The Historical Background of Angkor Wat

The Khmer kings of Kampuchea (Cambodia) trace their ancestry to the legendary Indian Kaund. In. ya and to Soma, a Khmer princess, and this lineage came to be called somavam. sa. In the 7th century, another legendary couple, Kambu and Mera, established a different lineage, the suryavansa. At first there were several warring kings. The unication of the state is seen with King Jayavarman II, who in 802, in a ceremony on Mount Kulen, about 30 km northeast of Angkor, declared himself a \universal ruler" (cakravartin). The kings of the Khmer empire ruled over a domain that, at its broadest, reached from what is now southern Vietnam to Yunan, China and from Vietnam westward to the Bay of Bengal. The structures one sees at Angkor today, more than 100 temples in all, are the surviving religious remains of a grand social and administrative metropolis whose other buildings - palaces, public buildings, and houses were all built of wood and are long since decayed and gone. As in most parts of India where wood was plentiful, only the gods had the right to live in houses of stone or brick; the sovereigns and the common folk lived in pavilions and houses of wood.

Over the half-millennia of Khmer rule, the city of Angkor became a great pilgrimage destination because of the notion of Devaraja, that has been ex- plained by Lokesh Chandra as a coronation icon. Jayavarman II (802-850) was the first to use this royal icon. According to Lokesh Chandra, Devaraja means `King of the Gods' and not `God-King'. He is Indra and refers to the highly ecacious an indra mahabhiseka of the Rig Vedic rajasuya tradition as elaborated in the Aitareya-Brahman. It was not a simple but a great coronation, a mahabhiseka. It was of extraordinary significance that Jayavarman II performed a Rig Vedic rite, which lent him charismatic authority.

The increasingly larger temples built by the Khmer kings continued to function as the locus of the devotion to the Devaraja, and were at the same time earthly and symbolic representations of mythical Mount Meru, the cosmological home of the Hindu gods and the axis of the world-system. The symbol of the king's divine authority was the sign (linga) of Siva within the temple's inner sanctuary, which represented both the axes of the physical and the psychological worlds. The worship of Siva and Vishnu separately, and together as Harihara, had been popular for considerable time in southeast

 Asia Jayavarman's chief innovation was to use ancient Vedic mahabhiseka to done the symbol of government. To quote Lokesh Chandra further, the icon used by Jayavarman II for his Indra mahabhiseka, his Devaraja Indra (icon), became the symbol of the Cambodian state, as the sacred and secular sovereignty denoted by Prajapatisvara/Brahma, as the continuity of the vital owe of the universal (jagat) into the stability of the terrestrial kingdom (raja = rajya). As the founder of the new Kambuja state, he contributed a national palladium under its Cambodian appellation kamraten jagat  raja/rajya. Whenever the capital was transferred by his successors, it was taken to the new nagar, for it had to be constantly in the capital."

 Angkor Wat is the supreme masterpiece of Khmer art. The descriptions of the temple fall far short of communicating the great size, the perfect pro-portions, and the astoundingly beautiful sculpture that everywhere presents itself to the viewer. Its architecture is majestic and its representation of form and movement from Indian mythology has astonishing grace and power. The inner galleries of the temple have depiction of the battle of Kurukshetra, procession of King Suryavarman and his ministers, scenes from heavens and hells, churning of the sea of milk, the battle of Vishnu and the asuras, victory of Krishna over Bana, battle of the Devas and Asuras, Ravana shaking Kailasha with Siva and Parvati atop, and the battle of Lanka between Rama and Ravana. These and other scenes are drawn with great artistic beauty. No wonder, the temple ranks amongst the greatest creations of human imagination. As an aside, it should be mentioned that some European scholars tended to date Angkor Wat as being after the 14th century. The principal reason was that some decorative motifs at Angkor Wat show a striking resemblance to certain motifs of the Italian Renaissance. This argument, which is similar to the one used in dating Indian mathematical texts vis-à-vis Greek texts, has been proven to be wrong. In the words of Clyde’s, if there is some connection between the twelth-century art of the Khmers, the direct heirs to the previous centuries, and the art of the Renaissance, it must have been due to a reverse process, that is to the importation of oriental objects into Europe." Mannikka proposes that the royal priest Divakarapandita was the chief architect of the temple. He is the priest most praised in inscriptions; an image of him is to be found at Wat Phu. Divakara is estimated to have lived around 1050-1135. 

Astronomy of Altars and Temples :-

To understand the astronomical aspects of Angkor Wat it is necessary to begin with the Indian traditions of altar and temple design on which it is based. And since the Angkor Wat ritual hearkened to the Vedic past, it stands to reason that its astronomy was also connected to the Vedic astronomical tradition.

 Vedic altars :-

In a series of publications I have shown that the Vedic altars had an astronomical basis related to the reconciliation of the lunar and solar years. There altars symbolized the universe and there were three types of altars representing the earth, the space and the sky. The altar for the earth was drawn as circular where as the sky (or heaven) altar was drawn as square. The geometric problems of circulator of a square and that of squaring a circle are a result of equating the earth and the sky altars. Their altars were surrounded by 360 enclosing stones, of these 21 were around the earth altar, 78 around the space altar and 261 around the sky altar. In other words, the earth, the space, and the sky are symbolically assigned the numbers 21, 78, and 261. Considering the earth/cosmos dichotomy, the two numbers are 21 and 339 since cosmos includes the space and the sky. The main altar was built in five layers. The basic square shape was modified to several forms, such as falcon and turtle. These altars were built in five layers, of a thousand bricks of specified shapes. The construction of these altars required the solution to several geometric and algebraic problems. Two different kinds of bricks were used the special and the ordinary. The total number of the special bricks used was 396, explained as 360 days of the year and the additional 36 days of the intercalary month. Two kinds of day count the solar day, and tithes, whose mean value is the lunar year divided into 360 parts. Considering the altar by layers, the first has 98, the second has 41, the third has 71, the fourth has 47 and the fifth has 138. The sum of the bricks in the fourth and the fifth layers equals 186 tithes of the Half-year. The number of bricks in the third and the fourth layers equals the integer nearest to one third the number of days in the lunar year, and the number of bricks in the third layer equals the integer nearest to one fifth of the number of days in the lunar year, and so on. The number of ordinary bricks equals 10,800 which equals the number of muhurtas in a year (1 day = 30 muhurtas), or equivalently the number of days in 30 years of these 21 go into the garhapatya, 78 into the eight dhis . n . ya hearths, and the rest go into the  ahavanya altar. The main altar was an area of 7 units. This area was taken to be equivalent to the nominal year of 360 days. Now, each subsequent year, the shape was to be reproduced with the area increased by one unit. Three different years were considered: (1) nakshatra, or a year of 324 days (sometimes 324 tithes) obtained by considering 12 months of 27 days each, where this 27 is the ideal number of days in a lunar month; (2) lunar, which is a fraction more than 354 days (360 tithes); and (3) solar, which is in excess of 365 days (between 371 and 372 tithes). A well-known altar ritual says that altars should be constructed in a sequence of 95, with progressively increasing areas. The increase in the area, by one unit yearly, in building progressively larger _re altars is 48 tithes which is about equal to the intercalation required to make the nakshatra year in tithes equal to the solar year in tithes. But there is residual excess, which in 95 years adds up to 89 tithes; it appears that after this period such a correction was made. The 95-year cycle corresponds to the tropical year being equal to 365.24675 days. The cycles needed to harmonize various motions led to the concept of increasing periods and world ages. The number of syllables in the Rig-Veda confirms the textual references that the book was to represent a symbolic altar. According to various early texts, the number of syllables in the Rig-Veda is 432,000, which is the number of muhurtas in forty years. In reality the syllable count is somewhat less because certain syllables are supposed to be left unspoken. The verse count of the Rig-Veda can be viewed as the number of sky days in forty years or 261 _ 40 = 10; 440, and the verse count of all the Vedas is 261 _ 78 = 20; 358.

 The Brahmanas and the Sulbasutras tell us about the altar of chandas and meters, so we would expect that the total Rig Vedic hymn count of 1017 and the group count of 216 have particular significance. Owing to the pervasive tripartite ideology of the Vedic books we choose to view the hymn number as 339 _ 3. The tripartite ideology refers to the consideration of time in three divisions of past, present, and future and the consideration of space in the three divisions of the northern celestial hemisphere, the plane that is at right angle to the earth's axis, and the southern celestial hemisphere. The number 6 the number of days in the lunar year, and so on. The number of ordinary bricks equals 10,800, which equal the number of muhurtas in a year (1 day = 30 muhurtas), or equivalently the number of days in 30 years. Of these 21 go into the garhapatya, 78 into the eight-dhisnya hearths, and the rest go into the ahavanya altar.

The main altar was an area of 7 units. This area was taken to be equivalent to the nominal year of 360 days. Now, each subsequent year, the shape was to be reproduced with the area increased by one unit. Three different years were considered: (1) nakshatra, or a year of 324 days (sometimes 324 tithes) obtained by considering 12 months of 27 days each, where this 27 is the ideal number of days in a lunar month; (2) lunar, which is a fraction more than 354 days (360 tithes); and (3) solar, which is in excess of 365 days (between 371 and 372 tithes). A well-known altar ritual says that altars should be constructed in a sequence of 95, with progressively increasing areas. The increase in the area, by one unit yearly, in building progressively larger _re altars is 48 tithes which is about equal to the intercalation required to make the nakshatra year in tithes equal to the solar year in tithes. But there is residual excess, which in 95 years adds up to 89 tithes it appears that after this period such a correction was made. The 95-year cycle corresponds to the tropical year being equal to 365.24675 days. The cycles needed to harmonize various motions led to the concept of increasing periods and world ages. The number of syllables in the Rig-Veda confirms the textual references that the book was to represent a symbolic altar. According to various early texts, the number of syllables in the Rig-Veda is 432,000, which is the number of muhurtas in forty years. In reality the syllable count is somewhat less because certain syllables are supposed to be left unspoken. The verse count of the Rig-Veda can be viewed as the number of sky days in forty years or 261 _ 40 = 10; 440, and the verse count of all the Vedas is 261 _ 78 = 20; 358. The Brahmanas and the Sulbasutras tell us about the altar of chandas and meters, so we would expect that the total Rig Vedic hymn count of 1017 and the group count of 216 have particular significance. Owing to the pervasive tripartite ideology of the Vedic books we choose to view the hymn number as 339 _ 3. The tripartite ideology refers to the consideration of time in three divisions of past, present, and future and the consideration of space in the three divisions of the northern celestial hemisphere, the plane that is at right angle to the earth's axis, and the southern celestial hemisphere. The number 6339 is simply the number of disks of the sun or the moon to measure the path across the sky: ¡ _ 108 ¡ 339: The number 216 represents the distance to the sky, which was twice the distance of 108 to the sun. The Rig Vedic code then expresses a fundamental connection between the numbers 339 and 108. The number 108 is actually the average distance that the sun is in terms of its own diameter from the earth; likewise, it is also the average distance that the moon is in terms of its own diameter from the earth. It is owing to this marvelous coincidence that the angular size of the sun and the moon, viewed from the earth, is about identical. It is easy to compute this number. The angular measurement of the sun can be obtained quite easily during an eclipse. The angular measurement of the moon can be made on any clear full moon night. An easy check on this measurement would be to make a person hold a pole at a distance that is exactly 108 times its length and confirm that the angular measurement is the same. Nevertheless, the computation of this number would require careful observations. Note that 108 are an average and due to the elasticity of the orbits of the earth and the moon the distances vary with the seasons. It is likely, therefore, that observations did not lead to the precise number 108, but it was chosen as the true value of the distance since it is equal to 27 _ 4, because of the mapping of the sky into 27 nakshatras.

 Temples :-

The temple is considered in the image of the Cosmic Purusha, on whose body is displayed all creation in its materiality and movement. Paradoxically, the space of the Purusha is (Rig-Veda 10.90), in the sanctuary only tenangers wide, although he pervades the earth. The temple construction begins with the Vastupurusha mandala, which is a yantra, mostly divided into 64 (8 _ 8) or 81 (9 _ 9) squares, which are the seats of 45 divinities. Brahma is at the centre, around him 12 squares represent the Adityas, and in the outer circle are 28 squares that represent the nakshatras (Figure 4). The Vastumandala with its border is the place where the motions of the sun and the moon and the planets are reconciled. It is the Vastu in which the decrepit, old Cyavana of the Rig-Veda 1.116.10 asks his sons to put him down so that he would become young again. Cyavana is the moon and Sukanya, whom he desires, is the sun. 10 In the basic Vedic scheme the circle represents the earth and the square represents the heavens or the deity. But the altar or the temple, as a represent 7 tation of the dynamism of the universe, requires a breaking of the symmetry of the square. As seen clearly in the agnicayana and other altar constructions, this is done in a variety of ways. Although the main altar might be square or its derivative, the overall sacred area is taken to be a departure from this shape. In particular, the temples to the goddess are drawn on a rectangular plan. In Siva or Vishnu temples, which are square, change is represented by a play of diagonal lines. These diagonals are essentially kinetic and are therefore representative of movement and stress. They embody the time-factor in a composition. 11 In the Silpa Parkas 1.90-106, a 9th-12th century Orissan temple architecture text, Ramacandra Kaul_ ac_ ara describes 12 the Yogi n Yantra for the layout of the goddess temple. Alice Boner writes, 13 \[the Dev temples] represent the creative expanding forces, and therefore could not be logically be represented by a square, which is an eminently static form. While the immanent supreme principle is represented by the number ONE, the first stir of creation initiates duality, which is the number TWO, and is the producer of THREE and FOUR and all subsequent numbers up to the innate." The dynamism is expressed by a doubling of the square to a rectangle or the ratio 1:2, where the garbhagrha is now built in the geometrical centre. For a three dimensional structure, the basic symmetry-breaking ratio is 1:2:4, which can be continued further to another doubling. The constructions of the Harappan period (2600-1900 BC) appear to be according to the same principles. The dynamic ratio of 1:2:4 is the most commonly encountered size of rooms of houses, in the overall plan of houses and the construction of large public buildings. This ratio is also re ected in the overall plan of the large walled sector at Mohenjodaro called the citadel mound. It is even the most commonly encountered brick size. 15 There is evidence of temple structures in the Harappan period in addition to iconography that recalls the goddess. Structures dating to 2000 BC, built in the design of yantras, have been unearthed in northern Afghanistan. 16 There is ample evidence for continuity in the religious and artistic tradition of India from the Harappan times, if not earlier. These ideas and the astronomical basis continued in the architecture of the temples of the classical age. Kramrisch has argued that the number 25,920, the number of years in the processional period of the earth, is also re ected in the plan of the temple. As a representation of the macrocosm, change in the temple is described 8 In terms of the motions of the heavenly bodies. According to Alice Boner the temple must in its space-directions, be established in relation to the motion of the heavenly bodies. But in as much as it incorporates in a single synthesis the unequal courses of the sun, the moon and the planets, it also symbolizes all recurrent time sequences: the day, the month, the year and the wider cycles marked by the recurrence of a complete cycle of eclipses, when the sun and the moon are readjusted in their original positions, a new cycle of creation begins.

 The Hindu temple, as a conception of the astronomical frame of the universe, serves the same purpose as the Vedic altar, which reconciled the motions of the sun and the moon. The progressive complexity of the classical temple was inevitable given an attempt to bring in the cycles of the planets and other ideas of the yugas into the scheme.

 Numbers at Angkor Wat :-

The temple has 1300-m north-south axis and 1500-m west-east axis. The temple faces toward the west because that situates it to the east with respect to the worshiper, the appropriate direction for Vishnu who is a solar deity. At the heart of the temple are three rising, concentric galleries. Bordering these is further space, and a rectangular moat. About 40 m in from the moat is a laterite wall, 4.5 m high, with large single entrances from the east, north, and south, and have entrances on the west. Mannikka has suggested that the Vastupurusha mandala at Angkor Wat forms a grid of 49, rather than the standard of 64 or 81. Various numbers from the Vedic astronomy are encountered at Angkor Wat as simple counts, or measurements in cubits, or phyeam = 4 cubits. Some of these represent just the basic constants of the system, while others provide specific information related to the orientation of the temple related to the nakshatras and the positions of the planets. For an example of the latter, consider that the length of the north-south axis, door to door, in the sanctuary is 13.41 cubits, which according to Mannikka represents the fact that the north celestial pole is 13.43 degrees above the northern horizon at 9 Angkor. This number is also basic to the second gallery, devoted to Brahma who is \situated" at the north celestial pole. The order in which the planets rose over the eastern horizon at the end of July 1131 is represented in the bas-relief of the northwest corner pavilion: Saturn (Agni), Jupiter (Indra), Venus (Kubera), Mars (Skanda), and Mercury (Varuna). According to Mannikka, the design of the temple can be seen in three architectural units: 1. Central sanctuary: Mount Meru, with 45 gods, the north celestial pole, the centre of the mandala, the spring equinox, the axis of the earth, Vishnu, Brahma, and King Suryavarman 2. Circumferences: the ecliptic, the moon and lunar periodicity, the con- stellations, the planets, the celestial year, the kreta Yuga, the grid of the mandala, the history of King Suryavarman 3. Axes: the building blocks of time (60, 108), the yuga cycles, the so lunar year, the lunar year, historical dates in Suryavarman's reign, the mandala and its transformation of time, and, finally, the solar year and lunar time cycles from the vantage point of Mount Meru Some basic numbers that we encounter frequently in the architectural plan are give below. For more examples see the book by Mannikka which, however, does not recognize the special place of the altar numbers 78 and 261. Neither does it know the correct significance of the number 108. 21 The earth number shows up as the number of steps to the libraries. 27/28 This count of nakshatras is represented at numerous places; the total inner axes of the sanctuary. 32/33 This represents the number of devas and it is found as the number of pillars, windows and various lengths. 44/45 The number of divinities of the Vastupurusha mandala is shown in the total number of steps, main entrance and anking Central Western entrances. As 450 cubits, various axial entrances and circumference of gallery. 10 Angkor. This number is also basic to the second gallery, devoted to Brahmha who is \situated" at the north celestial pole. The order in which the planets rose over the eastern horizon at the end of July 1131 is represented in the bas-relief of the northwest corner pavilion: Saturn (Agni), Jupiter (Indra), Venus (Kubera), Mars (Skanda), and Mercury (Varuna). According to Mannikka, the design of the temple can be seen in three architectural units: 1. Central sanctuary: Mount Meru, with 45 gods, the north celestial pole, the centre of the mandala, the spring equinox, the axis of the earth, Vishnu, Brahma, and King Suryavarman 2. Circumferences: the ecliptic, the moon and lunar periodicity, the constellations, the planets, the celestial year, the kreta Yuga, the grid of the mandala, the history of King Suryavarman 3. Axes: the building blocks of time (60, 108), the yuga cycles, the so lunar year, the lunar year, historical dates in Suryavarman's reign, the mandala and its transformation of time, and, finally, the solar year and lunar time cycles from the vantage point of Mount Meru Some basic numbers that we encounter frequently in the architectural plan are give below. For more examples see the book by Mannikka which, however, does not recognize the special place of the altar numbers 78 and 261. Neither does it know the correct significance of the number 108. 21 The earth number shows up as the number of steps to the libraries. 27/28 This count of nakshatras is represented at numerous places; the total inner axes of the sanctuary. 32/33 This represents the number of devas and it is found as the number of pillars, windows and various lengths. 44/45 The number of divinities of the Vastupurusha mandala are shown in the total number of steps, main entrance and anking Central Western entrances. As 450 cubits, various axial entrances and circumference of gallery. 10 days in the lunar month, the days of the solar month, and so on. 20 Lunar observations appear to have been made from the causeway. The author as being derived from the Satapatha Brahmana recently explained the division of the year into the two halves of 189 and 176.37. In layer 5 of the altar described in the Satapatha, a division of the year into the two halves in the proportion 15:14 is given (Figure 5). 21 This proportion corresponds to the numbers, 189 and 176.4, which are just the numbers, used at Angkor Wat. Figure 6 explains the physics behind the asymmetry in the sun's orbit. As one can see, the period from the autumnal equinox to the vernal equinox is smaller than the opposite circuit. The interval between successive perihelia, the anomalistic year, is 365.25964 days, which is 0.01845 days longer than the tropical year on which our calendar is based. In 1000 calendar years, the date of the perihelion advances about 18 days. Considering Figure 6 again, the perihelion was roughly on December 18 during the time of the construction of Angkor Wat; and it was on October 27 during early 2nd millennium BC, the most likely period of the composition of the Satapatha Brahmana. In all these cases the perihelion occurs during the autumn/winter period, and so by Kepler's 2nd law we know that the speed of the sun in its orbit around the earth is greater during the months autumn and winter than in spring and summer. During the time of the Satapatha Brahmana, the apogee was about midway through the spring season, which was then somewhat more than 94 days. The extra brick in the spring quadrant (Figure 5) may symbolically re ect the discovery that this quarter had more days in it, a discovery made at a time when a satisfactory formula had not yet been developed for the progress of the sun on the ecliptic. It is possible that the period from the spring equinox to the fall equinox was taken to be about 189 days by doubling the period of the spring season; 176 days became the period of the reverse circuit. Why not assume that there was no more to these numbers than a division into the proportions 15:14 derived from some numerological considerations?

 First, we have the evidence from the Satapatha Brahmana that expressly informs us that the count of days from the winter to the summer solstice was different, and shorter, than the count in the reverse order. Second, the altar design is explicitly about the sun's circuit around the earth and so the proportion of 15:14 must be converted into the appropriate count with respect 12 to the length of the year. Furthermore, the many astronomical alignments of the Angkor Wat impress on us the fairly elaborate system of naked-eye observations that were the basis of the temple astronomy. But since precisely the same numbers were used in Angkor Wat as were mentioned much earlier in the Satapatha Brahmana, one would presume that these numbers were used as a part of ancient sacred lore. Looking at Figure 6, we see the count between the solstices has been changing much faster than the count between the equinoxes because the perigee has been, in the past two thousand years somewhere between the autumn and the winter months. Because of its relative constancy, the count between the equinoxes became one of the primary `constants' of Vedic/Puranic astronomy. The equinoctial half-years are currently about 186 and 179, respectively; and were not much different when Angkor Wat temple was constructed. Given that the length of the year was known to considerable precision there is no reason to assume that these counts were not known. But it appears that a `normative' division according to the ancient proportion was used.

 As it was known that the solar year was about 365.25 days, the old proportion of 15:14 would give the distribution 188.92 and 176.33, and that is very much the Angkor Wat numbers of 189 and 176.37 within human error. In other words, the choice of these ‘constants’ may have been determined by the use of the ancient proportion of 15:14.

 Concluding Remarks :-

Although it has long been known that the Angkor Wat temple astronomy is derived from Puranic and Siddhantic ideas, the Vedic roots of this astronomy have only recently been identified. We have found the Vedic altar astronomy numbers 21, 78, and 261 in the temple design. The division of the solar year into two unequal halves is explained by the design of the Satapatha Brahmana altar on the asymmetric circuit of the sun. We need a more thorough examination of the altar numbers in the design to interpret their significance in the context of different architectural units so brilliantly decoded by Mannikka. For example, was there any obvious in uence of the Agnicayana ritual on the phased construction of the Angkor Wat temple? The decoding of the astronomy of Angkor Wat has opened the way for a similar examination of medieval and ancient Indian temple complexes, which 13 were also built with basic astronomical observations in minds.