Phnom Chisor

Phnom Chisor (ភ្នំជីសូរ, Phnom Chisor) is a hill in Takeo Province, Cambodia, crowned by an 11th-century temple and an active Buddhist monastery. King Suryavarman I built the temple, which was dedicated to Shiva and partly to Vishnu.

Illustration inspired by the hilltop temple above rice fields.

Heritage site details
Khmer name	ភ្នំជីសូរ
Also known as	Chisor Mountain
Site type	Temple
Location	Takeo Province
Country	Cambodia
Period	11th century
Subjects	Religion & Spiritual Life

History

The temple on the hill is called Prasat Phnom Chisor. In the 11th century it was known as Sri Suryaparvata or Suyagiri, which means "Mountain of the Sun" in Sanskrit. The name Chisor is a Khmer word for the strong mind or spirit of a holy man or hermit. Suryavarman I, king of the Khmer Empire in the first half of the 11th century, practiced Brahmanism and promoted it. He founded or enlarged many hilltop sanctuaries in the provinces, and Phnom Chisor is part of that legacy. The temple's partial dedication to Vishnu is taken to reflect his tolerance of local Vishnu cults. Some of the brick towers may be older than his reign, and later periods altered the buildings.

A local legend tells how a Brahmin chief blessed the baby of a king of old, Sorya Deva, with great strength, power and a sharp mind. In return, the king built the Brahmins a shrine on the mountain.

The Hindu sanctuary was later taken into Theravada Buddhist practice, as religious traditions in Cambodia changed. A Buddhist pagoda on the hill was rebuilt in 1917, during French rule. The École française d'Extrême-Orient (French School of the Far East) carried out restoration work in the 1930s.

During the civil war, before the Khmer Rouge took national power, Phnom Chisor was a strategic position for Khmer Rouge fighters surrounding Phnom Penh. United States bombing devastated the area around the hill in 1973. A bomb that fell on the temple's altar stone did not explode. Government troops of the Lon Nol regime attacked the hill with helicopters. The pagoda and other parts of the monastery were destroyed in these attacks and then by systematic Khmer Rouge vandalism. The bombing of the 1970s, linked to the Vietnam War, left many structures in ruins and damaged the entrance to a nearby cave. The pagoda was rebuilt in 1979. Cambodia's Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts carried out further repairs in the 2010s.

Architecture and layout

Phnom Chisor is 133 meters (436 feet) high. Its temple is one of the few Angkorian monuments built on a hill. The temple stands on a leveled platform east of the summit. It is built of laterite, brick and sandstone in the Khleang and Baphuon styles, two phases of Khmer architecture that bridge earlier and later Angkorian forms.

The complex measures about 60 meters (197 feet) from east to west and 50 meters (164 feet) from north to south. A stone courtyard of about 100 by 80 meters (330 by 260 feet) once surrounded it, and only traces of it remain. Two galleries enclose the temple. The smaller inner gallery appears to have held the main place of worship. The upper enclosure keeps the remains of six brick towers, a mandapa hall to the east, and two small fire shrines, called vahnigriha. One fire shrine still holds a linga. The central shrine once housed a linga named Suryavameshvara, which joins the king's name with Ishvara, a name of Shiva meaning "lord of the world." The main shrine consists of two towers. It has been restored with cement and has a new roof.

The original approach was a processional avenue from the east. It passed two structures on the plain, Sen Rveang and Sen Thmul, which stand as separate temples rather than gateways. A rectangular reservoir, or baray, lay farther east. This reservoir, Tonle Om, is linked to the temple by the eastern stairs, which also reach the temples of Sen Chhmos and Sen Phouvang. Local tradition holds that the main staircase points toward Angkor Wat. That reading is debated.

Counts of the steps differ. One account gives about 610 steps on an approach of nearly 400 meters (1,310 feet), and another about 412. A third gives 390 steps on the western slope and 408 on the southern slope. The southern stairway starts at the main parking area near the school of Trapeang Srong village. Vimean Chan, a cave about 150 meters (490 feet) south of the temple, was once a place of meditation for Brahmin ascetics.

Art and inscriptions

The sandstone door frames carry inscriptions in Old Khmer and Sanskrit. Four inscriptions from the temple are catalogued as K 31, K 32, K 33 and K 34. In 1877, three black schist stones with shallow Old Khmer inscriptions lay on the lower northern side of the temple. Local people had found them among tree roots.

Carved sandstone lintels and pediments show Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu. Surviving sculpture includes Shiva dancing and Vishnu reclining, along with bearded figures whose identity is unknown. A carving above the eastern doorway shows Hanuman riding an elephant. On the eastern edge of the plateau, a laterite gallery has lintels on the inner sides of three doorways, facing the courtyard. The central hall, framed by two doorways, holds a wooden statue. The frescoes of the Phnom Chisor pagoda are one of three large painted versions of the Reamker, the Khmer telling of the Ramayana, in Cambodia.

Religious life

A Buddhist monastery with modern pagodas and monks' quarters surrounds the old temple. Monks and pilgrims now bring Buddhist devotions to the former Hindu sanctuary. A golden Buddha image sheltered by the seven-headed serpent Muchalinda is venerated at the site. Small shrines to local spirits and Hindu deities line the route up the hill, and pilgrims stop at them before entering the sanctuary.

The hill remains sacred to both Brahman worshipers and Buddhists, and it is used for pilgrimage, veneration and tourism. Tonle Om is regarded as sacred and is believed to wash away sins, and pilgrims use it for purification rites. Many pilgrims come during Pchum Ben in September or October and Khmer New Year in mid-April.

Significance and conservation

Cambodia's Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts has prepared documents toward nominating Phnom Chisor for the UNESCO World Heritage List, on which it does not yet appear. Restoration and site management have been more modest here than at Cambodia's best-known temples.

Since 1992, UNESCO and the UNDP, the United Nations development agency, have worked to revive silk weaving at Phnom Chisor through the Strengthen Community Temple Learning Centres project, which relies on volunteers. In August 2003, UNESCO and the Cambodian Craft Cooperation held a two-month training session for 24 villages connected with the site. Chunlout Dei, nearby, is known as a pottery-making village. As of 2004, most of its former potters worked at the Phnom Chisor quarry, where observers said illegal stone quarrying was damaging the site's cultural heritage.

Visiting

Phnom Chisor is in Dok Por village, Rovieng commune, Samraŏng District. Another account places it in Sia village of the same commune. It lies about 42 kilometers (26 miles) south of Phnom Penh and 27 kilometers (17 miles) north of Takeo town, along National Road 2. The stairs remain open, although they need repair. Shoes are removed in active shrine areas. On weekends and public holidays, Cambodian families picnic near the foot of the hill. The summit looks out over rice fields, ponds and villages. Visits are often combined with Tonle Bati, Phnom Da or Angkor Borei. Phnom Da and Angkor Borei, south of Takeo, are linked with pre-Angkorian sanctuaries and the kingdom of Funan.

References