Peung Preah Thvear (Phnom Kulen)

Also recorded as Poeng Ta Roet, it’s a long alcove in the mountainside below Wat Chas featuring an inscription and carvings dating to the 10th/11th century.

The figures include a group of figures commonly known as the Nine Deities seated atop their mounts (Vahana) beside which are two standing deities. One of the standing deities features 28 arms and multiple faces (that are mostly lost to time) sporting artistic style cues that are shared to some degree between the 10th-century Kulen style and 11th-century Baphoun style. The second standing figure features eight arms and multiple heads, and both have lost their identifying characteristics as to whether they are incarnations of Shiva, Vishnu or otherwise. Another group of figures to the right of those is lost to time. In a 2014 study (J.B Chevance), the figures and inscriptions here are compared to those at the nearby Poeng Tbal inferring one of the standing characters may likely be a representation of Sadasiva.

Further excavations and research were carried out here in 2022 by Dominique Soutif in collaboration with J.B Chevance awaiting publishing by Chloe Chollett.

Getting There

The site is located on the eastern slopes of Phnom Kulen and is reached by a trail that runs down from Wat Chas. The trail is a natural one, rocky and features a steep set of bamboo stairs. Whilst we had little trouble finding our way, if you are not familiar with Khmer trails and Kulen in general you should get the help of a guide from the Anlong Thom CBTC.

Inscription

• K. 1574 – Chloe Chollet, 2023
• K. 172 – seven lines of Sanskrit and one line of Khmer – Cœdès 1911, p. 398

Coedes on K. 172

This inscription is a true monograph of the Pơn Práh Thvär: it answers all the questions that the archaeologist asks himself in front of this cave of Phnom Kulèn. This one was formerly called Çambhuguha or cave of Çiva; It served as a retreat for the muni Dharmāvāsa who had left the world to live in solitude. The spring which he caused to gush forth and which he named Vyomatirtha (celestial tirtha) has not yet dried up, and the reliefs which he sculpted on the walls of the cave are still visible; the two central figures are doubtless images of Çiva, since Dharmāvāsa was a worshipper of this god; as for the two rows of worshippers, they are two lines of rșis.

All that is missing is the date to completely satisfy our curiosity can however infer it from the paleographic characters of the inscription. They clearly indicate a period of transition between the rounded writing of the reigns of Rajendravarman Jayavarman V and the angular writing of Süryavarman II and his successors, so, roughly, the end of the 10th century çaka. Or It is precisely at this time that the Phnom Da inscription speaks to us of a certain Dharmāvāsa, who in 976 had the title of khlon vala, “army chief,” and contributed to a Shiva foundation. In case it is the same character, the inscription of Pơn Práh Thvär would date from the last years of the 10th-century çaka.

Etudes cambodgiennes, Coedes, 1911

Historical Notes

The site was recorded by Aymonier and Lajoquiere in the 1900s who noted

Pu’ng Prah Thvear. At the N. point, the wall of rocks is less high, at its base there is a hollow, formed by the overhang of the rock, a sort of long shelter near which flows a thin stream of water. On the wall of this cave have been sculpted some figures: in the center, two figures standing, facing, in short sampot rays vertically. They each have five heads; four of these heads, three of which are visible, look at the four sides and a fifth, above in a pyramid, looks forward. The figure on the right has eight arms, the one on the left twenty-six. To the left of this group is a row of nine worshipers, seated on thrones, their hands joined turned towards the center; to the right, a row of four other worshipers in a symmetrical position.

Pu’ng Prah Thvear Inscription. A seven-line inscription engraved on the wall of this cave. The characters appear regular and very legible, at least in large part. M. Aymonier seems to indicate that the inscription that referred to by this name would have been found at the foot of the south point. There is in and place that only remains of statues near a thin stream of water, but no inscription. We believe that in his notes he confused the two points of the genes, both under the name of Prah Thvear.

Inventaire descriptif des monuments du Cambodge, E. Lunet de Lajonquière, 1901

References and Further Reading

• Inscriptions du Phnom Kulen. Corpus existant et inscriptions inédites, une mise en contexte, J.B Chevance, 2014
• Les sites archéologiques de la région du Bhnaṃ Gūlen, Boulbet & Dagens, 1973
• Pœng Ta Roet rock inscription (K. 172 & K.1574),  Chloé Chollet, 2023

Rodney Charles LHuillier

Living in Asia for over a decade and now residing in beautiful Siem Reap. Rodney Charles L'Huillier has spent over seven years in Cambodia and is the author of Ancient Cambodia (2024) and Essential Siem Reap (2017, 2019). Contact via [email protected] - more..