Historical figure
Divakarapandita
ទិវាករបណ្ឌិត
Divakarapandita (ទិវាករបណ្ឌិត) was a Brahmin priest and royal guru who served five Khmer kings in the 11th and 12th centuries.[1][2][3] A stele at the temple of Preah Vihear (ប្រាសាទព្រះវិហារ, Prasat Preah Vihear) tells the story of his life.[4] It was carved at the order of Suryavarman II (សូរ្យវរ្ម័នទី២),[2] the king who built Angkor Wat (ប្រាសាទអង្គរវត្ត).[5][1]
Life
The stele names the kings he served: Udayadityavarman II (ឧទ័យាទិត្យាវរ្ម័នទី២), Harshavarman III (ហស៌វរ្ម័នទី៣), Jayavarman VI (ជ័យវរ្ម័នទី៦), Dharanindravarman I (ធរណិន្ទ្រវរ្ម័នទី១) and Suryavarman II.[2][6] The first of them came to the throne in 1049, and the last in 1113.[3][2]
Divakarapandita was the royal priest of Harshavarman III, who reigned from 1066 to 1080.[6][3] Late in that reign, Jayavarman VI rose against the king and took the throne in 1080[3] or 1082.[6] Divakarapandita left Angkor (អង្គរ) and performed the new king's coronation.[6] Chun Chanboth, in a history of the Angkor kings for Radio Free Asia, wrote that the priest may have quarreled with the king at Angkor or hoped for reward.[6] Jayavarman VI's brother Dharanindravarman I followed him on the throne and reigned from 1107 to 1112.[3]
Royal guru
Under Suryavarman II, Divakarapandita was the king's personal guru, or spiritual teacher.[5][1] He was by then an old man.[2][7] The stele records that the king studied the sacred rites with him, held religious festivals and gave him white parasols, golden bowls and elephants.[2][7]
Suryavarman II dedicated Angkor Wat to the Hindu god Vishnu.[5] AMS Khmer Civilization suggests that the king planned the temple to his own vision, perhaps with advice from Divakarapandita.[1]
Pilgrimage and offerings
The kings he served gave Divakarapandita many gifts, some for himself and some to offer at temples in their name.[2] Early in the 12th century, Suryavarman II sent him on a pilgrimage to the temples. There he made offerings, led ritual sacrifices and saw to repairs and improvements.[2]
Preah Vihear was dedicated to Shiva as the god of the mountain, Shikhareshvara, and Divakarapandita offered the god precious objects there.[2] Among them was an image of Shiva dancing, made of gold[7][4] or probably of gold.[2] He added a golden dais set with precious stones, laid bronze plates over the temple floor and lined its walls with precious metal. He also set a yearly redecoration of the towers, courtyards and main entrance, and he paid everyone who worked at the temple.[2]
A stone relief of the dancing Shiva also crowns the entrance to the temple's central sanctuary. AMS Khmer Civilization dates that carving to an earlier time, probably the reign of Suryavarman I (សូរ្យវរ្ម័នទី១), rather than to the years of Divakarapandita's gift.[4]
The stele
The stele, numbered K.383, is also called the Stele of Preah Vihear or of Divakara. It is written in Sanskrit and Khmer and dates from 1119[4] or probably from between 1119 and 1121.[2] It was found inside the temple's mandapa, or hall.[2]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 AMS Khmer Civilization, The mystery of the towers of Angkor Wat (updated July 10, 2021; in Khmer)
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 Hello Angkor, Preah Vihear Temple (undated)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Angkor Database, Maurice Glaize, The Monuments of the Angkor Group (1944; English translation of the fourth French edition)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 AMS Khmer Civilization, The Mythology of Sculpture of Preah Vihear Temple, Part 1 (updated May 13, 2022; in Khmer)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Encyclopedia.com (Gale, Science and Its Times), Judson Knight, Suryavarman II (undated)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Radio Free Asia Khmer, Chun Chanboth, Two kings reigning at the same time in the mid-11th century, part 13 of a history series (May 14, 2014; in Khmer)
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Cambodian Information Center, Prasat Preah Vihear (undated)