There
is a common saying among Southeast Asians that
a dog with one master will eat every day while
a dog with two masters will often go hungry
from neglect. This parable certainly applies
to the unusual circumstances surrounding Khao
Phra Wihan, a stunning Angkor-era temple complex
situated among cliffs between Thailand and Cambodia.
It has both “two masters” while
being largely neglected by visitors to either
country. Known as Khao Phra Wihan by the Thais
and Preah Vihear by the Cambodians, the land
on which it sits has been claimed by both countries.
Until a decade ago the site was closed to visitors
because of warfare and regional politics. However,
recent agreements signed by both countries,
combined with an end to hostilities in neighboring
Cambodia, has opened these impressive ruins,
making it finally possible to explore its beautiful
buildings and equally beautiful scenery. The
temple buildings are known for their excellent
carved reliefs and a 120-meter staircase in
the form of a pair of mythical snake spirits
called naga. While walking among colonnaded
galleries and a pink sandstone prasat, you can
look out for miles over a shimmering landscape
of rice fields, buffalo wallows, and coconut
palms — Khao Phra Wihan is unique among
Angkorian temples in being built atop the edge
of a 600-meter cliff.
To
understand why this site has been both fought
over and neglected it is necessary to consider
its unusual geography as well as its intriguing
history. Khao Phra Wihan was constructed in
the Dangrek Mountains between the 10th and 12th
centuries as a Hindu temple complex. It is believed
that the final work on the site was carried
out by many of the same designers and builders
who completed Angkor
Wat in Cambodia. A century or so after its
completion, the Khmer (Cambodian) empire withdrew
from the area in the face of an expanding Thai
civilization. The Thais converted it to a Buddhist
monastery and continued to worship there until
the early the 20th century. |
While the French colonial surveyors were examining
the border in preparation for the Franco-
Siamese Treaty of 1907, they deviated from
the demarcation lines that followed the water
table of the Danrak Mountains in order to
put Khao Phra Wihan inside French colonial
territory. This capricious pencil line on
a single map set off a century of arguments
between the Siamese and the French, and then,
later, the Thais and the Cambodians, over
who actually owned the site.
In
1962 the World Court decided in favor of Cambodia.
The decision generated much jubilation for
the Cambodians and an equal measure of heartache
for the Thais. However, due to Khao Phra Wihan’s
peculiar location on top of a sheersided cliff,
it remained impossible to enter the temple
from the Cambodia side of the border. Visitors
had to walk through Thailand to enter the
site. Therefore, anyone who wanted to visit
it had to get permission from the Thais. Lingering
bad feelings over the dispute, followed by
civil war in Cambodia, kept the site closed
to the world until the mid-1990s when Bangkok
and Phnom Penh agreed to share access to Khao
Phra Wihan between the two of them. However,
as late as 2002 the site was closed again
following disagreements over the maintenance
of the access route.
Finally,
in 2003, Khao Phra Wihan was reopened. For
many archeological enthusiasts who have toured
Khmer ruins in both Thailand and Cambodia,
Khao Phra Wihan remains the final jewel in
a string of dazzling sites on both sides of
the border.
Visit
Preah
Vihear with Richard in January 2005.
|
Pre-Angkor
Sites Add To Khmer Knowledge
by Dr. D. Kyle Latinis
Cambodia
is renowned for its beautiful, romantic and
massive Angkorian temple complexes dating
to the 9th to 13th centuries AD. Earlier scholars
felt that the Angkor style spread out of the
Indian culture. Archaeological evidence suggests
otherwise. The great kingdom of Angkor and
the predecessor kingdoms of Funan and Chenla
seem to have developed through a long process
of Southeast Asian regional socio-political
evolution beginning in the Neolithic period.
The ancient Khmer may have simply borrowed
convenient elements from India to inject into
their existing socio-political complexity
where useful and perhaps “fashionable,”
later remodeling these into completely different
forms. Archaeological evidence from Funan
sites like Angkor Borei, Oc Eo, and Phnom
Borei suggest settlement and social stratification
occurred as early as the 3rd century BC.
Several
current research projects are focused on settlement
and water management in ancient times. Satellite
imagery, aerial photography, epigraphic studies
and archaeological ground testing are used
to assess the importance of ancient water
control systems. Fascinating results are produced
daily. What is certain is that a diverse and
dynamic population existed in Cambodia throughout
time, clearly evident in the archaeological
record from as early as the Neolithic period.
It may be unwise to view ancient Cambodia
as anything less than ethnically and socially
complex. Ongoing and future research will
not only tell us more about the area but will
help us understand more about ancient empires
throughout the world.
Join
Dr. Latinis as he takes the January 2005 group
around the Khmer
sites of Cambodia.
|
