Asrama - Monastery
Airavana - Elephant, the mount of Indra
Amitabha - Buddha of the higher spirit, represented on the head-dress of bodhisattvas
Amrita - Elixir of life, from the churning of the ocean
Ananta - Serpent on which Vishnou reclines on the ocean
Angkor - City
Apsaras - Celestial dancers
Asura - Demon with power equal to that of the gods
Avatar - Incarnation (or manifestation) of Vishnou
Avalokitesvara - Or Lokesvara, the compassionate bodhisattva, responding to the idea of Providence, with four arms and carrying the amitabha on his head-dress: attributes; lotus, rosary, bottle and a book
Balang - Pedestal
Banteay - Citadel
Baray - An area of water enclosed within mounds of earth
Beng - A pool
Bodhisattva - One in the process of becoming a Buddha
Buddha - The Sage who has achieved ultimate wisdom
Brahma - One of the gods of the Brahmanic trinity - the creator, generally with 4 faces, mounted on the Hamsa (swan or sacred bird)
Cedei - Or stupa, a funerary or commemorative monument usually containing the remains of incineration
Cham - The inhabitants of Champa, kingdom of the Hindu civilisation on the coast of what is now Vietnam, earlier than the Annamites
Damrei - Elephant
Deva- A god
Devaraja - Or god king, the essence of Royalty, supposed to reside in the royal linga
Devata - Feminine divinity
Dharmasala - House of fire or shelter for pilgrims
Dhyana-mudra - Meditative posture of the Buddha (with hands crossed in the lap)
Durga - One of the wives of Shiva
Dvarapala - A guardian of the temple (deva or asura)
Ficus - Religiosa Sacred tree (Buddhist religion)
Fou-Nan - The Chinese name of an ancient Indo-Chinese empire preceding the kingdom of Cambodia
Gajasimha - Lion with a snout
Ganesha - Son of Shiva, god with the head of an Elephant
Ganga - One of the wives of Shiva (goddess of the Ganges)
Garuda - Divine bird with a human body, enemy of the nagas and the mount of Vishnou
Gopura - Entry pavilion to the various temple enclosures
Guru - Master
Hamsa - Sacred bird, the mount of Brahma
Hanuman - The white monkey. Chief of the army of monkeys
Harihara - A god unifying in the same figure Hari (Vishnou) and Hara (Shiva)
Hayagriva - Secondary god of the family of Shiva, represented with the head of a horse
Hinayana - Or small vehicle - a Buddhist sect
Ishvara - One of the names of Shiva
Indra - Brahmanic god, master of thunder and lightning; his mount is Airavana the elephant (usually three headed) and his attribute, the thunderbolt
Kailasa - One of the mountain peaks of the Himalaya where Shiva resides
Kala - The head of a monster, supposed to represent one aspect of Shiva
Kali - One of the names of the sakti of Shiva
Kama - The god of love
Ko - Ox
Kompong - A port or village by the water
Krishna - Manifestation of Vishnou
Kubera - The god of wealth, dwarfed and deformed, mounted on a Yaksha or a rat
Lakshmana - Brother of Rama (from the Ramayana)
Lakshmi - The wife or sakti of Vishnou
Lanka - The island of Ceylon, home of the rakshasas
Linga - Phallic idol, one of the forms of Shiva
Lokapala - Guardian of one of the four cardinal points
Lokesvara - Other name for Avalokitesvara, the compassionate bodhisattva
Mahabharata - Grand Hindu epic
Mahayana - Or Large Vehicle, a Buddhist sect
Maitreya - Future Buddha (a sort of Messiah)
Makara - Sea monster with the head of an elephant, who, in ornamentation, often disgorges the naga
Mara - Evil spirit who tempts the Buddha
Men - A light pavilion used for incineration
Meru - Mountain, centre of the world and residence of the gods
Mucilinda - Naga sheltering Buddha in meditation
Madras - Symbolic gesture of gods or Buddha
Mukhalinga - A linga adorned with a face
Mukuta - Or mokot, the conical head-dress worn behind the diadem
Naga - Stylisation of the Cobra - a mythical serpent, usually multi-headedGenie of the waters who shelters the Buddha in meditation with his fanned heads.
Nagaraja - King of the Nagas
Nagi - Female naga
Nandin - Sacred bull, the mount of Shiva
Narasimha - The God Vishnou, with the lower part in human form and the head of a lion
Neak-ta - Popular idol, or the shelter that contains it
Nirvana - The ultimate enlightenment and the supreme Buddhist objective
Pala - Dynasty ruling in Bihar and Bengal between about AD 750 and 1196
Parinirvana - The entry of the Buddha to enlightenment, the pose of the statues of the reclining Buddha
Parvati - Wife or sakti of Shiva
Peshani - Millstone intended for grinding
Phnom - Mountain
Phtel - Bowl
Pradakshina - A circumambulation ritual always keeping the monument to the right
Prah - Saint, sacred
Prah patima - A metal leaf stamped with the image of the Buddha
Prajnaparamita - The mystical mother of the Buddhas, symbol of wisdom
Prasat - Sanctuary in the form of a tower
Prasavya - Circumambulation funerary ritual, in the opposite manner to the pradakshina
Prei - Forest
Pourana - Historical Indian legend
Puri - Town
Rahu - Head of the monster demon of eclipses
Rakshasa - Inferior demon joining with the asuras against the devas
Rakshasi - Feminine form of rakshasa
Rama - A manifestation of Vishnou (Ramayana)
Ramayana - Grand Hindu epic, the history of Rama and of Sita
Rati - The wife of Kama, god of love
Ravana - King of the rakshasas, with multiple heads and arms
Rishi - Brahman ascetic
Sakra - The wheel of the Buddha, signifying immortality and power
Saka - The Indian era the most commonly used in the inscriptions, preceding the Christian era by 78 years
Sakti - he wife or feminine energy of the Hindu gods
Sarasvati - Wife of Brahma, goddess of eloquence
Sarong - A length of cloth wrapped around the lower body
Sema - Steles (inscribed stones) placed on the axes and corners of Buddhist terraces to define the sacred platform
Seng - Lion
Sita - Wife of Rama (Ramayana)
Shiva - One of the gods of the Brahmanic trinity - the creator and destroyer, mounted on Nandin (the sacred bull), generally with a third frontal eye and a crescent on the chignon, worshipped in the form of the linga
Shri - Sakti of the god Vishnou (or Lakshmi)
Skanda - God of war, son of Shiva, mounted on a peacock or on a rhinoceros.
Snanadroni - An ablution slab with a beak, always orientated to the north, placed on the pedestal of the idols for the flow of lustral water
Somasutra - Channel for the evacuation of lustral water out of the sanctuary
Srah - Pool
Srei - Woman
Stupa - Or cedei, a funerary or commemorative monument usually containing the remains of incineration
Sugriva - King of the monkeys, dethroned by his brother Valin and ally of Rama (Ramayana)
Surya - God of the sun, haloed with a ring of light and mounted on a horse-drawn chariot
Tandava - Dance of Shiva separating the cosmic periods of the creation and destruction of the worlds
Tantrism - Buddhist sect from the Mahayana
Tara - Feminine energy of Lokesvara, similar to the Prajnaparamita
Tchen-La - Of water and earth, ancient Chinese name for Cambodia
Tevoda - Or devata, a feminine divinity
Thom - Large
Trapeang - Sea
Tricula - Trident, the weapon of Shiva
Trimurti - Brahmanic trinity (Shiva between Vishnou and Brahma)
Tripitaka - Sacred Buddhist texts
Uma - Wife or sakti of Shiva
Ushnisha - Protuberance from the skull crowning the head of Buddha
Vajra - Thunderbolt, the attribute of Indra
Valin - King of the monkeys, brother of Sugriva and overcome by him with the help of Rama (Ramayana)
Varaha - Manifestation of Vishnou (wild boar)
Vasuki - The serpent in the churning of the Ocean
Vat - Pagoda
Veda - Brahman rules
Vihara - Monastery
Vishvakarman - The divine architect, son of Shiva
Vishnou - One of the gods of the Brahmanic trinity - the protector. His mount is Garuda and he generally has four arms that hold a disk, a conch, a ball and a club Numerous manifestations.
Yama - God of death and the supreme judge, mounted on a buffalo
Yakshas - Or Yeaks, genie of good or evil
1
The exact interpretation of the cult of Devaraja remains questionable - some suggest god-
king, others king-of-the-gods.
2
The original use of these stone tanks remains controversial - some archaeologists suggest
that they were used only for offerings.
3
Le Notre was Louis XIV's landscape architect of Versailles and others.
4
Author's note: - The head of Kala is also known as the "Head of Rahu", the demon
of the eclipses. The legend of Rahu is linked to the Churning of the Sea of Milk - the
monster steals the amrita, the elixir of immortality, and is denounced by the sun and the
moon to Vishnou who, with a cast of his disk, cuts his body in two. Ever since, both
halves remaining immortal, he endeavours, in order to revenge himself, to devour the Sun
and the Moon whenever one of them passes near by. It is still customary to shoot at the
moon during an eclipse to scare the monster away.
5
Author's note: - Jacques Lagisquet took up his position as Conservator again on the
departure of Maurice Glaize in 1946, followed by Henri Marchal who held it until 1953.
Jean Boisselier served first as assistant, then as scientific director until 1955. After
Mr Laur the last French conservator was B.P. Groslier who was forced to resign by
political events in 1972
6
Only a few of the thousand buddhas remain.
7
The central stairway has since been improved.
8
Following the collapse of the heaven and hell gallery in 1947, Mssrs Marchal and Lagisquet
started restoration work which finished in 1950. Mr Lagisquet then reformed the false
ceiling in this gallery with concrete panels.
Other general work undertaken from 1946 to 1972:
Consolidation work continued with partial anastylosis, particularly of the libraries.
9
This and the previous temple have been subject to restoration in the 'sixties, and this
lintel can now be seen in its rightful location above the door.
10
Author's note: - Mr Cœdes rather sees, in the addition of the four corners of
galleries masking the arrangement in a cross, an arrangement analogous to the one which
blocked the initial cross of the Baphuon with an oblong base surrounding the line of the
original cross - the architect wanting to emphasise in symbolic form the representation of
the Bayon as Mount Meru, which in Indian cosmology continues below ground in equal
proportion to its elevation above.
11
The lintel is longer in place. This monument now stands badly ruined and is not often
cleared of vegetation.
12
Further excavation by Mr Marchal in 1952 revealed more internal bas-reliefs at the
northern end.
13
The Terrace of the Leper King was restored by the École Française d'Extrême Orient in
1995.
14
After an attempt to steal his head he was replaced with a copy - from which the head was
then successfully stolen. He now sits in the centre of the National Museum, Phnom Penh.
15
Restored by B.P. Groslier during the 'sixties in an ambitious programme of work for the
monument which was abandoned in 1972. Partial work on the central pyramid was resumed in
1995 by the EFEO.
16
The elements of most of the bas-reliefs still lie methodically scattered in the
surrounding forest.
17
This is no longer the case since the walls have been removed following anastylosis work in
1965 by B.P. Groslier.
18
The south-west corner pavilion has since collapsed.
19
The stele is no longer in position.
20
It is no longer advisable to enter the fourth eastern gopura.
21
The fronton is no longer in position.
22
This temple now stands badly ruined.
23
All towers are now in a better state following extensive restoration work during the
'sixties. Replacement bricks are stamped with the mark CA.
24
This tale relates to the temple of Banteay Samre.
25
The stele is no longer in place.
26
This famous tree has long since disappeared.
27
These elephants are no longer in position.
28
Louis XIV's landscape architect of Versailles and others.
29
These and virtually all the other free standing statues described are no longer in place.
30
The two lions are no longer in position.
31
The Lokesvara is now in the National Museum, Phnom Penh.
32
Ganesha is no longer in place.
33
Although the road has since improved, security has sadly deteriorated. Visitors to Banteay
Srei should always first check the situation with the local police. These days one can
park just by the eastern entrance to the temple.
34 The interpretation of this scene remains questionable.
35
Only the feet remain...
36
Others propose its use as a casket destined to receive offerings or for water having
served in ablution.
37
No longer in place.
38
The stele is no longer in place.
39
These statues are no longer in place.
40
The south-east tower collapsed in 1966.
41
The camp has since gone but the pagoda grown.
42
The old market to the south, on the west bank of the river. The mud in the rainy season
and the quarry on the side of the hill do not always allow easy access.
43
Only their broken pedestals remain.
44
Ak Yom is now visible, though badly ruined, just on the southern side of the track that
surrounds the baray - a few hundred metres west of the sluice.
45
Not much remains of this site since it was used by the military during the '70s. Boats now
leave from the concrete dam on the south bank of the baray.
46
This journey to Beng Mealea is no longer easy, nor is the game hunting, nor the enthusing
in the jungle.