Douglas Schwartz
Angkor Wat:
The Civilization of the
Khmer
April 8, 1999
Douglas Schwartz, School for Advanced Research president, spoke on "Angkor Wat: The
Civilization of the Khmer" at the James A.
Little Auditorium in Santa Fe. This presentation was the fifth and final talk in SAR's
1998-99 Membership Lecture Series themed "Exploring Remarkable Civilizations."
Known as one of the great architectural sites-and the largest
temple-in the world, Angkor Wat is located in the center of Cambodia and dates back to the
time of the European middle ages. "The temple contains as much stone as the Cheops
pyramid," said Dr. Schwartz, "and is perfectly proportioned. It has a unique
beauty in the tradition of the Hindu temples."
Dr. Schwartz's remarks were accompanied by a slide show of his
personal photographs of Angkor Wat, "the city that is a temple." Alternating
images of the astonishing architecture of the ancient temples with portraits of
contemporary Cambodian peoples, Dr. Schwartz presented an amazing window into this dynamic
culture. Particularly striking were his photographs of the intricate carvings that adorn
the temple walls with "scenes of war battles, heaven, hell, and celestial dancers
filled with inexhaustible desire, over 1700 nymphs, each individualized." Other
powerful images included the many depictions of the "Buddha Raja," the
"god-king" whose sixty-foot-tall sculptural portraits guard each temple gate in
all four directions; and the elaborate moat sculptures, with 108 deity figures connected
by their common grasping of an enormous snake.
The scope of the presentation included an investigation into the
complex origins of the "temple mountain," which "did not emerge out of
whole cloth," explained Dr. Schwartz, "but combines the culture of the
indigenous peoples of Cambodia-the rice farmers known as the Khmer, the beginnings of the
Christian era, and the acceptance of the Hindu religion during the Indian expansion into
Cambodia."
An additional factor during this period was the development of
effective rice agriculture, allowing the production of surplus food which led to the
creation of small principalities and kingdoms. A local warlord, Jayavarman II adopted the
belief in a "god king" from the culture of Java, and began to unify the
individual kingdoms under one rule. As the empire became stronger, eventually a succeeding
"god king built" the great temple mountain of Angkor Wat.
"There are really three stories here," Dr. Schwartz
observed. "First, how did the farmers lay the underpinnings of a great civilization?
Second, how did political unification occur? And third, what is the nature of Angkor Wat
and how did it emerge from the architectural history of India?"
The lecture was sponsored by the Inn on the Alameda, Karen Walker Real Estate, Daniels
Insurance, and Coyote Caf.
Return to list of lectures.
