Preah Ko Preah Keo ( km, ព្រះគោ ព្រះកែវ, ; "Sacred Ox and Sacred Gem") is a famous
Cambodian
Cambodian usually refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Cambodia
** Cambodian people (or Khmer people)
** Cambodian language (or Khmer language)
** For citizens and nationals of Cambodia, see Demographics of Cambodia
** Fo ...
legend about two brothers who were born in Cambodia. The older brother was an ox named Preah Ko and the younger was a man named Preah Keo. Preah Ko possessed divine power, and his belly contained precious and valuable objects. The brothers were believed to bring peace and prosperity to the place where they resided.
The story is very popular in Cambodian society. It exists in several versions, including oral, written, film and paintings. Some
Khmers
The Khmer people ( km, ជនជាតិខ្មែរ, ) are a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Cambodia. They comprise over 90% of Cambodia's population of 17 million. have placed statues of Preah Ko and Preah Keo in local shrines, where they keep watch over the land they left but never abandoned.
Origins and analysis
Title
''Preah'' () refers to what is sacred or royal. ''Ko''() means ox and ''keo'' () means gem. Preah Keo can also refer to the
Emerald Buddha
The Emerald Buddha ( th, พระแก้วมรกต , or ) is an image of the meditating Gautama Buddha seated in a meditative posture, made of a semi-precious green stone (jasper rather than emerald or jade), clothed in gold. and about ...
, which directly refers this legend back to its Khmer origin. The name of the legendary duo is a rich alliteration similar to that of other legendary duos such as
Romulus and Remus
In Roman mythology, Romulus and Remus (, ) are twin brothers whose story tells of the events that led to the founding of the city of Rome and the Roman Kingdom by Romulus, following his fratricide of Remus. The image of a she-wolf suckling the ...
in Roman culture or
Hengist and Horsa
Hengist and Horsa are Germanic brothers said to have led the Angles, Saxons and Jutes in their invasion of Britain in the 5th century. Tradition lists Hengist as the first of the Jutish kings of Kent.
Most modern scholarly consensus now rega ...
in
Germanic mythology
Germanic mythology consists of the body of myths native to the Germanic peoples, including Norse mythology, Anglo-Saxon mythology, and Continental Germanic mythology. It was a key element of Germanic paganism.
Origins
As the Germanic language ...
.
![A collage of Shaivism Shiva Siwa Hindu icons and temples in Southeast Asia](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/A_collage_of_Shaivism_Shiva_Siwa_Hindu_icons_and_temples_in_Southeast_Asia.jpg)
The title is representative of the blending of
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
and
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
traditions in Khmer culture. Preah Ko, the Holy Ox, has often been associated with the Brahmanic account of
Nandi
Nandi may refer to:
People
* Nandy (surname), Indian surname
* Nandi (mother of Shaka) (1760–1827), daughter of Bhebe of the Langeni tribe
* Onandi Lowe (born 1974), Jamaican footballer nicknamed Nandi
* Nandi Bushell (born 2010), South Afri ...
in Cambodia. In fact, the Holy Ox is linked to the spread of Hinduism as Nandi is considered the chief
guru
Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverentia ...
of the eight disciples of
Nandinatha Sampradaya
Nandinatha Sampradaya (Sanskrit : नन्दिनाथ सम्प्रदाय) is a denomination of Shaivism sect of Hinduism that places great importance on the practice of yoga. It is related to the broader Nath Sampradaya. Living prece ...
who were sent in eight different directions to spread the wisdom of
Shaivism
Shaivism (; sa, शैवसम्प्रदायः, Śaivasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the Supreme Being. One of the largest Hindu denominations, it incorporates many sub-traditions rangi ...
.
The ox is also one of the protective animals of the
Buddha Gautama
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...
often represented in Cambodian pagodas. According to David Chandler, Preah Keo, the "Sacred Gem", is a metaphor for Buddhism protecting Cambodia. In fact, in neighbouring Thailand the Emerald Buddha is the national
palladium
Palladium is a chemical element with the symbol Pd and atomic number 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1803 by the English chemist William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas, which was itself na ...
.
Historical origins
The Khmers and the
Siam
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 mi ...
ese (
Khmer: ''Siem'') often warred against each other. The Siamese sacked the Khmer capitals of
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 ...
and
Longvek
Longvek or Lavek ( km, លង្វែក, or , ; meaning "intersection" or "crossroads") was a city in Cambodia. It was the second capital city during the Cambodia's Post-Angkor period which began after the Angkor era. The city was known to ear ...
in the 16th century, bringing back many precious objects, jewels, statues, texts, learned men and prisoners of war to their capital of
Ayutthaya Ayutthaya, Ayudhya, or Ayuthia may refer to:
* Ayutthaya Kingdom, a Thai kingdom that existed from 1350 to 1767
** Ayutthaya Historical Park, the ruins of the old capital city of the Ayutthaya Kingdom
* Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province (locally ...
. The loss of these resources had a tremendous effect on the Khmer kingdom, which went into a decline. It is believed that ''Preah Ko Preah Keo'' began as an etiological myth to explain these historical events, particularly the
fall of Lovek in 1594, and to express great sadness over the lost treasures.
According to E. Porée-Maspero, the legend goes back to the theft of the Preah Ko by Siamese soldiers. The Preah Ko was a metal calf, in the belly of which a great collection of ''pali'' writings were stored. After being rubbed with mercury for seven days, this statue could even walk. Another protective divinity called Khuoc, in the Khmer locality of Pisei, had been beheaded by the villagers; in revenge, this ''neak ta'' gave the Siamese soldiers a banana log to aid in capturing the Preah Ko, which they wanted since their people did not own any
Pali
Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism ...
scripts.
Another version, a brief oral tradition, was recorded in 1870 by ethnologist Gustave Janneau. As the King of Siam's army had failed many times to wrest Preah Ko and Preah Keo from Cambodia, he ordered that the firearms of his soldiers be loaded with gold and silver, which he shot near the Cambodian fortress. The Khmer realized these valuable projectiles had fallen into the bamboo forest nearby, so they decided to cut it down to pick the gold and silver from the ground. As soon as the field was barren, the Siamese king swept in with his army and triumphed over the disorganized Cambodian forces. He captured the two statues and split them open them to steal their valuable Pali manuscripts, which explains why the Siamese have dominated the Khmer people ever since.
A more precise date of origin comes from another account. In 1692, Cambodian king Chey Chettha IV asked his aunt to write down from her own memory the almost forgotten legends of Cambodia. At that time, she was able to recover the lost Khmer manuscripts, written on ''kampi'' and ''santra'', which had been taken to Siam. It is in these manuscripts that the legend may have been recorded.
Transmission and scholarship
Textual criticism
Textual criticism is a branch of textual scholarship, philology, and of literary criticism that is concerned with the identification of textual variants, or different versions, of either manuscripts or of printed books. Such texts may range in ...
demonstrates the great variation of expression in ''Preah Ko Preah Keo'' stemming from various forms of transmission. In 1870, ethnologist Gustave Janneau translated ''Preah Ko Preah Keo'' from a very succinct oral tradition. In 1952, Kim Ky copied and printed ''Preah Ko Preah Keo'' from
palm-leaf manuscript
Palm-leaf manuscripts are manuscript
A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed ...
s dating back to the late 19th or early 20th century. In the transcription, the narrator, who refers to himself as Kau and describes himself as "an ordinary man of the people" originating from the
Prey Kabbas District
Prey Kabbas District ( km, ស្រុកព្រៃកប្បាស) is a district located in Takeo Province, in southern Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, ...
(Khmer: ស្រុកព្រៃកប្បាស), says he heard the song from a story-teller named Chai who sang it in verse. The Reyum Institute published a Khmer-English abbreviated version of the legend in 2001, and Ly Thayly published another Khmer version in prose in 2004.
Synopsis
A miraculous birth
In the land of
Takkasila during the reign of Preah Bat Reachea Reamathireach lives a man called Meanop, poor but of great virtue. His wife has a dream about three diamond rings. They meet a fortune-teller who announces that she will give birth to three ''neak boun'' (virtuous spirits) but that she has to refrain from eating green mangoes. While her husband is away hunting, she gives in to temptation and climbs a mango tree from which she falls, causing her death and the premature birth of her two children. These are an ox, Preah Ko, and a small child still in the placenta, whom Meanop liberates from the umbilical cord and tries to feed. They are, however, rejected by the villagers due to their mother's strange death.
The escape of Preah Ko and Preah Keo
After living in the forest for years, the brothers one day decide to play with other children. The children laugh at the brothers, beat them, and refuse to share their food with them. Seeing that Preah Keo is hungry, Preah Ko miraculously produces silver knives, forks and dishes, as well as food, from his belly. Seeing these treasures, the villagers decide to capture the ox and tie him to a ''kandol'' tree (''
Careya arborea
''Careya arborea'' is a species of tree in the Lecythidaceae family, native to the Indian subcontinent, Afghanistan, and Indochina. Its common English names include wild guava, Ceylon oak, patana oak. ''Careya arborea'' is a deciduous tree that g ...
''). Preah Ko tells Preah Keo to hold on to his tail and both fly up into the air, making the tree fall down and kill the villagers, whom Preah Keo later brings back to life with an infusion of ''kandol'' wood in boiling water. Meanop, with no news from his children, dies of grief, but Lord Indra brings him back to life.
The encounter with Princess Neang Peou
King Preah Bat Reachea Reamathireach has five daughters who go down to
Mocharim
Mocharim (ancient name Mucalinda) situated in the Gaya district, state of Bihar, India, nearly south of the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodhgaya. It lies at the western bank of the river Niranjana (Phalgu). It is named after the naga Mucalinda or Mu ...
(''Mucalinda'') pond to play. Preah Keo joins them and, having fallen in love with the youngest princess, Neang Peou, seizes and kisses her, sparking jealousy in the other sisters. Back at the palace, the King orders the execution of his youngest daughter, despite the protests of her mother Botumea. After her execution, Lord Indra brings Neang Peou back to life and she is led by spirits through the forest back to the pond, where she sees Preah Ko and Preah Keo resting under a fig tree. Preah Ko brings a whole palace out of his belly, and the marriage of Neang Prou and Preah Keo is celebrated.
The three fights
The cockfight
In an attempt to invade the Kingdom of Cambodia, the King of Siam challenges King Reamathireach to a cockfight between his rooster A Romduol (literally ''
Sphaerocoryne affinis
''Sphaerocoryne affinis'' (notable synonyms: ''Mitrella mesnyi'') is a species of flowering plant in the soursop family, Annonaceae. The fragrant flowers of ''Sphaerocoryne affinis'' are highly regarded in Cambodia and Thailand.
Description
This ...
''
hmer: រំដួល a species of flowering plant in the soursop family) and that of the Cambodian ruler, A Rompong Phnom (literally "the one who retains the mountain"). After A Rompong Phnom is defeated, Preah Ko transforms into a young black rooster, and a new fight is organized. Preah Ko is victorious, and as an acknowledgement, King Reameathireach gives his kingdom to Preah Keo and his daughter Neang Peou. Preah Keo's lowly origins are forgotten, and he is recognized as a ''neak mean bou'', a meritorious being.
The elephant fight
Humiliated, the King of Siam challenges the King of Cambodia to an elephant fight. Preah Ko transforms into an elephant and faces off against Kompoul Pich (literally "diamond peak") and comes out victorious.
The bullfight
In a final attempt, the King of Siam challenges Preah Keo to a bullfight. A mechanical bull is created by Siamese craftsmen with powers beyond any living animal. Premonitory dreams warn Neang Prou of the menace. The fight begins and Preah Ko, seeing his defeat coming, tells Preah Keo and Neang Prou to hold hands and hold on to his tail as he flies away. Neang Prou loses her grip and falls back to the earth to her death. Lord Indra turns her body to stone and brings her soul to paradise. Rather than become captives of the King of Siam, Preah Keo and Preah Ko fly off to the land of Phnom Sruoch (literally, the "pointy mountain").
Capture and captivity
The King of Siam sends his army to seize Preah Keo and Preah Ko in Phnom Sruoch, but the brothers fly off to the citadel of Lovek, which is surrounded by a bamboo forest. Instead of ordering the bamboo forest to be cut down, the king tells his soldiers to throw silver coins, or ''Duong'', into it. The Khmer people then rush to the forest and cut down the bamboo trees to get at the silver. Exposed, Preah Ko and Preah Keo fly off to Phnom Attharoeus, a mountain in
Oudong
( km, ឧដុង្គ; also romanized as Udong or Odong) is a former town of the post-Angkorian period (1618–1863) situated in present-day ''Phsar Daek'' Commune, Ponhea Lueu District, Kandal Province, Cambodia. Located at the foothill of th ...
. As the Siamese soldiers seek them, Preah Ko and Preah Keo transform into buffaloes but are finally caught with ropes. Held prisoner in a Siamese palace, they make their escape and flee to Pailin in northwestern Cambodia. Surrounded again, they flee to Phnom Sampeou in Battambang, then further still to Phnom Thipadei and Phnom Thbeng. Finally captured, they are taken to Ayutthaya, where a special palace with seven walls is built to keep them captive in the Siamese capital, where they remain to this day.
Cultural influence
Pictorial representations of the story are rather recent. Those of the
Svay Chroum Pagoda, for example, were created in 1987. Most of the statues of Preah Ko and Preah Keo were erected in the second half of the 20th century. The full-size statues of the Tonle Bati Pagoda on the
hill of Oudong date back only to 1990.
In
Kampong Chhnang, various sites exploit the legend of Preah Ko Preah Keo to attract
tourists
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mo ...
. Very popular to this day, the legend has served to remind the Khmer people of times of tension with the government of Thailand, especially in 1958 when diplomatic ties were cut between Cambodia and Thailand
and in
recent years during disputes over the control of the
temples of Preah Vihear and its surroundings.
Bibliography
* Notton, Camille. ''The Chronicle of the Emerald Buddha''. Translated from Pali version. Consul of France: Second Impression, 1933.
* Thung, Heng. “Revising the Collapse of Angkor.” ''Southeast Asian Regional Centre for Archaeology and Fine Arts'', Vo. 9, no. 1, 1999.
* The Government of the People's Republic of Kampuchea. ''Thai Policy vis- a- vis Kampuchea''. Phnom Penh: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 1983.
References
See also
*
Culture of Cambodia
Throughout Cambodia's long history, religion has been a major source of cultural inspiration. Over nearly three millennia, Cambodians have developed a unique Cambodian culture and belief system from the syncreticism of indigenous animistic beli ...
*
Longvek
Longvek or Lavek ( km, លង្វែក, or , ; meaning "intersection" or "crossroads") was a city in Cambodia. It was the second capital city during the Cambodia's Post-Angkor period which began after the Angkor era. The city was known to ear ...
{{Authority control
Cambodian literature
Performing arts in Cambodia
Cambodian legends