,
presidents, the wealthy and the powerful. entertaining, educating and influencing
them. This independent woman championed feminine equality and fought tirelessly for
woman's rights. And, as a single woman, she traveled the Far East with a keen eye for
detail, an inquisitive mind, and a sensitivity for local culture. Helen Candee's
travelogue remains one of the most evocative English language accounts of the ancient
Khmer capital. This expanded hardcover edition marks the first reissue of her
complete 1924 work with more than 100 antique illustrations, an index and
bibliography. For the first time in print, this edition also features an original biography
of Helen Candee by historian Randy Bryan Bigham, and a reprint of Candee's original
account of the Titanic disaster itself. In 2012, Evans, a faculty member of the
Department of Archaeology at the University of Sydney and founding member and
deputy director of the Greater Angkor Project, and Chevance, an archaeologist with the
École française d’Extrême-Orient, founded in 1900, discovered the ‘lost city’ of
Mahendraparvata on the plateau of Phnom Kulen. Twenty-five miles north of Angkor,
this planned city with its grid of boulevards had been hidden by vegetation for
centuries. Founded by the warrior-priest monarch Jayavarman II in 802, it was the
‘template’ of Angkor and its great temple. Since 2012, Mahendraparvata has proved to
be even bigger than Evans and Chevance had first thought.
This drawing of the temple’s façade was made by Henri Mouhout, a French explorer who visited the site in
the mid 19th Century and could not believe his eyes

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The discovery of this city was only possible thanks to Lidar, a form of aerial laser
scanning that, mounted in helicopters, sees through the ground below, identifying
streets and buildings where all the human eye can see is fields and forests.
Jayavarman VII was the ruler of the Khmer Empire from 1181 to 1218 and is widely
regarded as its most powerful leader – he oversaw the completion of the temple.
The sheer scale of Angkor is mind-bending. From its moated temple with its lotus-bud
towers, its courtyards and galleries, friezes of warriors, kings, demons, battles and
three thousand heavenly nymphs, all shaped in thirty-seven years by 300,000 workers
and 6,000 elephants, or so inscriptions say, from millions of sandstone slabs floated
down from Phnom Kulen, Angkor stretched for miles around.
Urban planning
This, perhaps, was the first low-density a vast-reaching metropolis, flouting an
ambitious network of roads and canals, reservoirs and dams carved from the forest.
What’s more, Khmer cities were connected to one another, so the “built-up” area of
Angkor seems to have been bigger than anyone today, much less barefoot 16th
Century Portuguese friars, has been able to figure. An enormous and intricate
irrigation system mapped by Evans and Chevance provided Angkor with food – rice for
the main part – and yet the ever-increasing scale of this engineered and well populated
landscape was, it seems, its undoing.1
“Angkor overreached itself. It was not simply military invasion from what is now
Thailand that hastened the fall of the Khmer Empire, but the imperious ambition of
rulers and cities. What proved to be overpopulation caused unsustainable
deforestation, the degradation of topsoil and the overworking of the irrigation system
that would have required a huge workforce to keep it in a permanent state of good
repair.For all the raised roadways with rest houses sited every 15km (9 miles) and
hospitals built by Jayavarman VII, who used ambitious architecture and grand plans
to keep the peace as well as to express the confidence and culture of the Khmer
Empire, the jungle would reclaim these mighty works.”
Angkor today, along with such romantic temples as Jayavarman VII’s Ta Prohm,
where enormous cotton silk trees and their fairy-tale roots appear to hold the
architecture in wild embrace, and known to cinema goers through the film Lara Croft:
Tomb Raider (2001), is threatened anew not by invading armies but by mass tourism.
Already, brash new ‘luxury’ air-conditioned tour-group hotels, featuring swimming
pools, hot tubs and spas, dominate the once small French Colonial town of Siem Reap,
no longer a walk, but now an air-conditioned coach ride from Angkor Wat.
Such is the use of water by the millions of tourists heading this way each year that the
water table of the area under sandy soil is threatened. Its decline is damaging the very
stones of the 12th-Century temple; meanwhile, visitors take photographs of
themselves and shout into theirΩΩ mobile phones.
As laser-mapping technology becomes more readily available, perhaps archaeologists
might help to divert some of the millions heading to Angkor Wat to elsewhere in
Cambodia and Southeast Asia. Even so, what Angkor has that will keep drawing the
crowds is the world’s biggest temple – and one that remains enigmatically
magnificent.2

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________________________________________________________________________________________________
1.Mahendraparvata: an early Angkor-period capital defined through airborne laser scanning at
Phnom Kulen, Jean-Baptiste Chevance,Damian Evans,Nina Hofer,Sakada Sakhoeun and
Ratha Chhean,Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 October 2019
2. https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20170309-the-mystery-of-angkor-wat
In an article titles-What does the new imaging technology unveil about Angkor?
Lasers reveal ancient Cambodian cities hidden by jungle near Angkor Wat, Lacy Cooke
states that” a thrilling new discovery, archaeologists used laser imaging technology
to reveal ancient cities hidden by jungle in Cambodia. The LiDAR data provides
information on waterways, iron smelting locations, and even another temple, Preah
Khan. The discovery reveals that the cities near Angkor Wat were much larger than
previously thought.
Angkor Wat was built during the reign of King Suryavarman II of the Khmer Empire in
the early to middle 1100s, and it was part of one of the biggest ancient cities.
Archaeologists suspected there had to be more to the area, and research has been
underway for several years. The new data appears to confirm these suspicions.
Archaeologist Damian Evans said to AFP, “The LiDAR quite suddenly revealed an

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entire cityscape there with astonishing complexity. It turned out we’d been walking
and flying right over the top of this stuff for ten years and not even noticing it because
of the vegetation. What we had was basically a scatter of disconnected points on the
map denoting temple sites. Now it’s like having a detailed street map of the entire
city.”
Back in 2012, scans revealed an ancient temple city close to Angkor Wat called
Mahendraparvata, and the new scans will assist archaeologists on the ground as they
continue to explore that area. It had been difficult for archaeologists to determine the
extent of this area because the empire constructed many of the ancient buildings with
wood that’s since rotted. Made of stone, the temples endure. Archaeologists saw
evidence of both Hinduism and Buddhism in the temples; both religions were part of
the Khmer Empire during different time periods.”

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CHAPTER II
Angkor -SPIRITUAL LIGHTHOUSE
To Hinduism and Buddhism
King Suryavarman II/Angkor Wat
History mentions many ancient lost cities of the world that were drowned, abandoned, or
merely lost in the wilderness. Many of these were eventually forgotten with the passage of time
until some wanderer or historian accidentally or intentionally discovered the ruins. Thanks to
these people, we came to know of these hidden beautiful places in the world.
There is no end to the list of the lost cities of the ancient world. But, to make things easier for
you, we have listed some of the lost cities of the world that were eventually discovered.
Lost Cities Of The World
Exploring places that were once significant centers of trade, economy, and culture but lost their
significance with the passing centuries tells us mysterious stories of the bygone days. Here is the
list of the lost cities of the world, starting with domestic sites followed by international hidden
gems. Read on to know the interesting facts about the lost cities of the world:
1. Kalibangan – Rajasthan
2. Lothal – Gujarat
3. Dwarka – Gujarat
4. Sanchi – Madhya Pradesh
5. Vijayanagara – Hampi
6. Mohenjo-daro – Sindh
7. Taxila – Rawalpindi
8. Caral – Barranca
9. Machu Picchu – Cusco
10. Calakmul – Campeche
11. Lagunita – Yucatán
12. Göbekli Tepe – Örencik

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13. Troy – Çanakkale
14. Mesa Verde – Colorado
15. Skara Brae – Orkney
16. Pompeii – Campania
17. Leptis Magna – Khoms
18. Helike – Achaea
19. Heracleion – Alexandria
20. Petra – Ma’an Governorate
21. Angkor Wat
22. Borobudur
Many boasted of huge and gigantic constructions., some of whom still stand.
The hampi, the Sanchi Atupa city, Alexandria, Helike – Achaea, Heracleion or Alexandria, the
Petra or Ma’an Governorate, the Angkor Wat and the Borobudur all boasted of pinnacular
constructions, amazing heights and gigantic stature of the civil work. Why was that so:
1. To talk of the Glory of the empire
2. The Glory of the builder( King)
3. Tal keep the subjects in awe
4. To develop a sense of pride in them
5. To attract them towards the polity and to keep them subjugated
THE LIGHTHOUSE AT ALEXANDRIA
Giving the example of the lighthouse at Alexandria from my book of the same name, I reproduce the
following passages
After its construction by Alexander the Great, the city of Alexandria quickly became the center of Greek
learning. Under the rule of Ptolemy I the city became both a well of knowledge and extremely prosperous
harbor. However, the city needed both a symbol and a mechanism to guide the many trade ships into the
busy harbor. Thus Ptolemy authorized the building of the Pharos( as the Light House will be called off
and on in this Book) in 290 B.C., and when it was completed some twenty years later, it was the first
lighthouse in the world and the tallest building in existence, with the exception of the Great Pyramid.
Description
The lighthouse was built on an island off the coast of Alexandria called Pharos. Its name, legend says, is a
variation of Pharaoh's Island. The island was connected to the mainland by means of a dike - the
Heptastadion - which gave the city a double harbor. The lighthouse was constructed of marble blocks
with lead mortar and was composed of three stages: The lowest square, 55.9 m (183.4 ft) high with a
cylindrical core; the middle octagonal with a side length of 18.30 m (60.0 ft) and a height of 27.45 m
(90.1 ft); and the third circular 7.30 m (24.0 ft) high. The total height of the building including the
foundation base was about 117 m (384 ft), the same as a 40-story modern building. On top of the tower
was a cylinder that extended up to an open cupola where where the fire that provided the light burned. On
the roof of the cupola was a large statue of Poseidon, while the lower portion of the building contained
hundreds of storage rooms. The interior of the upper two sections had a shaft with a dumbwaiter that was
used to transport fuel up to the fire. Staircases allowed visitors and the keepers to climb to the beacon
chamber. There, according to reports, a large curved mirror, perhaps made of polished metal, was used to

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project the fire's light into a beam. It was said ships could detect the light from the tower at night or the
smoke from the fire during the day up to one-hundred miles away. The lighthouse's designer was a
famous architect, Sostrates of Knidos. Legend states that being proud of his work, Sostrates, desired to
have his name carved into the foundation. Ptolemy II, the son who ruled Egypt after his father, refused
this request wanting his own name to be the only one on the building. Sostrates had the inscription:
SOSTRATES SON OF DEXIPHANES OF KNIDOS ON BEHALF OF ALL MARINERS TO THE
SAVIOR GODS
chiseled into the foundation, then covered it with plaster. Into the plaster was chiseled Ptolemy's name.
As the years went by the plaster aged and chipped away revealing Sostrates' declaration.
How long did it take to construct: The Lighthouse of Alexandria, sometimes called the Pharos of
Alexandria, was a lighthouse built by the Ptolemaic Kingdom between 280 and 247 BC which has been
estimated to be 100 metres in overall height. One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, for many
centuries it was one of the tallest man-made structures in the world. Badly damaged by three earthquakes
between AD 956 and 1323, it then became an abandoned ruin. It was the third longest surviving ancient
wonder (after the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus and the extant Great Pyramid of Giza) until 1480, when
the last of its remnant stones were used to build the Citadel of Qaitbay on the site. In 1994, French
archaeologists discovered some remains of the lighthouse on the floor of Alexandria's Eastern Harbour.
The Ministry of State of Antiquities in Egypt has planned, as of late 2015, to turn submerged ruins of
ancient Alexandria, including those of the Pharos, into an underwater museum.
he lighthouse was constructed in the 3rd century BC. After Alexander the Great died, the first Ptolemy
(Ptolemy I Soter) announced himself king in 305 BC, and commissioned its construction shortly
thereafter. The building was finished during the reign of his son, the second Ptolemy (Ptolemy II
Philadelphus). It took twelve years to complete, at a total cost of 800 talents, and served as a prototype for
all later lighthouses in the world. The light was produced by a furnace at the top, and the tower was said
to have been built mostly with solid blocks of limestone.
Strabo reported that Sostratus had a dedication inscribed in metal letters to the "Saviour Gods". Later
Pliny the Elder wrote that Sostratus was the architect, which is disputed. In the second century AD the
satirist Lucian wrote that Sostratus inscribed his name under plaster bearing the name of Ptolemy. This
was so that when the plaster with Ptolemy's name fell off, Sostratus's name would be visible in the
stone.There are numerous rumors as to how the lighthouse fell. One story states that the lighthouse was
demolished through trickery. In 850 A.D. the Emperor of Constantinople, a rival port, devised a clever
plot to get rid of the Pharos. He spread rumors that buried under the lighthouse was a fabulous treasure.
When the Caliph at Cairo who controlled Alexandria heard these rumors, he ordered that the tower be
pulled down to get at the treasure. It was only after the great mirror had been destroyed and the top two
portions of the tower removed that the Caliph realized he'd been deceived. He tried to rebuild the tower,
but couldn't, so he turned it into a mosque instead. This story, however, is hard to believe since there are
texts stating that the lighthouse was still up and running in 1115 A.D. thus it couldn't have been destroyed
in 850. The most likely cause of the collapse was that in AD 956, an earthquake shook Alexandria, but
caused little damage to the Lighthouse. It was later in 1303 and in 1323 that two stronger earthquakes
causes the structure to collapse, sinking into the ocean. Finally in 1480 A.D. when the Egyptian
Mamelouk Sultan, Qaitbay, decided to fortify Alexandria's defense, he built a medieval fort on the same
spot where the Lighthouse once stood, using the fallen stone and marble.1
Scholars have called the Lighthouse of Alexandria the only practical wonder since it served a utilitarian
purpose. We have plenty of information about it, but some are conflicting accounts. The story of the
lighthouse begins with Alexander the Great.

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According to Plutarch, Alexander had a dream in which he was told to seek the small island of Pharos,
located just off the coast of ancient Egypt. He chose Ptolemy I Soter, one of his army's generals, to settle
the island. Ptolemy decided that Pharos needed something to identify it, both symbolically and literally --
its coast was difficult to navigate.
Some scholars credit the idea for the lighthouse to Ptolemy and others attribute it to the mouseion, a
governmental brain trust [source: Smithsonian]. Around 285 B.C., construction began. A man
named Sostrates of Knidos was instrumental to the process. By some accounts, he was the financial
backer for the project -- the lighthouse cost about 800 talents, bars of silver, equal to roughly three million
dollars [source: Princeton]. Other accounts identify him as the lighthouse's architect.
Even if we can't be sure of the lighthouse's architect, we are certain of its architecture. It was built with
marble and mortar and composed of three stories. The first level was rectangular, the second octagonal
and the third cylindrical. Perched atop the third story was a statue -- either of Zeus or Poseidon, god of the
sea. Records from Moorish travelers in the tenth century A.D. say that the lighthouse was 300 cubits high,
which converts to about 450 feet (137 meters).A spiral ramp led to its entrance. Carts and workhorses
could be led up to the first level to the hundreds of storage rooms. To access the upper levels, one had to
use the spiral staircase. Dumbwaiters lifted supplies to the highest tower.
German sculptors work on a sand replica of the pharos during a sand sculpting competition in
Ships could supposedly see the lighthouse from a hundred miles away [source: PharosLighthouse.org].
During the day, light was reflected from the sun with a concave metal disc; at night, light came from a
bonfire, fueled by firewood or dried animal dung. The lighthouse survived through more than
22 earthquakes before it came toppling down in 1303. The people of Pharos loved their lighthouse dearly -- it

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was a source of power and revenue for the island. They attempted to repair and restore the lighthouse
throughout the ninth and thirteenth centuries when it became clear that it could no longer be saved.
Today, a fort stands on its site. The identity of Pharos became so enmeshed with the lighthouse that the
lighthouse became alternately known as the Pharos of Alexandria. "Pharos" is also the root of the word
"lighthouse" in several languages. And our knowledge of the lighthouse continues to grow after a 1994
archaeological scuba expedition found sunken remnants of the lighthouse.
‫الـمـنـــارة‬
Al-Manarah
The Lighthouse of Alexandria
Dr. Uday Dokras
LASTING LEGACY
Supposedly, Sostrates was so proud of his creation that he asked to inscribe his name on the lighthouse.
Ptolemy II, who had succeeded his father by the project's completion, refused Sostrates' request. Sostrates

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inscribed his name anyway and covered it with a plaster inscription bearing Ptolemy's name. Over time, the
plaster weathered away, revealing his legacy.2
The Alexandria Lighthouse was built by the Ptolemaic
Kingdom sometime between 280 and 247 BC.
Similarly the Angkor wat and the Borobudur stupa were constructions done to create a lasting legacy.
Golden age of Khmer Civilization
Golden age of Khmer Civilization began they say with Suryavarman II – and the Angkor Wat temple
he laid the foundation to. The 12th century was a time of conflict and brutal power struggles.
Under Suryavarman II (reigned 1113–1150) the kingdom united internally
and the large temple of
Angkor was built in a period of 37 years: Angkor Wat, dedicated to the god Vishnu.
In the east, his campaigns against Champa, and Dai Viet, were unsuccessful,
though he
sacked Vijaya in 1145 and deposed Jaya Indravarman III.
The Khmers occupied Vijaya until 1149,
when they were driven out by Jaya Harivarman I. Suryavarman II sent a mission to the Chola
dynasty of south India and presented a precious stone to the Chola emperor Kulottunga Chola I in
1114.
Another period followed in which kings reigned briefly and were violently overthrown by their
successors. Finally, in 1177 the capital was raided and looted in a naval battle on the Tonlé Sap
lake by a Cham fleet under Jaya Indravarman IV, and Tribhuvanadityavarman was killed.
Jayavarman VII – Angkor Thom

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Portrait statue of Jayavarman VII/Bronze replica of one of the twenty-three stone images sent by King
Jayavarman VII to different parts of his kingdom in 1191/Bayon, the state temple located at the center of
Jayavarman VII's capital, Angkor Thom
King Jayavarman VII (reigned 1181–1219) was generally considered Cambodia's greatest king.
He had already been a military leader as a prince under the previous kings. After the Cham had
conquered Angkor, he gathered an army and regained the capital. He ascended the throne and
continued the war against the neighbouring eastern kingdom for another 22 years, until the
Khmer defeated Champa in 1203 and conquered large parts of its territory. According to Chinese
sources, Jayavarman VII added Pegu to the territory of the Khmer Empire in 1195.
Jayavarman VII stands as the last of the great kings of Angkor, not only because of his
successful war against the Cham, but also because he was not a tyrannical ruler in the manner of
his immediate predecessors. He unified the empire and carried out noteworthy building projects.
The new capital, now called Angkor Thom (literally: "Great City"), was built. In the centre, the
king (himself a follower of Mahayana Buddhism) had constructed as the state temple the
Bayon,with towers bearing faces of the boddhisattva Avalokiteshvara, each several metres high,
carved out of stone. Further important temples built under Jayavarman VII were Ta Prohm for
his mother, Preah Khan for his father,
Banteay Kdei, and Neak Pean, as well as the reservoir
of Srah Srang. An extensive network of roads was laid down connecting every town of the
empire, with rest-houses built for travelers and a total of 102 hospitals established across his
realm.

19
Jayavarman VIII – the last blooming
After the death of Jayavarman VII, his son Indravarman II (reigned 1219–1243) ascended the
throne. Like his father, he was a Buddhist, and he completed a series of temples begun under his
father's rule. As a warrior he was less successful. In the year 1220, under mounting pressure from
increasingly powerful Đại Việt, and its Cham alliance, the Khmer withdrew from many of the
provinces previously conquered from Champa. In the west, his Thai subjects rebelled,
establishing the first Thai kingdom at Sukhothai and pushing back the Khmer. In the following
200 years, the Thais would become the chief rivals of Kambuja.
Flip flop of religions: Indravarman II who was a Buddhist was succeeded by Jayavarman
VIII (reigned 1243–1295). a follower of Hindu Shaivism and an aggressive opponent of
Buddhism. He again reverted many Buddhist temples to Hindu temples. Jayavarman VIII's rule
ended in 1295 when he was deposed by his son-in-law Srindravarman (reigned 1295–1309) who
was a Theravada Buddhist. In August 1296, the Chinese diplomat Zhou Daguan arrived
at Angkor and his account informs us that the towers of the Bayon were once covered in gold.
LIGHTHOUSE to the EMPIRE
The seeds, however, were sown by the man with a grandiose vision and even bigger
ambitions-Jayavarman II (reigned c. 802–850) was a 9th-century king
of Cambodia/Kambojadesa, widely recognized as the founder of the Khmer Empire, the
dominant civilisation on the Southeast Asian mainland until the mid 15th century. He was a
powerful Khmer king who overthrew the rule of the Shailendra Dynasty from Java. Historians
formerly dated his reign as running from 802 AD to 835 AD. Jayavarman II founded many
capitals such as Mahendraparvata, Indrapura (Khmer), Amarendrapura, and Hariharalaya. Before
Jayavarman II came to power, there was much fighting among local overlords who ruled
different parts of Cambodia. The country was not unified under one ruler. No inscriptions by

20
Jayavarman II have been found. Future kings of the Khmer Empire described him as a warrior
and the most powerful king from that time frame that they can recall. His reign began with the
grandiose consecration ritual conducted on sacred Mount Mahendraparvata, now known as Phnom
Kulen. At that ceremony Prince Jayavarman II was proclaimed a universal monarch (Kamraten jagad ta
Raja in Cambodian) or God King (Deva Raja in Sanskrit). These two titles were taken simultaneously or
preceded each other is not clear. I sjubscribe to the theoreu that he became DEVARAJA King of the Gods
and was ;posthumously made Chakravartin. ( See my paper titled Chakravartin on academia.edu) and
whether
jagad ta Raja was something that followed the DEVRAJA title or separate title he toon later on
is not clear. ( whether he took theat title itself is contentious).
The Sdok Kok Thom Inscription, (1052AD) one of the world’s ancient testaments. recovered at a ruined
temple of the same name in Thailand close to the Cambodian border is a the 340-line chronicle that
unlocks the early history of the Khmer Empire. The founding of an empire, the settling of frontier lands, a
king’s gifting of gold pitchers and black-eared stallions to a Brahmin priest – these and other remarkable
stories come down to us in it. 1
His coronation on Mount Kulen and later building activities were all made to galvanize the
people. Especially so since he came from another place.. He could have been of aristocratic birth,
“For the prosperity of the people in this perfectly pure royal race, great lotus which no longer has
a stalk, he rose like a new flower,” declares one inscription. Various other details are recounted
in inscriptions: he married a woman named Hyang Amrita; and he dedicated a foundation at
Lobok Srot, in the southeast.
._______________________________________________________________________
Stories in Stone: The Sdok Kok Thom Inscription & the Enigma of Khmer History Kindle Edition
by John Burgess (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

21
Once established in the Angkor region, he appears to have reigned not only in Hariharalaya,
located just north of the Tonle Sap lake, but also at a place that inscriptions call Amarendrapura.
It has not been positively identified, though some historians believe it to be a now lost settlement
at the western end of the West Baray, the eight kilometer-long holy reservoir that was built about
two centuries after his death. No single temple is positively associated with Jayavarman, but
some historians suggest he may have built Ak Yum, a brick stepped pyramid, now largely
ruined, at the southern edge of the West Baray. The temple was a forerunner to the mountain-
temple architectural form of later Khmer kings.
This king of kinds business and also the King of Gods (Vishnu) business was extended by the
following dynasties. It is quite probable that Angkor was designed as a modest sized temple but
succeeding King added more and more.

22
The many LIGHTHOUSES of the South East Asian skies

24
CHAPTER III
The Role of Astronomy at Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat is surrounded by a 200-m.-wide moat, crossed by a bridge on the west. At the end of the
bridge is a 200-m. long entrance structure: three central towers flanked on the north and south by a long,
pillared corridors that end in entrance gateways opening flat on the ground. An enclosing wall stretches
from these gateways around the temple compound.
The temple is built with incredible accuracy. Dated Khmer inscriptions begin with an elaborate
description of the location of the planets, sun, and moon in both the solar zodiac signs and lunar
constellations on the day the event in the inscription took place. This system also mentions whether the
date in question was in the waxing or waning half of the lunar month, and on which day of the week.
Astronomy is listed more than once among the subjects taught to Khmer kings. Based on the evidence of
stone inscriptions then, it would have been clear even to the most casual reader that astronomy played an
important role in the elite strata of Khmer society.
There is a 352-m. western causeway that leads from the main entrance of the temple (just cited) to the
central three galleries. The outer (third) gallery is decorated with bas-reliefs and dedicated to the history
of the king. The next (second) gallery has bare walls and was dedicated to the god Brahma and the moon.
The last (first) gallery surrounds the central tower and was dedicated to Vishnu as a Supreme Deity. We
do not know the name of the image of Vishnu that was once in the central tower. Both the first and second
galleries of the temples have towers over their corner pavilions, the third gallery has corner pavilions
without towers.

25
The Role of Astronomy at Angkor Wat
Synopsis
The temple of Angkor Wat was constructed in the first half of the twelfth century by King Suryavarman II
(r. 1113-ca. 1150). Astronomy enters into the meaning, format, and bas-relief decoration of the temple in
three different ways. First of all, when the measurements of Angkor Wat are translated into the cubit unit
used in the temple's construction, lunar and solar calendrical cycles are revealed in axial and
circumference lengths. Secondly, there are several solar and lunar alignments between western points
along the axis and the towers in the central galleries. Both the calendrical dimensions and the alignments
were definitive elements in determining the format of the temple. In addition to actual sight lines, the
solstice sun casts light onto specific segments of the bas-reliefs and corridors, planned so as to literally
illuminate the selected segments with solar meaning. Finally, the composition and content of the panels of
bas-reliefs further define solar and lunar periodicity. In particular, the scene of the Churning of the Sea of
Milk (Milky Way) has been chosen here to demonstrate its calendrical function. In the end, we find that
the king himself, in conjunction with the solar god Vishnu in the central sanctuary, is an integral part of
the solar and lunar symbolism revealed in the measurements, alignments, and bas-reliefs.
The temple of Angkor Wat at the site of Angkor in northwestern Cambodia was started in 1113 CE when
King Suryavarman II rose to power. Suryavarman died around 1150, at which time all work on the temple
came to a halt. In this brief span of 37 years, the king endowed a monument that is now recognized as one
of the world's most notable architectural achievements.
Several excellent and erudite papers and research articles have been written on the Astronomy of
Angkor including several of mine.
1. Time, Space, and Astronomy in Angkor Wat
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/2889330_Time_Space_and_Astronomy_in_Angkor_W
at
2. Amelia Carolina Sparavigna. Solar Alignments of the Planning of Angkor Wat Temple Complex.
Philica, Philica, 2016, pp.591. ffhal-01312473f
3. THE ROLE OF ASTRONOMY IN THE “ANOMALOUS” ORIENTATIONS OF TWO
KHMER STATE-TEMPLES Giulio Magli School of Civil Architecture, Politecnico di Milano,
Italy Giulio.Magli@polimihttps://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1601/1601.01473.pdf
4. The Solar Numbers in Angkor Wat
Subhash Kak, Indian Journal of History of Science, vol. 34, 1999, pp. 117-126
https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/9811040
5. Stencel, R., Gifford, F., & Morón, E. (1976). Astronomy and Cosmology at Angkor
Wat. Science, 193(4250), 281–287. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1742346
6.
7. Archaeoastronomy in the Khmer Heartland,GIULIO MAGLI, Politecnico di Milano, Italy,
https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/sdh/article/view/22846/29089

26
8. Solstice Alignments at Angkor Wat and Nearby Temples-Connecting to the Cycles of
Time,William F. Romain, https://journal.equinoxpub.com/JSA/article/view/10647
9. Astronomical Myths in India1 Mayank Vahia Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi
BHabha Road, Mumbai 400 005, INDIA
vahia@tifr.res.inhttps://www.tifr.res.in/~archaeo/papers/Astronomy%20and%20Sanskrit%20liter
ature/Astronomical%20Myths%20in%20India.pdf
10. Equinox at Angkor Wat (ព្រឹត្តិការណ៏សមរាព្ត្ីនៅអង្គរ),Sophia,
https://www.localguidesconnect.com/t5/General-Discussion/Equinox-at-Angkor-Wat
11. Solstice Azimuths as Design Elements at Angkor Wat and Nearby Temples, William F Romain
12. Astronomy and Cosmology at Angkor Wat,Parag
Mahajani https://www.scribd.com/document/162933027/Astronomy-and-Cosmology-at-Angkor-
Wat
And other’s referred to, quoted from and mimicked in this article. So, this attempt is just to simplify the
matter of how astronomy was used to build the temples and what role it played in order to behave as an
observatory. A condition created for posterity to marvel at.
PlanetQuest: The History of Astronomy
Angkor Wat

27
Background:
One of the most spectacular structures of astronomical significance that has ever been built is the temple
of Angkor Wat in what is now Cambodia.
Angkor Wat is the most famous temple at Angkor, a former capital of the Khmer empire. It was built by
King Suryavarman II in the 12th century, and is as immense as it is beautiful. Surrounded by a rectangular
moat 1.5 kilometers (0.9 mile) long and 1.3 kilometers (0.8 mile) wide, the structure itself consists of two
rectangular walls enclosing three nested rectangular galleries that culminate in a central spire surrounded
by four smaller towers. The straight lines of its moat, walls and galleries are oriented along the north-
south, east-west directions, and unlike most temples in the area its entrance faces west, being approached
by way of a long bridge that spans the moat.
The origins of the temple lie in what may be the world's oldest religious text, the Rigveda, one of the
four Veda Samhitas of Hindu literature. This text describes the gods of heaven and earth, including the
earthly god Vishnu, "The Preserver." It is to Vishnu that Angkor Wat is consecrated, and with more than
mere symbolic intent. Hindu temples were built to be earthly abodes for the gods. The central sanctuary
was the most sacred place, directly inline with the vertical axis of the central spire that provided the
connection between the realms of heaven and Earth. The surrounding architecture of the temple would
then mirror Hindu cosmology, being essentially a mandala in stone—a diagram of the cosmos itself.
Furthermore, the Khmer civilization had by the time of Angkor Wat's construction incorporated the idea
that a king would, after his death, be transmuted into one of the gods. Hence, it was at Angkor Wat that
Suryavarman II, after his death, was believed to reside as Vishnu.
Astronomical significance:
Astronomy and Hindu cosmology are
inseparably entwined at Angkor Wat. Nowhere
is this more evident than in the interior
colonnade, which is dedicated to a vast and
glorious carved mural, a bas-relief illustrating
the gods as well as scenes from the Hindu epic
the Mahabharata. Along the east wall is a 45-
meter (150-foot) scene illustrating the
"churning of the sea of milk," a creation myth
in which the gods attempt to churn the elixir of
immortality out of the milk of time. The north
wall depicts the "day of the gods," along the
west wall is a great battle scene from
the Mahabharata, and the south wall portrays
the kingdom of Yama, the god of death. It has
been suggested that the choice and arrangement of these scenes was intended to tie in with the seasons—
the creation scene of the east wall is symbolic of the renewal of spring, the "day of the gods" is summer,
the great battle on the west wall may represent the decline of autumn, and the portrayal of Yama might
signify the dormancy, the lifeless time of winter.
Photo courtesy of www.andybrouwer.co.uk

28
The architecture of Angkor Wat also has numerous
astronomical aspects beyond the basic mandala plan that is
common to other Hindu temples. As many as eighteen
astronomical alignments have been identified within its walls.
To mention but three of them: when standing just inside the
western entrance, the Sun rises over the central tower on
the spring (vernal) equinox; it rises over a distant temple at
Prasat Kuk Bangro, 5.5 kilometers (3.4 miles) away, on
the winter solstice; and on the summer solstice it rises over a
prominent hill 17.5 kilometers (10.9 miles) away.
Finally, some researchers have claimed that the very dimensions of many of the structures at Angkor Wat
have astronomical associations. These associations emerge from consideration of the unit of length that
was in use at that time, a unit known as the hat or "Cambodian cubit." There is some question as to how
long a hat was, and indeed its definition may not have been uniformly applied; but a value of 43.45
centimeters (17.1 inches) for the length of a hat is suggested by the structures themselves.
Using this value, archaeologists discovered numerous dimensions of the temple that seem to have
astronomical and cosmological significance—for example, the following:
 The dimensions of the highest rectangular level of the temple are 189 hat in the east-west
direction and 176 hat in the north-south direction. Added together these give 365, the number of
days in one year.
 In the central sanctuary, the distances between sets of steps is approximately 12 hat. There are
roughly 12 lunar cycles, or synodic months (from full Moon to full Moon, say—the basis for our
modern month) in one year.
 The length and width of the central tower add up to approximately 91 hat. On average, there are
91 days between any solstice and the next equinox, or any equinox and the next solstice.
Because of its orbit around the Earth, the Moon's apparent position in the sky relative to the background
stars will appear to shift from night to night. Since it takes the Moon just over 27 days to complete one
orbit (known as its sidereal period), it will during this time appear to move through 27 successive regions
of the sky. In Hindu cosmology, these regions were known as the naksatras, or lunar mansions. In some
contexts there were 27 lunar mansions, while in other contexts an additional naksatra containing the star
Vega was included, giving 28 lunar mansions.
 The central tower at Angkor Wat contains nine inner
chambers. If you total the dimensions of all of these chambers it equals 27 hat in the north-south
direction and 28 hat in the east-west direction, corresponding to the possible number of lunar
mansions. Also, the libraries have lengths measured along their interiors of 16 hat in the east-west
direction, and either 12 or 11 hat in the north-south direction, depending upon whether or not the
doorways are included. Added together, these also give either 28 or 27 hat. Finally, the north-
south width of the libraries measured from the exteriors of the walls is again 28 hat.
Hindu cosmology recognizes four time periods, or Yugas, that are represented in the dimensions of the
temple:

29
 The length of the Kali-Yuga, our current time period, is 2 x 603
years, or 432 thousand years. The
width of the moat that surrounds the temple, measured at the water level, is approximately
432 hat.
 The length of the Dv apara-Yuga is 4 x 603
years, or 864 thousand years. The distance from the
entrance to the inner wall is 867 hat.
 The length of the Treta-Yuga is 6 x 603
years, or 1,296 thousand years. The distance from the
entrance to the central tower is 1,296 hat.
 The length of the Krita-Yuga is 8 x 603
years, or 1,728 thousand years. The distance from the
moat bridge to the center of the temple is 1,734 hat.
Rarely in history has any culture given rise to a structure that so elaborately and expansively incorporates
its concept of the cosmos. Angkor Wat stands as a striking and majestic monument in honor of the
Universe and our place in it.
1. References:
Kelley, D., and E. Milone, Exploring Ancient Skies: An Encyclopedic Survey of
Archaeoastronomy, Springer, New York, 2005.
2.
Krupp, E.C., Skywatchers, Shamans & Kings: Astronomy and the Archaeology of Power, John
Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1997.
3. Space and Cosmology in the Hindu Temple, by Subhash Kak
______________________________________________
Cambodia 2014: Ancient Astronomy, Angkor Wat, City built with astronomic measurements to
mimic the Gods in the Universe.
Aspara in Moon light Central tower of Angkor Wat, Cambodia
with full Moon.

30
Angkor Wat was built by the Khmer King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century in Yasodharapura
present-day Angkor, the capital of the Khmer Empire, as his state temple.
Breaking from the Shaivism tradition of previous kings, Angkor Wat was instead dedicated to Vishnu. As
the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious center
since its foundation. The Khmer's adhered to the Indian belief that a temple must be built according to a
mathematical system in order for it to function in harmony with the universe. Distances between certain
architectural elements of the temple reflect numbers related to Indian mythology and cosmology.
The sheer size of the place leaves visitors in awe and the complex designs illustrate the skills of long gone
priest architects. Every spare inch has been carved with intricate works of art. The scale of Angkor Wat
enabled the Khmer to give full expression to religious symbolism. It is, above all else, a microcosm of the
Hindu universe. As a brilliant example of the synthesis of astronomy and architecture at Angkor Wat, the
solar axes of the temple lead directly to the central sanctuary, a sanctum sanctorum devoted to the
supreme solar god, Lord Vishnu. Vishnu manifests as one of the solar months, and the sun itself is
thought to be his emanation.
Although the Sun gains stature through its conjunction with the center of Angkor Wat, Vishnu, and the
king, it is worth noting that lunar alignments are also recorded along the western and eastern axis of the
temple. As the measurements of solar and lunar time cycles were built into the sacred space of Angkor
Wat, this divine mandate to rule was anchored to consecrated chambers and corridors meant to perpetuate
the king's power and to honour and placate the deities manifest in the heavens above.
The solar and lunar alignments at Angkor Wat were alignments with the gods, alignments that tied the
nation to the heavens above, and alignments that imbued the king with the power to rule by divine
association.
Here are concrete astronomical observations you can see at Angkor Wat:
1. The rising sun aligning on equinox days with the western entrance of the state temple, Angkor Wat.
2. The movements of the moon can be observed from a variety of positions within the temple, and lunar
cycles may have been recorded in the three sets of libraries in the interior court.
3. The bas reliefs of the third gallery can be understood in relation to the movements of the sun, which
establish their counterclockwise direction.
4. The measurements of the temple appear proportional to calendric and cosmological time cycles.
The Temple is built as a concept of making these temples an observing platform, in other words an
Observatory.When you settle your feet at a specific location, the Universe, in a sense revolves around
you. With some patience and time you can start to notice patterns and Recursions that you can calculate
and even predict. In conclusion for me, the most amazing aspects of the ancient Khmer Civilization
was their understanding of their place in the cosmos, and how the placement of the temples mirrored so
many of the celestial movements.
Angkor Wat did not rise up from a tabula rasa- the theory that individuals are born without built-
in mental content, and therefore all knowledge comes from experience or perception. The Khmer
architect-priests, also fully trained as astronomers, had been building temples since the sixth century. This
building activity culminated in the move to Angkor around 900, and in the final architectural perfection of
Angkor Wat. Never again would Khmer architecture reach the same level of attainment and precision.
Only 70 years after the death of Suryavarman, all monumental building activity at Angkor stopped and by
the mid-fifteenth century, the site was abandoned due to economic reasons and the repeated invasions of
Thai armies.

31
We know that long before the Khmers moved their capital southward to Phnom Penh, they had turned
away from the gods that populated the stone and brick temples of Angkor. The people of Cambodia were
converting to Hinayana Buddhism in large numbers during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. As
devotees of this widely-practiced form of Buddhism, they rejected the ancestral and regional gods that
once filled the temples and unified the nation. With this rejection, the Brahmanical (Hindu) architect-
priests lost their constituency. This decline in priestly support caused a slow but inexorable loss of
knowledge. Decade after decade, the priests diminished in number and the practice of building
astronomical alignments and data into the temples receded in memory. It is likely that by the time the
Khmers moved to Phnom Penh, the architectural coding that lay hidden in Angkor Wat for eight centuries
was already forgotten With the move of the Capital to Phnom Penh, Angkor and its secrets remained
dormant until brought into the consciousness of the western world in the mid-nineteenth century by
French explorers.
The temple is built with incredible accuracy. Dated Khmer inscriptions begin with an elaborate
description of the location of the planets, sun, and moon in both the solar zodiac signs and lunar
constellations on the day the event in the inscription took place. This system also mentions whether the
date in question was in the waxing or waning half of the lunar month, and on which day of the week.
Astronomy is listed more than once among the subjects taught to Khmer kings. Based on the evidence of
stone inscriptions then, it would have been clear even to the most casual reader that astronomy played an
important role in the elite strata of Khmer society.
“When I first translated the measurements of Angkor Wat from meters into the original cubit length used
in the construction of the temple, my suspicions about the role of astronomy were startlingly confirmed.
The axes of the outer enclosing wall around Angkor Wat equal 365.24 cubits repeated 12 times. In other
words, the exact length of the solar year in days and in solar months is defined by the north-south and
east-west axes of the temple grounds. The circumference of the enclosing wall is 354.36 cubits repeated
24 times. That is equivalent to the exact length of the lunar year in days, and to the 12 waxing and 12
waning halves of the lunar month each year. (Because the phenomena of the waxing and waning moon is
a dominant lunar feature, the half-months were individually named since the inception of astronomy in
India. This practice was passed on to Cambodia from India long before the Angkor period.)”
As the analysis of the measurements of Angkor Wat unfolded over the next ten years of my research, it
became more and more apparent that the circumferences of the temple were primarily dedicated to the
moon while the axes of the galleries, enclosures, and individual chambers tended to focus on the sun. This
is one of many patterns that characterize the temple's measurements. Another such pattern is the steady
progression from measurements embodying the largest time cycles around the periphery of the temple to
measurements focusing on smaller time cycles in the central galleries. A full exegesis of these patterns is
not possible in the short space of this essay, however, it is worth noting that the measurements of Angkor
Wat are highly systematized and logical. They include all time measurements known to the Cambodians
in the twelfth century.
“As a brilliant example of the synthesis of astronomy and architecture at Angkor Wat, the solar axes of
the temple lead directly to the central sanctuary, a sanctum sanctorum devoted to the supreme solar god,
Lord Vishnu. Vishnu manifests as one of the solar months, and the sun itself is thought to be his
emanation. As we walk along the solar axes toward the god Vishnu, we encounter two major solar
alignments.”
First of all, if we stand at the beginning of the bridge into Angkor Wat on the solstice days, at the
intersection of the triad of western staircases, we will see the sun rise directly over the two end gateways
of the main western entrance. Although observation has not been studied from this juncture on the

32
equinox days, the central entrance tower acts as an architectural pivot for the north-south oscillation of the
sun, and by its central position between the solstice gateways, is a symbol for the two equinoxes. As we
shall see, there is reason to believe that Suryavarman was crowned king of Cambodia at the time of the
spring equinox.
On the morning of the vernal equinox day (roughly March 21st each year), once we have passed through
the main western entrances and stand facing the interior grounds of the temple, we encounter a
spectacular solar alignment. At 6:35 a.m., the sun can be seen rising dead-center over the top of the
central tower of the temple - about 500 m. away - when observed from the top of the first northern
staircase of the western causeway. Three days later, the sun can be seen rising over the central tower for
the second and last time, from the center of the western causeway at a point just a few meters south of the
first observation position. We know that the Khmers celebrated their new year for three days. The new
year began on the spring equinox, but the first day of the new year in an actual count did not begin until
three days after the equinox. This three-day new year period is both reflected and corroborated in these
two consecutive spring equinox alignments that occur just after entering Angkor Wat.
The sun was thought to begin its yearly journey on the vernal equinox day. Therefore, as the Khmers at
Angkor watched the sun rise up from the central tower, it would seem as though the god Vishnu inside
the sanctuary were emanating upward and outward as the solar orb. It is highly likely that music,
chanting, and ritual invocation inaugurated the new year at this annual event.
The central image of Vishnu - lost long ago - may have been sculpted in the likeness of King
Suryavarman. Statements in the stone inscriptions refer to images in the likeness of real people, not just
kings. The statue of Vishnu would have been sculpted with royal jewelry and clothing, and the name of
this image - also lost to us - would have been combined with the name of the king according to Khmer
tradition. If Suryavarman was not exactly an incarnation of Vishnu, he still partook of some aspect of
Vishnu's sacred nature. The name of the sun god is Surya, and "Suryavarman" translates as "protected by
the sun." With the union of the king and Vishnu in the central sanctuary of Angkor Wat, the king becomes
an unspoken third component in the spring equinox alignment.
Angkor Wat - like all royal pyramid-temples - was at the conceptual center of the king's capital. The city
and the nation extended outward from the union of the king and his deity in the main sanctuary of this
temple. For all 37 years of the reign of King Suryavarman then, the Khmer nation was particularly joined
to the sun god and to Vishnu, through the temple of Angkor Wat and the king. More than just the king
alone, the entire nation was "protected by the sun." The solar measurements and solar alignments at
Angkor Wat were concomitantly much more meaningful as their influence and importance extended from
the hub of the nation outward.
Although the sun gains stature through its conjunction with the center of Angkor Wat, Vishnu, and the
king, it is worth noting that lunar alignments are also recorded along the western axis of the temple. If we
look again at the dimensions noted above, we see that the western causeway measures out two ways of
defining the lunar month. These are the actual days in a synodic month (29.53), and the maximum number
of days of lunar visibility (28) - numerically equivalent to the maximum number of lunar constellations
crossed by the moon each month. This causeway that was used for lunar observation thereby records
lunar measurements at the same time. The causeway's overlay of multiple functions is typical of the
measurement patterns at Angkor Wat.
Finally, there is a bas-relief of the Churning of the Sea of Milk on the east side of the third gallery that is
actually a calendar in disguise. The story behind the churning of the Milky Way begins with the gods
losing battle after battle to their enemies, the asuras. Worried that they would be hopelessly decimated,

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the gods supplicated Lord Vishnu to help them churn up the elixir of immortality from the Milky Way.
Once they drank the elixir, they could never "lose" a battle again. But the task of churning the Milky Way
was of epic proportions. Ironically, once Vishnu agreed to their request, the gods had to trick the asuras
into joining in the churning effort by promising them a part of the elixir.
Mount Mandara, a mountain to the east of the central, cosmic mountain, Mount Meru, was uprooted and
brought to the Milky Way to act as a churning pivot. The snake Vasuki who lives in the Milky Way was
wrapped around the pivot, with the gods pulling on the north side of the snake and the asuras on the south
side. Vishnu took his place at the center to help with the churning, and also emanated both one asura form
and one god form to further help on each side of the snake. His avatar or incarnation as Kurma, the
legendary tortoise, placed itself under the base of the churning pivot so it would not sink. With everyone
in place, the great churning event began.
Many auspicious objects were churned up from the Milky Ocean, including the goddess of good fortune.
But when the elixir finally emerged, the gods and asuras began to battle over its possession. Lord Vishnu,
in his wisdom, took the elixir away with him for safekeeping, but when the battle ended the elixir
remained forever out of reach. Both the gods and the asuras were destined to be mortal. Once the battle
was over and the dust had settled, Indra was crowned king of the gods and the story ends.
Astronomical or geophysical realities are woven like invisible threads throughout the preceding narrative.
For example, the cosmic mountain, Mount Meru, is conceived as the axis of the earth. The Khmers knew
the earth was a round sphere moving through space because they had inherited that knowledge from
India, where it was first recorded in the sixth century CE. The gods reside at the north celestial pole,
including the summit of Mount Meru - the location of Indra's royal palace. The summit has been flattened
to accommodate the palace. At the south celestial pole, on the opposite end of Mount Meru, are the
asuras. When Mount Mandara is used as a churning pivot, the gods pull the pivot to the north and the
asuras pull it to the south, creating a north-south oscillation. This accounts for the north-south oscillation
of the sun and moon each year, while the axis of the earth, Mount Meru, remains stable (precession
notwithstanding, "stable" is a good descriptive word for the axis in comparison to the oscillation of the
sun and moon). In most Khmer - and indeed, in most Asian depictions of the cosmic mountain, the sun
and moon are shown in space at some distance to the right and left of the mountain's peak. This seems to
be either a conscious or unconscious memory of the astronomical significance of the mountain in the
churning scene. For whether it is logical or not, due to human fallibility the pivot of the churning scene
tended to become identified with Mount Meru. This obfuscation is more commonly found than the actual
recognition of Mount Mandara as the churning pivot.
According to evidence from Thai records and Khmer inscriptions, the churning of the Milky Way was
performed at the coronation of Khmer (and occasional Thai) kings. The inauguration ceremony of a new
king took place at the vernal equinox. Therefore, the coronation of King Suryavarman most likely
occurred at the equinox day in March (the year remains in question) soon after he came to power.
Although King Suryavarman was crowned before the central tower of Angkor Wat was anywhere near
finished, future equinox risings of the sun at dead center on the top of the main tower would forever recall
the exact moment when Suryavarman became king. The equinox, the sun, the temple, Vishnu, and the
king were therefore joined in a moment of history that was to be recalled, year after year, at the spring
equinox sunrise over Angkor Wat.
The calendrical meaning of the churning relief is equally inseparable from its association with the spring
equinox coronation of King Suryavarman. In fact, the number of gods and asuras in the relief count out
the days between the winter and summer solstices, and the three-day equinox celebration at the beginning
of the new year is symbolized by the central pivot. The god Bali, the king of the asuras holds the heads of

34
Vasuki on the south side of the relief. During the winter solstice, the rising sun illuminates Bali
completely. This agrees with the 24-hours of sunlight at the south pole at this time of year. Meanwhile,
the monkey-god Sugriva who holds the tail of Vasuki on the north end of the relief panel remains in
darkness at the winter solstice, in a shadow cast by a pillar. Since the gods reside above the north pole of
the earth, they would be in darkness at this time of year. On the summer solstice, the sunlight and shadow
effect is reversed for Bali and Sugriva, as it should be to match the light and dark at the north and south
poles, respectively. On the equinox days, the center of the scene with Vishnu and Mount Mandara is
bathed in full sunlight. Some solar alignments that can be observed in the planning of the Angkor Wat
temple complex in Cambodia. This complex was originally constructed in the early 12th century as a
Hindu temple for the Khmer Empire and gradually transforming into a Buddhist temple. To illustrate the
solar alignments we use SunCalc.net software and Photographer’s Ephemeris on Google Earth satellite
images.( Amelia Carolina Sparavigna. Solar Alignments of the Planning of Angkor Wat Temple
Complex. Philica, Philica, 2016, pp.591. ffhal-01312473f)
the temples by themselves were not isolated units but were ideally linked with pre-existing monuments,
constructing a series of visually recognizable, dynastic lines which are particularly evident in the case
of the Mebons, the island temples. It is thus the hope of the author that the present research can contribute
to clarify historical aspects of the Khmer architecture and king's succession. On the opposite side, the
same results show that claims about the existence of scores of inter-connecting, almost esoteric lines
between the Angkor monuments must be taken with the utmost care, if not definitively refused.
(ARCHAEOASTRONOMY IN THE KHMER HEARTLAND Giulio Magli School of Architecture,
Urban Planning and Construction Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Italy)
A deva is flying down to steady the pivot of Mount Mandara and is most likely representative of the god
Indra before he was crowned king. Only an important god could be placed in this high position, above the
other gods. This figure also provides an alternate count of one extra day when needed to complete the
calendar.
In Indian texts, the coronation of Indra occurs just before the coronation ceremony outlined for an earthly
king, at the time of the spring equinox. This bas-relief itself, in fact, appears to symbolize the coronation
of King Suryavarman and the churning event that was enacted at that time.
In summary, the solar axis of Angkor Wat takes us visually and physically in a straight line from the main
entrance to the central tower. As we walk along the numerical symbol for the solar year, we would see the
sun and moon oscillate from north to south and back again, on either side of the axis. Once the axis
reaches the central galleries, it visually ascends upward at an ever-increasing angle until it merges with
the vertical height of the central tower. On the vernal equinox day, as the sun appears to rise up from the
top of the tower, it is joined to us along the axis of the temple.
Vishnu lies hidden inside the tower, looking very much like the king of Cambodia in both his
physiognomy and his refined jewelry and clothing. Thus, the merging of Vishnu and the king at the
symbolic center of the Khmer nation was especially celebrated at the symbolic center of the solar year,
when the sun is midway between its northern and southern extremes. When this profound solar, divine,
and royal union was given its architectural expression in the central tower of Angkor Wat, astronomy and
architecture were joined in homage to divinity and royalty. As mentioned earlier, the tower is the axis of
the temple and by extension, the axis of the Khmer nation. The king and Vishnu are joined at this same
axis, likened to the axis of the earth in the cosmological design of Angkor Wat. That very equinoctial axis
slices through the center of the sun's oscillating movement each year. At dawn on the vernal equinox day,
the union of the king and Vishnu at the heart of the Cambodian nation was celebrated with the rising sun
at the heart of the annual solar journey, and at the heart of Angkor Wat. Astronomy was thus inextricably

35
conjoined to the most profound expression of the meaning of kingship and divinity accorded in Khmer
sacred architecture. The solar and lunar alignments at Angkor Wat were alignments with the gods,
alignments that tied the nation to the heavens above, and alignments that imbued the king with the power
to rule by divine association. As the measurements of solar and lunar time cycles were built into the
sacred space of Angkor Wat, this divine mandate to rule was anchored to consecrated chambers and
corridors meant to perpetuate the king's power and to honor and placate the deities manifest in the
heavens above. Rarely has a temple achieved such an overwhelming conjunction of time, space, and
kingship through the perfect union of architecture and astronomy.
https://dsal.uchicago.edu/huntington/seasia/angkor.html

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CHAPTER IV
Angkor Wat – The Bas-Relief Galleries
layout and location
Based on material from
https://helloangkor.com/attractions/angkor-wat-the-bas-relief-galleries/
https://yatrikaone.com/cambodia/angkor-wat/angkor-wat-bas-reliefs/
What material is Angkor Wat built entirely out of? The main materials used to
construct Angkor Wat were sandstone and laterite (a clayey soil and rock material rich
in iron and aluminum). Sandstone was used as the main material for visible parts of
the temple. Perhaps the most important narrative represented at Angkor Wat is the
Churning of the Ocean of Milk(below), which depicts a story about the beginning of
time and the creation of the universe. ... The relief depicts the moment when the two
sides are churning the ocean of milk. What bas-relief means?

37
bas-relief bah-rih-LEEF noun. art : sculptural relief in which the projection from the
surrounding surface is slight and no part of the modeled form is undercut; also :
sculpture executed in bas-relief. How do you use bas-relief? What is bas-relief and alto
relief?
Types of Relief Sculpture
There are three basic types of relief sculpture: (1) low relief (basso-relievo, or bas-relief),
where the sculpture projects only slightly from the background surface;
(2) high relief (alto-relievo, or alto-relief), where the sculpture projects at least half or
more of its natural circumference from the background, and may in parts be wholly
disengaged from the ground, thus approximating sculpture in the round.
[Sculptors may also employ middle-relief (mezzo-relievo), a style which falls roughly between
the high and low forms]; (3) sunken relief, (incised, coelanaglyphic or intaglio relief), where the
carving is sunk below the level of the surrounding surface and is contained within a sharpely
incised contour line that frames it with a powerful line of shadow. The surrounding surface
remains untouched, with no projections. Sunken relief carving is found almost
exclusively in ancient Egyptian art, although it has also been used in some beautiful
small-scale ivory reliefs from India.
A brief history
Some of the earliest known bas-reliefs have been found on the walls of caves and are
otherwise known as Petroglyphs. These works are some of the first known artistic
creations of man and were also treated with colours to further accentuate the relief.
Stone buildings and pyramids created by the Egyptians and Assyrians were next to
adopt this style of work and bas-relief sculptures were heavily dominant in Greek and
Roman buildings such as the Parthenon frieze which adorns the upper part of the
Parthenon’s naos and features relief sculptures of Poseidon, Apollo, and Artemis.
The popularity of bas-relief continued into the Medieval times (5th to the 15th century)
where the technique became popular in churches, especially Romanesque places of
worship where it was used to celebrate the lives of important religious events and
figures. This was one of the first moves in to Western culture and allowed bas-relief to
flourish before becoming a staple in luxury design. The Renaissance period (14th to
the 17th century) saw artists such as Donatello combining it with high-relief to create
perspective and during the 19th century, bas-relief sculpture was used to elevate
historic monuments such as the sculpture on the Parisian Arc de Triomphe. Artists
create a bas-relief by sculpting onto a 2D plane to create and accentuate figures and
objects, producing a 3D appearance which can be viewed from all angles with little
distortion. Alternatively, material can also be carved from a 2D plane, a technique
called Graffito.
INVITING THE GALLERY OF BAS-RELIEFS

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The bas-reliefs at Angkor Wat were designed for viewing from right to lefts. One enters
at the west entrance, turns right into the gallery and continue walking
counterclockwise.
LOCATION THEME
Description of the bas-reliefs in this guidebook follows the normal route for viewing
Angkor Wat. They begin in the middle of the West Gallery and continue counter
clockwise. The other half of the West Gallery is at the end of the section. Identifying
characteristics are in parenthesis and the locations of scenes on the bas-reliefs are in
bold type.
Bas-relief
Bas-reliefs are individual figures, groups of figures, or entire scenes cut into stone
walls, not as drawings but as sculpted images projecting from a background.
Sculpture in bas-relief is distinguished from sculpture in haut-relief, in that the latter
projects farther from the background, in some cases almost detaching itself from it.
The Angkorian Khmer preferred to work in bas-relief, while their neighbors
the Cham were partial to haut-relief.
Narrative bas-reliefs are bas-reliefs depicting stories from mythology or history. Until
about the 11th century, the Angkorian Khmer confined their narrative bas-reliefs to
the space on the tympana above doorways. The most famous early narrative bas-
reliefs are those on the tympana at the 10th-century temple of Banteay Srei, depicting
scenes from Hindu mythology as well as scenes from the great works of Indian
literature, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.
By the 12th century, however, the Angkorian artists were covering entire walls with
narrative scenes in bas-relief. At Angkor Wat, the external gallery wall is covered with
some 12,000 or 13,000 square meters of such scenes, some of them historical, some
mythological. Similarly, the outer gallery at the Bayon contains extensive bas-reliefs
documenting the everyday life of the medieval Khmer as well as historical events from
the reign of King Jayavarman VII.
A bas-relief in a tympanum at Banteay Srei shows Indra releasing the rains in an
attempt to extinguish the fire created by Agni.(pic lrft above).This scene from the outer
gallery at the Bayon shows Chinese expats negotiating with Khmer merchants at an
Angkorean market.(right)
The following is a listing of the motifs illustrated in some of the more famous
Angkorian narrative bas-reliefs:

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 bas-reliefs in the tympana at Banteay Srei (10th century)
o the duel of the monkey princes Vali and Sugriva, and the intervention of the
human hero Rama on behalf of the latter
o the duel of Bhima and Duryodhana at the Battle of Kurukshetra
o the Rakshasa king Ravana shaking Mount Kailasa, upon which sit Shiva and
his shakti
o Kama firing an arrow at Shiva as the latter sits on Mount Kailasa
o the burning of Khandava Forest by Agni and Indra's attempt to extinguish the
flames
 bas-reliefs on the walls of the outer gallery at Angkor Wat (mid-12th century)
o the Battle of Lanka between the Rakshasas and the vanaras or monkeys
o the court and procession of King Suryavarman II, the builder of Angkor Wat
o the Battle of Kurukshetra between Pandavas and Kauravas
o the judgment of Yama and the tortures of Hell
o the Churning of the Ocean of Milk
o a battle between devas and asuras
o a battle between Vishnu and a force of asuras
o the conflict between Krishna and the asura Bana
o the story of the monkey princes Vali and Sugriva
 bas-reliefs on the walls of the outer and inner galleries at the Bayon (late 12th
century)
o battles on land and sea between Khmer and Cham troops
o scenes from the everyday life of Angkor
o civil strife among the Khmer
o the legend of the Leper King
o the worship of Shiva
o groups of dancing apsaras
Battle of Kurukshetra – South Wing of West Gallery – coming from the Hindu epic,
the Mahabharata. The Kauravas are advancing from the left and the Pandavas from
the right both heading to their mutual destruction.
This battle scene is the main subject of the Hindu epic Mahabharata. It recalls the
historic was wars in Kurukshetra, a province in India, and depicts the last battle
between rival enemies who are cousins (see page 54 for a description of this legend).
The armies of the Kauravas and the Pandavas march from opposite ends towards the
center of the panel where they meet in combat. Headpieces differentiate the warriors of
the two armies. The scene begins with infantry marching into battle and musicians
playing a rhythmic cadence. The battlefield is the scene of hand-to-hand combat and
many dead soldiers.
Chief officers and generals (represented on a larger scale) oversee the battle in chariots
and on elephants and horses. The scene builds up gradually and climaxes in a melée.
Bisma (near the beginning of the pane), one of the heroes of the Mahabharata and
commander of the Kauravas, pierced with arrow, is dying and his men surround him.
Arjuna (holding a shield decorated with the face of the demon rahu) shoots an arrow
at Krsna, his half-brother, and kills him. After death, Krisna (four arms) becomes the
charioteer of Arjuna.

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Angkor Wat Bas-Reliefs
Narrative and exquisitely carved
Known for its immensity, grandeur, and architectural brilliance, Angkor Wat is the
largest religious monument in the world and one of the most visited. Located in Siem
Reap, Cambodia, this sprawling complex was originally a Vishnu temple built by

42
the Khmer King Survarman II in the 12th century. It was later converted into a
Buddhist monument by the kings who came after him.
Angkor Wat also offers a glimpse of the day-to-day life during the heyday of the Khmer
civilization through its intricately-carved numerous bas-reliefs carved on its galleries,
pediments of gopuras, and pillars depicting scenes based mostly on the Hindu epics,
Ramayana and Mahabharata, and ancient Hindu texts, such as the Puranas.
Although there are bas-reliefs on the upper-level galleries and pediments, the bas-
reliefs on the lower-level galleries are extensive and detailed.
Elaborate bass-reliefs on the lower-level gallery
The lower-level galleries are in a rectangular structure built at the periphery of the
lower enclosure. On each side of this structure, there are two sections of continuously
carved bas-reliefs. In total, there are eight sections of bas-reliefs, each with a different
theme. The bas-reliefs are carved on the polygonal walls of the structure, and most of
them have two or three tiers in the vertical direction. Many of the bas-reliefs have
polished appearance, and a few still have traces of original paint, especially red.
Unlike the majority of Hindu temples, which are east-facing and where the visitors
follow the pradakshina patha (clockwise circumambulation path), Angkor Wat is west-
facing and the visitors follow the counter-clockwise path starting from the main
entrance, which is in the middle of the west side gallery.
West Gallery, South Section: Battle of Kurukshetra
The Battle of Kurukshetra is the theme in the southern section of the west gallery.
Based on the Hindu epic Mahabharata, this bas-relief depicts the fighting scene
between the Pandavas and Kauravas. The image below shows the advancing Kaurava
army. On the top-left corner, Bhishma, the commander of the Kaurava army, is seen
lying on the bed of arrows fired by Arjuna.

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Death of Bhishma
Death of Bhishma
The death of Bhishma is a well-known episode in Mahabharata. According to the
story, Bhishma, the grand-uncle of both the Kauravas and Pandavas, leads the
Kaurava army for the first ten days of the battle. As the Kurukshetra Battle rages,
Krishna realizes Bhishma is an obstacle to Pandava’s victory because Arjuna is unable
to beat Bhishma in the battle. To ensure Pandava’s victory, Krishna devises a clever
plan involving Shikhandi, a eunuch, to kill Bhishma. Krishna knew Bhishma took an
oath not to fight the other gender.
As per the plan, Shikhandi accompanies Arjuna in his chariot on the tenth day of the
battle. When the battle starts between Arjuna and Bhishma, Arjuna hides behind
Shikhandi and fires arrows at Bhishma. Unable to fight back because of his oath,
Bhishma lays down his arms. As Arjuna’s arrows pierce through Bhishma’s body, he
falls down making it appear as if he is lying on the bed of arrows. See the image on the
right side.Raging Battle

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Battle of Kurukshetra bas-relief depicting melee of Kaurava and Pandava warriors
The image depicts the fight between the Kaurava and Pandava armies. The Kaurava
warriors are moving from left to right, and the Pandava warriors are from right to left.
The commanders are on the chariots.
South Gallery, West Section: Procession of King Suryavarman II
The Procession of King Suryavarman II is the theme of the western section of the
south gallery. Unlike the other bas-relief themes, this is based on history. It depicts
King Suryavarman II in a procession with his commanders, soldiers, courtiers and
ordinary people. The commanders are on elephants, and the rank of commander is
indicated by the number of parasols surrounding them.
Suryavarman II as the King
Bas-relief of Khmer King
Suryavarman II, the builder of Angkor Wat
As you can see from the image, King Suryavarman II is elegantly seated on his throne
with his legs on the seat – a typical Indian way of sitting. He is portrayed with
beautiful jewelry on his body as per the custom in India and Indianised kingdoms in
Southeast Asia. He is wearing bracelets and arm rings on his hands, anklets on his
legs, a beautiful necklace around his neck and an udiyan (waist chain) around his
waist. He is holding with his right hand a strange object believed to be a dead snake,
the significance of which is a mystery.
Surrounding King Suryavarman II are his attendants waving pankahs (fans) with
long handles and chauris (fly-whisks). Notice the parasols around the king. There are
fifteen of them in this bas-relief. The number of parasols indicate the rank of a
commander in his army. The king has the highest number of parasols among the
commanders in the procession implying that he is the commander-in-chief.

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Suryavarman II as the Commander-in-Chief
King Suryavarman II as
the commander-in-chief
Standing majestically on top of the elephant is King Suryavarman II as the
commander-in-chief of his army. His left hand is holding a sword that is pointing
downwards, and his right hand is holding an unknown object (probably a weapon).
Sitting in front of him is the mahout goading the elephant with an ankusha, which is a
pointed tool with a hook used in India and Southeast Asia for training and controlling
elephants.
Notice the parasols surrounding the king. There are fifteen of them in this bas-relief.
The number of parasols surrounding a commander indicates his rank in the army.
The king has the highest number of parasols among the commanders in the
procession implying that he is the commander-in-chief.
A commander riding an elephant in the procession of King Suryavarman II

46
The image shows an army commander standing majestically on an elephant. He is
holding a shield with his left hand and an unknown object with his right hand (similar
to the one held by the king). Sitting in front of him is the mahout goading the elephant
with an ankusha.
Other Participants
The image on the left shows a contingent of Siamese soldiers carrying spears marching
at the head of the parade. Behind them is their commander riding an elephant. The
image on the right shows women marching along the procession.
 Siamese soldiers

Women

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South Gallery, East Section: Swargas and Narakas (Heavens and Hells)
A section of the
Heavens and Hells bas-relief carved on the eastern section of the south gallery
As the name suggests, the Heavens and Hells bas-relief is about the depiction of
heavens and hells as described in the ancient Hindu texts called Puranas. This 200
feet long bas-relief is carved on the eastern section of the south gallery located on the
perimeter of the lower level of Angkor Wat. It depicts 37 heavens in the upper tier and
32 hells in the lower tier. The hells are much more descriptive than the heavens.
Although naraka translates to hell, it is not the hell as understood in the West.
A naraka is more akin to purgatory because it is not eternal and the sinners can
redeem themselves once they pay for their sins. In Hindu mythology, sinners are
reborn, but not always as human beings.
Yama’s Court
In Hindu mythology, Yama is one of the Ashta Dikpalas (guardians of the eight
directions) and is responsible for guarding the South, which makes him the lord of the
south. Therefore, the bas-reliefs related to Yama are in the south gallery.

49
The bas-relief on the left image depicts the Yama, the god of justice and lord
of naraka, sitting on a buffalo and conducting the proceedings in his court. He is
portrayed with multiple hands, one of which carries his signature
weapon gada (mace), and is surrounded by his guards and sinners.
The bas-relief on the top right shows the continuation of Yama’s court where
Chitragupta, a god in Hindu mythology and the assessor who keeps the records of
good and bad deeds of a human being from birth to death, assisting Yama in
determining who goes to heaven and who goes to hell.
The image on the bottom right shows the guards in the upper-tier pushing the sinners
to the lower-tier through a trapdoor and the guards in the lower tier, which represents
a naraka, punishing the sinners in a variety of ways.
Narakas – Punishing the Sinners
According to Hindu mythology, a naraka is designed to punish a specific type of sin.
The images below show some of the 32 narakas depicted in the bas-relief.

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East Gallery, South Section: Samudra Manthana
The south section of the east gallery depicts Samudra Manthana, one of the well-
known legends of Hindu mythology. In Sanskrit, samudra means ocean
and manthana mean churning. It is a story about the churning of the ocean to
produce amrita, the nectar of immortality. This story appears in many Hindu epics,
including Mahabharata and Vishnu Purana.
According to the story, devas (demigods) and asuras (demons) collaborate to produce
amrita by churning the Ocean of Milk. To perform churning, they use Vasuki (king of
nagas) as the rope and Mount Mandara as the churning rod. Vasuki is coiled around
Mount Mandara with asuras are on the head side and devas are on the tail side of
Vasuki.
The churning was completed after 1000 years and resulted in many by-products,
including 14 ratnas (precious things). Amrita is one of them and the other ratnas
include the Moon, Ramba (an apsara), Lakshmi (Goddess of Wealth). As the story goes,
devas stole and drank amrita and became immortal. Also produced was the halahala
(poison) emanating from the mouths of Vasuki. Seeing the danger posed to the world
by this poison, Shiva drank it but did not swallow it. So, it stayed in his throat
forever. Shiva is therefore called Neelakanta (blue throat) as the result of poison
remaining in his throat. Vasuki eventually became Shiva’s snake and he is seen with
Vasuki around his neck since then.
The bas-relief on the left image shows asuras led by multi-headed Ravana pulling
Vasuki’s body on the head side. To the left of Ravana is the army of asuras on
elephants and horses. Also seen are the flying apsaras cheer-leading Ravana and
asuras.
Asuras

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
Vishnu
 Devas
The middle image shows Vishnu with four hands overseeing the churning at Mount
Mandara and Indra is flying on top of the mountain trying to stabilize it. To the left
and right of the Mount Mandara are the apsaras acting as cheer-leaders to asuras as
well as devas. The bas-relief in this section is beautiful and intricately carved. Unlike
the other bas-reliefs, it is easy to understand the story and identify the players.

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East Gallery, North Section: Vishnu’s Victory over Asuras
A section of the Gods
Vs. Asuras bas-relief depicting an asura commander on a chariot fighting the gods
The northern section of the east gallery has this theme. This is a generic theme, not
taken from any epics. It is believed that this bas-relief was most likely completed at a
later date, probably in the 15th or 16th century.
North Gallery, East Section: Krishna’s Victory over Banasura
The scenes depicted on the bas-relief carved on the eastern section of the north gallery
is based on Krishna’s Victory over Banasura story, which appears in Mahabharata
and Vishnu Purana. This story is about Krishna, who is an avatar of Vishnu, fighting
Shiva and becoming victorious. It is not a well-known story but chosen deliberately to
show the dominance of Vishnu because King Suryavarman II broke the Shaiva
tradition of his predecessors and made Vishnu the dominant god of the Hindu Trinity.
Legend of Banasura
According to the story, Banasura, an asura king with thousand arms, is an ardent
devotee of Shiva whom he tried to please by doing tapasu (austerity and meditation)
for many years. Pleased with his devotion, Shiva confers upon him with
many varas (boons), one of which was to be his ally in future fights. Once he gets
these varas, Banasura becomes arrogant and starts ill-treating his subjects. When his
daughter Usha reaches the marriageable age, many suitors approach her with an
intention to marry. Banasura gets angry at the suitors and builds a fortress called
Agnigraha (house of fire in Sanskrit) and imprisons her there to keep her away from
them.

54
Krishna riding Vishnu’s
vehicle Garuda and fighting Banasura
Garuda entering
Agnigraha (house of fire) built by Bansaura
One day, Usha dreams of a young man and falls in love with him. When she mentions
this to her maid Chitraleka, who realizes that the young man is Aniruddha, one of the
grandsons of Krishna. Chitraleka with her superpowers summons Aniruddha to
Usha’s quarters. When he sees Usha, he falls in love with her too. Meanwhile,
Banasura comes to know of Aniruddha’s presence in Usha’s quarters. He captures
and imprisons him. When Krishna comes to know about his grandson’s imprisonment,
he wages war against Banasura. At the request of Banasura, Shiva keeps his promise
and starts fighting against Krishna. Realizing this, Krishna tricks Shiva by firing a
weapon that puts Shiva to sleep. Krishna then severs all but four arms of Banasura.

55
Shiva then wakes up and begs Krishna not to kill Banasura. Meanwhile, Banasura
realizing his mistakes begs forgiveness and allows his daughter to marry Aniruddha.
The image shows Garuda facing Agnigraha (house of fire) built by Bansaura to keep
his daughter Usha.
North Gallery, West Section: Battle between Gods and Asuras
The theme of the bas-relief on the western section of the north gallery is not taken
from any epics, instead, it depicts a generic theme of the good fighting evil. The bas-
relief Battle between Gods and Asuras is about the Hindu pantheon of gods fighting
the evil asuras. It is a battle scene with 21 Hindu gods mounted on their vehicles
fighting the asuras.
The images below show four of the gods, Vishnu, Varuna, Indra, and Kartikeya (also
known as Skanda, Subramanya), and an unidentified asura.
Vishnu riding Garuda

56
 Varuna riding Makara
 Indra riding Airavata

57
Kartikeya (Skanda) riding a peacock/Multi-headed asura riding a chariot
The gods are seen riding their signature vahanas (vehicles) and fighting asuras.
Vishnu, one of the Hindu Trinity, is riding Garuda, an eagle-like mythical bird. Indra,
the king of heaven and gods, is riding an elephant called Airavata. Varuna, the sea
god, is riding a multi-headed mythical creature called Makara. Indra and Varuna are
dikpalas (guardians of directions); Indra guards East and Varuna West. Check
the Ashta Dikpalas page to read more about all the eight dikpalas. Skanda, the god of
war, is riding a peacock called Parvani.
Brahma sitting in a cocoon in the Battle between Gods and Asuras bas-relief

58
The bas-relief of Brahma, one of the Hindu Trinity, sitting in a cocoon is unusual.
Although Brahma is the creator in Hindu mythology, he is not worshiped widely like
Vishnu or Shiva. There are very few temples dedicated to Brahma in the world. The
Brahma Temple in Prambanan is one of the well-known temples in Southeast Asia.
The Brahma Temple in Pushkar is one of the few temples dedicated to Brahma
In India.Check the following sculptural reliefs of Brahma on the outer walls of the
temples: Brahma in Belur Chennakeshava Temple, Brahma in the Somanathapura
Chennakeshava Temple in Karnataka, India There are several legends why Brahma is
not worshiped. According to one legend, his consort Savitri, who was angered by
Brahma’s extreme lust, cursed him not to be worshiped anywhere in the world except
in Pushkar. In another legend, Shiva cursed Brahma because he lied to him and
Vishnu about their creation.
West Gallery, North Section: Battle of Lanka
The Battle of Lanka is the theme of the bas-relief carved on the northern section of
the west gallery. This is the final battle in Ramayana in which Rama and the army of
monkeys (Vanara Sené) defeat Ravana and rescue Rama’s wife Sita. The Battle of
Lanka bas -relief is likely based on the Yudda Kanda chapter of Ramayana authored
by Valmiki. Besides Rama and Ravana, it depicts many prominent figures from both
sides.
After the abduction of Rama’s wife Sita by Ravana, Rama gathered an army with the
help of his ally Sugriva, the king of the vanara (monkey) kingdom of Kishkindha, and
attacked Lanka to rescue her. According to Ramayana, Lanka, where this epic battle
took place, is an island located south of India. The present-day island nation of Sri
Lanka closely fits the description of Lanka in Ramayana.
Ravana in the Battle of
Lanka

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