Temples of Indian type, such as those of the Khmers, are quite different from western places of worship whether Christian, Jewish or Muslim. They were never designed as meeting-places, but as dwellings for the gods. In contrast with India where domestic architecture used various types of material depending on the wealth of the owner, Khmer houses were always made of wood. As a rule, the abode of the gods was built in durable materials: brick, sandstone, or laterite. Where wood was used for religious purposes, for example to build a provisional shrine while the donor raised the wherewithal for a permanent structure, the building would decay rapidly and disappear if the delay was prolonged.
Lerge halls were not required, since space was meeded only to house the deity, The schema simply required a sanctuary, however small, Indeed the central sanctuary of Angkor Wat, one of the largest, is only five metres square, and the sheer size of the temples of the 12th and 13th centuries can be ascribed to the need to accommodate huge numbers of gods. In the case of the simplest temples the sanctuary was surrounded by an enclosure wall bordered on the outside by a moat. This ground plan has been interpreted as an image of the world, hemmed in by mountain ranges, which in turn are lapped by the great mythical ocean of chaos. The larger temples have two concentric enclosures. They open onto one or two all four sides, through more or less elaborate entrance pavilions which are themselves shrines and which are termed gopura, after the corresponding structures in South India. In the south=east quadrant of the enclosure the enclosure there is usually, in temples of the Angkor period, what is mistakenly called a 'library' but which in factt is a Fire temple. Just as was the custom in India, Fire had to be ritually re-kindled each morning before the ceremonial worship of the shrine's main deity, but in Cambodia from the ninth century onwards the sacred Fire had its own dedicated sanctuary, There must also have been kitchens close by to cook the gods' food, but as they would certainly have been temporary shacks made of perishable materials, no trace of them has survived.
The gods in their shrines were treated as royalty by their servants, the priests. They awakened them daily, washed, dressed and fed them, The food was symbolically consumed by he gods and then distributed to the priests or others who happened to be present, Devotees could visit the gods when the sanctuary door was open during these priestly rituals, and petition them for a favour, but these were essentially personal initiatives.
Temples of Indian type, such as those of the Khmers, are quite different from western places of worship whether Christian, Jewish or Muslim. They were never designed as meeting-places, but as dwellings for the gods. In contrast with India where domestic architecture used various types of material depending on the wealth of the owner, Khmer houses were always made of wood. As a rule, the abode of the gods was built in durable materials: brick, sandstone, or laterite. Where wood was used for religious purposes, for example to build a provisional shrine while the donor raised the wherewithal for a permanent structure, the building would decay rapidly and disappear if the delay was prolonged. Lerge halls were not required, since space was meeded only to house the deity, The schema simply required a sanctuary, however small, Indeed the central sanctuary of Angkor Wat, one of the largest, is only five metres square, and the sheer size of the temples of the 12th and 13th centuries can be ascribed to the need to accommodate huge numbers of gods. In the case of the simplest temples the sanctuary was surrounded by an enclosure wall bordered on the outside by a moat. This ground plan has been interpreted as an image of the world, hemmed in by mountain ranges, which in turn are lapped by the great mythical ocean of chaos. The larger temples have two concentric enclosures. They open onto one or two all four sides, through more or less elaborate entrance pavilions which are themselves shrines and which are termed gopura, after the corresponding structures in South India. In the south=east quadrant of the enclosure the enclosure there is usually, in temples of the Angkor period, what is mistakenly called a 'library' but which in factt is a Fire temple. Just as was the custom in India, Fire had to be ritually re-kindled each morning before the ceremonial worship of the shrine's main deity, but in Cambodia from the ninth century onwards the sacred Fire had its own dedicated sanctuary, There must also have been kitchens close by to cook the gods' food, but as they would certainly have been temporary shacks made of perishable materials, no trace of them has survived. The gods in their shrines were treated as royalty by their servants, the priests. They awakened them daily, washed, dressed and fed them, The food was symbolically consumed by he gods and then distributed to the priests or others who happened to be present, Devotees could visit the gods when the sanctuary door was open during these priestly rituals, and petition them for a favour, but these were essentially personal initiatives.
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