The Angkorian era

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 kings during the Angkorian era.

Jayavarman II died in Hariharálaya in 850 and was posthumously named Preah Paramesvara. The artistic output of the era is referred to as the Kulen style.

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The Tchen-la era (late 6th -8th centuries)

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 of mountains and valleys, and the ‘Water Tchen-la’, south of the Dangrek range, in a region of plains and lakes.

The 8th century is a time of upheavals in Cambodia. In 713, Jayadeví succeedes her father Jayavarman I to the throne and rules the country.

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The Pre-Angkorian era

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 Chinese. The ‘Asiam Mahá Rsí’ temple remains, as evidence of the greatness of this capital city.

The site of Oc-éo, now on South Vietnamese soil, in the west of the Camau peninsula, was once the great sea port of Fu-Nan.

The art of the Fu-Nan era is now known as the Phnom Da style.

Legend has it that a local princess, Princess Lieou-Ye, also known as Somá, married Brahman Kaundinya from India and thus founde4de the dynasty that would rule over the kingdom of Fu-Nan until the 6th century. Indeed, in 550, a new name emerges in the Chinese records, Tchen-la (now spelt Zhenla) which will be used to designate Cambodia.

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Origin of Phnom Penh National Museum

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 countries.

The sculptures of female deities selected for this exhibit include works of art that have long been displayed in the Museum and includes pieces from the storerooms, which had never previously been restored. We also selected some important bas-reliefs and heads of deities. A number of the works of art described hereafter remain on view in the galleries as the exhibition rooms are too small to accommodate them.

It is important to remember that all the pieces described and displayed represent only a fraction of the cultural heritage of ancient Cambodia, but by good fortune they escaped from destruction and illicit trafficking.

All the works on display capture the sensibility of our ancestors in their practice of Brahmanism and Buddhism, shaping these religions to their own thinking. As a consequence, they have created rich and unique forms of expression through their approaches to religion and indigenous art forms.

However, this paper does not purport to be a study on female deities in the temples or to explain the role of women in contemporary society. It is merely a study on the female sculptures known as ‘Preah Neang Devi’, through the interpretation of relevant writing materials, rather than an exhaustive presentation of this art form.

The research work carried out, which led to this publication of a small compendium, provides an overview of the different types of female deities found in the National Museum collections. It is our hope this catalogue may subsequently serve as a basis for more in-depth research work.

The ‘Preah Neang Deví’ are concrete evidence of the ideals of our Khmer ancestors, Who used religion as a policy and made ancient Cambodia a powerful economic and cultural empire, whose glorious Angkor civilization exerted its influence over much of Southeast Asia.

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