Phimeanakas ( km, ប្រាសាទភិមានអាកាស, ''Prasat Phimean Akas'', 'celestial temple') or Vimeanakas ( km, ប្រាសាទវិមានអាកាស, ''Prasat Vimean Akas'') at
Angkor
Angkor ( km, អង្គរ , 'Capital city'), also known as Yasodharapura ( km, យសោធរបុរៈ; sa, यशोधरपुर),Headly, Robert K.; Chhor, Kylin; Lim, Lam Kheng; Kheang, Lim Hak; Chun, Chen. 1977. ''Cambodian-Engl ...
,
Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...
, is a
Hindu temple in the
Khleang style, built at the end of the 10th century, during the reign of
Rajendravarman (from 941 to 968), then completed by
Suryavarman I[Higham, C., 2014, Early Mainland Southeast Asia, Bangkok: River Books Co., Ltd., ] in the shape of a three tier pyramid as a Hindu temple. On top of the pyramid there was a tower, while on the edge of top platform there are galleries. Phimeanakas is located inside the walled enclosure of the Royal Palace of Angkor Thom north of Baphuon.
Description
The temple was the focal point of Suryavarman I's capital.[Higham, C., 2001, The Civilization of Angkor, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, ]
The tower was originally crowned with a golden pinnacle, as Zhou Daguan described it in his report. According to legend, the king spent the first watch of every night with a woman thought to represent a Nāga
The Nagas (IAST: ''nāga''; Devanāgarī: नाग) are a divine, or semi-divine, race of half-human, half-serpent beings that reside in the netherworld (Patala), and can occasionally take human or part-human form, or are so depicted in art. ...
in the tower, during that time, not even the queen was permitted to intrude. Only in the second watch the king returned to his palace with the queen. If the naga who was the supreme land owner of Khmer land did not show up for a night, the king's day would be numbered, if the king did not show up, calamity would strike his land.[ Zhou Daguan:The Customs of Cambodia]
One of the stele states Jayavarman VII
Jayavarman VII, posthumous name of Mahaparamasaugata ( km, ជ័យវរ្ម័នទី៧, c. 1122–1218), was king of the Khmer Empire. He was the son of King Dharanindravarman II (r. 1150–1160) and Queen Sri Jayarajacudamani.
He w ...
, while on a military expedition in Champa
Champa ( Cham: ꨌꩌꨛꨩ; km, ចាម្ប៉ា; vi, Chiêm Thành or ) were a collection of independent Cham polities that extended across the coast of what is contemporary central and southern Vietnam from approximately the 2nd ...
, learned that his father Dharanindravarman II had died, and "returned in great haste to aid King Yasovarman II. Jayavarman's second wife, Indradevi, "...composed in impeccable Sanskrit the inscription... panegyric of her sister" Jayarajadevi
Jayarajadevi (''fl.'' 1181), was the first queen consort of King Jayavarman VII of the Khmer Empire.
She was the daughter of ‘kshatriyas, amongst the elite of the royal family’, and the younger sister of Indradevi
Indradevi ( km, ឥន្ ...
, which included biographical detail of Jayavarman VII.[
]
Gallery
File:Phimeanakas, Angkor Thom, Camboya, 2013-08-16, DD 06.jpg,
File:Phimeanakas, Angkor Thom, Camboya, 2013-08-16, DD 03.jpg,
File:Phimeanakas, Angkor Thom, Camboya, 2013-08-16, DD 09.jpg,
File:Phimeanakas, Angkor Thom, Camboya, 2013-08-16, DD 01.jpg,
File:Phimeanakas, Angkor Thom, Camboya, 2013-08-16, DD 18.jpg,
References
Hindu temples in Siem Reap Province
Angkorian sites in Siem Reap Province
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