Cambodian Art and Architecture
Overview
This is a unit I created for a section of my art history course. Our community college has a sizeable population of Cambodian immigrants with an interest in learning about their heritage. Most art history survey courses in the United States do not sufficiently expose students to the culture of Southeast Asia.
Historical Overview
In Cambodia during the 12th century, Khmer kings built a “temple mountain” with five towers in the shape of lotus flowers called Angkor Wat (means “city that is a temple”). This vast religious complex, originally dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu and later associated with Buddhism, was believed to spread blessings out to the world.
Both Hinduism and Buddhism originated in India and spread to Southeast Asia through peaceful means. Once these religious systems travelled southward, the Khmer people transformed what they had imported and made it their own. They adapted Buddhist ideas and Hindu deities to their own tastes and customs, creating a uniquely Cambodian art culminating in a golden age at Angkor Wat.
Angkor Wat's Mandala Design
The plan of Angkor Wat’s architecture resembles a mandala. A mandala (Sanskrit for “circle”) is a sacred diagram of the universe. You can see a sample mandala here. This one is from Tibet: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Amitayus_Mandala.jpeg
A mandala is composed of repeating geometric shapes--often a square enclosing smaller circles. Sometimes, it includes a triangle or a cruciform. Looking at a mandala pattern calls one into a state of meditation and tranquility. The eye moves slowly from the design’s periphery to its nucleus—a kind of inner journey. Alternatively, one could start at the center and proceed outward in ever larger shapes as a dropped stone spreads rings in a pool of water. A mandala can be experienced through architecture as well. For example, the Buddhist monument Borobudur, built in Java, Indonesia, c. 800 CE, is conceived as a vertical mandala. As one climbs up the steep stairs ten levels towards enlightenment, three worlds are represented in stone: the world of greed/desire, the world of forms, and the world of formlessness where the Buddha resides. For a video on Borobudur, see http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/592/video
To enter the mandala structure of Angkor Wat, a traveler crosses a long causeway with water on all sides. The moat around the structure symbolizes the sea surrounding Mount Meru, the cosmic mountain where Vishnu resides. The main complex is a square building with entrances at four corners. One proceeds up steps through sculpture-filled enclosures and archways to a central sanctuary crowned by five lotus towers. You have reached the axis-mundi, the center of the world according to local belief. What if you personally had the opportunity to visit Angkor Wat today? Would you consider your trip a pilgrimage—an uplifting journey to awaken your spirit? This module is designed to give you the feeling of a pilgrimage to Angkor Wat.
Group Exercise / Discussion
Students will need access to a computer, iPhone, or iPad to view images and their own journal (an unlined notebook with blank pages set aside for this class.) Each student will put all Cambodia-related notes and sketches in a journal and turn it into the instructor to be graded after the module. They will work in small groups for much of the module, but the end-product should be a journal of their own, an individual process of exploration.
To get started, watch together the first ten minutes of the 2008 World Heritage film: “Angkor and Mogao.” If desired, you could extend the module to include the Mogao caves at Dunhuang, an oasis on the Silk Road, Gansu province, China. If you do not have access to Kanopy Streaming through your library, show another short video about Angkor Wat such as this one by National Geographic https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/world-heritage/angkor/
Form small groups of two or three students. Ask them to discuss what they learned about Angkor Wat’s architecture or sculpture from the film. They should write down key points from the film and/or questions they would like to have answered. Working informally in groups or on their own, students should consult the photographs of Angkor Wat and related temples under the heading “Cambodia/Angkor” on the Asian Historical Architecture website https://www.orientalarchitecture.com/index For each stone structure listed under the “Angkor” designation, they will find photos and a diagram of each temple. The diagrams show the temple’s mandala shape. For insight into the life around the temples at that time, watch the Virtual Reality animation of Angkor Wat at https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/DAKCaZFzDpVCKw
Highlights from Asian Historical Architecture website
“Face Towers” at Angkor Thom and Bayon Temple
https://www.orientalarchitecture.com/sid/935/cambodia/angkor/angkor-thom-north-gate
https://www.orientalarchitecture.com/sid/20/cambodia/angkor/bayon-temple
(Bayon Temple photo gallery, see photos number 5, 35-36, and 53)
Large “strangler” trees of rain forest spreading roots over Ta Som Temple
https://www.orientalarchitecture.com/sid/892/cambodia/angkor/ta-som-temple
Ta Som Temple Photo Gallery, see photos number 44-45
Devata (female deities) at Thommanon Temple
https://www.orientalarchitecture.com/sid/31/cambodia/angkor/thommanon-temple
Thommanon Temple Photo Gallery, see photos number 5-9
Question to Address in Journals
What in the gates, stairways, and “face towers” do you find interesting? What characteristics of these stone carvings project power or benevolence? What physical features make the sculptures of Buddhas and Hindu gods/goddesses come alive? Which sculptures or architectural features have an impact on you? What emotions do they inspire? You do not have to have in-depth knowledge of their specific meaning in Khmer culture to respond to them as art or as reflections of shared human experience. Discuss your reactions with members of your group. Write down your group’s responses to share with the whole class.
Approaches to Looking and Thinking
According to Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung (1875-1961), our personal unconscious rests on a deeper layer of memory shared by all humans. He calls this submerged mental layer common to all cultures and time periods the collective unconscious and the ancient images or patterns of thought found there, archetypes. For example, the mandala and labyrinth are archetypes. The circular mandala creates a picture of perfect balance. Such sacred circles not only appear in Eastern art but also in stained glass windows of Christian cathedrals. Jung said stones represent another archetype symbolizing eternity. Mountains are associated with ancestors. Angkor Wat is conceived as a stone mountain. Stone is the basic material for monuments in various cultures. For example, Mount Rushmore, a tribute to four American presidents, was carved from a cliff face in South Dakota. Consider how females are represented at Angkor Wat. Do you see parallels with female representations in Greek or Christian art or only differences? Which attributes seem distinctively Cambodian? Drawing such comparisons, we notice common themes or basic patterns, such as the fierce female warrior or the celestial maiden. Jung says we benefit from considering universal patterns in myth and art. We gain fresh understandings that help us make meaning in our own lives.
Here are a few archetypes: all-seeing deities, creation stories, fierce avengers, humorous pranksters, sensuous beauties. You’ll think of more.
Aside from these general patterns, we certainly want to study the specific religious meanings attached to these sculptures and temple architecture as they were understood within their original context. We need to do more research about Cambodian art, focusing on examples of Cambodian sculpture in American museum collections accessible through their websites.
Terminology
Apsara: celestial maiden
Bodhisattva: A Buddha-to-be who holds back from entering a state of nirvana out of compassion for the world’s suffering
Brahma: Hindu god of creation, four faced and four-armed
Churning of the Ocean of Milk: Legend of gods and demons churning the primordial sea in a battle to obtain the elixir of life using the body of a serpent as rope and Mount Mandara as the paddle.
Durga: Hindu goddess, slayer of the buffalo demon
Face Towers at Bayon Temple and Angkor Thom: Monumental in size, facing four directions; Not sure which sacred figure they represent; may be modelled after the King’s face
Ganesha: Elephant face on human body with big belly, Hindu god of success
Hanuman: Monkey hero featured in the Indian epic Ramayana
Lokeshvara: Bodhisattva of Compassion, always has seated Buddha in topknot of hair
Mount Meru: Angkor Wat symbolizes this cosmic mountain, home of the gods, the axis mundi
Naga-Enthroned Buddha: Naga is serpent, a local symbol of water and fertility, associated with Khmer origins. Naga protects the Buddha by shading him with his hood and making a throne of its coils.
Parvati: Spouse of or female personification of Shiva
Sampot: Traditional Khmer dress, skirt-cloth wound around waist and drawn between legs
Shiva: Hindu God, both destroyer and creator, has Third Eye (inner vision)
Shiva as Nataraja: Within a ring of fire, the Hindu god performs the cosmic dance, destroying ignorance
Focus Group of Sculptures
The following list of eight Hindu and Buddhist sculptures and their descriptions are accessible online at The Cleveland Museum of Art website. All sculptures are available through this link except for Nataraja):
http://www.clevelandart.org/art/collection/search?search=cambodia&only-open-access=1
For Nataraja, Shiva as the Lord of Dance (from South India, not Cambodia)
http://www.clevelandart.org/art/1930.331
- Head of Shiva, 12th century (1940.53)
- Durga as the Slayer of the Buffalo Demon, 10th century (1996.27)
- Flying Hanuman, 10th century (1987.43)
- Head of Lokeshvara, 7th century (1955.47) (Note: This is Buddhist, a bodhisattva)
- Ganesha, c. 600, (1987.147)
- Naga-Enthroned Buddha, 12th century, (1963.263)
- Apsara, c. 1200, (1938.304)
- Nataraja, Shiva as the Lord of Dance, c. 1000 CE (Note: This is from India)
On a similar Nataraja at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, see Farisa Khalid article at Smart History.org.
https://smarthistory.org/shiva-as-lord-of-the-dance-nataraja/
More stone carvings of interest:
- Standing Brahma: (See image and scroll down page for audio description by curator) https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/38265
- Shiva and Parvati: (Watch video embedded in article. http://www.asianart.org/collections/shiva-and-parvati
- “Churning the Ocean of Milk” panel at Angkor Wat . You can find good study images through ArtStor database if you have access through your library. Here is an introductory article by Dr. Melody Rod-ari with a video embedded at the end. The video is called “World Monument Fund at Angkor Wat: The Churning of the Sea of Milk Gallery.” https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/south-east-se-asia/cambodia-art/a/angkor-wat
Traditional Cambodian Art in the United States
For an example of traditional Cambodian art thriving today, watch video on ceramic master Yary Livan, a survivor of Khmer Rouge genocide residing in Lowell, MA. The video is embedded in the article at the end:
https://www.wbur.org/artery/2017/07/28/cambodian-ceramicist-lowell
Background Reading on Cambodian Art and Architecture
Jessup, Helen Ibbitson. Art and Architecture of Cambodia. London: Thames & Hudson, 2004.
Jessup, Helen Ibbitson and Thierry Zephir, eds. Sculpture of Angkor and Ancient Cambodia: Millenium of Glory. Washington D. C.: National Gallery of Art, 1997.
Kerlogue, Fiona, “Introduction,” in Arts of Southeast Asia. London: Thames & Hudson, 2004, 7-23.
Stone, Richard, “Divining Angkor,” National Geographic Vol. 216 no. 1 (July 2009): 26-55.
Background Reading on Shared Patterns in Mythology and Art Across Cultures
Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with A Thousand Faces. Bollingen Series XVII Third Edition. Novato, California: New World Library, 2008.
Jung, Carl G., and M.L. von Franz, Joseph I. Henderson, Jolande Jacobi, Aniela Jaffé. Man and his Symbols. London: Aldus Books: 1964.
Journal Assignment and Criteria for Assessment of Journal
Over two weeks, create 5-10 sketches in your journal on Cambodian art or architecture, labelling them with specific terminology (such as found on this handout). Don’t worry--it is okay if you have not had any prior art training! Focus on a single feature of the stone carving--for example, the face, hair or floral pattern of the gateway or niche. Consider what the figure is holding and how the body is posed. Draw a diagram of a temple at Angkor Wat or any mandala interesting to you. Next to your sketches write a few sentences using the terminology and explaining the religious meanings you learned from your research. Do you recognize any archetype (theme or symbol common in many cultures; for example, a creation myth)? Think of the art in two ways: from the perspective of a Khmer person in ancient Cambodia and as an art history student (you!) in contemporary times. Another way you can create a journal is through scrapbooking images found in magazines or online and physically cutting them out with scissors and pasting them into your journal with a glue-stick. Be sure to add commentary and terminology, even designs, to give the imagery your own personal stamp. Students who wish to insert their chosen photos and compose text digitally can find templates and produce beautiful color documents. Depending on the instructor’s preferences, many options for the journal are possible. However, urging students to physically draw the art requires them to slow down and really look at the art closely.
Sample Criteria for Assessment of Journal
_______Student comprehends specific terminology of interest to them
_______Student completes at least 5 sketches labelled with names
_______Student takes risks, explores material new to them
_______Thoughtful commentary on archetypes
_______Journal includes notes about group discussions/awareness of other students’ reactions
_______Journal shows student’s sincere involvement in idea of pilgrimage