MATERIALIZING SOUTHEAST ASIA’S PAST Selected Papers from the 12th International Conference of the European Association of Southeast Asian Archaeologists, Volume 2 Edited by Marijke J. Klokke & Véronique DegrootMATERIALIZING SOUTHEAST ASIA’S PAST Selected Papers from the 12th International Conference of the European Association of Southeast Asian Archaeologists, Volume 2 Edited by Marijke J. Klokke and Véronique Degroot Vl Nus Press SINGAPORE© 2013 Marie J. Klokke and Véronique Degroot Published by NUS Press National University of Singapore AS3O1-2, 3 Acts Link Singapore 117569 Fax: (65) 6774-0652 E-mail: aushooks@nuseduss ‘Website: http:/www:nus edu sa/muspress ISBN 978-9971-69.655-9 (Papen Al rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means, eleetronie or mechanical including photoropying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without write permission from the Publisher National Library Board, Singapore Cataloguing-in blication Data European Assoeiaton of Southeas! Asian Archaeologists, Intermational Conference (12th: 2008: Leidem ‘Materializing Southeast Asia’s past selected papers fiom the 12th Intermational Conference of the European Association of Southeast Asian Archaeologists, Volume 2 / edited by Manjke J. Klokke and Veronique Degroot. Singapore: NUS Press. 2013. pem ISBN 978-9971-69-655-9 (pbk) 1. Excavations (Arehtcology)-Southeast Asia~Congresses, 2 Southeast Asia~Aniiquites-Congresses I. Klokke, Mariike J. IL Degioot. Véronique. IL. Tile ps3 95901 23 CN 816330021 Front cover image: Bakong first enclosute, Prasat 2 and 3 (Photograph: Martin Polkinghorme) Back cover image: Buddha image at Borobudur (Photograph: Marijke J Klokke) Typesot by: Forum, Kusla Lumpur, Malaysia Printed by: Markono Print Media Pte LidContents List of Figures Introduction PART I: ART, RELIGION AND POLITICS: BUDDHIST MONUMENTS IN JAVA AND CAMBODIA, 1. Borobudur; A Monument of Avatamsaka Buddhism Jan Fontein 2. Art Historical Evidence for the Building Phases of Borobudur Marijke J. Klokke Enshrouded in Dharma and Arthar: The Narrative Sequence of Borobudur's First Gallery Wall Cecelia Levin 4. The Tantric Roots of the Buddhist Pantheon of Jayavarman VII Peter D. Sharrock 5. Buddhist Iconography in Brahmanical Temples of Angkor Vittorio Roveda 6. A Study of Wooden Structures: A Contribution to the Architectural History of the Bayon Style Monuments, Olivier Cunin PART 2: SOUTHEAST ASIAN TRANSFORMATIONS CULTURAL EXCHANGE WITH SOUTH ASIA 7. Gold Sheet Images in a Local Javanese Style Pauline Lunsingh Scheurleer 8. The Inscription on an Embossed Image of Siva in Gold Leaf from Cental Java, Indonesia Arlo Griffiths 9. Images of Siirya from Mainland Southeast Asia Marion Frenger 10, Religious Syneretism in 1th-century Thaton: A Southeast Asian Transformation of Visau Pamela Gutman 7 4 82 un lig 122‘coNTENTS u 12. ‘The Content of the West Mebon Visnu Marnie Fenely ‘The Cross-handed Gesture in Sri Lankan and Thai Art: A New Observation Chedha Tingsanchali PART 3: TECHNOLOGY: WORKMANSHIP IN ART AND MATERIAL CULTURE B 1. 16. ‘Techno-cultural Perspectives on Medieval Southeast Asia and Southern India: Pallava Bronzes and Beyond, ‘Sharada Srinivasan Khmer Ceramic Technology: A Case Study from Thnal Mrech Kiln Site, Phaom Kulen Chhay Rachna, Heng Piphal and Chhay Visoth ‘The Creative Sculptural Process as Evidenced in the Ramayana Reliefs of Candi Loro Jonggrang. Prambanan, Cental Java Natalie S¥. Ong Decorative Lintels and Ateliers at Mahendraparvata and Hariharalaya Martin Polkinghorne PART 4: SOUTHEAST ASIA BETWEEN PAST AND PRESENT 17. 19. 20, Funeral Scenes in the Ramayana Mural Painting at the Emerald Buddha Temple ML. Pattaratorn Chirapravati Jars in the Central Highlands of Mainland Southeast Asia Louise Allison Cort and Leedom Lefferts Pagoda Desecration and Myanmar Archazology, 1853-86 izabeth Howard Moore Fame and Fortune in Two Philippine Cemeteries: Tombstones as Ewtensions of Identity Grace Rarretto-Tesoro and loan Tara Reves About the Authors Index 140 156 167 179 196 205 21 253 268 2m21 22 23 24 28 26 27 2.8 29 2.10 21 212 243 214 215 216 2U7 218 219 2.20 221 2.22 2.23 224 u 12 B 4 Is 16 7 Ig 19 20 3 List of Figures Borobudur, example of a pilaster of the first main wall Borobudur, example of a pilaster of the second main wall Borobudur, example of a pilaster of the third main wall Borobudur, example of a pilaster of the fourth main wall Borobudur, first main wal, pilaster Detail of antefix and garland motif Borobudur, second main wall, pilaster. Detail of antefix and garland motif Borobudur, third main wall, pilaster. Detail of antefix and garland motif Borobudur, fourth main wall, pilaster. Detail of antefix and garland motif Borobudur, antefix type found on the first. second and third main walls Borobudur, antefix type found on the fourth main wall, and on the comices of the second, third and fifth balustrades Borobudur, antefix type found on the cornice of the first balustrade Sevwu, antefix of one of the small subsidiary shrines Borobudur, second, third and fifth balustrade, makara in a niche top Borobudur, first balustrade, makara in a niche surround Borobudur, first balustrade, pilaster motif with pendent Borobudur, second balustrade, pilaster motif with pendent, Borobudur, third balustrade, pilaster motif with pendent Borobudur, fourth balustrade, pilaster motif with pendent Borobudur. fifth balustrade, pilaster motif with pendent Borobudur, antefix type of the fourth balustrade Sewu. large subsidiary shrine, antefi Borobudur, kala type found on the fourth balustrade Borobudur, kala type found on the second, third and fifth balustrades Borobudur, fourth balustrade, matara Borobudur, relief fa 11 and Ib 11 Borobudur. relief Th 6 Borobudur, relief Ib 8 Borobudur. relief Ib 9 Borobudur, relief Ib 14 Borobudut. relief 1b 17 Borobudur, relief Tb 19 Borobudur, relief 1b 20 Borobudur. relief Ib 57, central part Borobudur, relief Ib 60 Borobudur. relief Ib 31 Borobudur, relief Ib 32 Borobudur, relief Th 44, left part Botobudur, relief 1b 70 Borobudut. relief Ib 81 Borobudur, relief Ib 106, detail Borobudut. relief Ib 108 Borobudur, relief Ib 110 Borobudur, relief 1b 23, right part Borobudur. relief la 120 and Ib 120 vii 2 12 GB 13 ry Is Is 16 7 17 18 18 19 9 20 20 21 21 2 23 23 24 24 25 29 29 30 31 31 31 31 32 32 33 33 34 M4 35 35 35 36 36 37 38,CECELIA LEVIN ‘The narrative program of the first gallery’s balustrade is comprised of jarakay and avadainay featuring hermits, princely rulers, and valiant animals: that of the main wall, focuses on the world of men; more precisely, the realm of the aristocracy, princes and kings. But do they represent the “good” ‘and the “positive”? It is perplexing as to why these stones — associated with acts of regal assassinations, patticide, kidnapping, filial violence. and strained family relations — were selected to complement the story of the great Bodhisattva, Gautama Siddhartha, founder of a religion emphasizing non-violence and worldly detachment. However. ifa theme or text outside the Buddhist tradition was to influence the narrative program at Borobudur, one clear candidate arises, for in addition to the religious systems and epic literature, the other significant aspect of Indian culture adapted by the Javanese was the concepts and rituals of kingship, In regard to the subject of kingship in the Central Javanese period, a reconsideration of Borobudur's intended audience may also be warranted. It was the eminent and perspicacious scholar of Javanese archaeology, WF, Stutterheim, who envisioned Borobudur as an object of meditation, “No ‘sightseeing’ Malays or Javanese or inhatitanis of other islands or countries from the buddhist world of southem ‘and eastem Asia, either as pilgrims measuring the monument with their bodies, or sauntering along the reliefs following the explication of a monk, and finally, on haying reached the top, admiring the view ‘and appreciating the formlessness of the terraces, but a population of meditating monks, future buddhas, from all over the world” (Stutterheim 1956: 45). His view. brought forward nearly 70 years ago, became ourstandard, Yet. since his time an understanding of Borobudur's significance has heen furthered by new archaeological material and enriched by an expanded comprehension of classical Javanese socio-religious traditions. Itis hard 10 imagine that Borobudur was erected merely as an act of piety by its patrons and not utilized in any way towards achieving their salvation; and while they may have viewed dharma as the Buddhist law in its spiritual and moral aspects, artha, or the “science of government” was linked to the requirements for leadership and emblematic of a pact between the king and his constituents ‘The extant writien sources of the Central Javanese petiod se1ve as a mirror to contemporaneous kingship beliefs, Inscriptions (praasti), such as that of the mid-Oth-century: Rakai Kayuwangi Dyah Lokapala (De Casparis 1956: 280-330), relate the dual realms of responsibilities linked with royal rule — valor on the battlefield and pious devotion. The latter may be demonstrated through the inauguration of religious foundations. A ruler's spiritual progress may then be advanced a step further towards moksa (release) through abdication: and after death he was rewarded by union with the divine The Ramayana Kakawin offers similar instruction on royal pragmatism by means of the heroes dialogues, and the attributes of proper kingship described in these sources are clearly modeled upon the Arthasastra and Niusasira, two significant Sanskrit works that served as “manuals” on proper polit and political ethics for rulers in ancient India. Traditionally dated to the beginning of the 10th century AD and the earliest known kavya of classical Java,’ a review of the kakawin’s contents reveals that the primary topic receiving further elaboration and embellishments in this Old Javanese recension is that of kingship. In contrast to the prasastis, which reflect upon the dual realms of responsibilities linked with royal rule, the Koken offers pragmatic instruction on the topic of dharma (religious acts). For instance, when Rama is welcomed in Mithila by King Janaka, the king addresses the prince as a “heroic king with great powers”, and encourages him to be observant of “dharma (religious acts), artha (gathering worldly wealth), kdma (striving for sexual fulfillment of progeniture), as the duty of the ksatriva (wartior caste)” (Santoso 1980: 63). Another illumination of proper leadership is represented by Vibhisana’s spezch to Ravana during the war council,’ Reminding his brother of the principles of kingship in regards to war, \Vibliisana delineates and describes the sadguna (six constituents of policy) and the sadvarga (six kinds of infatuation).* The Arthaséstra, a possible archetype for these interpolations in the kakawin, deals specifically with the taining of princes. Among its contents one finds instructions on the appointment of ministers and other officers: descriptions of the conduct of princes in disfavor: regulations for royal residences. the dealing out of punishments, and the guidelines for the administration of the kingdom. Most prominent is the subject of foreign relations, and this comprises several chapters offering advice on war straiegies. ‘The description of proper conduct for a king appears to differ litle from those delineated for a virtuousENSHROUDED IN DindRMad ANDARTIA Buddhist, for in the chapter “Casting out the Group of Six Enemies”, rulers are advised to renounce lust. anger, greed, pride. arrogance and foothardiness” (Arthasastra 1.6.1: Kangle 1972: 12). These works, or some equivalent, may have been transmitted by the purohitas serving at court, for it was their responsibility to educate the rulers ‘At Borobudur all but one of the /diakas and avaddnas depicted on Borobudur’s first gallery wall focus on a king or a princely ruler Each protagonist featured in this gathering of parables relates a specific message of Buddhist behavior while simultancously exemplifying principles of kingly conduct as delineated in the Arihasastra, These are reinforced by the visual \ocabulary, for in the lower level sequences courily environments and protocols predominate, mirroring the majesty of the scenes of Prince Siddhartha's life in the palace of Kapilavastu above (Fig. 3.1)° Figure 3.1: Borobudut, relioTa 11 and Tb 11 Photograph: Cecelia Levin), 13.2: Borobuduu, reli Tb 6 (Photograph: Cecclia Levin).CECELIA LEVIN ‘The visually appealing story of Sudhana and Manchard, depicted in the first 20 reliefs of the gallery wall, isthe most expansive narrative of this unusual mélange (Fig. 3.2). The Sudhanakumaravadana is the 30th tale from the Divydvaddna, joining a group of other three stories depicted on the first gallery wall — those of Mandhatr, Rudrayana and Maitrakanyaka — that can be associated with this same compilation. This story of a prince who falls in love with a kidnapped kinnara was first identified by Sergei Oldenberg in 1895, At that time he proposed that the 3rd through the 20th reliefs on the bottom half of the first gallery represented this theme. This identification was furthered by Alfred Foucher in 1909 ‘who determined that the first two reliefs, which featured Prince Sudhana at Pancala and a royal visit by his father, were, in fact. the introductory scenes of the storys sequence Since these pioneering efforis, the greatest concern of scholars has been the religious affiliation of Borobudur’s version of this parable, for it is believed that the reliefs’ adherence to a particular textual source could further an association with ‘onc of two Buddhist schools: the Milasarvistivida or the Mahasiiighika; this determination could lead to 1 greater comprehension of the monument.” Yet, over a century later there remains no identifiable textual version of this story that can be linked with these reliefs.* Similarly, no extant literary parallel, including the Jatakamata by Arya Stra, or specific compilation of avacanas can be linked to this greater series of reliefS at Borobudur. In addition to relating the legend of a prince who falls in love with an ephemeral mate, the details of Sudhana’s actions also epitomize the princely ideals as enumerated in both the Arthasdsira and Central Javanese prasasis, Those performing pradakyind on the first gallery would view, from & vantage point more aligned to eye level in comparison with the Lalitavistara series above, the obeisance of a prince to his regal father when com-manded into battle, directly succeeded by another demonstration of filial respect, that of a formal audience with a royal mother prior to departure (Fig. 3.3), Figure 33: Rorobudur elie Th 8 (Photogreph: Cecelia Levin) Sudhana then exhibits his ability to create favorable alliances — another trait described in the Arthasastra — by joining forces with the yaksas (Fig. 3.4). This regal activity is also underscored in the Ramayana, where successful negotiations and palavers with high-ranking simians are paramount to Rama's victorious rescue of Sitd (Stutlerheim 1925, II: pl. $9), After Sudhana’s successful mission he is shown bringing home the spoils of war to his father, emblematic of his valor in battle as well as @ further sign of filial respect (Fig. 3.5). Further along in this sequence of relief Sudhana is portrayed undertaking the challenge of the saptatala-vedha in order to win back his wife (Fig. 3.6). This specific act of heroics also has its counterpart in the story of Rama, ‘The final two scenes of the Sudhanakumdaravadana visually detail the protagonists" reunion, resplen- dent with court festivities and the distributions of gifts to members of the court (Figs. 3.7 and 3.8). This princely responsibility is often recounted in the prasasts of the late Central Javanese period as gifts of silver, gold and textiles are presented to court members upon the founding of simas by kings and rulers, It is also portrayed among the reliefs of the Ramayana at Loro Jongerang,Figure 3.7: Borobudar, eli Tb 19 (Photograph: Cecolia Levin)Figure 48: Borobudur, rele Ib 20 (Photograph: C. Principles of royal devotion and its guerdon may have encouraged the inclusion of two short parables located along the southern side of the frst gallery wall; both relate to sacrifices made by kings. The fitst of these is the Siéralankara'’ version of the King Sibi, Challenged by Sakradevendra, who has taken the form of a hawk, Sibi gives his own flesh fo save a dove, At Borobudur the reward for his sacrificial act is implied through a scene of his homage (Fig. 3.9). This visual motif is repeated to depict the similar outcome of the succeeding Dharmagavesin, (the dharma-sceker) from the Avadanasataka, In response to Subasitagavesin’s search for a man well-versed in dharma Sakra comes disguised as a yaksa and challenges the king to throw himself in the fire as payment for his instruction. Upon doing so the fire is transformed into the lotus pond and the king is honored (Fig. 3.10) It is apparent that other stories on the first gallery wall were coded to convey the principles of proper kingship delineated in these Indic manuals. Royal family relation is a vital theme in the Arthaidstra, Which states that “a king protects the kingdom (only) when (he himself) is protected from persons near Figure 39: Borobudur, lief Ib 57, central part (Photograph: Coselis Levin)ENSHROUDED IN DinsRAsA AND ARTA Figure 3.10: Borobudur, relief 1b 60 (Photograph: Cecelia Levin). hhim and from enemies, first from his wives and sons” An additional chapter centers on the nature of a prince in disfavor, noting vary ng acts of treason, theft, and political manipulations, eventually culminating in the crime of royal patricide. It is indeed possible that among the Sailendra rulers, with their fragile lineage and tenuous hold over Central Java, the themes of aborted rule and improper succession were singularly relevant The seulpiors of Borobudur devoted almost an equal amount of space to the Méndhatardvadina (Divydivadina 17) as they did to the story of Prince Sudhana. Its story of a ruler’s unbridled behavior reverberated with the offenses outlined in the Arthasastra and may have presented a strong warning to any Javanese ruler inclined to overstep his bounds. Similar to many of the stories on this gallery wall, the sculptors employed a “visual dichotomy” to emphasize and dramatize its messages. It begins with the detailing of King Uposada’s royal dharma — his distribution of alms; his visit to a hemitage, and his subsequent rewarding of the brahmanas for their prophesies on the birth of his son Méndhatara (Figs 3.1 and 3.12). Figure 3.11: Borobudur, relief Tb 31 (Photograph: Cecelia Levin), 3CECELIA LEVIN Figure 3.12: Horobudur,relie Tb 42 (Photograph: Cecelia Levin), This is succeeded by Mandhatara’s own acts of virtue, which sharply contrast with his subsequent aelperception as Sakra's Cadrs's) equal and his hubristie attempt to conquer the world (Fig. 3.13) Ultimately he fails in his attempt to conquer the throne of the gods and is hurled back to earth In addition to an account of royal patricide, the Rudrdyandvadana (Divydvadéna 37) mirrors the ArthasGstra’s sentiments on the legitimacy of leadership. Its opening, episodes relate a ruler’s need to maintain good relations with leaders of foreign lands. These reliefs detail the grandiose reception given to King Rudrayana upon his visit to the devout King Bimbisara at Rajagrha. This contemporary of the Buddha and follower of his teachings is actually featured in an episode of the Lalitavistara directly above."" In an ongoing exchange of gifts King Rudrayana is sent a painted cloth with an image of the Buddha traced from his shadow. Uhimately this leads to his ordination (Fig. 3.14). The virtuous behavior and moksa of Rudrayana is pictorically justaposed with misdeeds of his queen, his prime ministers and son Sikhandin, whose onler 1o have his father — now an arhat — murdered, Teads to the royal city's annihilation and ultimate chaos (Fig. 3.15) Figure 313; Borobudur, relief Ib 44, lft pact (Photograph; Ceoslia Levin)CECELIA LEVIN ‘What about Maitrakanyaka? The protagonist of the Maitrakenyakavadana is the only non-regal character featured on the first gallery wall, yet he shares his mercantile status with Sudhana, the seeker of Enlightenment who dominates the galleries above. This parable tells of a merchant's son who abuses his ‘mother and, as a punishment, is forced to carry a red-hot iron wheel on his head. In the opening episode Of this ovadzna, Maitrakanyaka turns over his wages to his mother, thus reminding the viewer of his original pious and respectful nature, Similar to other protagonists in this series of stories at Borobudur, the depictions of acts of benevolence serve as a narrative means to contrast dramatically subsequent falls from grace (Fig. 3.16). The variant of this avadana recounted at Borobudur differs in that it shows this wayward son witnessing this torture before his rebirth in Tusita heaven, perhaps an alteration to the story in adherence to the non-violent nature of this gallery’s visual narratives, While Maitrayanaka was not of a royal background, itis the moral of his story that may have warranted reinforcement, for in a society where ancestral ritual was of the highest regard, this merchant’s tale underscored the proper relationship between the ruler and his divine forbearers, It may also be observed that while the exotic travels and engagement in trade depicted in the story of Maitrayanaka are not emphatic of the goals of Buddhist teachings," the Arthasastra denotes the overseeing of merchant guilds and foreign ade as important responsibilities of rulers. It may be considered that wealthy merchants may have also been donors to the construction of Borobudar and this ‘avadana’s inclusion — similar to that of the sacred sezking of a merchant prince in the terraces above — was intended to inspire their spiritual ascent (Figs, 3.17 and 3.18). At Borobudur the emphasis shifis from a visual narration relating stories to one where stories ‘become symbols, or icons, for doctrinal messages, With this understanding, formerly inconsequential or unrecognizable episodes or scenes take on new meanings. A scene of the delivery of a foreign princess” portrait may thersfore be percsived as an insignia for the princely obligation of martial alliances that carry Figure 318: Borobudur, relief Ib 110 Photograph; Cecelis Levin).ENSHROUDED IN Dinssd ANDARTIA Figure 3.19: Borobudur, relief Ib 23, right part (Photograph; Cecelia Levin), swith them not only the continuation of the royal line but the potential peaceful continuity of a kingdom (Fig. 3.19) Moreover — as in the instance of King Sibi and Subasitagavesin — Borobudur's ideological program is not only enhanced by the selection of its narrative material, but also by the replication of imagery and motifs that serve as reinforcements. This practice may connect, strengthen, or integrate concepts similar to the way the repetition of a musical phrase or repeated sioka weaves together parts of a story, and these formulizations are representative of a deliberate visual language employed by the sculptors of the Central Javanese period. Therefore the motif of Prince Gautama’s saptatala-vedha is an indication of his princely upbringing and prowess, but also visually and psychologically ties this level of worldly princes with that of Sudhana below. In the same vein, images of Prince Gautama learning the art of statesmanship may have conjured strong resonances with royal worshippers, The final reliefs on the lower series of the first gallery wall are yet to be linked to a legend or text.!? The last two scenes — that of a princely archer and the royal veneration of a stiipa — present a somewhat illogical and improbable plot progression. However, when reading these reliefs from 1 conceptual viewpoint, they may be emblematic of the dual aspects of dharma — the heroics and devotion — associated with the ideal ruler. Further, although there proves to be no direct correlation between the events of the Lalifavistara and those of the avadinas and jatakas directly below, the possible synchronicity of the last two panels cannot be overlooked, for here the Buddha's arrival in Varanasi and ablutions performed in preparation of the First Sermon echo the rituals performed as a prince prepares for his leadership. Similarly, in the final scene of the Lalitavistara, as the gods bless the Bodhisattva at the commencement of his sermon, mirrored below is a composition of regal personages worshipping a ipa, a visual reminder of the obligation of leaders to construct religious monuments and perform the necessary rituals at sacred sites (Fig. 3.20). The gods may be equally bestowing their benediction upon the fulfillment of this royal responsibility by the patrons of Borobudur. The Divydvadina makes the distinction between the ordinary person and “those who have taken ‘refuge in the three jewels: various levels can be obtained by the initiate during his or her sacred journey” acrceELIA LEVEN Figure 3.20; Borobudur, relief Ta 120 and Ib 120 (Phetouraph: Cecelia Levin), (Upreti 1995: 139). The first, srofdpati, is the realm for those who have acquired an understanding of the “Four Noble Truths”, negated individuality, and broken past the belief in the permanent soul. Succeeding this are the stages of the srotdpanna, sakrcdigdint, and andigdmi. The highest of these is for those who are capable of performing miracles (Upreti 1995: 139) In the ultimate stage, as an arhar, one is beyond any attachment. Therefore the stories of the Divydvadina hold the essence of this spiritual passage — one that is architectonically expressed by Borobudur. The midinas, or morals, of these parables were crucial to the program of the monument and this select assemblage presented specific lessons to its patrons." The Lalitavistara ends with Gautama still in this world, and the final relief at Borobudur emphasizes his role as the great teacher and his spreading of | the doctrine, Below were actualizations of the courtly conduct and dfiarma that were to be followed by the royal patrons and donors of Borobudur during their worldly lifetimes, and these royal didactic messages coded into the lowest of the four galleries at Borobudur have their counterpart in the staircases at Candi Mendut as well as other preparatory arcas of other classical Javanese monuments. * While the reliefs of the Karmavibhariga reflected moral behavior for all Buddhists, the stories on the main wall of the first gallery may have been conceived as a dharmamaila. a stringing together of stories that illustrated proper conduct specific to the royal donors of this extraordinary monument, It may have bbeen drawn from literature known and compiled for the court, possibly even derived from storytelling rather than a textual manual. Their spiritual ascendancy was furthered by the exemplar of Gautama Siddhartha whose life story embodies the act of royal moksa In the succeeding galleries, they followed the story of another princely protagonist in search of Enlightenment also named Sudhana, where the importance of the words of his kalynamitras supplants the details of his joumey (see the article by Jan Fontein in this volume). On the fourth gallery they joined him in the realm of the deities. Upon reaching the circular terraces these initiates, who were guaranteed unity with the divine after death as decreed by their royal status, met with a sculptural realization of this ultimate achievement[ENSHROUDED IN DiZARa ANDARTICA Notes 1. This longstanding viewpoint is selected inthe writings ofthe early 20th-century scholar of Borobudur, NJ. Kiom, ‘who remarked, “It means so litle to solve these small puzzles, while the totality ofthe monument remains a mystery [Translated by Jan Fontein (Fontein 1981: 86) 2 This hypothesis originated fom his investigation of the story of Maittakanyaka, Fontein attempted to resolve inconsistencies inthe story by leoking fora soutee outside the ataka or avadlina repertory. As a result, he connested it with the theme appearing in the Karmavibhaniga that illustrates “Which is the act bearing fruit ina foreign county.” ‘This possage is not among the mtratves depicted on the “Tlidden Foot” (Fontein 1981: 96 8), 3. Several specialists of Old Javanese, such es PJ Zoetmulder, have suggested that the Ramayana Kakawin could have been composed even prior tothe reiga of King Balitung in the early LOth century — its radiional dae of atibution, ‘Therefore this literary version ofthe epic might potentially be eoetaneous with the construction of Lore Jonggrang (Zoetmulder 1974: 233), 4. Vibhisana's advice to avoid war with Rama comprises 60 dlokas, « substantial expansion on the kakiwin’s Sanskrit prototype ‘The sade mentioned inthe kakaovin has a elear equivalent in the chapter °Six Measures of Foreign Poliey” in the Anthasistra 6 One formuls employe by the sculptors of hoth Rorobudlur and Loro Jonggrang isthe inclusion ofa horse or an clephaat in the background of court seenes, This corresponds tothe fact that in ancient India court audiences were held near the royal stables 7. The Aradaméataka, the Milasarvasivadavinavavastu, and the Divwavadina are representative of the works of the Milasarvastivada School. The Diyydvadina is considered a lute compilation dating to the 3rd cr 4th centuries AD. (upreu 1995: 6). Upret noted thatthe Sudhanavaclana is identical to the earlier Version found in the Finayavast (Upreti 1995: 19), The Madvastu Avucina belongs io the Mahisaighike tradition in which the story of Suchana and Manohari is given the ttle Kinnara Jataka, Versions of this story that have associations with both schools are found inChinese revensions, and ater variations exis in the Tibetan, Khotanese, Myanmarese, an Thai traditions. 8. In any study of this topic, one must acknowledge the contributions of Padmanabh S. Jaini Jani found a strong correlation between these 20 reliefs snd the later Pali version of the story, even though several significant episodes ‘Were omitted, On this basis he proposed that the reliefs at Borobudur followed a Sanskil version other than the Dayavadana — one which ultimately becume the source forthe Pal redaction. However, he was unable to determine whether this was a now-lost version of the Malasarvastivida School or «Javanese Variant. See Juin 1966: 533-58. 9. Auhasisira 1.171; Kangle 1972: 29. This passage is succeeded by grave warnings on the potential danges to eulers resulting from their sons, coupled with the suggestion that a prince should either be sert away fiom court and removed fram the teritory, or indulged in the pleasures 0 that he would no! “besome hostile tothe father” (ibid 41), Conversely: itis writen that a “diseiplined prince .. should obey his father when appointed te an unvvothy task, except when itis dangerous to life or rouses the subjects (against him) or involves a heinous sin”. Arthasastra 118.1; Kangle 1972; 43 10. Asconding to the Dinyvadiina, King Bimbixara was admired for bis gifts tothe sangha as well as his deep support of the Buddha and his disciples. Bimbisara was also killed by his own son (Upreti 1995: 105-7), 11. Fonteiz was of the view that the limited appearance of Mastrakanyaka pursuing lis mercantile activities was due to thoie satus within the Buddhist tadition (Fontein 1981: 96.7) 12, Marea Johnstone speculated that reliefs 113b through 120b represent Jake 491, “The Peacock King” (ohnsione IS8L: 1M), 13 wold like to identify aligned conclusions reached in two previous analyses ofthis topic: Marea Iohnsione suggested thatthe reliefs ofthe first gallery wall and balustrade contain references to the activities of the rulers. Her main thesis ‘was built upon the belie thatthe first gallery demonstrated the ten paranras. The narative material ofthis area was assigned by # geographic relationship to the attributes associaled with a particular direction that was embodied with both inligenous Javanese and Buddhist connotations. This proposal is liked to Borobudur’s supposed function as a ‘mandala (Jeunstone 1981). Hiram W. Woodward, 3 theorized thatthe Sudhamakunardvadana natraives on the fst allery were an allegory for a specifi ruler (Woodward 1981; 132). I present the view that the reliefs were expressive of concepis of kingship but were not necessarily Linked to any one ruler or series of events 14, The belie thatthe sculptural nazratives on the monuments of the Cental Javanese period functioned as 2 form of viewer edueation is compaiible with the work of Marijke Klokke. Klokke provided a convincing argument that the ‘Tantri series incorporated into the sacred narrative programs on Javanese temples served to instruct ideals of prinsely cxrxluct Among ber conclusions is her claim thet by the East Jevanese peiod these sculptural narratives were“ foe kings” that paralleled literary versions of the stores. Klokke observed that these narratives that were suggestive of kingly conduct were placed in preparatory areas, such as on the side ofthe stairase at Candi Mendat or the trtha ‘of Panstaran, Higher levels were reserved for themes astosiated with the divine nature of kingship. Moreover, in her ”CECELIA LEVIN study of the Tantri narratives on Javanese temples Klokke was able to discern thal the dake seslptunal repertory representing purely Buddhist material or folktales converted into Buddhist parables, overlapped in several instances \ith the more secularly-orieated code of behavior asiociated with the compilations of the Indian Paficatanira and the Old Javanose Zamir Kamurndaka (Klokke 1993), References De Casparis, JG. (1956) Prasast Indonesia I: selected ineriptons from te 7 tothe Oh centuries AD. Band: Masa Bara Foniein, Jan (i981), “Notes on the Jatakas and Avadsnas of Barabusur", in Barabdur: fustory and sgnicance ofthe ‘monument, ed Luis ©. Gomez and Hiram W. Woodward, Jr. Berkeley: University of California Berkeley Buddhist Studies Series), pp. 85-108 Jains, Pauinanabh 8. (1566), “The stony of Sudhana and Manobara: an analysis ofthe tests and the Borobuaur vee Bulletin of the School of Oriemal and African Stadies 29: 533-58 Johrstone, Maea (1981), Borobudu: an analysis ofthe Gallery I relief, Jakarta: Departeren Pendidkan Dan Kebudaysan (Pelta Borobudu, Series C, No. 3, Poyek Pelits Pmugaran Candi Bovobud. Kangle, KP. (1972), The Koutilya Arthatasira Parts! and 2 Bombsy: University of Bombay (second edition). Klotke, Marie J.(1993), The Tanti reliejs on ancient Javanese cand. Leiden: KITLY Press (Vethandelingen KITLV 153). Krom, NJ. (1927), Barabudi archaeological description 2 volumes. “-Gravenhoge: Martinus Nioll Santoso, Soewito (1980), Ramayana (Old Javanewe Kokawin) 3 volumes. Singapore Insitute of Southeast Asian Studies, ‘New Dei Intemational Academy of Indian Culture (Sata Pitaka Series, Indo-Asian Literatures 251) Soekmons, R (1995), The Javanese candi: function and mean. Leiden: Bal (Studies in Asian Ar and Archaeology 1, Stuterheim, WF (1956), “Chand Rarabudar in WE Sttterheim, Snues mn Indonesian Archaeology s-Gravenhage ‘Martinus Niboll (KITLV Translation Series). pp. 1-62 pret, Kalpana (1995), dio as reflected i the Dryévadina, New Delhi: Munshitsm Manobara Wocawarl, Hiram W. 11 (1981), “Barabudur as stip”, in Baraudsr: history and significance ofa Budi monument ed, Luis ©, Gomer and Hiram W. Woodward, Jr Berkeley: University of Califomia (Berkeley Buddhist Staties Series 2). pp. 121-38. Zoetmulder. PJ. (974. Kalangwan: a survey of Old Javanese literature. “s-Graventage: Marinus Niholl (KITLV Translation Series 16)Chapter 4 The Tantric Roots of the Buddhist Pantheon of Jayavarman VII Peter D. Sharrock Introduction ‘The Buddhism of Jayavarman VII's father, King Dharanindravarman 1, who probably built Beng Mealea temple outside Angkor and erected a large four-armed Avalokitesvara icon (Fig. 4.1), may have been similar to many other cults of the great compassionate Bodhisattva that gained adherence from many Buddhist communities of South, Southeast and East Asia from the 1th century on, But Jayavarman’s Buddhism seems to have been more elaborate ‘Acritical test of Jayavarman’s Buddhism lies in determining who is the deity whose giant faces loom over Angkor from towers on the Bayon temple, the monument that tipped the ancient Khmers from four centuries of state Saivism into state Buddhism (Fig. 4.2) Iconographical Reasons for Rejecting the Current Identification of the Faces Most guide books interpret the Bayon as bearing giant images of the Mahayainist Bodhisattva Lokesvara facing all ways” (samantamukha) of the Lotus sitra, carved in the likeness of the king — an expression of royal-divine power streaming out to connect with a network of local territorial deities. I support the Fiqure 4.1: Lokesvara of Beng Mealea Figure 4.2: Bavon face lowers (Photograph: Pete: D. Sharrock), (Siem Reap Conservation) (Photograph Peter D. Sharrock) 4ua weasaq0r] a1Ais-to seg possAoaup) rp aunTHE TANTRIC ROOTS OF THE BUDDIIST PANTHEON OF JAYAVARMAN VIL idea of a network of tertitorial deitics which is still so important to the Khmers today,’ but I question both the identification of the deity at the hub and whether the god is carved in the likeness of the king, | will propose instead that the image of the sixth supreme tantric Buddha, Vajrasattva, is what is carved with maximum prominence on the regnal temple of Jayavarman’s Angkor. The first iconographical reason for questioning the Lokesvara identification is the absence of an Amitabha figurine in the hair of the face tower deities. Bernard Philippe Groslier wrote Lokesvara always has his Dhy@ni-Buddha on his chignon. In fact nothing allows any explanation for its disappearance on the towers of the Bayon, where it could have been easily sculpted” (translated from Groslier 1973: 305), Further reasons are that Lokesvara is unknown anywhere with four faces and in the Bayon period he is invariably uncrowned, whereas the Bayon faces wear tiaras, hair covers and earrings, A further consideration i thet if the Bayon was indeed dedicated to Lokeswara, it would be highly unlikely that a major Lokesvara pediment would be covered in the final Bayon build. Yet Figure 4.3 shows the pediment exposed by Henri Marchal in 1924 which overnight confirmed the Bayon's Buddhist vocation — before this the Bayon had been thought to be a 9th-century Brahmanical temple. Moreover, Preah Khan, the temple Jeyavarmen VII expressly dedicated to LokeSvara and his father. is the only temple he built in Angkor whose towers and gateways bear no giant faces. If Lokesvara were in the face towers, there would certainly have been face towers in Preah Khan, Seeing an image of the king in the face towers seems to be nuled out by the portrait statues of the king, These statues do appear to be portraits for they depict a muscular, bullenecked, moustachiced, square-shouldered, middle-aged military type, with a slightly expanding girth, such as we might expect Jayavarman to have been afier his long military career with the Chams, and his fight to secure the Khmer throne in his fortics. This is an uncrowned man with lowered eyes probably inclining in aiijali-mucra before his god — bat not himself a god or Buddha as Coeds proposed in his divine king or “Buddharaja” theory long ago rejected by scholars (Fig. 4.4). Itcan be readily granted that the portrait statues and the Bayon faces share the basic facial features of the Bayon style — wide, flat moath, high forchead. heavy eyebrows — but this applies. as Dagens points, ut, to “virtually all of the statuary of the Bayon and it is therefore not really meaningful” (translated from Dagens 2000: 107) In abandoning the “ Avalokitesvara/king-in-the-faces” hypothesis, | propose we look at Khmer icons of supreme tantric Buddhahood for a better account of how the face towers project Javavarman’s supreme pantheon. Can we establish a case for saying the srighana (“the glorious ones”) — the mysterious epithet for the supreme Khmer Buddhas thai Claude Jacques has found in nine inscriptions (Jacques 2007: 192) —were headed by Vajrasativa and Hevaira (Figs. 4.5 and 4.6)? Ifwe now tum back to the earliest indications of Buddhism among the ancient Khmers, we find clear traces of a distinguished and intemationally-known cult of Mahayana evolving into tantric Buddhism ftom the 7th century onwards. The Khmer temple inscriptions show the elite of ancient Cambodia as highly literate and there were monasteries. but these had limited independence and were all royal foundations, ‘The Buddhists’ lack of favour at court therefore kept their profile low and left only a faint trace of their cult in the material record. Seventh Century Nancy Dowling has noted strong resemblances to the “Hinayna” icons of Dvaravatt in the series of standing Buddhas in the Phnom Penh National Museum, which she credibly dates to Zhenla in 610-65 (Dowling 2000: 122-55). The Buddhas come mostly from the region around the old Funanese centre of Angkor Berci in southem Zhenla, west of the Mekong, but similar wooden icons haye been found furdier south in the Mekong Delta. The Khmer experience of Buddhism apparently came to an abrupt end later in the 7th century, for the Chinese monk Yijing travelled through the territory and reported that although Buddhism had flourished there, it had been wiped out by “a wicked king” CYijing, translation by Takakusu 1896: 12), Cambodian craftsmen were to produce no more of the quiet, contemplative Buddhas in flowing bhuksu’s robes until the arrival of Theravada at the end of the 13th century We also find evidence from Zhenla the presence of Mahayana Buddhism. This tradition is attested ina large and impressive image of the crowned Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, now in the Musée Guimet in 4THE TANTRIC ROOTS OF THE BUDDIIST PANTHEON OF JAYAVARMAN VIL Paris, but unearthed at Tan Los the Bodhisattva from Rach Gia to 650-720 from the motif of a band of altemating round and reciangular {jewel settings at the base of the crown, which appears on iemple colonettes in these years (Bénisti 1969: 109). Yiging's report would indicate the early part of this date range. in Rach Gia on the coast of what is now Vietnam, Mirielle Bénisti dates Direct Influence in Zhenta from India The 7ih-century Khmers of Zhenla seem to have been the fist people outside India to fee! the impact of Budidhism’s tantric or esoteric third wave, known variously as Mantrayna and Vajrayna, which was to eventually spread from Bihar through Nepal, Tibet, Mongolia, China, Korea, Japan, Sti Lanka and much of Southeast Asia. Chinese records first disclose that the Khmers of Zhenla were exposed to the tantric Mantrayéina, or early Vajray na.’ One of the first Indian tantri masters travelling abroad recorded. Chinese annals which contain a revealing document, the official Tang biography of Punyodaya. Shortly afier acriving in the Tang capital and translating Sanskrit texts into Chinese, Punyodaya was sent on an {imperial mission to Zhenla, Lin Li-Kouang, who translated Puny odava’s biography, traces the emergence of tantric Buddhism out of sseret monastery rituals to the period between 650 and 750. Punyedaya played a role in this evolution with his 663 translation of the Astamandalaka-sitra (T.486). His translation reflects the concept of the Mantrayaina or vehicle of spells more than the later Yoga-tantra evinced in the 770 translation of the same text by Amoghavajra, the most eminent tantric Buddhist guru of the Tang court (Lin Li-Kouang 1935: 83-100) Punyodaya was a contemporary and perkaps rival of the Yogdcarin pilgrim and translator Xuanzang, Like Amoghavajra a century later, Punyodaya was sent on a Chinese imperial mission to gather taniras (Wieger 1922: 536), He also studied, as Amoghavajra did, in the tantric institutions of Sri Lanka (Lin Li-Kouang 1935: 83) before reaching China, later he was sent to Zhenta to gather medicinal herbs in the mid-7th century. The biography say's “when he arrived in the Southern Seas, the kings paid homage to hhim and built religious foundations especially for him”. His teachings and skills made such an impact that affer he retumed to China, a Zhenla delegation of Buddhists arived in the Tang capital in 663 to plead for his return. The emperor permitted his departure by decree and the Indian master spent the rest of his day's in Zhenla (Lin Li-Kouang 1935: 89), However, his work to establish carly tantric Buddhism in Zhenla sulfered a rapid reversal in the suppression usually atuibuted to Jayavarman I (r, 657-90; K95 v5), who married a daughter to an Indian Brahmin Agastya of Aryadesa (Sanderson 2004: 401), Bighth Century Outside Zhenla, the 8th century savy Vajrayana mushroom across East Asia from the northern Indian monasteries. George Ceedés indeed calls the arrival of Vajrayana on the world stage the dominant fact of | the 8th century (Coedes 1968: 96). The advent of the Pala dynasty in Bengal in mid-century had a major impact, and through the Sailendras (¢, 750-RS0) there was a surge of Mahayanist temple building in Java and the Malay peninsula (Chaiya).* Amoghavajra narrowly survived shipwreck in 719 as he accompanied Nalanda’s former abbot Vajrabodhi (670-741)* to China to translate the faméras into Chinese for the Tang emperor. After Vojrabodhi’s death in 741, Amoghavajra returned on an imperial mission to Sri Lanka to fulfil his master’s dying wish that he bring to China the Sarvatathagataiattva-samgrahanamamahay Gnasitra (SITS) and other large works they had been forced to throw overboard in the earlier storm. On his return to China the emperor Hiuan-tsong had an altar erected in his palace where he received the tantric consecration (abhiseka). “In consequence all classes of society adopted the cult. This was the most prosperous era of esoteric Buddhism in China” (Tajima 1936; 23), For a time it moved Daoism to one side at court At the end of the &th century, under the guidance of Amoghavajra’s pupil Houci-kouo, KObé Daishi (774-835) arrived from Japan for two years’ instruction by this master before returning in 806 to found the Shingon sect that held great sway at court and still prospers today. The two great texts of Shingon Buddhism are the Dainichiiya (Mahdvairocanee-sitray’ and the Kongichdgyo or STS, translated into 45PETER D. SHARROCK Chinese by Amoghavajra, Reviewing the prominence achieved by the tantric Buddhists in the Tang court under the Tai-tsung emperor (762-79) and of the Shingon sect in Japan, Ronald Davidson concludes: There appears no exception to the rule that, when the Mantiayina becomes culturally important outside India it is principally the ney of olicial pattonage, ether aristocratic or imperial (Davidson 2002: 115) the a This applied in Tibet. China, Mongolia and Japan. In Cambodia the rule also held because the country’s Buddhists kept only a low profile until the Mahidhara seizure of power in the 11th century However. the advantage of rapid top-down advancement through the power of royal courts exposed the Buddhist royal cult leaders to equally sudden reversals of fortune, Several of these Buddhist communities suffered setbacks like that reported by Yijing in Tth-century Zhenla, In broad brush terms there is only space here to refer to the Buddhist Sailendras’ sudden disappearance from Java in the 9th century, the closing of 4,000 monasteries and buming of books and vestments in 9th-century China, the purging of Mahayana cutis in Sri Lanka in the 9th century and in Burma in the 12th century, while Buddhism was crushed in Tibet, before returning in a second triumphal wave a century later. Closer to Zhenla in the 8th and %h centuries, indced next door to Isdn, a hoard of 200 superbly modelled and cast Bodhisattvas found recently at Prakhon Chai attests to a pothaps regal cult of Bodhisattvayana, possibly in the shadowy state “$rT Candsa” mentioned in inscriptions. Nothing more is yet known of this community that suddenly re-entered history with the discovery of the buried bronze masterpieces.” In Cambodia proper, Jayavarman Il left no inscriptions in this period but is credited by succeeding kings with founding Cambodia and asserting its independence in a tantric Saiva “devardja” cult n 802. For the next 150 years the Khmer Buddhist community left litte sign of its existence.” At this time the Vedantic theologian Sankara was travelling throughout India preaching against Buddhism and it cannot be excluded that his influence was felt in Cambodia, for Sivasoma, a cousin of Jayavarman II, studied the sastras under him and returned to Cambodia, where he eventually became chief minister to Indravarman I (Briggs 1951: 234). Ninth Century ‘Ninth-century Champa hed an early Vajrayanist cult at a major new Budchist complex at Béng-direng. In n and the peninsular communities, tronze tantric deities were produced in the 9th century. Similar icons ‘were produced in Pala Bengal and Java at this time and Hiram Woodward calls the peninsular bronzes ~Bengali-influenced” (Briggs 1951: 234). In Cambodia, a %th-century Buddhist patron and guru named Sri Satyavarman is identified in two tantric inscriptions as the creator of foundation at Sak Bak village near Phimai, in modern Thailand, and one at Wat Sithor southeast of Angkor. This pionecring Buddhist appears from the inscriptions to have been active in the 9th century in the eastern and western wings of the area dominated by the Khmer Buddhist “Mahidhara” families, which eventually came to power in 1080 through the usurpation of Jayavarman V1 ‘Tenth Century ‘The Khmer Buddhists received a major boost in the 10th century at the Renaissance-style court of King Rajendravarman, where Buddhism was tolerated as a secondary creed. Rajendravarman was a powerful and cultivated Saiva king" who presided over a Renaissance-style court that contained active communities of Saivas, Vaisnavas and Buddhists. The king allowed his senior minister, general and architect Kavindririmathana to build the elegant, moated Buddhist temple of Bat Cum amid the palaces and villas of the regenerated city. The small brick and stone temple is dedicated to the Buddha. Vajrapani and Prajidpiramita."" The icons of Bat Cum are lost but the temple probably housed a Buditha seated ‘on a multi-headed giant ndiga, as this is the principal Buddha icon of this period, which appears in the 10th-century caifvas in the Phnom Penh National Muscum and the Musée Guimet. Paris. These carly Khmer ndge-enthroned Buddhas, of which a dozen survive, bear striking similarities — notably the long separated necks of the serpents and their crested heads — to the icons found in the Mahayana ‘communities that doited the Khmer foreign trade route to the pre-Thai peninsula, No known inscriptionTHE TANTRIC ROOFS OF THE BUDDHIST FANTIEON OF JAYAYARMAN VIL explains why the Khmer Buddha in dhydna-nudra is enthroned on a nda, but theit contents suggest it may represent Vairocana the supreme Bucldha inthis period in China and Japan. No Khmer evidence 1 have found comforts the widely held view tht this image is connected withthe Mucalinda myth known from the biographies of Sakyamuni and propagated broadly in Southeast Asia’s Theravada in later centuries, The eult of Bit Cum is clarified in an incsiption a few years nter that recounts the peineipal Buddhist scholar at court, Kirtipandita, sending abroad for tantric texts, which included the STS, the toot tantra of the Yoga class in the Tibetan classification. Cwedes published the Romanized Sanskrit ofthe crucial stanza which establishes the presence of the tantras in Carabodia as 7-8 aksagranthom abhiprajfam —_yonveyys perardstratah tattvasangranat Tah tantran sAdhyapayad ya and translated it as ‘Ayant recherché en pays étranger une foule de livres philosophiques ot les tatés els que le commentaire ‘da Tattvasangraha, ce sage en sépandit étude. [Having searched ina foreign country for a great number of philosophical books and treatises such as the Tattasangraha commentary, this sage then spread the stuly of them] Whereas a more literal translation gives Having searched in a foreign kingdom for one hundred thousand book(s) of higher wisdom, the self restrained one [sage] taught the Tantra teachings (1antram) of such texts such as the Tartvasangraha and is commentary. ‘The word ‘antra can be used to describe chapters or texts and Ceedés translates the word fantra(s) in the broad sense of traités (treatises). Having rendered abhiprayfiam (“higher wisdom”) as “philosophiques”. he goes on to indicate the doctrinal basis of lines B27-8 as simpy “Le Mahayana™:!" 27-8 advayéiuttacam yinam anyesdm svam ivigijayan yodisan munaye haitam rijutam Sivikdvayam Procuting for others as if for himself'the nondual (advaye) and supreme (anutara) vehicle (ina), he produced for the Sage (onmi) a pair of g Iui-méme le véhicule supréme et sans second. il consaera au Muru deus litiévs en or et d'argent. olden and silver palanquins (sivika), [Codes Procurant aus aulses, comme & Ceedés’ evaluation of this Buddhism has naturally been influential and his translation has gone unchallenged for many decades. Yet the words of the opening Sanskrit compound advaya-anuttara-yina (nondval-supreme-vehicle) of this stanza suggest the third Buddhist vehicle, the Vajrayana, rather than the much broader and older term “Mabiyana” that the later vehicle enormously enhanced in terms of ritual, liturgy and text over many centuries. Furthermore, the Wat Sithor text indicates that Kirtipandita, inteaching the Tattvasemgraha, a common abbreviation in Indian sources for the Sarvatathiigatatativa sangraha (STS), had a preference for this principal scripture of the Yoga-tantras.’° Three major works are known by the short name Tartvasarigraa “compendium of truth” (Sanderson 2004; 427), Kamalasila’s commentary on Santaraksita’s manual of Mahayinist doctrines is called Tattvasamgraha-paryika, but the commentary brought in by Kirtipandita, according to Wat Sithor, was the Tetvasamgraha-tika, Tibet's 17ih-century historian Taranaths has the support of modern scholars in identifying the Tatnasamgroha-fika as the short name for the Kosaldlamkaratatvasamgrahaika (Chimpa and Chattopadhyaya 1990: 270; Lessing and Wayman 1978: 25, Kwon 2002: 25). This ik is not a commentary on Santaraksita’s academic manual of Mahayana doctrines but rather the leading commentay on the Zuttvasamgraha-ianira itsell. The STS is dhe third work hich shares the same short name. The author ofthe sid was identified by Tarandiha as Sakyamitra, who lived in the Ite 9th century (Kwon 2002: 25: Winternitz 1932: 396)! and composed the Kosaldlamkara-tottvasamgraha-tikd in his home town of Kosala during the reign of Devapala, the successor of Gopaia, the Sth-century founder of the Pala dynasty (TSrandtha 1608: 274-83). In Kirtipandita’s time, Sakyamitras fikd was a major "7PETER D. SHARROCK Work of recent scholarship — indeed the current scholarly classic that sought to elucidate the dominant Yoga-tantra that was playing the pre-eminent role in advancing Vajrayana throughout South, East and Southeast Asia. The upshot of this small textual clarification is significant, It means that Wat Sithor’s Sanskrit compound ‘attvasangrahatikadi-tantram identifies the root tantra of the Yoga class (in the Tibetan classification), and its major commeniary, as the textual platform for the Khmer Buddhist revival. If we think of Kintipardita bringing such texts into Cambodia to re-launch Buddhism, we envisage a mission invested with the vigor and ambition of the gurus Buddhaguhya and Sakyamitra, who had already coniribuied much to making tantric Buddhism 2 success in Tang China. This is far removed from the kind of scholastic enterprise based on the textbooks of Sintaraksita and Kamalasila that Caxdés and subsequent historians have assumed rent Century A century later, a new dynasty from the yet unidentified Khmer city of Mahidhara took power and was 10 sustain itself with only brief interruptions until the late 13th century. Mahidharapura was a city presumably near Phimai, where a vast temple complex was constructed by King Jayavarman VI in the last two decades of the century. Although the state religious calendar in Angkor was presumably still honored at the pyramidal Saiva Baphion temple in Angkor, the construction of the Phimai tantric Buddhist complex appears to indicate that the centre of political power had moved at least in part from Angkor to Phimai \where a temple complex on an unprecedented scale set the standard for Angkor’s greatest builders, Kings Siryavarman II and Jayavarman VII. The central sanctuary at Phimai leaves no doubt about the Tantrism of the Buddhist Mahidharas. Although the central icon is not known, around the inner sanctum of the temple are deeply-carved reliefs of the tantric Heraka Samvara, a crowned (Palz-derived?) Buddha and what looks like a version of Vajrasattva and the Vajradhatu Pentad. ‘Twelfth Century Phimai was built from c, 1080 onwards and dedicated in 1108 and no doubt remained a powerful religious foundation for many years. The enduring importance of the Phimai Buddha to the dynasty is reflected in the prominent place it was afforded 80 years later in Javavarman VII's court spring festival. It was also singled out for offerings by his chief queen JayardjadevT, when she set up a Buddhist foundation for abandoned girls. Jayavarman VII himself enlarged Phimai and built a chapel for his own portrait statue venerating the god of the central sanctuary. But within a decade of the completion of the Phimai complex, Siryavarman II came to power in a coup against his own kinsmen and began the construction of the extraordinary Vaisnava shrine, now known as Angkor Wat, Saryavarman II's devotion to Visnu, whose role in Khmer religious art had been minor since pre-Angkorian times, remains something of a mystery." It is worth noting that Vaisnavism, boosted by reforming gun Ramanuja, bloomed in India in the early 12th century and the great Jaganndtha temple rose at Puri, Orissa, exactly when Angkor Wat was being built Although this survey attests the presence of Buddhism in Cambodia for seven centuries before he came to power. Javavarman VII made a major break with tradition when he made Buddhism the state cult for the first time. The decision probably owed something to the extraordinary political circumstances of his accession and presumably reflected his personal convictions, He eventually chose the posthumous title Mahdparamasaugatapads (“who has attained the domain of those who are supremely devoted to the Buddha”) (Sanderson 2004: 429). The record is far from clear, but Angkor was attacked by a Cham army and the usurper Tribhivanddityavarman, who had overthrown Yasovarman II in 1167, was killed. Never before hat a foreign army penetrated the military and spiritual defences of the Khmer capital ‘The revamp of the city defences undertaken by the new general-king Jayavarman, who reached Angkor in 1182, probably with another Cham army, included massive defensive earthworks, meats and walled ‘compounds. Even though Jayavamian’s cult was syncretic, with large sections of his temple complexes dedicated to Brahmanical rites for Siva and Visnu, the central sanctuaries were emphatically Buldhist. HisTHE TANTRIC ROOFS OF THE BUDDHIST FANTIEON OF JAYAYARMAN VIL move to assert his own creed as supreme over the Saivism of the long-entrenched Brahmanical aristocracy must have entailed a blend of conviction, contingency and adventurism. He inherited a mix of religious traditions and sought a balance of power among them that gave him ultimate control, Syncretism was then a matter of realpolitik rather than ecumenism, as Davidson observes of feudal India: the patronage of many kings towards mobiple religious traditions could be viewed in part as an attempt 1w keep them all beholden to the ruler — and divided from one another — rather than a dedicated eatholiity among Indian monarchs (Davidson 2002: 192) Socio-Religious Re-engineering In taking the significant risk of reducing the power of the court Brahmins and challenging the status ‘quo of the entrenched Brahmanical aristocracy. Jayavarman VI appears to have gambled on winning popular support by defending the people in a large socio-engineering plan. A network of walled complexes directed by monks and officials with guaranteed supplies, water, transport and artisans Was constructed in ‘Angkor, and actoss the empire, within a decade. Louis Finot describes these multi-purpose communities, as “complex establishments ... which were at the same time temples, convents, universities, and no doubt fortresses when needed, capable of protecting the population and withstanding a siege” (translated from Finot 1925: 239). Later there are signs that he sought to embed the Buddhist root through mass conversions and consecrations. The largest community of all was presumably lodged around the new Bayon state temple, within the new earth ramparts of Angkor Thom. Compared with Siiryavarman II's remote Vaisnava rituals on the small, elevated, third-Ievel platforms deep within Angkor Wat, Jayavarman ViT's new Buddhist temples were a departure into open, city-centre architecture. Paul Mus contrasts the remote and “ordered splendour of Angkor Wat, evoking Versailles”, with the massive presence of the Bayon open to the heart of the city, without moat or enclosure wall us and artistic academism had passed, The most audacious forms from the mystical ‘experience and the sculptural and architectural expressionism appropriate tothe Great Vehicle of Buddh hand taken hold of Cambodia and were refashioning it in announcing — fllaciously in fact — a worthy destiny [..| Now [the sovereign’s} portit breaks out everywhere, He throws himself before his people, he ‘exposes himself to defend them, risking al |. hence this art with a difference in the service ofa new creed because the polities have changed, in a disastrous and revolutionary situation thai had to be faced (rsnslaied fiom Mus 1964: 31-2) ‘These large. temple-centred popular complexes were the base units of an ambitious politico-teligious re-engineering program that helped turn Cambodia into a Buddhist society Jayavarman VII's Icons Jayavarman, on taking power, began erecting triads of the ndjga-enthroned Buddha, Lokesvara and Prajidparamita. In his second decade, with the national defences secured against Cham adventures and internal rebellion, he committed himself to foreign expansion. This went beyond restoring Khmer control ‘over parts of Champa and halted only at the borders with the Dai Viét, Burma and Srivijava, During this period the triads made way for a broadly-disseminated iconographic campaign in which the temples and the empire underwent what Philippe Stern called “Lokegvarisation”. Standing Lokesvaras were inserted into the central sanctuary of the Saiva healing spa of Neak Paen in Angkor and large eight-armed sandstone and bronze images of Lokesvara, along with portrait statues of the king, were distributed to the religious power centres in the major cities. Preah Khan (“sacred sword”) temple in Angkor, which Jayavarman called Jayastinagar, “city of victorious fortune”, was built around a central shrine to arya avalokitesa surrounded by 238 deities."* Stern went as far as to describe Lokegvarisation as a “bratal blow. which would give “Lokegvara’ first place at the transition to the second period” (translated fiom Stern 1965: 134). The powerful yet contemplative Khmer image of the “Lord who looks down” became Paramount in religious art — reproduced in more icons than the Buddha, These Lokesvaras are an ”antistic breakthrough in rendering a new naturalism and quictism in a vigorous human frame. Boisselicr memorably describes their lowered eyelids and soft, rapt smiles: ‘An impassive ideal of superhuman beauty is replaced by a highly sensitive search for human truth. The Buldha like the Mahayana or Brahmsnical divinities ofthe time, ceases to be supematural, Overflaing With ‘compassion, he reverts to the human state and appears in the form of a Khmer (Beisselier 1978 327) The lowered eyelids that give the images this arresting human presence became the hallmark of ‘Lokegvarisation’ ‘The final phase of the king’s reign is signalled in the art of the new state temple, the Bayon, where the decoration indicates a move to public displays of the Vajrayana of the kind first seen at Phimai, Yogint dancers in Hevajra’s ritually charged tantric ardhaparyarika posture appear in their thousands carved in relief entablatures on the gopura and columns that make up the approaches to the Bayon. Similar Yogin \hirl around Hevaira in bronzes that are three dimensional manclalas based on the liturgy of the Hevajra- tanira. One of the late Bayon style Hevajras was indeed excavated from the ruins of the royal palace by Groslier in 1952, suggesting the wrathful emanation of the supreme tantric deity had become the king's personal deity or isfadevatdi (Grostier 1954: 229). Moreover halls with the dancer emblem were added to the earlier temples like Preah Khan, Ta Prohm and Banteay Kdei and their collective impact on the ritual spaces of the temples towards the end of the reign is such that we might extend Stem’s model and call it “Yoginification”. Were these halls designed for large scale Hevajra consecrations? The large number of bronze lnstration conch holders and other ritual paraphernalia in the world’s museum collections, hich bear Hevajra’s embossed image, support this interpretation, Indeed from the material record left by this movement, Hevajra may have reached his world apogee in Cambodia at this time.” This wrath- ful emanation of Vajrasattva also appears in stone. Two large surviving sandstone statues of Hevajra — an intact one with 8 heads, 20 arms and 4 feet.” and a larger (three mette) and finer but heavily damaged one, the bust of which is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York — were found, respectively, near the west and east gates of Angkor Thom (Figs. 4.7 and 4.8). I recently located the legs of the New York Hevajra bust in the forest outside Angkor Thom and these have now been moved by the Khmer authority to the Siem Reap conservatory, This has enabled us to reconstitute electronically how the New York Hevajra may originally have locked, using the bust and legs and blowups from Khmer Hevajra bronzes (Fig. 4.9), Vajrasattva and his Heruka emanations Hevajra and Samyara appear together in a Phnom Penh museum bronze mould found at Poipet, near the modern Thai border. Figure 4.7: Hevajra bust, Metropolitan Museum of Art New York They dance on corpses beside a (Photograph Peter D, Sharock).rock) -armed, three or four-headed faced figure who, at the centre of such a mandala, can only ttva Fig. 4.10). 1 propose we see the same supreme deity in the face towers of Jaya- varman’s temples. A similar triad is carved in relief on the wall of a sanctuary in Jayavarman’s large Banteay Chmar temple in this region, 1 suggest that these elements coalesce into a body of evidence that attests the existence of a royal Vajrayana cult, focused on Hevajra/Vajrasattva. This puts in question the current consensus of scholars, according io which there are tantric clements in Jayavarman VII's Vajraydina, but they are peripheral to his core creed. I would propose instead that the time has come to reflect on whether these Hevajras, Yoginis, Prajidiparamitas and Vajrasativas did not eventually occupy centre stage in a royal cult that enabled the king to master political turmoil and maintain empire. like his tantric forebears, in feudal India Coneh ns From c. 600-1080 Khmer Buddhism survived as a secondary creed, despite repression and only sporadic royal patronage. In 1080 the Mahidhara dynasty established Buddhism as the power behind the throne and in 1182 Jayavarman VII made it the state religion. The Buddhism of the Khmers was mostly tantric from 600-1300, At some as yet undetermined point, probably in the late 13th century, the Khmers turned to a Thai- or Burmese-influenced Theravada, In the 16th century an energetic Khmer king retumed to Angkor and refited it on a major scale as a regional Theravidin Buddhist pilgrimage centre. Jayavarman VII's strategic shift to Buddhism thus proved permanent among the Khmers, though the nature of the cult rapidly evolved far away from his own, How the Theravada arrived in Angkor remains obscure. Pall inscriptions and temples with ‘Theravidin iconography suddenly appear at the end of the 13th century, strategically positioned besideTHE TANTRIC ROOFS OF THE BUDDHIST FANTIEON OF JAYAYARMAN VIL the royal palace. And an eyewitness imperial Chinese emissary in 1296 describes a village level Buddhism which sounds Theravadin in spirit and ritual, He mentions no role for the huge Vajrayana sione temples built by Jayavarman Vil. Jayavarman VII's form of Buddhism seems to have declined fast. though the Teaders of nascent Ayutthaya sought to capture its imperial sway by occupying Angkor and taking many Angkorian Buddhist features into their Theravadin state Buddhism, Notes 1. There is abundart evidence today in Cambodis of eentral government routinely establishing formal links with neak ‘aywhea officials are installed in the provinces (Ang Chouléan 1986 217) By minsterial decree, local administrators ‘must fake off their hais every time they pass the anak ta spirit house. Certain nea 1a have even achueved national nown. In a story sil widely related in Cambodia, King Ang Chan (¢ 1516-66) was on the verge of defeat by a Siamese army. when General Moeun proposed to commit suicide in order fo generate an amy of ghosts to support the Khmers, Before the whole army, the general threw himself into a dich filled with stakes, followed by his wife and sons, and their violent deaths were believed to have resulted in the Siamese army succumbing to cholera and being defeated. The general was venerated as neak fa Ghlimag Mioung “and the popularity of this spinit extended through the whole of Pursat province and even throughout Cambodia” (Ang Chouléan 1986: 207) 2. Jean Boisselier reached a similar chronology by analysing the eente-folded dhoti (Boisselier 1957: 272) 3. Vijraydna and tantric Buddhism are used as synonyms here, although the second is normally considered broader because it inludes the Mantrayana or Menfranaya (“path of manteas”), whose practitioners before the 7th century Aid not see themselves as éistinet from Mahaiyina, 4. Chaiyalin the 8th century flourished on the maritime trade network taxed and policed by a federation of Savijayan ports. Three brick temples were erected there by the King of Srivjaya. according to the “Ligor” inscription of 775 AD. Mahayana Buddhist bronze masterpieces were excavated at Chaiya, As there was no prior bronze-casting tradition on this isthmus tract the bronzes may have been imported ftom Java, where a similar Bodhisattva was found. from this period \jrabodhi left Nalanda to study in South India for seven years atthe feet ofthe tantric master Nagabodhi (Tajima 1936: 22), 6 1n719 Vajrabodti spent five months in Java waiting for the monscon winds to take him to Chis. He was received with great honor by the king and meta 14-year-old monk Jndngarbha (”), who took the name Amoghavajra and who ‘was lo remain at his side uni his death in 741 7. Mahavsirocanabhisanbodnvikurvitidhisihdnevaipulvasttrendrarijandmadkarmapararyaa 8. Hoshino thinks there could have been an overland lik between this Mor-Khmer eommanity of sin and Siemreap in west Cambodia where the fist inscription to the erestion of « Bodhisattva is dated 791.1t se that the first Prakhon Chai Buddhists may have been among those expelled from Samnbor Prei Kuk in the late 7th century, as recorded by Yijing (Hoshino 1986: 33), 9. Phorre Dupont comments: “La premidte patie de I’époque angkorieane, qui débute en 902, ext marguée par le déslin, voire Ix disparition du bouddhisme. Tout au plus le oi Yagovarman (889-900) céglemente-til le fonctionnement {un couvent dans Ia gion d’Anakor .. Nousn'avons aucune idée de ce que pouvaient étre en oe temps les images «du Buddha, C'est un demi-siéele plas tard que le bouddhisme prend sn développement nouveau, sous les roit Rajendravarman (944-968) et layavarman V (968-1001)” (Dupont 1950: 39), 10. Rijendavarman isnot only credited with restoring the capital and restructuring the state into provinces, he is referred imineeription K 806 v 143 a8 being expert in the 18 Saiva topice of legal business (syavaharah) (astadasapadayiona) (Sanderson 2004 3810113), 11. Inthe Bat Cum inseiption she is also referred to as “Disyadevi” (celestial goddess) and “Devi 12. Laksa or 100,000 was conventionally used for large indstinet numbers. In the Chinese eanon the Pray sitras are sid to have consisted of 100,000 githas ot slokas of 32 syllables (Kwon 2002: 27) 13, This is roma new selective translation of the Wat Sithor inscription by De Tadeusz Skorupiki of SOAS, 14 Crees 1954: 206, footnote 3 15. Inthis preference for the Faga-tantras, Kitipanlita was inthe footsteps of China's great Budhist sage Amoghavajra, ‘who is counted by Japan’s Shingon sect as the sixth patiarch of Sino-Japanese esoteric Buddhisin. Amouhayajra ‘was born in Indio or Sei Lanka and fallowed his guvu Vasrabothi to China. After Vajrabodhi’s death be left Chira to sequire a copy of the STTY in Sri Lanka and subsequently translated it into Chinese in the late 8th century for the Tang emperor. Amogkavaja said in his final testament: “The great doctrine, in its totality and in its particulars, is vast and deep! Who ean fathom the source of the Yous-antra?” Orlando comments on this: “The term in its most particular sense refersto the Youa-tanra, the esoteric texts regarding the Vajradhatu or ‘Diamond Ral... In a more tzencral sense, the form youa in Beoteric Buddhism means ‘to soncentrate one’s mind inorder to harmonize withthe 1 to me possible 3PETER D, SHARROCK supreme doctine and to identify with the deity one worships Hence all the rite performed! by: the moms i this sect, whether simple or complicated, are called yoga, because these rites are the means to identify oneself withthe deity...” (Orlando 1981: 106) 16. La Vallée Poussin agress with the mid-Oth-century date and notes. Sakyamitra appears to have added a (signed) chapter to the Paiicakrama atributed to Nagarjuna (La Vallée Poussin 1896: 1X), 17 Apart fiom Stryavarman I who took the posthumous ttle Paramavisnuloka (“gone to the paradise of Visnu), only ‘one other Khmer king is known to have been a Visnu devotee — Jevavarman III (¢ 835 before 877) — who took the posthumous title Visnuloka (K.256A v.6), 18. K.908 A69, 70 arydvalokitesasya malvamasya samaatah (Satedvayan trayostis tena devi pratsthitah (“Around the holy Avalokiteia the king erected 238 deities”), 19. This possibility is attested by Rob Linsothe (1999. 274) 20. Now in the Siemreap Conservation, References ‘Ang Choaléan (1986), Les mes strnatarels ans fa religion populate hime. Paris: Cetoreck Bénsti, Mireille (1969), “Recherches sur Ie premier art Khmer Il: la hunde a ehatons’ ertére chronologique’™. Arts Asiatigues 20 99-120. 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