Professor Adhir Chakravarti was a distinguished scholar of early Indian and South East Asian history and civilizations. After his sad demise, his wife Dr. Apala Chakravarti decided to institute an annual memorial lecture, to be delivered by an eminent scholar every year on 24th April-the birth day of Late Professor Chakravarti.
The themes chosen for lectures relate directly to Professor Chakravarti's main areas of research. Professor Sachchidanand Sahai of Magadh University. Bodh-Gaya, Bihar was the speaker in 1997. Prof. B. N. Mukherjee, University of Calcutta presided over the deliberation.
We are happy to present before the scholarly world Professor Sahai's fascinating presentation on Bayon. We hope this stimulates renewed interest in South East Asian studies.
The inscriptions represent Jayavarman VII as a fervent Buddhist, who received this faith from his father Dharanindravarman II, who had broken with the tradition of his Hindu predecessors and "found his satisfaction in this nectar that is the religion of Sakyamuni". Theirs was Buddhism of the Greater vehicle. Devotion to Lokesvara was central in their Mahayanist faith; it was in the form of this compassionate Bodhisattva that individuals, dead or living were apotheosized.
The earliest of the monuments constructed by Jayavarman VII is perhapes Banteay Kdei, which was constructed east of the capital on the ancient site of Kuti. Lacking the stele which would undoubtedly have told us the ancient name, we can suppose that Benteay Kdei corresponded to the Purvatathagata or "Buddha of the East of the inscriptions".
Rajvihara, today Ta Prohm, so close to Benteay Kdei that its Southeast corner almost touches the northwest corner of Banteay Kdei, was constructed in 1186 to shelter an image of the queen mother Jayarajacudamani in the form of Prajnaparamita (the "perfection of insight, mystic mother of the Buddhas, and an image of Jayamangalartha, guru of the king'.
Five years after Ta Prohm, in 1191, the king dedicated north of the capital the temple of Jayasri, which today bears the name of Preah Khan and which was designed to shelter the statue of his father king Dharanindravarman II deified in the form of the Bodhisattva Lokesvara under the name Jayavarmesvara.
Among the lesser structures of Preah Khan the foundation Stele of the temple mentions the little temple of Rajyasri, built in the middle of the great artificial lake dug to the east of the monument. This temple, now known under the name of Neak Pean, is described as "an eminent island, deriving its charm from its lake and cleansing the impurity of sin from those who come to it is the architechtural representation of Lake Anavatapta, which, according to Indian tradition, is located in the confines of the Himalayas, and its water gush out of gargoyles in the form of the heads of animals.
Another important monument called the Bayon which is in the geometric centre of the restored city of Angkor Thom remains the most enagmatic.
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