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By
: Moul Jetr, Picture by : Nathan Dexter.
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Preah Ang Dang-Keur.
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Twin
shrines stand at the riverfront in front of
the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh.
Facing the river from the palace gates, the
shrine on the left is devoted to Neak Ta,
or animist spirits.
The one on the right, close to the elaborate
flagpole of the Royal Palace, is a Buddhist
shrine, visited by hundreds of worshippers
every week.
This is Preah Ang Dang-Keur, and it is a focal
point of worship in the city that many travelers
never stop to see.
Inside the shrine, a six-armed deity looks
out to the east. To most Khmers, he is known
as Preah Ang Dang-Keur, although his real
name is Lokeshvara.
In his three left hands he carries a rosary,
a message and a lotus. In his right hands,
a book, a sacred sword and a flask.
Whatever name he is worshipped by, prayers
and offerings made to this powerful deity
are believed |
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to bring luck,
speed recovery from illness, and help attract requested
rewards in life such as children for newlyweds, exam success
for students or a promotion for a businessman or woman.
The story behind the shrine's name and the title the god
is known by is quite modern by Cambodian standards.
"The park from Wat Ounalom to where the Chroy Chang
Var Bridge is used to be a series of storehouses for Phnom
Penh Wharf until the 1990's," Mr Som, 65, an employee
for the Royal Palace said.
"I was told by my father that the docks were a busy
unloading place for touk pok-chai (cargo boats with palm-thatched
roofs) and there were permanent crews of Vietnamese doing
business there.
"I do not know for sure why the place ended up with
this name, but the Vietnamese called the place where they
saw the King's flag flying Keur, the Vietnamese word for
flagstaff." |
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The Khmer
for the King's flag is Toung Preah Moha-ksatr.
"Cambodians adopted the Vietnamese name for
easy reference," Mr Som said.
Preah in Khmer means highly honored, divine or ultimate
and is used as a prefix of profound respect for
many names, for example Preah Samma-Samput (Buddha),
Preah Chann (the moon), Preah Peay (the wind) and
Preah Moha-ksatr (the king).
Ang is a word meaning body.
The word Dang means a flagstaff or pole for hanging
a lantern, so the people's name for the riverfront
Lokeshvara translates as something like "the
god who stays near the royal flagpole".
The original shrine contained a statue of Lokeshvara
thought to be old as Wat Phnom (circa 1373) but
was destroyed by the Khmer Rouge after 1975. The
modern shrine was only rebuilt in 1991, according
to Mr Peov Srong, the current shrine's keeper and
ritual organizer.
"Many Khmers combine their lifestyle with worship
(akum psam a'yu) as a way to communicate with the
gods," Mr Srong explained.
"Here, people of many different nationalities,
including Europeans, Chinese, Vietnamese, Indians
and of course Khmers, come with preliminary offerings
to pray for various purposes ranging from good luck
for a trip or judicial case to a prosperous business.
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Left: A worshipper buys
incense from a vendor near the shrine. Right:
The shrine from the outside.
Inset: The Lord Lokeshvara, or Preah Ang
Dang-Keur.
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"Basic offerings
for this shrine are four _ a pair of sla thoar (ripe or
green coconuts decorated with rolled betel leaves and
areca nuts), a pair of candles, five incense sticks and
flowers _ either a garland of jasmine or three lotus flowers.
"About 100 people a day visit here, and as many as
a thousand or more may come on festive or special days
such as New Year or Pchum Ben _ the Festival of the Dead,"
he said.
"When their requests are granted, worshippers return
with dangvay (offerings)."
Recent dangvay have included a pair of meter-high wax
candles, donated by a military field officer the day before
the beginning of Buddhist Lent, and a performance of traditional
pinpeat music from a grateful Phnom Penh businessman.
Chinese dragon and lion dancing groups have also been
known to come to Lord Lokeshvara to ask for luck before
a performance.
Most of the Water Festival boat crews, even those who
come to Phnom Penh from the provinces, also pay their
respects at the shrine before they race.
Local Khmer-language daily Koh Santipheap featured an
article recently showing students flocking there before
exams to pray for good results. Many returned soon after
the exam results were posted with dangvay for the god.
Mr Chuch Phoeurn, a culture expert of the Ministry of
Culture and Fine Arts, explained the implications of the
offerings worshippers make.
"The sla thoar is of Indian influence and represents
the cycle of life, vegetation or the pot of growth; the
coconut stands for the earth and its water for nutrition,"
he said.
"The interaction between the gods in the sky and
the human beings on the earth can be symbolically linked
by the light of burning candles and the smoke of joss
sticks flying into the sky by means of the wind, which
is an element inside the god," he said.
"The lights of candles and joss sticks are also important.
They represent the eight elements inside the god _ the
water, the earth, fire, the wind, the moonlight, the sunlight,
the sound and the soul."
This is why worshippers light candles and joss sticks
before kneeling in prayer to the Lord Lokeshvara, who
is the Lord of the World looking down from above. His
name is often used in Asia for the compassionate Bodhisattva
Avalokiteshvara.
A Bodhisattva (Enlightened Being) is one who has accumulated
enough merit to attain Nirvana and leave the cycle of
rebirth and reincarnation, but renounces it to return
to earth and help ease the suffering of all humanity.
This is a popular theme in Khmer art, especially in the
carvings of the 12th and 13th centuries.
So a humble shrine on the riverfront houses a great god
of rich heritage in an ancient culture.
Take a moment to visit. |
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Suite
B8, Regency Square, InterContinental Hotel, 294 Mao Tse Toung
Boulevard,
Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia.
Tel: (855) 23 213 133 Fax: (855) 23 213 033
E-mail:
editor@leisurecambodia.com |
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