SIEM REAP — With many historical sites comes many restoration works in the Angkor Archaeological Park. Complex and lengthy projects that demand a lot of manpower, specialized knowledge and skills, experience and budget.

Chea Sarith is an archaeologist with the APSARA National Authority—the Cambodian government organization managing Angkor Park. He has been heading the restoration project of Banteay Prei, a temple located about 15 kilometres north of downtown Siem Reap.

Phat Dane: When was the temple of Banteay Prei built at Angkor?

Chea Sarith: Banteay Prei was built during the reign of King Jayavarman VII somewhere between 1181 and 1218. It functioned as a subordinate building of Jayasri city [or city of victory] at a time, which included the three main temples: Preah Khan, Neak Poan and Ta Som. Banteay Prei, which is just north of Preah Khan, was dedicated to Mahayana Buddhism’s Avalokiteshvara, a compassionate enlightened being. This is evident in the sculptures and bas-reliefs on the pediments.

The overall size of this temple is small [compared to others at Angkor]. Sitting close to ground level, the temple is composed of one main central tower surrounded by an enclosed gallery with eight entrances in eight directions.

On the outside, there is a surrounding moat used to store excess water and avoid floods in addition to its religious symbol since the temple itself is regarded as the mythical Mount Meru [surrounded by an ocean represented by the moat].

It is worth mentioning that King Jayavarman VII adhered to Mahayana Buddhism, unlike the previous monarchs who were of Hindu faith. Although he adopted a religion different from his predecessors, history has shown that he did not interfere with any of the Hindu monuments.

However, during the reigns of later monarchs, bas-reliefs depicting Mahayana Buddhism were altered and turned into Hindu depictions such as the Shiva Linga.

In this pediment here depicting the Buddha’s life journey, we can see five praying angels in the lower section called Tep Pranam. Above them is a shrine that used to have a depiction of the Buddha on top. However, now all we can see is a void.

After the reign of King Jayavarman VII, we no longer see any major temple construction, and most of the Hindu temples of later on were older temples dedicated to Mahayana Buddhism that were altered.

Phat Dane: What has contributed to the deterioration of this temple?

Chea Sarith: The temple was mainly abandoned in the 15th century. During the 20th century, the Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient [EFEO or French School of Asian Studies] did not do a lot for the restoration of this temple as perhaps it was their intention to let the temple blend in with the surrounding nature. This temple is largely unaltered [by restoration], showing its aging process through hundreds of years almost without human intervention.

Deterioration happens because the stones have become naturally weaker over time due to natural factors such as trees, moisture and animals. Tree roots shift the stones from their stable position, enabling water to get in-between them, accelerating the issue. Insects such as termites also excavate the soil underneath the temple, destabilising its foundation bit by bit.

Phat Dane: What is the history behind its name?

Chea Sarith: The name Banteay Prei was actually given later. We do not have any document as to the temple's original name. Actually, “prei” (or scleria poiformis) is a kind of plant that can grow around this area. People would usually call a location based on nature around that place. However, today, we cannot find that plant here. It might have been…in the past.

Again, no major restoration is conducted here. Previous work was done only to gather the fallen stones so that it is easier for people to walk inside. There is a small line of inscription on one of the door frames that mentions the name of builders, but not the date of construction. We also noticed some symbols used by the ancient engineers to orientate the stones for construction.

The task of finding the missing stones

Although restoration of a historical monument or temple may involve using new stones of the same type and properties, the work of finding original stones simply cannot be neglected at any cost.

When new stones must be used because the original ones cannot be found or they are now too damaged to support the structure as required, efforts are made to use stones of the same composition and from the same quarries.

However, using as many original stones as possible for a restoration not only enables to maintain the authenticity and historical value of a temple or monument, but it also prevents the possible effect of new stones on old ones.

For about one year, Svoeuy Sophal has been working at locating the original stones fallen off the Banteay Prei temple.

Sophal had worked on the restoration of numerous temples and historical structures over the years including the Nokor Bachey temple in Kampong Cham province, the Ek Phnom temple in Battambang province, and the Spean Toab bridge in Oddar Meanchey province.  Now 63 years old, he has specialized in the task of locating missing stones for about  year and has been doing so for the restoration of Banteay Prei temple.

Phat Dane: What are some of the techniques for finding the stones?

Svoeuy Sophal: One way to find them is to understand the bas-reliefs or sculptures. By understanding the pattern, we can guess what the next stone block should be, giving us a direction on where and what to look for.

Second, most stones are asymmetrical, which means that they can only be put in one orientation. By understanding the shape of the stones previously in place, we can guess what the shape of the next stone would be. Each stone has unique cuts and grooves, which can only be firmly inserted with its negative image.

Finding scattered stone is not always a straightforward process. It is one of the hardest jobs I have worked on so far on temple restoration. Sometimes, they were moved by nature, sometimes by people. Some other times they just simply disappeared. If all goes well, a stone will not fall far away from its original place, unless it has been moved intentionally.







Written in Khmer for ThmeyThmey Digital Media, this story was translated by Ky Chamna for Cambodianess.

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