This seminar discussed an inscription that recently surfaced in Paris, arguing that it is changing the history of the ancient Khmer Empire at its apogee in the 12th century. Numbered K. 1297, it shows that Angkor reached its ultimate sway as one of the world’s great empires under Buddhist kings. – Click on to learn more about the seminar.
Dr David Kyle Latinis, Visiting Fellow, Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, chairing the session and introducing Dr Peter Sharrock as the speaker (Source: ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute)
Wednesday, 3 August 2016 – The Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre hosted a seminar by Dr Peter Sharrock, Senior Teaching Fellow, History of Art and Archaeology, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London
Dr Sharrock proposed that a new perspective is opened upon Angkorian history in the 12th century, in light of a recently surfaced Khmer stone inscription in Paris, which is being translated by scholars of the French School for the Far East (EFEO). The inscription, numbered K 1297, changes the status of the hitherto unadmired and presumed usurper king Tribhuvanādityavarman (r. 1149-77) into a regular, long-reigning Esoteric Buddhist ruler who succeeded his older brother, the Vishnu devotee and builder of Angkor Wat, King Sūryavarman II (r. 1113-49), according to a paper recently delivered to the EFEO by Professor Claude Jacques.
Dr Sharrock sharing his views on Wibke Lobo’s interpretation of the nāga throne as symbolising the awakening in meditation of kuṇḍalinī energy (Source: ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute)
Tribhuvanādityavarman’s Esoteric Buddhism gives rise to a new interpretation of a substantial series of nāga-enthroned bronze and stone Buddhas dressed in the bejewelled “Angkor Wat-style”. The Vaiṣṇava Sūryavarman built no Buddhist sanctuary so the series of Buddhas in the style of his great state temple has long puzzled iconographers. The inscription suggests they may now be more judiciously attributed to the patronage of Tribhuvanādityavarman, who constructed a number of Buddhist sanctuaries. This reading would also strengthen a still minority interpretation of the nāga-enthroned Khmer Buddha as Vairocana or the sun Buddha of the middle (yoga) Tantras of the Tibetan classification of such texts. Dr Sharrock supports Wibke Lobo’s interpretation of the nāga throne as symbolising the awakening in meditation of kuṇḍalinī energy, imagined as a serpent asleep at the base of the spine that is aroused to enhance the spiritual achievement of the yogi. The nāga should not be seen as the serpent Muchalinda that protected Śākyamuni against a storm in the weeks after his enlightenment, as it is in later icons of Theravada Buddhism in Cambodia and elsewhere. This is an inappropriate reading back of the later Doppelgänger onto the Esoteric Buddhist icon of Angkor.
The inscription will oblige scholars to reassess the balance between dominant Buddhism and Śaivism in Angkorian history and material culture during the empire’s last expansion phase. Dr Sharrock said Tribhuvanādityavarman’s reign suggests we need to give considerably more weight to Buddhism in the empire’s last three centuries – from the 10th century reign of Jayavarman V to that of Jayavarman VII and his successor Indravarman II – even though the Brahmanical traditions held fast in state rituals.
Participants at the seminar (Source: ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute)
Dr Sharrock also took the opportunity to introduce the Southeast Asian Art Academic Programme (SAAAP) in SOAS. The programme focuses on the study of ancient to pre-modern Buddhist and Hindu art and architecture in Southeast Asia. SAAAP supports graduate level scholarships and three endowed academic positions in SOAS. The aims of the SAAAP are furthered by collaborations with institutions in Southeast Asia through conferences, field schools, joint publications and academic exchanges in art history, archaeology, museology and cultural heritage to support the next generation of Southeast Asian scholars. SOAS’ recent collaboration with Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre, and Universitas Surabaya (Indonesia) to run the Summer Programme in Southeast Asian Art History & Conservation in Trawas, Java, from 23 July to 2 August 2016 is an example of the partnership in academic exchange and the training of young scholars in Buddhist and Hindu art.
About 30 participants attended the 90-minute seminar.