Phnom Kulen

Phnom Kulen (ភ្នំគូលែន, Phnom Kulen) is a sacred sandstone plateau in Siem Reap Province, Cambodia, regarded as the birthplace of the Khmer Empire. The name means "Mountain of Lychees," after the lychee trees that once grew there. UNESCO's Tentative List translates it as "Mountain of Leeches."

Illustration inspired by a waterfall on the plateau.

Heritage site details
Khmer name	ភ្នំគូលែន
Also known as	Kulen Mountain
Site type	Archaeological site
Location	Siem Reap Province
Country	Cambodia
Period	802
Subjects	Religion & Spiritual Life

History

In the Angkorian era the mountain was called Mahendraparvata, the mountain of the Great Indra. The name comes from ancient Khmer inscriptions, above all the Sdok Kak Thom inscription. Phnom Kulen is held to be the birthplace of the ancient Khmer Empire. There, in 802 CE, King Jayavarman II proclaimed independence from Java and declared himself devaraja, or god-king. The Sdok Kak Thom inscription records that he began the first Devaraja cult of the king there. UNESCO dates this to 802 CE, and Wikipedia to 804 CE.

Jayavarman II founded the city of Mahendraparvata on the plateau as the capital of the state that became the Angkor Empire. By the end of the eighth century it had brick temples, a royal palace, a mountain temple, a large reservoir and a planned network of streets and waterworks. At its peak the Kulen city was larger than modern Phnom Penh, in Wikipedia's account, or about the same size, in Siemreap.net's. The court later moved to Hariharalaya at Roluos, about 15 kilometers (9 miles) east of Angkor. The mountain was never fully abandoned. Inscriptions, carved caves and carved riverbeds show that people lived there throughout the Angkorian period. Phnom Kulen was developed further under King Udayadityavarman II, who made it the capital of his empire and built temples, residences and the 1000 Lingas at Kbal Spean. From the tenth century, sandstone quarried on the mountain was carried to Angkor through channels and along raised earthen roads. The Samré tribe once lived at the edge of Phnom Kulen and quarried and moved sandstone to royal sites.

The Khmer Rouge used Phnom Kulen as a final stronghold when their regime ended in 1979 during the Cambodian–Vietnamese War. They kept a base on the plateau into the 1990s. Land mines from the civil war years, when the Khmer Rouge controlled the mountain, still remain.

The ancient city was rediscovered in 2012 through a ground expedition and then LiDAR, a laser survey from the air that sees through the forest. Jean-Baptiste Chevance and Damian Evans led the work, and the find was made public in 2013. A further LiDAR survey covered the whole plateau in 2015. The Royal Palace, called Banteay, had been identified in 2009.

Architecture and layout

Phnom Kulen is an isolated chain of small plateaus south of the Dangrek Mountains. It runs about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from west-northwest to east-southeast, about 48 kilometers (30 miles) north of Siem Reap. UNESCO places it about 30 kilometers (19 miles) northeast of Angkor, and International Parks about 50 kilometers (31 miles) northeast of Angkor Wat. Wikipedia gives its highest point as about 500 meters (1,640 feet), and Lonely Planet gives the summit as 487 meters (1,598 feet). The mountain is made of sandstone. Water collects in the porous stone and flows out all year into pools, rivers, springs and streams.

LiDAR surveys revealed a planned network of earthen dikes forming major axes across more than 40 square kilometers (15 square miles). The grid joins temples to dams, large reservoirs and house plots. Hundreds of ponds lie in the central area, and only two of them break the main axes. The city had no central wall or moat. The Thnal Srae Thbong dike and the Thnal Mrech, or Pepper Dike, about one kilometer (0.6 miles) long, belong to a large unfinished reservoir.

The partly forested site holds about 40 brick temples. Most are single brick towers from the reign of Jayavarman II. Prasat Rong Chen, a five-tiered pyramid temple, stands on the highest point of the southern plateau. It was never finished, and ramps lead to its top level. Prasat O'Paong has three levels and five towers. Prasat Krol Romeas, a late Angkorian temple from the end of the 12th century, stands at the great natural waterfall. Ceramic kilns date from the tenth and 11th centuries. The sandstone was quarried in the Angkorian period, especially in the southeast of the massif, where deep stepped pits form a network of quarries.

Art and inscriptions

The Kulen style of art and architecture took shape under Jayavarman II at the end of the eighth century. It used sandstone columns, lintels and sculpture, and it marks the passage from pre-Angkorian to Angkorian art. No inscriptions from the time of Mahendraparvata have yet been found on the mountain.

At Kbal Spean, the River of a Thousand Lingas, more than 1,000 small lingas are carved into the sandstone riverbed just below the surface. A linga is the stone emblem of the god Shiva. The carvings turned the water into sacred water for the empire below. Another carving shows Vishnu lying on the serpent Ananta, with Lakshmi at his feet and Brahma rising on a lotus from his navel.

Peung Tbal, near Anlong Thom village, has carvings of Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma and Ganesha from the eighth or ninth century. Peung Aysey has rock carvings of Hindu gods and is said to have been a meditation place for rishis, or holy sages. At Srah Damrei, the Elephant Pond on the southern face of the mountain, a life-size Angkor-era sandstone elephant stands with smaller figures of lions, a frog and a cow, dated to the eighth or ninth century. The Terrace of Sdach Kum Ling holds a small ruined brick temple that is said to have been covered by lava for centuries.

At least ten rock-art sites lie on the southeastern side of the mountain. At the rock shelter of Poeung Komnou, the recluse Sivasoma lived in 1074 CE. He has since been worshipped as a local spirit and guardian of the mountain. Its paintings include red zigzag lines and a large catfish, and the archaeologist Noel Hidalgo Tan has suggested that some may be 3,000 years old or older. Angkor-era carvings there show Vishnu, Ganesha, other Hindu gods and meditating ascetics.

Religious life

Phnom Kulen is a holy mountain in Cambodia, and Hindus and Buddhists come there on pilgrimage. Lonely Planet notes that Khmers regard it as the country's most sacred mountain. Local tradition holds that the Buddha set one foot there when the country was flooded. Pilgrims and celebrants from across Cambodia come for Khmer New Year in April. Monks and modern hermits use the old hermit sites.

Preah Ang Thom is a 16th-century Buddhist monastery with a reclining Buddha image carved into the sandstone, given as about 8 meters (26 feet) high. Wikipedia and Siemreap.net call it the largest reclining Buddha image in Cambodia. Shoes and head coverings are removed before climbing to the sanctuary. The waters of Kbal Spean are held to be holy. Jayavarman II is believed to have bathed there, and the waters are traditionally believed to help couples conceive.

The national park

Phnom Kulen National Park (ឧទ្យានជាតិភ្នំគូលែន) was established in 1993. It was created for recreation and science, and to protect the natural scenery of the mountain, including its waterfalls. UNESCO gives its area as 37,375 hectares (92,357 acres) across Banteay Srey, Svay Leu and Varin districts, and International Parks gives 37,389 hectares.

The mountain is the source of the Siem Reap, Puok and Roluos rivers. Its water fed Angkor's channels, reservoirs and temple moats, and it still feeds rice paddies in the region. The forest is mostly dry evergreen and mixed deciduous forest. Pileated gibbons, sambar deer, barking deer, wild pigs, hornbills and kingfishers live there, and camera traps have recorded leopards. The park is also home to the endangered Indochinese silvered langur and dhole, and the vulnerable clouded leopard. Villagers in the remote upper areas still live much as their ancestors did.

Significance and conservation

Phnom Kulen was first proclaimed for Cambodia's Tentative List for World Heritage on December 1, 1992, and it was added again on March 27, 2020. The Permanent Delegation of Cambodia to UNESCO submitted it as an extension of the Angkor site under criteria (ii), (iv) and (v). Wikipedia lists criteria (iii), (iv) and (v). The nomination names three values: an early city, living cultural heritage, and the source of sandstone for the temples of Angkor. In 2016, as part of this effort, more than 300 families were moved from crowded areas and tourist facilities were improved.

The Cambodian Mine Action Centre works with archaeological teams on the mountain and has cleared several main paths and sites. Logging and farming have caused heavy forest loss, and some land has become cashew plantations. Conservation work focuses on stopping illegal logging and protecting the rivers. Large crowds of pilgrims damage plants and leave pollution at the busiest sacred sites. Unauthorized linga carving and the taking of sacred riverbed sand threaten the ancient rock carvings.

Visiting

The easiest way to reach the mountain is by car from Siem Reap. A paved road climbs 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) through the forest from the entrance to the plateau. The park needs its own ticket, separate from the Angkor Archaeological Park, and Cambodians enter free. Traffic on the mountain road runs one way, and vehicles going up must start before 11 a.m.

The mountain has two waterfalls. The first is about 4 to 5 meters (13 to 16 feet) high and 20 to 25 meters (66 to 82 feet) wide. The second is about 15 to 20 meters (49 to 66 feet) high and flows into a larger pool that is popular for swimming. Srah Damrei can be reached by motorbike, about one hour from the waterfall, along about 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) of very rough trail from Wat Preah Ang Thom. Food stalls and souvenir sellers work at the sacred sites. Places to stay on the plateau are few, and most visitors come for the day from Siem Reap.

References