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By
: Bronwyn Sloan, Picture by : Nathan Dexter.
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A Woman goes about her work,
cycling past ancient temples. Right: Forest has
reclaimed many of the temples.
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About 35 kilometers from the
provincial capital of Kampong Thom, along the potholed
road to Preah Vihear province, a cement sign points off
to the right.
Through sleepy villages and thick scrub it winds, until
suddenly, without any warning, the forest erupts, and
a huge monument rears up to the left.
To the left and the right now, peeping out from behind
trees, temples appear, sometimes as glimpses, something
monoliths, proclaiming the power of a long gone ancient
civilization.
These are the temples of Sambo Prey Kuk. Even the name
is mysterious.
Literally translated, it means abundant forest prison
cell, although the people who built them were obviously
masters of this domain.
So far, 179 separate prasats, or temples, have been discovered.
The temples are arranged in three groups the central,
north and south groups. |
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The southern group
date from the sixth and seventh centuries, centuries before
Angkor Wat, and are dedicated to Shiva.
The central group is also dedicated to Shiva and of the
eighth century and has links to Jayavarman II, who at
one time resided in this area and went on to found the
Angkor dynasty.
The northern group is interesting for its distinctive
octagonal shapes, symbolizing the resurrection of the
Cambodian empire, according to Under Secretary of State
for the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, Mr Chuch Phoeurn.
"This is a specific feature of this site a symbol
of linkage from an ancient period," he said. "The
octagon means resurrection and in the Shiva god belief,
it also symbolizes a linking road from the human world
to paradise."
This city of temples has left very little of itself to
tell modern archeologists its story except for silent
stones and bricks, but it appears to have served as the
capital of the Chenla empire a collection of small kingdoms
located along the upper Mekong and Tonle Sap which may
have been linked together by the rise of wet rise agriculture
and an important ruler of Sambo Prey Kuk, the powerful
monarch called Ishanarvarman.
"The kings of Angkor declared themselves descendents
of Chenla in an inscription on a lintel in the Bakong
temple of the Angkor group," Mr Phoeurn said. |
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Bakong was
the first of Cambodia's great ancient temples to
be made of stone, preceding the magnificence of
Angkor and providing a link between the brick structures
of Sambo Prey Kuk and the later stone monoliths.
In the forest of Sambo Prey Kuk today, winding paths
emerge from the trees to bring travelers face-to-face
with huge prasats at every turn.
Prasat Tao, or the Lion Temple, has been cleared
and sits regally, two stone lions guarding its entrance.
The lintel has long been looted, and there are cracks
in the brick structure which run from the roof to
the ground, but it maintains its air of power and
importance.
Nearby, Prasat Neak Poan (Temple of Grandmother
Poan) shimmers in the hot sun, the seven structures
that make up its whole set in a grid pattern over
an area of hundreds of meters.
Carvings in its octagonal outlying structures show
Apsaras, or celestial dancers, in various poses.
"This is without a doubt the most important
archeological site in Cambodia after Angkor,"
archeologist William South worth of the Center for
Khmer Studies in Siem Reap said. |
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Gathering firewood by bicycle
among some of the most ancient temples in Cambodia,
Sambo Prey Kuk.
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"This is
without a doubt the most important archeological site
in Cambodia after Angkor," archeologist William South worth
of the Center for Khmer Studies in Siem Reap said.
"This is because it is probably the most complete,
and King Ishanarvarman was a most important, powerful
king.
"Most of what we know about Chenla is derived from
Chinese sources (of the time) and exactly what this kingdom
was is never very clear. We do know this was a very influential
city and it was at the center of a historical shift within
Cambodia."
Until this time, the major political centers appear to
have been in the south, with the Funan dynasty, which
has left us the ruins of Angkor Borei in Takeo province.
But under the reign of kings such as Ishanarvarman, the
north began to emerge as a religious and political center.
This would eventually give rise to the power that made
the Angkorian empire the richest and most dominant in
South East Asia for centuries to come.
From this base that now stands peopled only by ruined
temples and the forest, Ishanarvarman forged diplomatic
relations with various smaller fiefdoms and other countries
and dynasties across Indochina, including the Champa and
the rulers of Central Thailand.
These links would serve Cambodia well through the centuries. |
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Sambo Prey kuk Temple
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But despite
its historical importance, few people visit the
city today, and there is little study being conducted
into Sambo Prey Kuk at the moment.
There is no money for that sort of work in a country
as poor as Cambodia.
"A Japanese-based organization (JSA) is currently
setting up a WebPages on it and we are hoping for
funding in the near future, but although the ministry
has a study and conservation plan in writing, we
need funding to carry it out," Mr Phoeurn explained. Nor
are the tourists rolling in. They race from Siem
Reap and Angkor through to Phnom Penh, rarely stopping
or even realizing that these amazing monuments exist,
hidden in their own forest prison. "Maybe we
get 20 or 30 foreign visitors a month here,"
one of the guards at the gate of Sambo Prey Kuk
said.
"Maybe. We get more Khmer people coming here,
but even then, not so many."
The sheer beauty and level of preservation of Angkor
and the others in the Angkor complex such as the
Bayon Temple make it worth competing with busloads
of fellow tourists to see it. |
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wrapped in a blanket of forest with only the singing of
birds to disturb the heavy air, Sambo Prey Kuk maintains
an air of mystery and dignity, precursor to one of the
world's great empires, alone, forgotten and serene. |
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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:
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