Phnom Sandak Temple

Phnom Sandak. — The hill that the natives designate by this name of Phnom Sandak is a movement of land oriented SW, N.-E.; its slopes are gentle and covered with tall and beautiful trees. The temple is situated at the northern extremity of the small link, on a fitted outcrop which has roughly the direction W.-E. However, this orientation is not strictly exact and the monument is slightly offset from the W. 28° to the E. 10°.

This temple comprises: I. Seven shrines; II. Two annex buildings (treasuries or libraries); III. Two Accessory Buildings shelters or dwellings; IV. An enclosure with gopura and an exterior gopura (fig. 190).

I. Shrines. The seven sanctuaries are dissimilar in style, in shape, in size. They seem placed without order or symmetry and built at different dates. Sanctuaries A, D and C could, however, be considered as forming a group of three, with this arrangement which we have already pointed out at Phnom Barieng (no. 157), in which the main sanctuairy is in front and the side sanctuaries on the same line behind, a position adopted when the movement of land on which the group is to be built is not wide enough to place the three buildings on the same line N.-S. This group thus formed would have been the nucleus around which the other buildings were successively raised, not without being hampered by the narrowness of the rump which had already determined a modification in the placement of the main sanctuaries. Sanctuary A which, whatever the value of the preceding hypothesis, is nonetheless the center of the whole, is a square sanctuary, in brick, open to the E. (without taking into account the misalignment) and preceded by a brick nave B connected to the E side. by a front. This building is no more than a heap of ruins under which the decorative elements of the doorway have disappeared. The exterior faces of the sanctuary proper had false doors with, on each of the side panels, figures carved in relief in the brick; these faces are, moreover, pitted as if they had been prepared to receive a coating. The other two sanctuaries in the group, C and D, are square, in brick, open to the E., the other faces being decorated with false doors. They are like A very ruined, their doors included the ordinary decorative elements; the central figurine on the decorative lintel of D represents Indra on the three-headed elephant.

Sanctuaries E, F, G, H do not present anything particularly interesting. They are brick, open to the E. and adorned with false doors on the other sides. They are arranged, as we have said, without symmetry; they seem to have been built successively at different times, as the temple grew in importance and renown. They are no longer, just shapeless heaps of bricks.

II. Annex buildings. Buildings M and L are brick, rectangular and open to the W. The gate of M is preceded by a narrow peristyle; that of L is of the ordinary system, with a decorative lintel representing Çiva on Nandin. This last building is in. also pierced on its large faces with small diamond-shaped openings intended to illuminate the interior; both were hunched over. M is located in the S.-E. of the enclosure and appears to us to unite, as a plan and situation, all the characteristics of the monuments which we have classified as treasures or libraries. As for L, we believe we can attribute the same destination to it; its provisions are indeed those of the buildings of this category; its location alone would be an objection, but it should be noted that the N.-E. in which it should rise must have been formed of brought back lands, maintained by a wall of support S, 5 which reaches at the angle U 8 meters in height. This arrangement, which entails a fairly considerable amount of work, was perhaps not finished when this accessory building L was erected, or perhaps it was feared to erect any construction whatsoever on newly disturbed ground; it should be noted indeed that no building was placed in this part of the enclosure. From the fact that these two buildings M and L are dissimilar, we believe, moreover, that we can conclude that they date from different periods, M being the first in date and perhaps contemporary with the primitive group A, C, D, while that L would have been added later when the construction of new sanctuaries created new needs.

III. Accessory buildings. Two other accessory buildings stand inside the enclosure. They are limonite and were not vaulted. K is a sort of long gallery parallel to the S face. It opens via three undecorated doors onto the inside of the courtyard and also opens onto the outside via three large windows o m high. Barely 6o, each furnished with seven balusters. These windows dominate, above the surrounding wall which is only o m apart. 5o, all slopes S. of the movement of the ground, quite rapid at the birth of the plateau. The second building 1 is a vast rectangular construction wider than these kinds of buildings usually are; it is divided into two rooms which communicate with each other. The N. room has only one door leading to the interior of the courtyard; both open to light inside through a large window with the same opening as those in building K, but in which the balusters are replaced by slabs of limonite placed on the field, leaving between them a series of openings in the form of loopholes.

IV. Enclosure. This set of buildings is included in a rectangular enclosure formed by a limonite wall with a cap, higher on the E. and O. faces, lower on the N., S. faces. to allow the view to extend over the surrounding environment. This enclosure is interrupted on the E face by a brick gopura with three passages, presenting in the center a small rectangular room which opens by two opposite doors. These two doors are framed in sandstone and present the ordinary elements of ornamentation; but the decorative lintels alone are finished, the small columns and the monoliths of the frames are barely trimmed. The decorative lintels are of type III, with foliage; the central motif of that of the exterior door is formed by a figurine of a standing figure, facing forward, holding in each hand by their loose hair two heads of women whose bodies are lost in the ornaments of foliage; that of the interior door is of the same type, very ruined: it seems to represent a character with the head of an ox.

The N. and S. faces of this monumental gate are extended by small adjoining brick buildings R, R, made of two-sided vaults, each comprising a small rectangular room with doors to the outside and to the inside. forming side passages. The ornamentation of these openings is of the ordinary system, but has only been sketched out. The decorative lintels, left alone finished, are completely ruined. We have seen that the whole N.-E. of this enclosure had to be established on brought back earth, maintained by a limonite retaining wall which reaches, at the angle U, 8 meters in height.

A second gopura, also with three passages O, P, P, rises on the main axis, to the E. of the monumental gate of the enclosure. He indicates that the construction of a second enclosure had been decided; indeed a wall in limonite is started on both sides of this building, but it stops at the projection of ground which forms, in the N. and the S., the edge of the narrow plateau, and is continued only by a low wall of uncut stones, of irregular layout. The gopura is in limonite for the full walls, in sandstone for the framing of the openings, doors and windows, and for the edge of the gables. It includes three independent rooms. The central hall is cruciform, with two doors at the end of branches E. and 0.; these doors are preceded by peristyles formed by pillars which are in sandstone as well as the architraves. It is lit by two windows with three balusters opening onto the outside. The two side rooms are rectangular; they also serve as a passage and are each lit by a window with three balusters opening onto the outside. This building was not vaulted: rooms and peristyles were covered with gable roofs, with wooden frames, the pieces of which were embedded in the gables, the shear walls (and for the peristyles) in the pediments (fig. 191). Pediments and gables have straight edges, ending in ornaments in scrolls and topped with a flamed crest.

The two monumental gates are connected by an alley 0 drawn by two cords of limonite and two rows of sandstone bollards, which are mostly reversed. To the right and to the left, the ground, which declines sharply, is held up by small retaining walls.

Also starting from the monumental door 0, another avenue develops, sinking towards the E. under the forest; it was marked out by rows of milestones, only a few of which are still in place.

The whole of this monument bears, as we have tried to show, the mark of successive constructions, probably corresponding to the development of its reputation.

Phnom Sandak inscriptions

A. fine-grained red sandstone stele is placed in front of the entrance to nave B (fig. 192). It is shattered into six fragments that can be mended. The characters, very fine and very regular, are not all well preserved in the different fragments; however, they generally have satisfactory stampings. It is a 9th century Çaka Khmer and Sanskrit inscription.

B. The right jamb of the exterior door presents a series of inscriptions in very irregular cursive characters and of obviously different hands. These inscriptions form a total of 30 lines, which are fairly well preserved. Khmer inscriptions from the 9th and 10th centuries Çaka.

C. In room O of the outer gopura is a pedestal sandstone stele. It measures, not including the tanned part on the pedestal, 0 m. 00 X 0 m. 42 surface on o m. 10 thickness. It bears inscriptions on its two large faces and one of the sides, 2 4 lines on one face, 14 on the other and 30 on the small side. The writing, fine and regular, is quite readable. Sanskrit inscription.

D. In the same room O, a stele is still standing in front of the window S. It measures 0 m. 90 X 0 m. 42 of surface on 0 m. 10 thick, not including the pedestal. It bears inscriptions on both sides, 44 lines of two verses on one, 46 lines on the other. The writing, fine and correct, gives a good stamping. Sanskrit inscription.

E. In the same room O, is a third sandstone stele measuring 0 m. 86 X 0 m. 42 of surface on 0 m. 10 thick, not including the pedestal. It bears on one side a 21-line inscription, in a poorly correct and not very legible handwriting.

L’Art Khmèr Classique. Monuments du Quadrant Nord-Est. By Henri Parmentier, 1939

THE STELE OF PHNOM SANDAK

Among the inscriptions from Práh Vihär, E. AYMONIER mentions, under the name of “stele of Suryavarman II”, “a four-sided stele, two large and two small, found in front of the sanctuary. It is, he says, completely similar, in form, writing, language and content, to another stele that this king left at the monument of Phnom Sandák, province of Kompong Soay, where we found her lying near the sanctuary. It is the same handwriting, fine, regular, well traced, firm, with well-detached florets. Proper names, expressions, whole sentences follow each other in an identical order, as well as the Sanskrit stanzas which are inserted into the text in the vernacular. The bad luck that befell all the Khmer texts left by Süryavarman II has again manifested itself here. Not that the stele is broken like its twin sister in Phnom Sandak, but the stone, too soft, has worn so much under the action of time that even the lines are sometimes barely recognizable. As a whole, the monument is even less usable than that of Phnom Sandak; the latter having at least this superiority of presenting fragments of very great clarity. »

The “Chinese” stampings kept at the French School of the Far East are apparently much superior to those on which AYMONIER made his attempts to decipher. A careful collation of the part common to the two stelae, which roughly corresponds to the first three quarters of the inscribed text, makes it possible to establish an almost complete text, the remaining gaps are insignificant and some of them may even be filled with absolutely certain restitutions.

The document thus reconstituted is interesting in more ways than one. First, he gives a biography of Diväkarapandita, the spiritual adviser, protector and enthroner of the first kings of this dynasty to which belong the two greatest rulers of Cambodia, Suryavarman II and Jayavarman VII. It then allows, as was said above, useful comparisons with the inscription of Sdók Kak Thom, of which it illuminates certain passages. Finally, through its language, which is even clearer and more flexible than that of Sdók Kak Thom and presents no real difficulties of interpretation, it constitutes a remarkable example of Khmer prose from the beginning of the twelfth century.

The stele of Phnom Sandak (K 194) was already lying, in the time of AYMONIER, broken into five fragments near the nave B. L. DE LAJONQUIÈRE counted six of them, of which he took, by the old process, mediocre stampings, little usable. H. PARMENTIER, in 1924, only found four pieces from which he was able to take seven Chinese-style stampings, and which he transported to gopura II East where the other inscriptions of the monument are gathered.

On this stele, the common inscription in Khmer interspersed with three Sanskrit stanzas, comprises 69 lines, 49 on the first side and 20 on the second, where it is followed by a text of 36 lines arranged in five columns which are read on the manner of the columns of a newspaper.

The stele of Práh Vihär that AYMONIER found in front of the sanctuary”, and whose location L. DE LAJONQUIERE does not give, is currently, according to H. PARMENTIER, “in the transept of room B’, transept O”, but it there would be in room L a pedestal which seems to correspond to it. LAJONQUIÈRE’s stamping, taken by the old process, is quite good, and above all has the advantage of having been done before the stone was broken which, on H. PARMENTIER’s Chinese stamping, presents a oblique break prejudicial to reading.

On this stele, the common inscription comprises 70 lines, 48 ​​on the first face and 22 on the second, where it is followed by a text of 35 lines laid out in seven columns. A Khmer text of 7 lines, in the same script, is inscribed on one of the narrow sides; on the other, are engraved two Khmer texts of 10 to 13 lines slightly later, in a much less neat handwriting.

The common part begins with a Sanskrit stanza, meter upajati (A, 1-2), of which only the even pada remain: it was an invocation, probably to Shiva.

The Khmer text begins with a date whose unit digit is not very distinct. It appears to be a 1, and the date should read 1041 çaka. In this case, the entry would date from the same year as the work mentioned in its last paragraph (B. 20-22). As it cannot be earlier than this date, nor later than 1043 ç., date of the second postscript of the stele of Práb Vihär, the margin of error is only two years.

So in 1041 ç. (1119 A. D.) or the following year, King Suryavarman II, during one of those solemn audiences of which the bas-relief in the southern gallery of Ankor Våt gives some idea, ordered the erection of the present inscription, so curriculum vitae of Divakarapandita who then bore the title of bagavat pada kamraten an ta guru. This title, as we will see, had been conferred on him by Jayavarman VI at his coronation (A. 15-16), but he was to exchange it in 1120 or 1121 for the higher title of dhali jen kamraten an, which appears in the postscript of the stela of Práh Vihar. The biography of Divakara, a native of the country of Vnur Dnan in the district of Sadyà (two equally unknown toponyms), belonging to the caste or corporation of the karmantara (A. 8), begins under the reign of Udayadityavarman II (A, 9-11). This king called on him to ensure (probably with other monks) the cult of the golden linga, for which he had built the temple-mountain of the Baphuon, in the middle of his capital. Udayadityavarman II having reigned from 1050 to 1066, and the installation of the golden linga having only been able to take place towards the end of the reign, around 1060 and rather a little later, we can infer that Divakara was born around 1040. It is difficult to say that he was born much earlier, since he was still living after 1120, and it is not necessary, for the text says that he had devoted himself to study from his youth : he was to be able, from his twentieth year, to officiate before the royal linga.

The successor of Udayadityavarman II, his brother Harşavarman III, entrusted to Divakara a function whose name has disappeared in a gap in the stele of Phnom Sandak and which is incomplete on that of Práh Vihär: it must be acaryapradhana (A, 12- 13). Then he rallied, it seems, to the cause of a newcomer, unattached to his predecessors, who seized power in 1080 under the name of Jayavarman VI, for it was Divakara who was chosen by him, here to celebrate his coronation as vrah guru.

It is from this period that dates his fortune, and his attachment to the new dynasty, of which he will remain the spiritual adviser for more than 40 years. Besides the functions of vrah guru, he obtained from Jayavarman VI, with the title of bhagavat pada kamratey an ta guru Cri Divakarapaudita, the insignia of his new dignity: golden palanquin, white parasol, bearers (A, 16). In addition, the king commissioned him, no doubt on the occasion of his coronation, to distribute ritual objects in precious metal, animals and slaves to the main sanctuaries of the country, and to do various works there (A, 16-19 ), and when the sovereign himself went on pilgrimage to the holy places of his kingdom, he was accompanied by Divakara (A, 16-19).

His brother and successor, Dharanindravarman I, was consecrated like him by Divakara, whom he similarly entrusted with the distribution of goods of all kinds in the temples (A, 21-25). When, thanks to a coup, a little nephew seized power in 1113, Divakara once again legitimized an irregular accession, by conferring the coronation on the new king who took the name of Saryavarman II (A , 26-28). The inscription here lists, in terms which recall very closely those of the stele of Sdók Käk Thom, the various phases of the coronation: initiation (dikça), study of sciences (siddhanta) and secret rites (vrah guhya), festivals rituals (castrotsava), distribution of offerings (daksina) (A, 28-33).

It is on this last point that the inscription of Phnom Sandak and Práh Vihär illuminates in the most interesting way the parallel passage of the stele of Sdók Kák Thom (D, 64-72). Reading the latter, one could indeed wonder whether the presents offered to Sadaçiva-Jayendravarman by Udayaditya varman II were personal gifts, honorary (this is the meaning of daksiya), or goods simply entrusted to Jayendravarman, on condition that he distribute them among the principal sanctuaries of the kingdom. The first interpretation is strictly in accordance with the terms of st. XCV-CXVIII of the Sanskrit text that the Khmer paraphrases, without specifying the point that interests us. The second can be argued from the fact that, according to the Sanskrit text (st. CXIX), Jayendravarman did indeed distribute rich gifts to Bhadresvara and the other gods; it can also find confirmation in what has just been said about Divakara who was, without any possible doubt, charged by Jayavarman VI and Dharanindravarman I with distributing goods to the temples. The solution of this problem is provided by the inscription of Phnom Sandak and Práh Vihär, which shows that the two interpretations are not mutually exclusive. We have just seen that apart from the goods intended for the temple, Jayavarman VI had given Divakara the insignia of his dignity. Saryavarman II did the same, but, in addition to new insignia marking a promotion (palanquin with five heads, two fans in peacock feathers with gold handles to which he had not yet been entitled, four white parasols instead of one, A, 29-30), he gave Divakara to keep them” (pi duk, A, 31), a whole set of precious metal whose elements are almost identical to those offered to Jayendravarman by Udayadityavarman II. As for the objects distributed to the temples, the enumeration of which is the subject of another paragraph (A, 37-40), they are entirely distinct from those given to Divakara for his keeping. But, just as Jayendravarman had consecrated to Bhadreśvara the goods which Udayadityavarman II had given him in a personal capacity (according to the Sanskrit text), we will see Divakara devoting to Çikhariśvara (Prah Vihär) the magnificent adornment which Suryavarman II had given him ( B, 1-2). It seems, moreover, that there was a well-established tradition there, for this abandonment of royal liberalities in favor of a sanctuary is attested by another well-known document, the inscription of Prah Nôk, according to which General Sangrama offered to the golden linga of the Baphuon the spoils that Udayadityavarman II wanted to leave him in recognition of his victories’.

From what has just been said, we can conclude that, in the inscription of Sdök Kák Thom, studied above, the goods listed were indeed (as the Sanskrit text would have it) offered as a personal gift to Jayendravarman by Udayadityavarman II. The king must also have known that he would not keep them, but that in accordance with tradition, he would deposit them in a temple. The same thing happened again with Saryavarman II and Divakara, but moreover, he was actually commissioned by Jayavarman VI, Dharanindravarman I and Suryavarman II to distribute to the temples other goods which had not been personally assigned to him.

One may wonder why the kings did not hand over their own offerings to the holy places on the occasion of these pilgrimages (kşetradhigama) of which it is a question here, and especially why, on the precious objects distributed to the temples, Suryavarman II had a stanza engraved in his own way attributing to Diva kara the merit of the donation (A, 40-41).

If it was not simply to give additional spiritual merits to the guru already showered with temporal goods, it was perhaps because the donations were more effective and procured greater merits for the rulers, if they were offered to the gods through the intermediary of a holy figure, having the capacity to carry out this transfer of merits (khmèr: chlast) which has always been in Cambodia the essential goal pursued by donors.

But back to Divakara’s biography.

After the coronation ceremonies and the gifts given by Süryavarman II to his guru, the text mentions the great ritual sacrifices (kotiloma, laksahoma, pitryaina, etc.) over which Divakara presided each year (A, 35-35) and inserts on this subject a stanza (vasantatilaka) attributed to the king (A, 35-36), marking the effectiveness of such sacrifices celebrated by a competent master.

Next comes a list of goods, given to Divakara by the king (A, 37), apparently with a view to their distribution, which is discussed immediately afterwards (A, 38-40). The precious objects intended for this distribution bore engraved a stanza (vasantatilaka), also attributed to the king (A, 40-41), specifying that this object was offered in 1038 c. (1111 A. D.) at Paçupati by Diva kara, guru of King Suryavarman. The date, three years after the coronation, shows that it is not a distribution made just at the time of the accession. If it is nevertheless related to the ceremony of the coronation, it must be concluded either that it extended over several years, or that the distribution could have been made with some delay.

The text then reviews the work carried out by Divakara in various temples, the donations he made there, and the services or supplies he instituted there.

At Bhadreçvara, which must here designate Wat Ph’u, he dug a pond to which he gave his name, probably the large basin located to the east of the access road, and founded an açrama to which he assigned villages, supplies and personnel (A, 42-44).

At Çikhariçvara, that is to say at Práh Vihär, he erected statues, and offered villages whose demarcation is given in detail on the second face of the stele of Práb Vihär (B, 23-57), at the continuation of the common text, with the list of slaves attached to these villages and undoubtedly assigned to the service of the acrama which is then mentioned (A, 47-48). The precious objects offered to the god Çikhariçvara by Divakara included among others the adornment of precious objects which he had received from the king as an honorarium during his initiation (B, 1-2, cf. supra A, 30-32). In addition, he offered the temple a golden canopy, lined the floor of the prását with bronze plates, gave the temple all precious metal vessels, had the towers, courtyards and floor, and distributed fees to all the personnel of the temple, from the professor to the most humble servants (B, 3-6).

At Shivapura Danden, that is to say at Phnom Sandak, Divakara made identical donations (B, 7-12), but not including, of course, the gold adornment received in a personal capacity, which he had reserved for the sanctuary of Prah Vihär. The limits of the offered villages and the list of slaves are inscribed on the second side of the stele of Phnom Sandak (B, 21-55) following the inscription commune.

At Campeçvara, perhaps Prását Kök Pó, similar donations are mentioned very briefly without any details (B, 12-13).

The following paragraph (B, 13-16) is rather curious. It relates to Içva rapura, Bantay Srei, whose foundation is reported to the vrah guru of Jayavarman V (B, 14), in complete agreement with the results obtained by epigraphic research. The sacred goods, lands and slaves, had been squandered by the respectable “(padamala), chief or guardian, and when Suryavarman II offered the temple to Divakara, the latter had to redeem them and restore the worship which had undoubtedly fallen into disuse.

The following passage (B, 17-20) alludes to events that escape us. These are the lands which seem to have been confiscated from various guru who had been guilty of some fault. Divakara obtained from the king that they be restored to their former owners.

The last paragraph (B, 20-22) reports that in 1041 c. (1119 A. D.), which was, as we have seen, the very year of the erection of the stelae of Phnom Sandak and Práh Vihar, Süryavarman II carried out development and embellishment works in the village native of Divakara who was then to be octogenarian.

Here ends the common text. As it was said above, each of the two steles then gives the limits of the villages and the list of the slaves offered to the temple where the inscription was placed.

The Phnom Sandak stele has no inscription on its small sides. That of Práh Vihar carries on one of them (C, 1-7) a formula of curse, partly ruined, which was conceived in the ordinary forms. On the other small side, it gives two postscripts whose main interest is to show that between 1041 ç. (1119 A.D.) and 1043 G. (1121 A.D.), Divakara was promoted to the dignity of dhali jen kamraten an. It is indeed the title given to it by these two texts, of which the first (D, 1-10), after a ruined date, mentions an order of Suryavarman II, perhaps relating to this promotion, and of which the second ( D, 11-23), dated 1043 c. (1121 A. D.), relates the purchase by Divakara of two lands which he offered to the Çivalinga of Vnur Dnan, his native country. This linga, which is called kamraten jagat, must have been a personal linga, like the Jayendravarmeçvara of the Sdók Kák Thom stele.

Cœdès Georges, Dupont Pierre. Les stèles de Sdŏk Kǎk Thom Phnom Sandak et Práah Vihār. In: Bulletin de l’Ecole française d’Extrême-Orient. Tome 43, 1943. pp. 56-154.