Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch, Vol. 3Eliot, Charles
Religion
Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch, Vol. 3
Eliot, Charles
Asia -- Religion; Buddhism; Hinduism
Ramayana or the Churning of the Sea soon becomes a tedious task, for
there is little individuality or inspiration in the figures.
This want of any obvious correspondence between the decoration and
cult of the Cambojan temples often makes it difficult to say to what
deities they were dedicated. The Bayon, or Śivâśrama, was
presumably a linga temple, yet the conjecture is not confirmed as one
would expect by any indubitable evidence in the decoration or
arrangements. In its general plan the building seems more Indian than
others and, like the temple of Jagannâtha at Puri, consists of three
successive chambers, each surmounted by a tower. The most remarkable
feature in the decoration is the repetition of the four-headed figure
at the top of every tower, a striking and effective motive, which is
also found above the gates of the town. Chou Ta-kuan says that there
were golden statues of Buddhas at the entrance to the Bayon. It is
impossible to say whether this statement is accurate or not. He may
have simply made a mistake, but it is equally possible that the fusion
of the two creeds may have ended in images of the Buddha being placed
outside the shrine of the linga.
Strange as it may seem, there is no clear evidence as to the character
of the worship performed in Camboja's greatest temple, Angkor Wat.
Since the prince who commenced it was known by the posthumous title of
Paramavishṇuloka, we may presume that he intended to dedicate it to
Vishṇu and some of the sculptures appear to represent Vishṇu
slaying a demon. But it was not finished until after his death and his
intentions may not have been respected by his successors. An
authoritative statement[324] warns us that it is not safe to say more
about the date of Angkor Wat than that its extreme limits are 1050 and
1170. Jayavarman VII (who came to the throne at about this latter
date) was a Buddhist, and may possibly have used the great temple for
his own worship. The sculptures are hardly Brahmanic in the
theological sense, and those which represent the pleasures of paradise
and the pains of hell recall Buddhist delineations of the same
theme[325]. The four images of the Buddha which are now found in the
central tower are modern and all who have seen them will, I think,
agree that the figure of the great teacher which seems so appropriate
in the neighbouring monasteries is strangely out of place in this
aerial shrine. But what the designer of the building intended to place
there remains a mystery. Perhaps an empty throne such as is seen in
the temples of Annam and Bali would have been the best symbol[326].
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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