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| Long time a go |
Our knowledge of life during Angkor’s
heyday comes from three sources. Of greatest importance are the inscriptions
that the rulers left behind, for they provide remarkable details of the
organization of the state and the manner in which the temples were serviced by
priests and the many peasant farmers who grew the vital crops of rice each
year.
The bas-reliefs at Angkor Wat record
legends and the battles of kings; those at the Bayon temple offer visual
insights into Angkorian society by showing us ‘snpshots’ of everyday life. At
Angkor Wat, the bas-reliefs depict Indian legends, such as the Ramayana, as
well as scenes of Suryavarman II’s troops marching to war. In contrast, along
the outer wall’s of Bayon, the bas-reliefs depict 12th century
Cambodian everyday life.
The only eyewitness account of life in
the capital comes from Chinese envoy, Zhou Daguan who visited Angkor in 1296,
and later wrote a detailed report of what he had seen. Zhue’s observations give
a unique insight into a society that had, by the time of his visit, adopted the
more austere Theravada form of Buddhism. Although the Angkorian Empire was
facing external challenges from the growing power of Siam by the time of Zhue’s
visit, the city he described was still rich and powerful enough to impress him.
He described the great walled city of Angkor Thom in accurate detail, even down
to the observation that “dogs are forbidden entrance as are criminals whose
toes have been cut off.”
Angkor Thom, he noted, is where
monuments with towers of gold have led travelers from overseas to “Cambodia,
the rich and the nobble.” Above all, Zhue confesses his admiration for the
spectacle of the khmer King in procession from his palace.
When the
king leaves his palace, the processing is heading by the soldiery; then comes
the flags, the banners, the music. Girls of the palace, three or five hundred
in number, gaily dressed with flowers in their hair and tapers in their hands,
are mixed together in a separate column all adorned with gold; followed by
mounted ministers and princes.
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