Mountain of the Gods

Preah Vihear, one of the most remarkable achievements of ancient Khmers, still sees few visitors.

Preah Vihear is a triumph of art and architecture, a cultural jewel with a history spanning millennia. Countless pilgrims and monarchs have made the long journey to pray there, though camera toting tourists have replaced the ragged mendicants of the past.

Now accessible from both Cambodia and Thailand, Preah Vihear Temple, located in the Dang-rek mountain range in the far north, only re-penned to visitors in 2003. For decades Thailand claimed the temple as theirs, but on June 15th 1962 the International Court of Justice ruled the temple belonged to Cambodia. The court also obligated Thailand to withdraw all military and police forces stationed nearby and to restore objects pilfered from the ruins.

For almost 1200 years, Preah Vihear temple has dominated the surrounding plateaus. The arduous struggle of construction was a feat of engineering according to Pich Keo, Ex-Professor of the Royal University of Fine Arts. “Ten ancient Kings were involved in the construction, but most work was done by only 6 of them,” he said.
The temple was begun by King Yasovarman I(889-910AD) who built the foundations and the eastern stairs which rise nearly a kilometer from the forested plains. King Suryavarman I, (1002-1050) and his son King Udayadityavarman II (1050-1068) carried on, laying out most of the monolithic features present today. King Jayavarman VI (1080-1107), King Dharanindravarman I (1107-1112), and King Suryavarman II (1113-1150) added the finishing touches.

“Two Kings spent much more times than the rest,” said Pich. “The father and son Kings, that is King Suryavaraman I and his son King Udayadityavarman II, were great architects. They put in the walkways, the stairs, the walls – all these structures were carved out of mountain stone to be part of the temple.”

It is easy to see which parts were installed by Suryavaraman and Udayadityavarman, Pich explained, as their artistic style is very distinctive. “The parts of the temple built by these kings are mostly the same,” he said. “On the Pder {gate lintels} of the temple they used the Kleang temple style, an interesting art style including lion heads in the center. The father {King Suryavaraman I} depicts lion tongues as leaves, but the son {King Udayadityavarman II’s} lions have no tongues.”
Some information about the pair was gleaned from temple inscriptions, although detective work was required. “Even temple inscriptions didn’t tell us that two Kings were related,” said Pich. “My experience tells me the smooth continuation of art characteristics means it’s sure that these {Kings} were both from same blood, or we can say ‘father and son Kings’.”
Ex-Deputy of National Committee for UNESCO Michael Tranet Ph.D said the temple’s orientation is a clue to its function. Preah Vihear faces north across the ex-Khmer provinces now in north-east and central Thailand,” Tranet explained. “They selected this mountain to construct the temple as being the centre on the ancient Khmer Kingdom. It signifies the central power of the king.”
As well as stature symbol and central marker, the temple is also a monument to religious tolerance. “The Preah Vihear temple was dedicated to Shiva, a God of the Brahman religion, but it was not cut off from Buddhism because most of the Kings who helped to build this temple understood Buddhism,” Tranet said.

The fourth level has collapsed, though the fifth level remains, and is home to two Dragonairs – mythical monsters that protect Preah Vihear.
Sophal said Preah Vihear was the holiest of holies in ancient Cambodia, adding that “we knew it as ‘Kampoul Mahidhirith’ meaning ‘the pinnacle of the supreme power of the mountain,’ and ‘Atitep Kampoul Phnom’ or ‘the mountain of the Gods.’”