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Hare Krishna Centre - Leicester, UK - Ancient Vedic Kingdoms - Cambodia

Written by James CooperMonday, 02 March 2015 20:56 - Last Updated Tuesday, 24 March 2015 16:15

Cambodia along with its neighbours Burma and Thailand was once part of the ancient VedicKingdom. The original name of Cambodia is Kambhoja, which according to Vedic tradition wasnamed after a powerful Vedic King from the Bhoja dynasty. In the ancient classic of India, theSrimad Bhagavatam, we find this verse "Thereafter, all the watchmen very quickly approachedKing Kamsa, the ruler of the Bhoja dynasty, and submitted the news of the birth of Devaki’schild." - SB 10.4.2. This is the source of the name of present day Cambodia.

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Throughout Cambodia we see villages which have the word Phumi before its name, villagessuch as - Phumi Kampong Tralach, Phumi Prek Kak, Phumi Boeng Mealea, Phumi Mlu Preyand at least another 20 villages, all beginning with the word Phumi. Phumi means village, its acorruption of the Sanskrit word Bhumi which as well as meaning planet earth means land,district, ect. The B has simply been replaced with a phonetically similar PH which is a commonway that language corrupts or transfers from an oral language to a written one, however itshows the extent of the Vedic and Sanskrit influence which once pervaded Cambodia.

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Angkor Wat is the worlds largest temple complex, with walls one and half miles long on eitherside, built over a thousand years ago in Cambodia. Angkor is simply a corruption of Nagarmeaning city, they have simply placed an A in front, and Wat is a corruption of the Sanskrit wordVat meaning enclosure - enclosed city. It was built by King Suryavarman in honour of LordVisnu. His name means one who is protected by the sun God Surya. Astronomy and Vediccosmology are inseperably intwined around Angkor Wat, the central towers representing MountMeru, the cosmic axial mountain. The five internested rectangular walls and moats indicatechains of mountains enclosing the world and the cosmic oceans beyond. Science journal notedthat Angkor Wat had encoded precise Calendrical, historical and cosmological themes into thearchetectual plan for the temple. As many as 18 astrological alignments have been identifiedwithin its walls. Rarely in history has any culture given rise to a structure that so elaborately andexpensively incorporates its concept of the universe.

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100 stone temples survive as the remains of what was once a grand religious, social andadministrative metropolis. From here the Khymer Kings ruled over a vast domain which reachedfrom Angkor to Vietnam to China to the bay of Bengal. Like mount Sumeru, the centre of theuniverse, it is surrounded on four sides by a moat of water. Its geographical location and templelayout is based on the sacred geometry of the Vedas. Under computer simulations it has beenshown that the ground plan of the Angkor complex and the placement of its principal templesmirror the stars in the constellation of Draco in 10,500 BC in the same way the great Pyramidsmirrored the constellation of Orion also in 10,500 BC. So although the temples themselves maybe over a thousand years old, the original structure and complex itself may be much older.

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At the entrance to the complex, as shown in the picture below, is an 800 metre long series ofsculptures which mainly depict the churning of the ocean of milk. On one side are the Asuraspulling their rope and on the other side of the walkway are the Devas. The rope is Vasuki, thecelestial king of the snakes and as they pull back and forth the ocean of milk is churnedreleasing heavenly gifts such as Soma Rasa, the ambrosial nectar of immortality. Angkor Wat isnow a UNESCO world heritage site and tourist attraction, visited by some 700,000 people ayear.

In Cambodia we also have the ancient city of Hariharalaya, once the capital of the KhmerKingdom. Hari is Lord Visnu, Hara is Lord Siva and Alaya simply means abode. Its named aftera deity which had the combined form of Siva and Visnu. The Cambodian King Jayavarman II

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declared himself King at Mahendraparvata whose name means "Mountain of the great Indra",now known as the easily recogniseable Phnom Kulen. Shortly afterwards the King returned thecapital to Hariharalaya.

His successor, Indravarma, built the temple of lolei, which was dedicated to Lord Siva. It was anisland temple built in the middle of a large man made reservoir called Indratataka "The reservoirof Indra". These reservoirs were a major source of Khmer power. By harnessing the monsoonrains these reservoirs provided a reliable source of water for producing rice and its canals werea means of transport and trade. Each reservoir had a small temple built at its centre. Like otherKhmer temples they were meant to represent Vedic cosmology. The central structurerepresented mount Meru, the home of the Gods, while the surrounding area represented theworld ocean. At the centre of these towers stood a large Siva linga. Water flowing over the lingawould be considered holy and collected for a variety of physical and spiritual ailments. Below isa picture of what the Cambodians call Preah Koh which means the sacred bull. There are threeof these which lie in front of the entrance to the temples, they are statues of Nandi which awaitsthe return of Lord Siva.

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Throughout the whole of Cambodia we see remnants of its ancient Vedic past. Ratnakiri is aprovince in the remote northeast of Cambodia. Ratna is Sanskrit for jewel or precious and Kiri isa corruption of Giri meaning mountain. Ratnakiri is known for its jewelled mountains from whichthey derive a lot of their income from mining. Its also interesting that we find its Indiancounterpart in southwestern Marharashtra - The port city of Ratnagiri. The district of Rukhakiriis a Sanskrit/Vedic term meaning "bountiful mountain". Rukha is a Sanskrit word meaningbountiful and Kiri is a corruption of Giri meaning mountain - Bountiful mountain. The district of Ratanak Mondolis known as precious mandala. Ratanak is a corruption of the Sanskrit word Ratna meaningprecious and Mondol is a corruption of the Sanskrit word Mandala meaning round, and from thiswe gets its name - Precious mandala. Koh Kong is part of the South Western province of Cambodia, it embraces the Cardamonmountains and Cambodias largest national parks. According to acadamia its original name was Patchanta Kirikhet. These are all Sanskrit words. Kiri is a corruption of Giri meaning mountain and Khet is Sanskritfor consume, Anta is Sanskrit for end and Patchanta is probably a corruption of Paksantameaning full moon. Its name may mean mountains consumed by the full moon, which isreasonable as it being a mountainous forested area. Mongkol Boreyis a district in north western Cambodia. The Borey, according to acadamia was originally Buriwhich is simply a corruption of Puri meaning town or city. Mongkol is most likely a corruption ofMagala which is Sanskrit for auspicious and from this the city gets its name - Auspicious city. As well as place names and temples reflecting Cambodias Vedic past, we also have bronzeartifacts created over 1000 years ago in Cambodia, below are just a few.

Oudong is a town in Cambodia located at the foothills of mount Udong. According to academiaits name is derived from the Sanskrit word Uttunga meaning supreme. It was founded by KingSrei Soryapor, a corruption of Sri Suryapur - The auspicious abode of the Sun God Surya. Srey Santhoris a district of the Kampong Cham province of Cambodia, its name means glorious city. Srey isa corruption of the Sanskrit word Sri meaning glorious and Santhor is most probably acorruption of the Sanskrit word Santa meaning peace. Prasat Balangk,Prasat Sambour,Trapeang Prasatand Prasat Bakongare all Sanskrit terms, as according to academia Prasat comes from the sanskrit word Prasadmeaning mercy or temple. Mondulkiri is a district whose name means the Mandala mountain. Mondul is a corruption ofthe Sanskrit Mandala meaning round and Kiri is a corruption of Giri meaning mountain. Thedistrict of Chum Kiri has its Sanskrit derivative, the word Kiri a corruption ofSanskrit Giri meaning mountain. The district of Sambour isSanskrit as the bour is according to academia a corruption of buri which is a corruption of theSanskrit word Puri meaning city. Oddar meanchey is a district of Cambodia whose name means victorious northwest. Accordingto academia Oddar comes from the Sanskrit word Uttara meaning north and the Chay at theend of Meanchay is simply the Sanskrit Jaya meaning victory. Sihanoukvilleis a district of Cambodia. According to academia its name is composed of two Sanskrit wordsSiah meaning lion and Huan meaning jaws. Its alternate name Kompong Somis also Sanskrit meaning the port of the moon or Sivas port. Som is simply the Sanskrit wordSoma meaning the moon. The final picture is an ancient map of Cambodia which clearly shows the name Camboja,connecting this country with the ancient Vedic kings of the Bhoja dynasty, going back at least5000 years. The ancient classic of India, the Srimad Bhagavatam, composed over 5000 yearsago mentions this Bhoja dynasty - "Thereafter, all the watchmen very quickly approached KingKamsa, the ruler of the Bhoja dynasty, and submitted the news of the birth of Devaki’s child."SB 10.4.2. And the Bhagavad Gita spoken 5000 years ago has the following verse - "Thereare also great, heroic, powerful fighters like Dhrstaketu, Cekitana, Kasiraja, Purujit, Kuntibhojaand Saibya". BG.1.5

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And finally although we take for granted the amazing architecture of Angkor Wat and its Vedicartifacts, when it was discovered espescially by the Europeans their first impressions are worthrecounting - "At the sight of this temple, one feels one's spirit crushed, one's imagination surpassed. Onelooks, one admires, and, seized with respect, one is silent. For where are the words to praise awork of art that may not have its equal anywhere on the globe? ... What genius thisMichalangelo of the East had, that he was capable of concaving such a work.'' - HenryMouhot French naturalist and explorer. "It is grander than anything left to us by Greece or Rome." "To obtain any idea of its splendor onone must imagine the most beautiful creations of architecture transported into depths of theforests in one of the more remote countries in the world." Henry Mouhot French naturalistand explorer. “They were the masters of their world. It was quite wonderful. There was peace and order.Temples full of riches. Happy Brahmins full of good rice, good food. And, of course, some of themost magnificent temples ever built. Nothing in that part of the world would compare. Nothing!That’s quite something, n’est-ce pas? – isn’it?” "The Khmer took everything from India, fromirrigation to astronomy and including Shiva and the rest of Hindu religion...And the Khmer builtAngkor. " Bernard Philippe Groslier (1926 -1986) the great French conservator andarchaeologist. "As I walked along the huge, ancient stone of the causeway leading to Angkor Wat, I was forcedto look inward and question my own significance in the universe. Everything here, from the hugemoat protecting the complex to the giant nagas flanking my path, is designed to make oneshrink before the majesty of Vishnu. After passing through a succession of courtyards, eachgrander and more elaborate than the last, I arrived at an enormous Meru with its five soaringpeaks and exquisitely carved walls. What a spectacle this all must have been long ago....AngkorWat is the representation of the Khmer universe, reflecting a relationship to nature on such adeep level, that it makes modern architecture seem spiritually empty. The soul of the Khmer isalive in these temples and mirrored in the faces of today's Cambodians, the recipients of a richartistic and spiritual heritage.” John Ortner - Sacred Places of Asia: Where Every BreathIs A Prayer. “I am convinced that such research will reveal numerous facts which will indicate a muchdeeper Indianization of the mass of the population than the sociologists will at present admit.” George Coedes (1886 - 1969)

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