Heritage site
Phnom Da
ភ្នំដា
Phnom Da (ភ្នំដា) is a granite hill near Angkor Borei in Takeo Province, Cambodia, the site of some of the oldest surviving Khmer temples.[1] Its sculptures may be the earliest Cambodian stone statues.[1]
History
Phnom Da rises about 3 kilometers (2 miles) southeast of Angkor Borei.[1] Together the two sites form part of the ancient Funan landscape of southern Cambodia, near the Mekong Delta, the Vietnamese border and the archaeological site of Óc Eo.[2][3] Angkor Borei was probably an early capital, and a meeting place of Southeast Asian cultures and artistic traditions.[2] Phnom Da belongs to the pre-Angkorian age of Funan and the later Chenla period.[4]
The statues appear to be older than the stone temple, which dates to the sixth century CE and may have replaced earlier Hindu temples of wood.[1]
Architecture and layout
The principal temple is about 12 meters (39 feet) square and 18 meters (59 feet) high, and its roof is damaged.[4] Its entrance faces north toward Angkor Borei; the other three sides carry false doors.[5] The builders laid laterite in the lower courses and brick above, and carved the door frames and ornament in sandstone.[4]
Nearby stands the smaller Ashram Maha Rosei, about 5.5 meters (18 feet) square and 7 meters (23 feet) high, built of large basalt blocks, a stone rarely used in Khmer architecture.[4] Artificial caves cut into the hill served as further sanctuaries, each once holding a linga and yoni.[5]
Art and inscriptions
The sculptures found at Phnom Da define a pre-Angkorian style that bears its name, the Phnom Da style.[5] Best known is the Triad of Phnom Da: Vishnu with his avatars Rama and Balarama.[1] Other works from the site include a Trivikrama, a Hari Kambujendra and Krishna lifting Mount Govardhan.[3] They join late Gupta and post-Gupta features with a strong emphasis on lifelike form, and they carry ideas from what are now Vietnam and India into a Cambodian design of their own.[3][1] In the sixth century the sculptors of Angkor Borei made sandstone their medium and developed a local carving tradition.[6] A Harihara from Ashram Maha Rosei is now in the National Museum of Cambodia in Phnom Penh.[7]
The inscriptions, 11 lines in Sanskrit and 21 in Khmer, describe the forms of Vishnu and King Rudravarman and record a ceremony allotting land.[1]
Significance and conservation
Phnom Da and Angkor Borei have been on Cambodia's tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage since 1992, a nomination renewed in March 2020.[2] Looting and the trafficking of antiquities remain serious threats to the area.[3] A United States cultural preservation grant has supported the recording and protection of its sixth- and seventh-century monuments.[7]
Visiting
The sites have drawn growing numbers of visitors in recent years.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Wikipedia
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Wikipedia, Angkor Borei and Phnom Da
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Wikipedia, Phnom Da
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Angkor Temples in Cambodia, Phnom Da
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Voyage Cambodge, Phnom Da
- ↑ The Asian Art Newspaper, Krishna Govardhana: A Journey to Cambodia
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Khmer Times, Phnom Da: Preserving the Funan Era