Phnom Penh National Museum

An inscription found at the Preah Khan temple at Kampong Svay mentions, ‘He took the kingdom for himself amidst a crowd of other kings’. He had the civil servants’ oath and his achievements engraved on the doors of the Royal Palace entrance avilion. The same inscription also mentions the completion of the Phimean Akas temple amd the Royal Palace entrance door, as well as the costruction (left unfinished) of Takeo temple. The king also commissiioned a great number of hildings in the provinces. He can be credited with the construction of Phnom Chisor temple in Takeo province, parts of Preah Vihear temple, Preah Khan at Kampong Svay, as well as Vat Baset, Phnom Thom, Snoeung and Ek Phnom temples. Súryavarman I and his family contined to practice Devarája cult. This king might have been open to Buddhism. He was named Preah Nirvánapada after his death. Phnom Chisor temple, view from the southeast

The son of Yasovarman IV, Prince Harshavarman II came to the throne after his father’s death. King Rájendravarman succeeded him. The latter’s father had resided in Bhavapura and his mother was called Mahendradeví. The new king transferred the caputal, and the power, back from Koh Kor to Yasodharapura, present-day Phnom Backheng. He continued to worship the Devarája cult. Rájendravarman completed the construction of monuments begun under the reigns of his predecessors, such as the Phimean Akas temple. In 952, in the middle of the Yasodharatatáka reservoir, he built the Eastern Mebon, a temple dedicated to his ancestors depicted as maor Brahmanism deitied, and Pre Rup temple south of this Baray. He was named Preah Sicaloka after his death. Jayavarman V (968-1001) Son of King Rájendravarman, Jayavarman V came to the throne at a young age. His spiritual master was Yajnavaraha, the man who had been his father’s adviser and who had begun the construction of Banteay Srei temple. The kin...

After the death of Yasovarman, his two sons Harshavarman I and Isanavarman II succeeded on another to the throne. In 921, Jayavarman IV, the kings’ uncle on their mother’s side and Yasovarman I’s brother-in-law through his wife Javardevi, came to the throne. He moved the capital city from Yasodharapura to Chok Gargyar, which was called Koh Ker by the Khmer people, in Preah Vihear province, approximately 85km to the mortheast of the city of Angkor. He built numerous temples in the new capital (photo 8), which were dedicated to the Brahmanic gods. He pursued the tradition for social development initiated by his predecessors by commissioning the digging of the Rahal artificial reservoir, to be used for both farming and religious purposes. Several temples were built in the provinces under his reign, such as the Prasat Neang Khmao (photo 9). He was named Preah Parama Sivapada after his death. Archaeologists designate works of art from this era by the name of Koh Ker style. Koh K...

Son of Indravarman and Indradeví, who himself came from the royal families of Vyádhapura, Sambhupura in Kratie province and Aninditapura in sputern water Tchen-la. In 893, he erected Lolei temple in the middle of the Indratatáka Baray. The brick temple comprised four sanctuaries designed to house statues of Siva and his wife, which represent his parents and grandparents. He commissioned the construction of several hermitages throughout the province. The inscription on the Sdok Kak Thom stele names him as the founder of the city of Yasodharapura. He built his temple at the top of Phnom Bakheng to house the Yasldharesvara Siva linga. In addition, he crowned Phnom Bok and Phnom Krom with temples dedicated to the major Trimúrti gods, Brahma, Visnu and Siva, and completed the eastern reservoir, which is called Yasldharatatáka and spreads over an area of 7km in length by 1.8km in width. The reservoir is now dry. Lastly, he began the construction of temples dedicated to the supreme god,...

Indravarman I, Indradeví’s husband, succeeded Jayavarman III to the throne of Hariharálaya. His master was Siva Soma. The king’s main achievement, the Indratatáka reservoir, played an important social and religious role. Today, the reservoir is dried up. In 879, the king commissioned the construction of the 6-brick sanctuaries Preah Kö temple, dedicated to his parents, his maternal grandparents and to Jayavarman II and his wife, both deified in the likeness of Siva and his wife. In 881, Indravarman commissioned the construction of the Bakong temple where he laid the Indresvara linga. The king also dedicated a sanctuary to Siva inside Phnom Bayang temple, in Takeo province. He was named Preah Isvaraloka after his death.

The Angkorian era is a time of prosperity for Cambodia, which will last several centuries (9th -15th centuries). The kings have full religious, political, economic, cultural and artistic powers. Several monarchs will greatly influence this era by their personality traits. Jayavarman II (c.770-c.850) King Jayavarman II initiated the pacification and the unification of the two kingdoms of Tchen-la, and freed them from the rule of Java. Founder of the Angkorian monarchy, upon his return from Java, King Jayavarman II settled in Indrapura, most probably present-day Banteay Prei Nokor, in Tbaung Khmum district, Kampong Cham province. Later, he established himself in Hariharálaya (Roluos) in Sotrnikum district, Siem Reap province, before settling in Mahendraparvata (Mahá + Indra + Parvata), the Kulen Mountain, where he instituted Devarája cult. The king built numerous temples on Phom Kulen to house stone and precious metal Siva linga. This tradition continued throughout the reigns of several ...

The inscriptions, archaeological evidence and Chinese records help better define and understand this era, as compared with the Nokor. Many capital cities were founded during this era. We will therefore mention only the main ones: Sresthapura, in Ba Dom, east of present-day Stung Treng, under the reign of Sresthavarman (545-565); Bhavarman, in Ampil Rolum, on the northwest of Kampong Thom, under the reign of Bhavarman I (565-705); Sambhypura, in Sambor, on the banks of the Mekong River in Kratie province, under the reign of King Mahendravarman (late 6th century-610); and lastly, Isanapura (present-day Sambor Prei kuk), in Kampong Thom province, under the reign of Isanavarman I (c.610-c.635), where many brick temples remain to this day. Works of art from this era are referred to as from the Sambor Prei Kuk style. Bhavavarman II succeeded his father King Isanavarman I. In the 8th century, Tchen-la splits into two kingdoms, the ‘Inland Tchen-la’, north of the Dangrek Mountains in a region ...

The Fu-Nan era The kingdom of Fu-Nan, also named Nokor Phnom, was located southwest of the Kingdom of Champa and stretched all the way to the Malay Peninsula. George Coedes wrote, In the 2nd Century, Fu-Nan’s conquests extended all the way to the Malay Peninsula to form a sort of empire ruled by a sovereign considered to be a universal monarch and referred to by the dynastic title of ‘king of the mountain’. This region was influenced by Indian civilization, probably as early as the beginning of the Christian era. This influence expressed itself through Brahmanism and Buddhism. Numerous works of art from the Fu-Nan era attest to the presence of these two major religious trends. One of the capital cities of Nokor Phnom was probably located in the Ba Phnom region, present-day Prey Veng province. It is identified with ‘Vyádhapura’, the City of the Hunters, which the Chinese named ‘To-mou’. The capital was later transferred to Angkor Borei, Takeo province, and renamed ‘Na-fu-na’ by the Chin...

The Phnom Penh National Museum was begun 1917, under the reign of King Preah Karuna Preah Bat Samdech Preah Sisowath. Most of the collections displayed in the Museum come from temples and archaeological sites throughout Cambodia. Before the war, in the early 1917s, a number of works of art housed in the provincial museums and at the Conservation d’Angkor were moved to the National Museum storerooms for security reasons. On 10 October 2002, under the discerning leadership of Samdech Preash Ream, daughter of His Majesty King Morodom Sihanouk and then Minister of Culture and Fine Arts, the National Museum was entrusted with the management of 178 works of art from the Conservation d’Angkor, which had been sheltered as early as 1993 under the Throne Room of the Royal Palace. In addition to these works of art, the Museum is in charge of managing the donations received from both Khmers and foreigners, from the provincial authorities, the Ministry of Interior, ICOM and various friendly countri...