 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(January 2022) |
A Dharmasala or a house of fire, or house with fire, is the name given to a place where people, especially pilgrims, can rest on a journey. It is a type of building found in Angkorian complexes constructed during the reign of late 12th-century monarch Jayavarman VII and still found in Preah Khan, Ta Prohm and Banteay Chhmar.
The Sanskrit name of the dharmasala can only translate as the house of fire. [1]
A House of Fire has thick brick or stone walls, a tower at the west end and south-facing windows. [2]
Building orientation follows the position of the road rather than the typical east–west cardinal alignment of Angkorian architecture.
The average size of a dharmaçala was recorded as 14–15 m in length and 4–5 m in width.
In modern times, the dharmashala have evolved towards wooden structures simply referred to as sala .
Dharmashalas have been a part of the Indian philanthropic tradition since olden days and orthodox traveller still prefers to stay in a dharmashala rather than in a hotel. [3]
The Preah Khan stele dated to 1191 CE (see Cœdès 1941) and the decorative use of the Lokesvara motif. The stele describes a series of 121 vahni-griha found along three roads and in specific Angkorian temple enclosures. [4] The decorative use of the Lokesvara motif, which represents the Buddha of compassion, is associated with the switch to Buddhism as state religion for Jayavarman VII and his successor Indravarman II (1220-1270 CE).
In the late 13th century, one hundred years after the reign of Jayavarman VII, Zhou Dagan mentioned the presence of samnak, or rest stops, which he compared to the post houses more common in China. [5]
Though the massive houses of fire fell into disrepair with the collapse of the Khmer Empire, the use of specific sala for travelers remained: in the 19th century, Henri Mouhot commented on the frequency of royal stations spaced approximately 20 kilometers apart for the king on the route between Kampot and Udong.
In 1903, French archeologist A. Foucher recognised that these structures served first and foremost religious purposes and were not simply ‘resthouses’, pointing out that stone is a material intended for the gods and not for human habitation. [6]
The first and only publication specifically addressing the ruins on the model of Prasat Teap Chei was conducted by Finot (1925) who provided descriptions of the size, decoration, orientation, and spacing of the dharmaçalas, a term that suggests both a religious and secular role.
Claude Jacques recently supported the use of theses structures as fire shrine as it more accurately represents the inscription and possibly points to its role in housing a ‘sacred fire’, images of which are depicted being carried in processions on the walls of Angkor Wat, Banteay Chhmar and the Bayon. [7]
To this day, many Angkorian sites have been identified as houses of fire, in places such as Prohm Kel, Prasat Phtu, Teap Chei, Preah Khan, Ta Prohm, Kuk Top Thom and Prasat Kuk.
Debate exists as to the exact use of the houses of fire. Scholars theorize that the houses with fire functioned as a "rest house with fire" for travellers or even chapels for travellers believed to be the house of fire, housing the sacred fire. [8] An inscription at Preah Khan tells of 121 such rest houses lining the highways into Angkor. The Chinese traveller Zhou Daguan expressed his admiration for these rest houses when he visited Angkor in 1296 CE. [9] Another theory is that the House of Fire had a religious function as the repository the sacred flame used in sacred ceremonies.
In 1902, Lunet de Lajonquière rediscovered the regularly-spaced temples along the northwest and east roads. The dharmasalas are normally found to the north of the routes. [10]
Of all the characteristics, it is the regular spacing between temples that provides the justification for applying the specific term ‘resthouse’ that was initially presented by Louis Finot. [11] Groslier suggested that an average day's travel in ancient Cambodia was 25 kilometers, thus determining the spacing between these structures. [12]
Initial measurements between the 11 known fire shrines on the Northwest and East roads were first recorded by Finot (1925) resulting in distances between 1.6 and 108 km. Discovery of the remaining fire shrines along the Northwest road in 2008 results in an average distance of 16.11 kilometers, which would suggest night stops as well has half-day breaks.
Khmer architecture, also known as Angkorian architecture, is the architecture produced by the Khmer during the Angkor period of the Khmer Empire from approximately the later half of the 8th century CE to the first half of the 15th century CE.
Angkor, also known as Yasodharapura, was the capital city of the Khmer Empire, located in present-day Cambodia. The city and empire flourished from approximately the 9th to the 15th centuries. The city houses the Angkor Wat, one of Cambodia's most popular tourist attractions.
The Bayon ( BAI-on) is a richly decorated Khmer temple related to Buddhism at Angkor in Cambodia. Built in the late 12th or early 13th century as the state temple of the King Jayavarman VII, the Bayon stands at the centre of Jayavarman's capital, Angkor Thom.
Ta Prohm is the modern name of a temple near the city of Siem Reap, Cambodia, approximately one kilometre east of Angkor Thom and on the southern edge of the East Baray. It was built in the Bayon style largely in the late 12th century and early 13th century and was originally called Rajavihara. It was founded by the Khmer King Jayavarman VII as a Mahayana Buddhist monastery and center of learning dedicated to his mother. Almost 80,000 people were required to maintain or attend at the temple, including over 2,700 officials and 615 dancers.
Banteay Kdei, also known as "Citadel of Monks' cells", is a Buddhist temple in Angkor, Cambodia. It is located southeast of Ta Prohm and east of Angkor Thom. Built in the mid-12th to early 13th centuries AD during the reign of Jayavarman VII, it is in the Bayon architectural style, similar in plan to Ta Prohm and Preah Khan, but less complex and smaller. Its structures are contained within two successive enclosure walls, and consist of two concentric galleries from which emerge towers, preceded to the east by a cloister.
Preah Khan is a temple at Angkor, Cambodia, built in the 12th century for King Jayavarman VII to honor his father. It is located northeast of Angkor Thom and just west of the Jayatataka baray, with which it was associated. It was the centre of a substantial organisation, with almost 100,000 officials and servants. The temple is flat in design, with a basic plan of successive rectangular galleries around a Buddhist sanctuary complicated by Hindu satellite temples and numerous later additions. Like the nearby Ta Prohm, Preah Khan has been left largely unrestored, with numerous trees and other vegetation growing among the ruins.
Jayavarman VII, known posthumously as Mahaparamasaugata, was king of the Khmer Empire. He was the son of King Dharanindravarman II and Queen Sri Jayarajacudamani. He was the first king devoted to Buddhism, as only one prior Khmer king had been a Buddhist. He then built the Bayon as a monument to Buddhism. Jayavarman VII is generally considered the most powerful of the Khmer monarchs by historians. His government built many projects including hospitals, highways, rest houses, and temples. With Buddhism as his motivation, King Jayavarman VII is credited with introducing a welfare state that served the physical and spiritual needs of the Khmer people.
George Cœdès was a French scholar of southeast Asian archaeology and history.
Kbach or Khmer ornamentation is made of traditional decorative elements of Cambodian architecture. While 'kbach' may refer to any sort of art-form style in the Khmer language, such as a gesture in Khmer classical dance, kbach rachana specifically refers to decorative ornament motifs. Kbach are also used in decorating of Cambodian silver crafts, furniture, regalia, murals, pottery, ceramics, stone carving, in a singular artistic expression:
the exceptional advantage that the Khmers have drawn from nature and the human experience as the universal framework of any aesthetic experience has contributed to rendering in the kbach one of the most remarkable traits of human genius, that of artistic expression.
Ak Yum is an ancient temple in the Angkor region of Cambodia. Helen Jessup dates the temple to the 8th century, and states it is the oldest known example of "temple mountain" in Southeast Asia.
Ishanavarman II was an Angkorian king who is believed to have ruled from 923 to 928. His empire may have been confined to Angkor and the area around Battambang to the west.
The Phnom Kulen National Park is a national park in Cambodia, located in the Phnom Kulen mountain massif in Siem Reap Province. It was established in 1993 and covers 373.76 km2 (144.31 sq mi). Its official name is Jayavarman-Norodom Phnom Kulen National Park.
The archeological complex of Preah Khan Kampong Svay, also known as Prasat Bakan, or Bakan Svay Rolay, is located 100 km east of Angkor, in the Preah Vihear province of Cambodia. It stands as the largest single religious complex ever built during the Angkorian Era, as its exterior enclosure is over 22 km square, even if the isolated location makes it one of the less-visited Angkorian sites.
Wat Althea, also called Prasat Vat Althea, is a 12th-century Hindu temple at Angkor, Cambodia with an active Buddhist temple and cemetery adjacent to the walled ancient structure.
Prasat Ta Muen Thom or Prasat Ta Moan Thom is a Khmer temple located on Cambodian-Thai border.
Wat Vihear Suor is a Theravada Buddhist temple located in Kandal Province, Cambodia. It was built on an older pre-Buddhist cult site belonging to the Angkor era.
Wat Bakong (វត្តបាគង) is a Theravada Buddhist pagoda on the precincts of the Prasat Bakong in the Ruluos archeological area of the Siemreap Province.
Khmer jewellery originated in the Khmer Empire. Khmer jewellery has been produced since the 6th or 7th century. Jayavarman VII, while he was an influential figure who established the different trends in Khmer jewellery, is famously represented without any at all in the seated position. The amount of jewellery acquired in Cambodia traditionally established a person's identity and status. Khmer jewellery consists of a diverse variety of styles and fashions. These styles can be categorised into three distinct groups: royal jewellery, wedding jewellery and the jewellery for the Cambodian Royal Ballet.
The portrait of Jayavarman VII is a stone bust carved in Angkor during the late 12th or early 13th century representing Jayavarman VII and currently conserved at the Guimet Museum in Paris. It is one of the landmarks of the aesthetics of the Bayon style.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)