ANGKOR, A SYNTHESIS OF
FREEMASONRY AND IRRIGATION
CHAPTER XXXXII
part III - Freemasonry, Religion and Civilisation
THE SQUARE AND COMPASSES
W.
M. Don Falconer PM, PDGDC
Angkor was the
pinnacle of the Khmer civilisation in South-East Asia that began to flourish in
about 1000 BCE and ended when the Thais invaded the region in 1431.
Angkor was the centre of
the Khmer civilisation for six centuries. It is located in the jungles on the
north western shores of the Tonlé Sap, a vast natural lake in the plains of
central Kampuchea that are dotted with sugar-palms and seem to stretch endlessly
in the quivering heat. The Tonlé Sap acts as an immense balancing reservoir for
local monsoon runoff when the level of the Mekong River is rising and water is
backing up during the annual snowmelt in Tibet. Water is stored in the Tonlé Sap
during the several months of high flow and discharged throughout the dry season.
Indochina and especially Kampuchea, like Egypt, has been called "the
daughter of its rivers". The temples and monuments that constitute
present day Angkor are the visible remnants of what once was the most extensive
of all of the great city-temple complexes in the world. Angkor had a population
of a million or more, but was never a city of stone palaces and public
buildings. The palaces and public buildings were all built of timber, like the
dwellings erected on pillars along the edges of the canals. Only the temples,
monuments and irrigation structures were constructed of stone.
Angkor was an integrated
series of temple cities, constructed by successive monarchs over several
centuries. Each city incorporated a central temple and together with its
associated buildings was located within a series of moats that received water
from artificial lakes or barays, so that each seemed to float
serenely on a tranquil sea. The water was supplied and controlled by means of an
interconnected series of dykes, embankments and causeways that also provided
access. Although each monarch erected one or more new temples, they were not
built over nor did they supplant any previous temples, which continued in use.
The intensely developed central sector was more than 25 kilometres square, but
the total settlement was about four times that area. Because of its unique
features, archaeologists have described Angkor as the "hydraulic city".
To comprehend Angkor and appreciate its significance, one must be aware of the
long and intimate association between freemasonry, irrigation and civilisation,
as well as understanding how freemasonry and irrigation assisted in the
development and spread of civilisation in South-East Asia.
Archaeology has
confirmed the vital role that freemasonry and irrigation played in the
advancement of civilisation in the Mesopotamia and Egypt. The fertile plains
formed by the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in Mesopotamia that are called the
“fertile crescent” and the fertile valley of the Nile River in Egypt
have long been referred to as the "twin cradles of civilisation".
About 10,000 years ago, when nomadic huntergatherers of the Old Stone Age began
to herd wild flocks and dry farm wild cereals in the uplands north of the
“fertile crescent”, they took their first steps on the path to
civilisation. When the herders began to congregate in small settlements about
8,000 years ago freemasonry was in its infancy. Dwellings and communal
facilities were constructed of compacted earth, dry packed stone and later of
mud bricks. Simple forms of irrigation also were introduced. The most recent
archaeological investigations indicate that a similar level of growth was
achieved in Egypt more than 7,000 years ago. The smelting and casting of copper
in Mesopotamia began about 6,500 years ago, the kiln firing of bricks in
Mesopotamia and Egypt began about 5,500 years ago, followed by the forging of
tools capable of cutting and dressing stone about 500 years later. These
developments, with a better understanding of irrigation and an ability to carry
out irrigation works, all significantly enhanced the advance of civilisation.
Important though these
advances were, they were overshadowed by the introduction of a calendar by the
Chaldeans at Ur and the invention of a pictographic script by the Sumerians at
Uruk, both in southern Mesopotamia, which took place in about 3200 BCE. By about
2800 BCE the script was modified to cuneiform and soon became the "lingua
franca" of the Near East and Egypt, continuing in use for more than
1,000 years. The cuneiform alphabet came into use in about 1500 BCE and was
adapted by the Phoenicians in about 1200 BCE, becoming the direct ancestor of
all modern alphabets. The Egyptians introduced similar innovations independently
and had devised their calendar by about 3300 BCE. The Egyptian hieroglyphs were
introduced in about 3300 BCE, but unlike other pictographic systems they have
always combined three different systems of writing. Each sign used in the
Egyptian hieroglyphs represented a word or an idea and also a syllable, as well
as a sound that could be used as a letter of the alphabet. Soon after 2800 BCE
the hieroglyphs were modified as a cursive script in a form called
hieratic. These events combined to establish an awareness of time and
enable records to be kept and communications to be transmitted accurately,
regardless of the distance between sender and receiver.
The calendar and writing
were vital to the success of the trading facilities the Sumerians had
established by about 3000 BCE, by sea to the Indus River basin and by land to
Afghanistan and beyond. These trade routes were the beginnings of the great
"silk routes" to China. It is significant that the development of
extensive irrigation facilities in the Indus River Basin and the northern
foothills of the Hindu Kush Mountains in Afghanistan, along the Amu Darya River
near Bactra, both began with technological input from Mesopotamian immigrants
soon after the respective trade routes had been established. The success of
civilisation in both of these regions depended heavily on irrigation. These
irrigations techniques soon spread eastwards from the Indus River basin into
India and northwards from Afghanistan into the Russian steppes. As the trading
routes progressively extended eastwards, irrigation methods ultimately reached
Southeast Asia and were used to great advantage by the Khmers.
Although very little is
known of the origins of the original inhabitants on the shores of the South
China Sea, the available anthropological data indicate that they were a mixture
of Negrito, Melanesian and Indo-Chinese peoples closely related to the
inhabitants of the Pacific Islands. Many centuries of isolation resulted in an
autonomous evolution in each of the natural regions. More recently Indochina was
also influenced by the infiltration of Mongolian elements from China, as a
result of which the Indo-Chinese are often called Austro-Asian to indicate the
mixture of peoples. The most ancient bones of man so far discovered on the
peninsula of Indo-China were found among other remains at TamPong and TamHang
in Laos. The bones have been dated to the period from 5000 BCE to 4000 BCE and
have been assigned to the Lower Hoabinian Mesolithic culture that was first
identified in the vicinity of Hanoi.
The people of Indochina
first used metal in about 1000 BCE, which ushered in the protohistorical phase
when both the metallurgical and the megalithic cultures began to flourish in the
region. Of these the megalithic culture was the most widespread and became
synonymous with the Khmers. Both cultures were established in Indochina before
King Solomon built the temple at Jerusalem. Metallurgy was being used
extensively throughout Indochina by 500 BCE. The workmanship was of a very high
quality and many of the best examples were produced by the Dongsonian culture,
which was restricted to the eastern coastal strip and specialised in bronze
work. It was previously thought that waves of invading Khmers arrived in
Indochina from India or Ceylon, but modern research and a comprehensive study of
Indian records disproves this theory.
The Indianisation of
Southeast Asia is now considered to have been a gradual process, the result of
intensive Indian commerce and the quest for spices, gold and other precious
metals, which was assisted by the spread of the Buddhist faith that counteracted
the rigid caste divisions prescribed by the Hindu religion. Trade between east
and west was fostered by the exotic tastes of the Roman Empire. Indian records
substantiate the vital role played by India, as do the ancient ports along the
navigation routes and the discovery of large quantities of imported objects in
the lower levels of excavations at Oc-Eo, near the coast at the south eastern
extremity of modern Kampuchea. During at least the first five hundred years of
the Christian era, several waves of Indian traders arrived and settled in
Indochina to establish ports and trading posts. Their persistence and ability to
deal successfully with the locals is evidenced by their continuing presence.
The Khmer Empire was
renowned for its remarkable irrigation achievements and its spectacular
monumental and religious architecture, becoming one of the most impressive
civilisations of Southeast Asia. Chinese chronicles provide evidence that the
earliest Khmer kingdom was the active and prosperous realm of Funan, in the
south west of the Mekong River delta. The Mandarin ideogram for Funan in ancient
times was pronounced biu-nam, which is very close to the ancient
Khmer bnam that is rendered as phnom in modern
Kampuchean. The word means a hill or mountain, which
was of great religious significance to the Khmers. The first capital of Funan
was Oc-Eo, established in about 400 CE. The city was rectangular in the shape,
about 3.5 kilometres long and 2 kilometres wide, surrounded by a series
of moats and embankments. Canals subdivided the city into ten rectangular
sectors, the embankments forming the city's network of streets. Donatella Mazzeo
and Chiara Silvi Antonini describe these developments in Ancient Cambodia,
an excellent book in the Monuments of Civilization Series published by Cassell
Limited.
The primary canal
divided the city area of Oc-Eo lengthwise and extended beyond the city limits
for many kilometres in each direction, collecting water from the Mekong's
tributaries in the delta and draining surplus water into the sea. Four canals at
right angles to the primary canal completed the subdivision of the city and
provided water to individual allotments. In about 514 the capital was moved to
Angkor Borei, about 80 kilometres to the north, which continued as the capital
until about 600. Because Angkor Borei was a long way from the sea, it was
connected to Oc-Eo and other centres by a series of navigable canals still
visible from the air. The main navigation canal is constructed in two straight
sections, one 35 kilometres long and the other 65 kilometres long, located to
suit the course of the Mekong River and to avoid an intervening group of hills.
The remarkable skills of the Khmer engineers are amply illustrated by their
ability to determine the best location for the canal and to construct it
accurately to line and level over such long distances.
In about 550 a member of
the Funanese royal family, Bhavavarman, married a princess of Chenla and
ascended to the throne of Chenla, another Khmer state to the north that included
much of modern Kampuchea. As Bhavavarman I he founded his capital at Bhavapura
on the northern shores of the Tonlé Sap. A series of events over the next three
hundred years saw a partial unification of Chenla and Funan, but Chenla was
later subdivided into Chenla of Land and Chenla of Water. During the eighth
century there was a strong Javanese influence and possibly a Javanese conquest.
In 802 Jayavarman II founded the Khmer kingship after which the capital was
relocated several times in the Angkor region until the power of the Khmers was
firmly established by Indravarman I in 877. Indravarman I established his
capital at Roluos, on the northern shores of the Tonlé Sap Lake, about 10
kilometres southeast of Phnom Bakheng, where the city of Angkor was established
about twenty years later. The Khmer Empire then flourished until the end of
Jayavarman VII's reign in 1291, but his vast expenditure on public buildings and
works exhausted the state’s financial resources and it was in serious decline by
the end of the fourteenth century. The Khmer Empire dominated Malaysia, Thailand
and Champa throughout the twelfth century, but after sporadic incursions over
the next two centuries Angkor was captured by the Thais when they invaded the
region in 1431.
The Khmers developed
their first irrigation system at Oc-Eo, near the coast on the fertile delta of
the Mekong River, where a very important consideration was drainage to avoid
waterlogging of the land. To overcome this problem, many of the waterways,
storage reservoirs and irrigation ponds were constructed by building the
enclosing earthen embankments on top of the natural ground surface, because the
water level in the Mekong River rose sufficiently during the monsoon to enable
the required volume to be diverted. The drainage channels were excavated below
ground level to lower the water table in the wet season, as well as to ensure
that the outlets from the paddy fields could drain off the irrigation water as
and when required. The system depended on the seasons and therefore allowed only
one crop to be planted annually. Navigable canals also were excavated into the
ground, usually below the level of the dry season water table, thus minimising
the need for additional water.
By the time Roluos was
settled the Khmers were expert in the use of water for irrigation, making the
best possible use of the comparatively infertile plains of Angkor. Their water
intakes were placed considerably higher than the land they were irrigating and
were suitably located to allow water to be conveyed under gravity by canals to
intermediate storages, thence to the paddy fields through a system of sluices
and narrow ditches. The land under irrigation was carefully subdivided to suit
the terrain, each subdivision having its own small reservoir, which allowed
accurate control of the water level in all plots within a subdivision and
facilitated constant circulation and renewal of the water. The distribution
systems in each of the several subdivisions also were interconnected, so that
all of the elements of the irrigation system were integrated to ensure the
optimum functioning of the whole. This enabled irrigation to continue throughout
the dry season, allowing at least two crops of rice and millet to be grown every
year. As the paddy fields were no longer in a delta area, but on the dry shores
of a vast lake at a level considerably higher than its highest flood level,
water conservation was an important consideration, especially as the number of
permanent rivers available for water supply was limited.
To cope with these
conditions and to service the ever-expanding irrigation areas, the Khmers found
it necessary to install very large water storage reservoirs and extensive
distribution systems. They minimised losses from seepage by excavating many of
the water supply channels and reservoirs, instead of building them all above the
ground as they had in the delta area. The first important and innovative work
carried out by Indravarman I when he established Roluos was to excavate the main
reservoir or baray, called Indratataka, which was parallel to the
contours. The baray stretched about 4 kilometres along the contour
and was about 1 kilometre wide, allowing the maximum quantity of water to be
stored with the least possible excavation. The three main barays
that were constructed progressively at Angkor in later years were similarly
oriented. Two were 8 kilometres long and 2 kilometres wide and a smaller one was
similar to that at Roluos. The barays provided a total storage of
some 70 million cubic metres of water. The remarkable skills of the Khmers as
builders are evidenced by the fact that, even now, the stone walls of the
barays 8 kilometres long deviate by less than a centimetre from their
original alignment.
The irrigation and
building works of the Khmers must be seen in the light of the cosmic symbolism
that was part of their religious beliefs. Hinduism was the earliest known
religion of the Khmers, but by 500 or earlier Buddhism had been firmly
established alongside Vishnuism and Sivaism in Funan. A blend of these beliefs
continued to flourish during the Angkor period, but Buddhism gradually gained
the ascendency. However the cosmological ideas of Hinduism were retained, in
which the mythical Mount Meru is regarded as the centre of the cosmos. Mount
Meru is the pole of the cosmic forces and the abode of the gods, with an
infinite number of other worlds superimposed on the earth, the heavens above and
the hells below. All life, including that of the gods and the worlds, is
believed to undergo periodic cycles of creation and destruction, each successive
reincarnation reflecting the merits or sins of the earthly existence.
Reincarnation continues as in Hinduism, until the time comes to return, as in
Buddhism, to the state of non-existence consisting of a melting into the divine
bosom of the Logos that is called the absorption, which is a
nirvana purged of all desire.
The king was the
principal supporter of the faith, but as the Brahmins used the king's power to
maintain their own position the king was also its first victim. The Brahmins
were careful never to overshadow, let alone supplant the royal prestige. The
king was regarded as having divine power, delegated to him in the form of a
linga through the mediation of the Brahmin, which the priest was
reputed to have received on the top of a mountain. The linga was
preserved in a shrine as the palladium or safeguard of the kingdom
and the centre of the rites designed to ensure prosperity. Closely associated
with the linga are the devaraja cult and the
temple-mountain. Jayavarman II initiated the worship of devaraja,
which is Sanskrit for god-king, when he proclaimed himself the
universal sovereign and founded the Khmer kingdom of Angkor in 802.
Traditionally the linga was placed on the top of a mountain as the
earthly equivalent of Mount Meru, but in flat areas like Angkor a
temple-mountain, in the form of a stepped pyramid, was substituted. The
temple-mountain became the focal point of the city and the kingdom and was the
only site considered worthy of the royal residence.
The Khmer city must be
visualised in the light of this cosmic symbolism. Each city was an
interconnected system of canals and waterworks that transformed it into a
blossoming garden with a central nucleus of temples, palaces and government
offices, surrounded by a vast area of intensively cultivated fields. The city
was accessed by causeways and protected by ramparts and moats. With its walls
and moats the city represented the world surrounded by a mythical chain of
mountains and oceans. The temple at the centre symbolised Mount Meru, its five
towers standing up like the five peaks of the sacred mountain and its terraces
rising in tiers to represent the series of worlds. It was a ritual compass, the
horizontal axes defining the four cardinal points and the vertical axis defining
the zenith and nadir. It was a chronogram too, symbolically regulating the
sacred cosmography and topography of the universe. An important ritual of the
faithful was to walk round the building in a clockwise direction, passing in
succession through each phase of the solar cycle, traversing space in step with
time, as a reminder of the seasonal blessings the devaraja
showered down on his people. Never has any civilisation represented the
spiritual and material texture of its life more effectively than the Khmers in
the construction of their temple-city
At first sight the
temples look typically Hindu, but in fact they are very different. Early temples
were built in brick, but laterite bases and sandstone superstructures without
mortar were the usual materials. Roofs were corbelled stone arches. Statuary and
bas-reliefs adorned most temples, supplemented by many lengthy religious and
historical inscriptions, often in Sanskrit, the ancient language of north India
that the Khmers used in a religious context and from which their alphabet was
derived. The temples were not used for the congregation of worshippers, but
rather for individuals to contemplate the mythical and spiritual themes depicted
in the bas-reliefs and inscriptions and to remind them of their history and
daily lives. Occasionally a temple also served as a mausoleum for the king who
founded it. There are more than thirty important temples at Angkor, many of them
vast and all of them intricate in design. Most temples are square, but some are
included in a series of structures in an elongated arrangement. Whether the
temple-mountain is alone or a component of a series, its axes are always
coincident with the cardinal directions and its entrance nearly always in the
east. It is not practicable to describe them in any detail without reference to
plans and illustrations, but the features of some will be mentioned.
The Bakong at Roluos was
the first great sandstone temple-mountain constructed at Angkor. It is
surrounded by a moat 80 metres wide, crossed by causeways running east to west.
The building is almost square, 67 metres by 65 metres at the base. It has five
terraces and stairways, four axial pavilions and several minor sanctuaries. The
temple of Banteai Srei is an elegant almost delicate structure of pink granite,
hidden away in a beautiful glade. It is delicately ornamented and symbolises a
celestial palace in which the God of Love protects and adores the
slender, graceful and radiant goddess in the sanctuary.
The Angkor Wat, with its
five multi-tiered towers, is regarded as the culmination of temple-mountain
construction. It is a masterpiece of human genius, expressing to perfection the
traditions, spiritual beliefs, history and day-to-day life of the Khmers. The
covered outer enclosure is 485 metres by 330 metres, surrounded by a moat 100
metres wide, which is crossed by a causeway at the western end. Galleries of
bas-reliefs respectively 215 metres by 187 metres and 115 metres by 100 metres
enclose the first and second storey terraces. The third storey, which supports
the central tower and sanctuary, is 60 metres square. The Bayon is the main
temple of Angkor Thom. The central tower 45 metres high, with twelve surrounding
towers and twenty-one peripheral towers. All towers have four faces looking to
the cardinal points. A wall that is 8 metres high and 4 kilometres long
completely surrounds the temple complex at Angkor Thom, which in turn is
surrounded by a moat 70 metres wide.
The foregoing is only an
outline of some of the more interesting structures in the city-temple complex at
Angkor, giving some idea of its magnitude, complexity and beauty. Two books in
particular give an excellent description of the development of civilisation and
the growth of religion in South-East Asia, especially the significance and
beauty of Angkor. One is a translation of a French original, Angkor, Art
and Civilization by Bernard Groslier and Jacques Arthaud. The other is
Ancient Cambodia by Donatella Mazzeo and Chiara Silvi Antonini,
mentioned earlier. Both are profusely illustrated. Various atlases of
archaeology also give interesting details of the ancient Khmer civilisation.
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