HISTORY Of KHMER TEMPLES

Louve troops in the army of the SuryavarmanII on a bas-rellief from the south gallery of Angkor Wat.

He immediately began a series of campaigns, in the east and north against the Chams and the Dai Viet (the first Vietnamese empire), and in the west and north-west against the Mons of the Chao Phraya valley. The wars against Haripunjaya, conducted from the regional capital of Louvo, were renewed, although ultimately without success. The Chinese History of The Sung mentions not only that he sent embassies to China in 1116 and 1120, but records The limits of his empire - specifically, the western frontier by the middle of The century had reached the kingdom of Pagan. The exact status of Louvo is obscure, and the later chronicles con be interpreted as referring to The ruler of Louvo as a Khmer governor or as Suryavarman II himself. From the History of The Sung, it appears that at the beginning of his reign, in 1115, Louvo had sent its own embassy to Chino (where it was known as Lo-hu), which may possibly have been an assertion of independence.

It is at this time that we hove a remarkable picture of the provincial Khmer army. The western half of The bas-reliefs carved on the south outer gallery of Angkor Wat depicts the greet personalities of the time, and The linking theme for this series of portraits is a march-past of the Khmer troops. At their head, an exotic and disorderly troop represents Thai mercenaries, called here on the gallery's inscription 'Syam Kuk', meaning 'Siamese people', and the origin of the name Siam. Behind them march the contingent from Louvo, in appearance completely Khmer.

The architectural culmination of Suryavarman II' reign was Angkor wat, but considerably more was built, or initiated. In the provinces, most of Phimai and Phnom Rung were built, Wat Phu was added to considerably, and several smaller Sanctuaries were constructed

The style of the reign is that of Angkor wat, characterized in its architecture by large convolutions, concentric series of enclosures and, most memorable of all, the ogival, corn-cob tower, In this feature, the Khorat Plateau ploys on important role. The major settlement of the region was Vimayapura (Phimai), to The north of modem Nakhon Ratchasima, and its temple pre-dotes Angkor wat by a little, Its sanctuary towers clearly influenced the towers of the capital.

The death of Suryavarman II sometime around 1150 heralded a new round of revolts and struggles within the Empire. The ultimate decline of Khmer power began at this point. Provincial history is marked by attempts to break The ties with Angkor, and in 1155 a new embassy was sent to Chino by Louvo. The name of a king of Louvo, Dharmashoka, is mentioned in an inscription of 1167 found near Nakhon Sawan, suggesting that this provincial state may hove quickly declared its Independence.

The foreign campaigns that Suryavarman II and some of his predecessors had waged now began to turn against the Khmers, The Chams, following a treaty with their other enemy the Dai Viet, attacked. Alter inconclusive fighting to begin with, they succeeded in 1177 in taking the capital at Angkor by means of a naval attack up the Great lake. Only the appearance of on outstanding Khmer king stemmed the decline of the Empire. Jayavarman VII, a legitimate heir to the throne whose absence from the country had prevented his accession, returned to liberate The capital. It look four years to drive the Chams out, and in 1181 he was crowned, in his fifties. Two major achievements mark Jayavarman VII' s reign of more than 30 years, and both were felt in the northern provinces, One Was the massive building programme, not only of temple, but of more utilitarian and beneficial constructions - roods, travellers' rest-houses and hospitals, The other was the widespread introduction of Mahayana Buddhism, The religion of his father and his two consecutive wives. In foci, Buddhism was the inspiration for the building programme, and the hospitals and rest-houses were on expression of the compassionate element of the faith.

However, here as in other instances, neither The history nor the architectural legacy of Javavarman VII was the some from the provincial perspective as from that of the capital .At Angkor, his outstanding, even bizarre, masterpieces of construction were the Bayon, with its more than 200 benign giant faces, and the modelling of the entire City of Angkor Thom as microcosm of the universe, complete with naga 'bridges' at The city gates and the full range of religious symbolism. More temples were built around the city - at great speed, from which the construction and decoration suffered. One of the most impressive features was the level to which Jayavarman VII raised the cult of his personality; it is generally agreed that the faces carved an the lowers not only at Angkor but across lowland Cambodia are an idealised portrait of him as the compassionate Bodhisattva Lokesvara, The temple-city of Banteay Chhmar in the north-west of the country also has some of these face-towers, and is included in this guide because of its proximity to present-day Thailand.

North of the Dongreks, however, there is little evidence of all of this, and the architectural mark of the reign is the use of laterite instead of stone, There are no face towers, no complex symbolism in stone, and the demotic bas-reliefs of the Bayon, which give such a fascinating picture of Khmer daily life at the turn of the 13th century, have no counterpart in what is now Thailand .Nevertheless, though the remain are sparse, Jayavarman VII managed to expand the Empire's frontiers.