Many
of us have experienced that the Kingdom of Cambodia glitters with the old
temples. Visitors of Angkor always appreciate the Ta Prohm temple, which was
built during the time of King Jayavarman VII in the 12th century to honor his
mother, now situated in jungle ruins, and famous for its giant banyan roots,
which tightly grip the temple walls. This image was a most favorite one, which could
capture in several paintings and photographs. But today almost all temples in
Cambodia have collapsed and fallen down. No temple is perfectly standing today
and no temple is functioning today, with its past glory. Very few temples may
be the exceptions for this.
Though
Cambodians possess the great legacy, they are not the masters of temple
preservation. They hold the keys but not the essential resources. China came to
help Cambodia but it couldn’t play a considerable role in conservation of
Cambodian old temples. The Chinese government was handed control over Chau Sey
Tevoda, because it is generally assumed, that the China maintains close links
with Cambodia's monarch, King Norodom Sihanouk, who spent at least half his
life time in a government villa near Beijing.
Anyone
who loves ancient Indian culture, which was spread across the Cambodia, becomes
extremely happy to see the great ancient temples of Cambodia, but feels astonishing
to observe the present pitiable condition of ancient Hindu and Buddhist temples,
which were the shining places of social gatherings and number of arts, in
ancient Cambodia. These temples were undivided part of Cambodian culture and
inspiring places for all Cambodian people.
The L'École Française
d'Extrême-Orient, the top French research institute, enjoyed 100 years of supremacy
in Cambodia. It meticulously restored around 50 monuments, but had no worries
about predatory artifacts, which it treated its patrimony for French museums. The
French had left a number of projects unfinished due to the rise of Khmer Rouge
in the early 1970's. Cambodia, under the Communism in the 1980's, had invited a
few ''friendly'' countries onto the site, like Poland and Russia and it is not
difficult to expect what they might have suggested for the preservation of
ancient Hindu and Buddhist temples.
Several European countries including
Japan came to restore the Cambodian temples, but the restoring a Khmer ruins is
like attempting terrifying puzzles, with almost all collapsed or collapsing
structures. How to fill the gaps with newly recycled stone, and how much to
decorate them, are some of the crucial questions. The Ta Prohm's big trees
present another question: to cut or not to cut them.
Today several temples in Cambodia
have collapsed. Many temples are dilapidated and not functioning today as
temples. They are just tourist visiting spots, where every foreigner has to pay
several dollars to enter into these sacred premises. There was a seven percent growth
in tourist arrivals in the year of 2018 and visitors from 193 countries visited
the temple of Angkor watt. Angkor Archaeological Park continues to generate the
bulk of tourism revenue from its ticket sales. The income could be $117 million
annually, with about 2.6 million foreigners visiting the Angkor Watt, located
in Siem Reap. But citizens or any world citizen shouldn’t put a question how
much money is being spent to rebuilt these temples. Authorities or researchers
are not bothered how several temples in Cambodia have collapsed? Many temples
are dilapidated and not functioning today as temples.
Several temples were also
constructed in India, during the same time i.e. from A. D. 10th to
14th centuries. But the temples constructed in the same time period
in India are still sound and also functioning in India, even today. Therefore the
question remains, what made these temples to collapse in a large manner ! I
tried to know the reason for this phenomena from the Cambodian monks and
scholars but they said, it happened due to bombing during the wars.
There can be other reasons, one of
the reasons may be the shifting or transforming of temple function. Ancient
temples changed from Hinduism and Mahayana Buddhism to Theravada Buddhism. The other reason may be, temples
were not provided the frequent action of protection by the government. Some scholars
say, this might have happened due to wars with Thailand, and thereby due to the
abandoning of the temple cities. People escaped from the temple area to find
the safe refuge, so the temples are completely abandoned, then covered up by the
forests. But the question remains, if the
temples are completely abandoned, do they collapse?
The role of some temples in Cambodia
is only "Nak ta", which means the spirit of ancestors. People only
celebrate the ceremony annually and eventually, some temples are abandoned due
to the migration of people. As we know, the ancient temples constructed by the stones
are very heavy on the earth, so they can stand according to the reservoirs,
which were constructed around them. The
mud has to be removed from these reservoirs from time to time, but if they become
gutters, then the temple may collapse. The other reason may be the quality of
stone, which was used for the construction of the temples.
Whatever may be the causes, the fact
is, today almost all temples in Cambodia have collapsed and fallen down. No
temple is perfectly standing today and no temple is functioning today, with its
glory. Very few temples may be the exceptions. A Buddhist temple under
construction in Siem Reap, which is the home of Cambodia's famous Angkor temples, collapsed on Monday, Dec 2nd,
2019, killing at least three people and injuring 13 others, including two
monks. Workers were pouring cement for the ceiling of the temple when it
suddenly collapsed, trapping the workers and two monks who were helping them. This
was an unfortunate incident, which occurred due to the collapse of temple. But
several people who are lovers of ancient culture of Cambodia wish that these
temples of Buddha, Vishnu, Shiva and Ganesh must be restored and they should
function and opened for the devotees, the way they were functioning and opened
for the devotees in ancient Cambodia.
Prof. C. Upender Rao,
Jawaharlal Nehru University,
New Delhi, India.
(This article is written to show the empathy over the
collapsing ancient temples, not to criticize anyone, so try to understand the
issue with the positive spirit.)
