Ramayana in Cambodia

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About the Book The book commences with the arrival of Sage Kaundinya in Cambodia, spans the vast complex of Angkor the national capital region of Cambodia for centuries and comes down to the coronation ceremonies of Cambodian monarchs when the Grand Master or Rama-rajya-adhipati hands over the Sacred Sword to the monarch with the mantra "Take, for Thou art the Lightning of Indra".

The second chapter details the Sanskrit inscriptions in Cambodia upto the 12th century. The third chapter is on Cambodian monks who studied Sanskrit with Prof. RaghuVira. The next chapter carries the visit of Prof. RaghuVira to Cambodia, where he studied interesting Sanskrit words. The Ramakirti follows in transcription of the Cambodian original and the English summation of every paragraph, done in collaboration with Bhikkhu Candravarna in 1961.

The sweep of the resplendent simplicity of the Ramakirti is the descent of the divine.

Preface Two thousand years ago Indian voyagers reached the shores of Cambodia to give the people a script to write what they spoke, to endow them with a state with extensive communication networks that would ensure a vibrant economy and interoceanic trade and to carve temples out of stone. The temples were embodiments of the cosmos with the hierarchy of images of the divine, rich in symbolic meaning. Today they are the architectural triumphs of Asia. Steve van Beck: "A sumbeam levered on the fulcrum of the earth, illumines heaven and prises open the eyelids of the sleeping gods. As the golden orb clears the horizon, the sunbeam, like lipnd gold, silently flows down the tiers of stone through the realm of lesser deities before lighting the faces of demons who guard heaven from profanation by lower beings. In a few moments, the sun peers through the lower doorways and discovers the courtyard which surrounds the stone monolith. It finds the nagas forever frozen atop the balustrades of a causeway that spans the primordial ocean. Among the islands in that sea is one which holds the world of men."

A massive central tower represents the Sumeru, divided horizontally into 7 major levels and 33 lesser tiers which are the abodes of 33 gods. On the summit resides Indra, she Lord of all Gods. The lost metropolitan city of Angkor stands today in magnificent ruins hovering in its haunting mystery. Enclosed by a 200 yards wide moat, the main temple rises in successive flights of terraces and is topped by towers, the tallest of which rises 215 feet above the floor level. It is the largest place of worship in the world, one of the most stupendous undertakings attempted by man Abandoned in 1432 the jungle took over in nature's fierce gluttony. A Klimer poem speaks of the life-filling temple ceremoniese The legion of banners streaming in the breeze.

The strains of music mounting to the sky. The grace of dancing girls- All made the shrines an image of paradise.

From this paradise, a Buddhist monk, Venerable Dhammavara came to the Wardha Ashram of Mahatma Gandhi in 1936, to find the inner layers of meaning of his roots. His land was one of the most ancient monarchies of the world. Mahatma Gandhi sent him to my father Prof. Raghu Vir in Lahore. He spoke only French and had to learn English. Mahatma Gandhi knew that my father would welcome a Cambodian monk, speak to him in French, teach him English and make him feel a kinsman. My father had once shown to Gandhiji Cambodian coins struck around 1847, in the reign of Ang Duong which showed a temple whose top was the sanctuary of Sambhu (Siva) on Mount Meru. Gandhiji was aware of my father's interest in the culture of Cambodia and so he was to be an ideal host of Ven. Dhammavara. Dhamma, people and king have been the trilogy of the Khmer state. Such are the roots of this book.

**Contents and Sample Pages**