Two brothers, Po Khun Bangklanghao and Po Khun Phameung (Po Khun was a Siamese title of high nobility) took Sukhothai from Mon hands in 1239. Bangklanghao ruled Sukhothai as Sri Inthraditaya – and began the Phra Ruang Dynasty - he expanded his primordial kingdom to the bordering cities. At the end of his reign in 1257, the Sukhothai kingdom covered the entire Upper Chao Phraya valley.

( Fork in the road which leads to either the Heavens or the Hells in: Vittorio Roveda, 2008, Sacred Angkor - the carved reliefs of Angkor Wat, River Books, Weatherhill, Inc., CT, USA))One inscription on this bas relief engraved between parasols of figures ascending the 'middle path' (that is, the middle register)reads: 'These, the two higher (ways), are the route to the heavens (svargga).

The panel includes a narrrative portraying divinity (wearing conical caps) carried on palanquins on the high path to Svargga.

In the Bhagavata Purana tradition describing the process of creation, both Rama and Krsna are recognized as avatara-s. Avatara is a sacred place, a tirtha. It is the descent of divinity upon earth to enable people to cross the continuum of life-and-death, to attain mokSa, reach svarga, Vrah Vishnuloka.) अवतार [p= 99,1] [L=17339] m. ( Pa1n2. 3-3 , 120) descent (especially of a deity from heaven) , appearance of any deity upon earth (but more particularly the incarnations of विष्णु in ten principal forms , viz. the fish tortoise , boar , man lion , dwarf , the two रामs , कृष्ण , बुद्ध , and कल्कि MBh. xii , 12941 seqq.) In Pancaratra tradition related to temple construction and worship, there are 39 Vyuha (including the ten Avatara), detailed in this monograph.

The central theme of Angkor Wat mandiram is the Samudra manthanam (Churning of the Ocean) which is a narrative of creation cosmology in the Hindu dharma-Bauddha dhamma traditions.

विष्णुलोक [p= 1000,1] [L=202585] m. विष्णु's world Ra1jat. VP. Pan5car. (accord. to some = ब्रह्म-ल्° , or accord. to others , " placed above it " MW.) शिवपदम् final liberation, emancipation. (Skt.lexicon)

Vrah Vishnuloka means 'heavenly abode of Vishnu). Hence the scenes of svarta and naraka depicted on Angkor Wat bas reliefs - consistent with the Hindu dharma and Bauddha dhamma traditions of karma in life-continuum.

नरकः कम् 1 Hell, infernal regions (corresponding to the realm of Pluto; there are said to be 21 different parts of these regions where different kinds of tortures are inflicted upon sinners तामिस्र, अन्धतामिस्र, महारौरव, रौरव, नरक, कालसूत्र, महानरक, संजीवन, माहवीचि, तपन, संप्रतापन, संहात, काकोल, कुड्मल, प्रतिमूर्तिक, लोहशङ्कु, ऋजीष, पन्था, शाल्मली, असितपत्रवन, लोहदारक are the 21 Narakas; cf. Ms.4. 88-9). -2 A liquor-vessel; नरकं मद्यभाजने Nm. -कः N. of a demon, king of Prāgjyotiṣa. [According to one account he carried off Aditi's ear-rings and Kṛiṣna at the request of the gods killed him in a single combat and recovered the jewels. According to another ac- count, Naraka assumed the form of an elephant and carried off the daughter of Viśvakarman and outraged her. He also seized the daughters of Gandharvas, gods, men and the nymphs themselves, and collected more than 16 damsels in his harem. These, it is related, were transferred by Kṛiṣṇa to his own harem after he had slain Naraka. The demon was born of earth, and hence called 'Bhauma'] -Comp. -अन्तकः, -अरिः, -जित्, -रिपुः m. epithets of Kṛiṣṇa; नरकरिपुणा सार्धं तेषां सभीमकिरीटिनाम् Ve.3.24. -आमयः 1 the soul after death. -2 a ghost, spirit. -आवासः an inhabi- tant of hell. -कुण्डम् a pit in hell where the wicked are tormented (86 such places are enumerated). -देवता 'the deity of hell', Nirṛiti (निर्ऋति). -रूपिन् a. hellish. -वासः the abode in hell. -स्या the Vaitariṇī river. (Apte Skt. lexicon)

vára1 m. (n. MBh.) ʻ choice, boon ʼ RV., adj. ʻ choicest ʼ ŚrS. 2. váram ʻ better than ʼ RV. [√vr̥2] 1. Pa. vara -- ʻ best ʼ, m.n. ʻ wish, boon ʼ; Pk. vara -- m. ʻ boon ʼ; Sh. (Lor.) bər ʻ better, more ʼ; K. war m. ʻ boon ʼ, S. varu m., P. var, bar m., Ku. N. A. B. bar, Or. bara; Mth. bar ʻ excellent ʼ; OAw. bara ʻ gift ʼ, adj. ʻ best ʼ; H. bar m. ʻ boon ʼ, G. M. var m., Si. vara. 2. N. Mth. OAw. baru adv. ʻ rather ʼ(CDIAL 11308)

víṣṇu m. ʻ the god Viṣṇu ʼ RV. [Of non -- Aryan origin J. Przyluski ArchOr iv 263; rather with mng. ʻ taking various forms ʼ ~ víṣuṇa -- ʻ id. ʼ RV. (J. C. W.)]Pk. viṇhu -- , veṇhu -- m. ʻ Viṣṇu ʼ; M. vinu nom. prop.; Si. ven, venu ʻ a name of Viṣṇu ʼ EGS 168. -- Despite LM 409 separate from M. viṭhū, viṭho, viṭhobā familiar forms of viṭṭhal m. ʻ a form of Kr̥ṣṇa worshipped at Paṇḍharpur ʼ (cf. Sk. viṭhara -- ʻ ep. of Br̥haspati ʼ lex., vi(ṭ)ṭhala -- , viḍḍhala -- m. ʻ Viṭhobā ʼ MW.). Addenda: víṣṇu -- : with M. viṭṭhal cf. Garh. biṭhlū ʻ belonging to any of the savarṇa castes ʼ.(CDIAL 11991)

paralōka -- m. ʻ the next world ʼ ŚBr. [pára -- , lōká -- ]Pa. paralōka -- m., Aś. dh. palalokaṁ acc. sg., jau. °logaṁ, Pk. paralōga -- , °ōa -- m., Si. paralova; -- Kal. pārilōi ʻ heaven ʼ (→ Kt. pārilōi Morgenstierne) or < pāralaukika -- , pāralōkya -- ʻ pertaining to the other world ʼ MBh., Aś.shah. man. paralokika, gir. pāralokikā, kāl. palalokikyā, Pk. pāralōia -- .(CDIAL 7799) lōká1 m. ʻ free space, world ʼ RV., ʻ space, territory ʼ, ŚBr., ʻ people ʼ Mn. Pa. lōka -- m. ʻ world ʼ; Aś.top. loke ʻ the people ʼ, shah. ia -- lokaṁ, jau. hida -- logaṁ ʻ this world ʼ; KharI. loo ʻ place ʼ; Pk. lōga -- , lōa -- m. ʻ world, people ʼ; Wg. lō ʻ wide open ground ʼ; S. lou m. ʻ tribe, family ʼ, loi f. ʻ place of residence, lover's village ʼ; L.khet. lō ʻ village ʼ; OB. loa plural affix; OAw. loi m. ʻ people ʼ, H. loe, loī m.; OG. loi m. ʻ the world ʼ, Si. lov, lev (< nom. *lovi), lō. lōkíya -- ; lōkanātha -- , *lōkāgra -- , lōkōttara -- ; trilōka -- , dēvalōká -- , *dēvalōkya -- , paralōka -- , manuṣyalōká -- .(CDIAL 11119) There are three lokas स्वर्ग, पृथ्वी and पाताल, but according to fuller classifica- tion the lokas are fourteen, seven higher regions rising from the earth one above the other, i. e. भूर्लोक, भुवर्लोक, स्वर्लोक, महर्लोक, जनर्लोक, तपर्लोक, and सत्यलोक or ब्रह्मलोक; and seven lower regions, descending from the earth one below the other; i. e. अतल, वितल, सुतल, रसातल, तलातल, महातल, and पाताल स्वर्ग [L=259165.1] m. heaven , the abode of light and of the gods , heavenly bliss , (esp.) इन्द्र's heaven or paradise (to which the souls of virtuous mortals » transferred until the time comes for their re-entering earthly bodies ; this temporary heaven is the only heaven of orthodox Brahmanism ; it is supposed to be situated on mount मेरु q.v. ; acc. with √ गा , आ- √स्था , or आ- √पद् , " to go to heaven " , " die ") RV. only x , 95 , 18 AV. &c (Monier-Williams Skt. lexicon) पदं- √दा,पदात् पदं- √गम् or √चल् , to make a step move on ; पदं- √कृ , with loc. to set foot in or on , to enter (Skt.lexicon)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Head of Brahma in sandstone from the Phnom Bok in Bakheng style now in Guimet Museum in Paris.

This monograph is also a plea for restoring puja in Angkor Wat, one of the oldest temples of the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The monograph will demonstrate that Angkor Wat is embellished with visual narratives and inscriptions which substantiate the Itihasa-Purana tradition.

पश्चिमं इतिहास श्रवणे इतिवृत्तम आध्यायिकोदाहरणं धर्मं शास्त्रं अर्थ शास्त्रं चेतीतिहासः Puraana (the chronicles of the ancients), Itivrtta (occurrences or events), Akhyayika (anecdotes and tales), Udaaharana (illustrative examples), Dharmashastra (the canon of Righteous conduct), and Arthashastra (the science of Government) are known by (comprise the corpus of Itihaasah, history)(Kautilya’s Arthashastra, Book 1, Chapter 5). The purport of itihaasa is clearly stated to have been achieved to 'hearing' s'ravane. Thus, the chroniclers were kathaa-kaar, 'history-tellers'.

Kalhana in the Rajatarangini,12th century CE (1147 to 1149 CE) expounds the purpose of itihasa: धर्मार्थ काममोक्षाणामुपदेश समन्वितं । पुरावृत्तं क्तकथायुक्त रूपमितिहासं प्रचक्षते ।। “Dharmaartha-kaama-moskshanaam upadesa-samanvitam | Puraa-vrttam, kathaa-yuttarupam Ithihaasah prachakshate ||” Trahslation: Itihasa provides, combined with guidance from past events embellished with anecdotes, the means to achieve dharma, artha, kaama and moksha -- righteous conduct, material well-being and liberation. 

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