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The Preah Neang Deví as a protector


Brahmanism and Buddhism have been neglected for too long and some Cambodians do not have the knowledge necessary to identify the sculptures that represent characters from these two religions. As a consequence, the statue of Siva carrying Umá is called Neak ta Por Kon, which means ‘Neak ta holding his child’; the statue of Siva riding the  Nahdin bull has become  Neak ta Chis Ko, which means ‘Neak ta riding an ox’.

The Blank Lady, one of the museum’s female sculptures (Ka. 1653) found in Neang Khmao temple Takeo province, is commonly called ‘Neang Khmao’.

The study of this statue, which is headless and has no arms, revealed that it is a Brahmanic deity, and most likely Visnu’s wife Laksmí, since a sculpture of Kalkin, one of Visnu’s incarnations, was found in the same place.

In Phnom Chisor temple, built under the reign of Suryavarman I, an adorned Buddha can be found, called Neang Khmao by local residents.

In Ba Phnom district, Prey Veng province, there is a Neak ta called ‘Mesar’. According to research studies, the word ‘Mesar’ is probably derived from ‘Mesvara’, one of Siva’s names when in the past, a king erected a linga on this mountain.

These examples show common mistakes made by local residents where the sculptures have been found.

Thus,
-          Siva is Neak ta; Siva being the god
-          Buddha is Neang Khmao, who is also Kálí, Siva’s wife.

For the latter, local residents mistook the adorned Buddha for a female deity and thought it was Sica’s wife.

If the statue of the Blank Lady (Ka. 1653) is a Brahmanic deity, as evidenced by the statue of Kalkin, and If the adorned Buddha is compared to the Blank Lady, we may conclude that present-day Khmers respect all the characters in the Brahmanic and Buddhist religions and  designate them under a single unique name, ‘Neak ta’.

The word ‘Neak ta’ is also linked to the word Machas Srok, which means ‘Lord of the Village’ and refers to the guardian of the village in the invisible world.

Under the reign of Jayavarman VII, the states of Brahmanic and Buddhist deities also represent the kings and the queens, who are both the country’s heroes and protectors.

The word Neak ta designates the elements that represent the ancestors’ souls or the ancestors themselves. The ancestors were previously the country’s protectors; they are therefore considered to be powerful and ambivalent beings.

As for the Preah Neang Deví, they may be compared to the Neak ta. In that case, they are representations of the ancestors’ wives. But the ancestors being Neak ta, they symbolize the Neak ta’s wives or the country’s protectors.

Such an interpretation reminds of the existing syncretism between Brahmanism and Buddhism in modern Khmer society, but there are no works of art in the museum’s collections to support and illustrate this.

Evidence of this syncretism can be found in a Brahmanic temple such as Phnom Chisor where Buddhist ceremonies are held, as well as in religious ceremonies when the Khmers, as have become a tradition that present-day Khmers, as they have always done, invoke the Brahmanic gods.

It is likely that Brahmanic beliefs dare back to ancient times and that they have become a tradition that present-day Khmers still honor.
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