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Individual cult


It must be noted that after their death, the Khmer kings were given a posthumous name. Most of these names relate to the name of their supreme god.

The practice of individual cults erecting a deity in the image of a respected person probably dates from the reign of Rajendravarman (944-968), as indicated by the Eastern Mebon inscription studied by George Coedés and Louis Finot. Stanza 207 mentions that, ‘Thestatues of Siva and Deví bear aclose resemblance to his mother and father’, i.e a resemblance to Rajendravarman’s parents.
Photo 22a: Head of Lokesvara(?)       Photo 22b: Head of Lokesvara(?)
 This tradition most likely endured under the reigns of his successors. The museum’s collections show clear evidence of individual cults under the reign of Jayavarman VII. Works of art such as the Lokesvara heads and some statues of Lokesvara have similar facial expressions as that of one of the king’s heads. The same can be said of the statue of the kneeling Prájbápáramitá, which bears a strong likeness to Queen Jayavarájadeví (see below).

Photo 22c: Head of Lokesvara           Photo 22d: Head of Jyavarman VII
  
A man’s veneration for an individual is expressed through the respect shown to the individual, deceased or alive, in erecting a statue depicting this individual as a god or goddess. The representation of the individual therefore embodies both the divine – the god – and the human – the king – and becomes as object to be worshipped as well as a subject of adoration when the statue is a ‘portrait-statue’.

Individual worship is also the expression of the living’s abnegation and devotion to the deceased, who is then seen as a god or goddess. Thus Jayavarman VII erected a statue of his father in the likeness of Jayavaramesvara Lokesvara, and a statue of his mother with the appearance of Prájnápáramitá.

As for himself and his image, and perhaps on Queen Indradeví’s orders, he is represented with the appearance of Buddha and Jayabuddhamahátha – ‘Jaya’ meaning glory and ‘mahánátha’ meaning great savior-that were spread around the twenty-three provinces of the Khmer empire.

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