Historical figure
Udayadityavarman II
ឧទ័យាទិត្យាវរ្ម័នទី២
Udayadityavarman II (ឧទ័យាទិត្យាវរ្ម័នទី២) was a king of the Khmer Empire at Angkor in the 11th century. A Khmer history series on Radio Free Asia gives his reign as 1050 to 1066; a 2015 dating study gives 1050 to 1065.[1][2] He has long been named as the builder of the Baphuon (ប្រាសាទបាពួន) and of the West Mebon temple in the West Baray reservoir.[1][2]
Family
He came to the throne after Suryavarman I (សូរ្យវរ្ម័នទី១). Accounts differ on how they were related. The radio series cites the historian Trung Nga for the view that he was Suryavarman I's eldest son. It cites Dauphin-Meunier and Maurice Glaize for the view that he was a nephew instead. His younger brother took the throne after him as Harshavarman III (ហស៌វរ្ម័នទី៣).[1]
Building
The radio series credits him with a new temple mountain, the Baphuon, at the center of a new royal city with an earth wall around it. A gold linga of the god-king was set up in the temple.[1] The Cambodia Daily gave 1060 as the year building began.[3]
That date has been questioned. No inscription ties the Baphuon to any king. The study lists three kings proposed over the years, Jayavarman V, Suryavarman I and Udayadityavarman II, and notes that academic works and guidebooks usually name Udayadityavarman II.[2] In 2015 a team led by Stephanie Leroy and Mitch Hendrickson radiocarbon-dated iron clamps from the temple's first terrace. The dates fell between the late 10th and early 11th centuries, which points to Jayavarman V or Suryavarman I.[2] The study asks whether Udayadityavarman II consecrated a temple that was already there, noting how short his reign was and that droughts began around 1050.[2] Hendrickson told The Cambodia Daily that the results point to Suryavarman I.[4]
West of the city he had the West Baray (បារាយណ៍ខាងលិច) dug, larger than any earlier reservoir: 8 kilometers (5 miles) long and 2,200 meters (7,200 feet) wide. On an island in its center he built the West Mebon (ប្រាសាទមេបុណ្យខាងលិច). A huge bronze statue of Vishnu lying down was kept there; it is held at the National Museum in Phnom Penh.[1] The archaeoastronomer Giulio Magli writes that it is not fully clear whether Suryavarman I had already begun the reservoir.[5]
Revolts
The radio series tells of three large revolts in his reign. The first, in 1052, rose in the southern provinces under a leader named Aravindahrada. The second, in 1065, was led by an officer named Kamvau, whose troops left the capital and smashed linga and statues of the gods. The third was in the eastern provinces. A general named Sangrama put down all three. Aravindahrada fled to Champa.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Radio Free Asia Khmer, Two kings reigned at the same time in the middle of the 11th century, part 13 of a history series (May 14, 2014; in Khmer)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 PLOS ONE, Leroy, Hendrickson, Delqué-Kolic, Vega and Dillmann, First Direct Dating for the Construction and Modification of the Baphuon Temple Mountain in Angkor, Cambodia (November 4, 2015)
- ↑ The Cambodia Daily, Michelle Vachon, Baphuon Temple in Siem Reap Consecrated (June 5, 2008)
- ↑ The Cambodia Daily, Michelle Vachon, Metal Findings Give New Perspective on Angkorian History (June 20, 2016)
- ↑ Giulio Magli, Archaeoastronomy in the Khmer Heartland (arXiv, 2016)