Cambodian Architecture “Land of Khmers”

Geography
 Capital - Phnom Penh
 Ancient Name - Kambuja
 9% Khmers
 Location - bordering the gulf of Thailand, Vietnam and Laos
 Area - total : 181,040 sq.km
Land: 176, 520 sq.km
Water: 4,520 sq.km
 Country’s area consists of rolling plains
 Tonle Sap (Great Lake)
 Mekong River

Natural Resources - used in building/structures

 Brick
 Stucco
 Wood
 Snadstone
 Laterite

Natural Resources
 Oil and gas
 Timber
 Gemstones
 Some iron ore
 Manganese
 Phosphates
 Hydro-power potential

Technology
 Bronze tools
 Used in making tools, ritual objects, weapons, ornaments
 Used of bronze casting influenced by China and India

Like the Statue of the Reclining Buddha carved out from bronze.
Socio-Cultural
 Homogeneous country; 95 % speaks Khmer
 Marriage - lasted 1 1/2 days, formerly 3 days
 Social - matrialchal
 Customs - head contains soul, most sacred
-sampeah and chhbapp
 Clothing

 Apsa Dance - based on Ramayana

 Nang Sbek (shadow theater)
-Nang Sbek Thom
-Nang Sbek Toch
-Sbek Paor

Cambodian Timeline

Funanese P. - Late Funnese & early Khmer - Early classical Khmer P. - Transitional
Classical Khmer P. - Classical Khmer P.

Architectural Character
Material
 Angkorian builders used brick, sandstone, laterite and wood as their materials.
The ruins that remain are of brick, sandstone and laterite, the wood elements
having been lost to decay and other destructive process
Structure
 Central Sanctuary - the central sanctuary of an Angkorian temple was home to
the temple’s primary deity. The one to whom the site was dedicated: typically
Shiva or Vishnu in the case of a Hindu temple. Buddha or a bodhisattva in the
case of Buddhist temple. The deity was represented by a statue.

 Prang - the prang is the tall finger-like spire, usually richly carved, common to
much Khmer religious architecture.

 Enclosure - Khmer temples were typically enclosed by a concentric series of walls,

with central sanctuary in the middle; this arrangement represented the mountain
ranges surrounding Mount Meru, the mythical home of the gods. Enclosures are
the spaces between these walls, and between the innermost wall and the temple
itself.
 Gallery - is a passageway running along the wall of an enclosure or along the acxis
of a temple. Often open to one or both sides.
 Gopura - is an entrance building. At Angkor, passage through the enclosure walls
surrounding a temple compound is frequently accomplished by means of an
impressive gopura. Rather than just an aperture in the wall or a doorway.
Enclosures surrounding a temple are often constructed with a gopura at each of
the four cardinal points. In plan, gopuras are usually cross-shaped and elongated
along the axis of the enclosure wall.

 Hall of Dancers - is a structure of a type found in certain late 12th century temples
constructed under King Jayavarman VII: Ta Prohm, Preah Khan, Banteay Kdei and
banteay Chhmar. It is a rectangular building elongate along the temples east axis
and divided into four courtyards by galleries. Formerly it had a roof made or
perishable materials : now only the stone walls remain.

 House of Fire - or Dharmasala, it the name given to a type of building found only
in temples constructed during the reign of late 12th century monarch Jayavarman
VII : Preah Khan, Ta Prohm, and Bantey Chhmar. A house of fire has thick walls, a
tower at the west end and south-facing windows
 Library - structures conventionally known as “libraries” are common feature of
Khmer temple architecture, but their true purpose remains unknown. Most likely
they functioned broadly as religious shrines rather than strictly as repositories of
manuscripts.

 Srah and Baray - Srahs and barays were reservoirs, generally created by
excavation and embankment respectively. It is not clear whether the significance
of these reservoirs was religious, agricultural, or a combination of the two, The
tow largest reservoirs at Angkor were the West Baray and the East Baray, located
on either side of Angkor Thom.
 Temple Mountain - the dominant scheme for the construction of state temples in
the Angkorian period was that of the temple mountain, an architectural
representation of Mount Meru, the home of the gods in Hindu mythology.

ELEMENTS
 Bas-reliefs - are individual figures, groups of figures, or entire scenes cut into
stone walls, not as drawings but as sculpted images projecting from the
background.
 Blind door and window - Angkorian shrines frequently opened in only one
direction, typically east. The other three sides featured a fake or blind doors to
maintain symmetry. Blind windows are often used along otherwise blank walls.
 Colonette - were narrow decorative columns that served as supports for the
beams and lintels above doorways or windows. Depending on the period, they
were round, rectangular, or octagonal in shape. Colonettes were often circled
with molded rings and decorated with carved leaves
 Corbelling - Angkorian engineers tended to use the corbel arch in order to
construct rooms, passageways and openings in buildings. A corbel arch is
constructed by adding layers of stones to the walls on either side of an opening
with each successive layer projecting further towards the centre than the one
supporting it from below, until the two sides meet in the middle.

 Lintel, Pediment, and Tympanum - A lintel is a horizontal beam connecting two

vertical columns between which runs a door or passageway. Because the
Angkorian Khmer lacked the ability to construct a true arch, they constructed
their passageways using the lintels or corbelling. A pediment is roughly triangular
structure above a lintel. A tympanum is the decorated surface of a pediment.
 Stairs - Angkorian stairs are notoriously steep.
MOTIF
 Apsaras and Devatas - Apsaras , divine nymphs or celestial dancing girls, are
characters from Indian mythology. In modern descriptions of Angkorian temples,
the term “apsara” is sometimes used to refer not only to dancers but also to
other minor female deities, though minor female deities who are depeicted
standing about rather than dancing are more commonly called “devatas”.

 Dvarapala -are human or demonic temple guardians, generally armed with lances
and clubs. They presented either as a stone statues or as relief carvings in the
walls of temples and other buildings. Generally close to entrances or
passageways. Their function is to protect the temples.

 Gajasimha and Reachisey - gajasimha is a mythical animal with the body of a lion
and head of an elephant. At angkor, it is portrayed as a guardian of temples and
as a mount for some warriors.
 Garuda - is a divine being that is part man and part bird. He is the lord of birds,
the mythological enemy of nagas, and the battle steed of Vishnu
 Indra - in ancient religion of the Vedas, Indra the sky-god reigned supreme. In the
medieval Hinduism of Angkor, however, he had no religious statues, ad served
only as a decorative motif in architecture.

 Kala - is a ferocious monster symbolic of time in its all-devouring aspect and

associated with the destructive side of the god Shiva.
 Krishna - scenes from the life of Krishna, a mythological hero and avatar of god
Vishnu, are common in the relief carvings decorating Angkorian temples, and
unknown in Angkorian sculpture in the round,
 Linga - is a phallic post or a cylinder symbolic of the god Shiva and of creative
power. As a religious symbol, the function of the linga is primarily that of worship
and ritual, and only secondarily that of decoration.

 Makara - is a mythological sea monster with the bod of a serpent, the trunk of an
elephant, and a head that can have features reminiscent of a lion, a crocodile, or
a dragon.
 Naga - mythical serpents, or nagas, represent an important motif in Khmer
architecture as well as in free-standing sculpture. They are frequently depicted as
having multiple heads, always uneven in number arranged in a fan. Each head has
a flared hood, in the manner of a cobra.

 Naga bridge - are causeways or true bridges lined by stone balustrades shaped as
nagas.

 Quincunx - is a spatial arrangement of five elements, with four elements placed

as the corners of a square and the fifth placed in the center.

 Shiva - most temples at Angkor are dedicated to Shiva. I general, the Angkorian
Khmer represented the worshiped Shiva in the form of a lingam, though they also
fashioned anthropomorphic statues of the god.
 Vishnu - Angkorian representations of Vishnu include anthropomorphic
representations of god himself, as well as representations of his incarnations or
avatars, especially Krishna and Rama.

PLANS
 Combination of temple mountain
 Mostly oriented in north-south
 The design is similar to Indian temples
OPENINGS
 Gopurams - carved with the face of Avalokiteshvara. Corbel feature in the
entrance arch.

TEMPLES

BUDDHIST TEMPLE STYLE- Bayon Style (Baroque)

Angkor Thom - great city; most of the structure were built under Jayavarman VII,
consisted of temple complex

Bayon Temple - built by Jayavarman VII, at Angkor Thom, to Buddha, Distinctive

massive stone faces carved into the towers, with the likeness of Jayavarman VII, built
in a “chaotic” style, with more attention to quantity rather than quality, but still in
perfect symmetry, 54 toers with faces of Avalokiteshvara
Preah Khan - built by Jayavarman VII, Northeast of Angkor thom, to Buddha, has two-
story building with round columns which doesn’t have a known purpose, contains a
stupa in the central shrine, built for the success of conquering Cham.
Tah Prohm - built by Jayavarman Vii, to Buddha , NE of Angkor Thom, monestery and
university; dedicated to family, the temples main image, representing Prajnaparamita,
it is a flat temple, rather than a temple mountain.
HINDU TEMPLE STYLES
 Preah Ko Style
 Bakheng Style
 Koh Ker Style
 Pre Rup style
 Banteay Srei Style
 Khleang Style
 Baphuon Style
 Angkor Wat Style (Classical)
Pnom Bakheng (Bakheng
Style)
- created by Yasovarman I,
dedicated to Shiva, atop a
steep hill, representing
mount Meru, the home of the
gods. It is a pyramidal of six
tiers, at the top level, five
sandstone sanctuaries stand
in quincunx pattern, 104
small towers on the lower
four levels, most have
collapsed, placed so
symmetrically that only 33
can be seen from the center
of any side. (33 number of
gods who live in Mount Meru)
Prasat Thom (Koh Kehr Style)
-Northeast of Angkor, built under
King Jayavarman IV at their new
capital at Koh Ker, 30 meter tall
temple mountain, surrounded by
smaller prasat (tower sanctuaries)

Phimeanakas (Khleang Style)

-located at Angkor, Cambodia,
built under Rahenvarajdarman
and rebuilt by Suryavarman II,
A legendary site where the
king has a nightly union with
the Naga (serpent goddess)
Prasat Kravan
-constructed by high court officials, unusual temple with 5 rows of brick tower,
dedicated to Vishnu, has large bas-relief depictions of Vishnu and Lakshmi
Ta Keo (Khleang Style)
-buot arounf 1000 AD by Jayavarman V, dedicated to Shiva, first temple made of its
period, made in a cruciform pattern

Angkor Wat (Classical Style)

-built by Suryavarman II, to Vishnu, at Angkor, as the state temple and his eventual
mausolem, means Temple City, the best preserved temple, still in use today by
Buddhist monks, has a moat, an outer wall, a temple mountain and three galleries
-oriented in the reverse direction (west) than other temples.