Angkor Temple Glossary

Acarya	Spiritual guide, teacher, instructor of religious mysteries.
-aditya	Rising sun (suffix) .
Airavata	Multi-headed elephant; India's vehicle.
Amitabha	The "Father" Buddha (Mahayana Buddhism). In Khmer art a seated Buddha meditating; depicted on the headdress of a bodhisattva.
Amrita	The drink of immortality that was created by the Churning of the Ocean of Milk.
Ananta	see Vasuki.
Anastylosis	Method of restoring a monument; can imply dismantling and rebuilding the structure using the original methods and materials.
Angkor	From the Sanskrit nagara (holy city). In Thai is nakhon and in Cham nagar. Ancient capital in Cambodia: was the main centre of the Khmer Empire from AD 802 to 1432.
Angkor Thom	The 'great' city. Built by Jayavarman VII in the late 12th century. It is positioned north of Angkor Wat (the temple of the Bayon at its centre). At its peak this was the largest city in the world and the centre of a great empire.
Apsara	Sanskrit for a heavenly female dancer attentive to kings, gods and heroes.
Ashrama	A retreat for ascetics or hermits who devote themselves to preparing for the next life.
Asura	Demon, enemy of the gods, with god-like power that represents the forces of evil.
Avalokiteshvara	('the Lord who looks down from above') (see Lokesvara).
Avatar	Sanskrit term for the incarnation of a deity in a different form. Refers to the descent of Vishnu (reincarnation) .
Balarama	The elder twin brother of Krishna; Vishnu's eighth avatara .
Baluster	Short posts or pillars that support a rail and forms a balustrade.
Banteay	Fortress or citadel. It has been applied to temples because of their encircling walls.
Baray	Sanskrit for reservoir, lake.
Bas-relief	Sculpture in low relief. The figures project less than half the true proportions from the background.
Bodhi tree	Enlightenment tree: Buddha became enlightened while meditating under it.
Bodhisattva	('Enlightenment Being') In Mahayana Buddhism, a potential Buddah who postpones his nirvana to stay on earth to help mankind achieve enlightenment.
Boeng	lake.
Brahma	God part of a trinity with Shiva and Vishnu. The creator of the world and universe.
Brahmin	The priestly class in Vedism and Hinduism.
Brahmanism	The early religion of India that emanated from Vedism.
Buddha	Compassionate being who has attained spiritual enlightenment. Gautama Siddhartha was the first Buddha, he lived in the sixth century BC.
Buddhism	The Buddhist religion that adheres to the basic principles of non-violence, compassion, and generous works.
Chakravartin	Universal sovereign; a title for the supreme king or universal overlord. From the Sankrit term for one who turns the wheel of the law.
Cambodia	South-east Asia country, bounded by Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and the Gulf of Thailand.
Causeway	Raised road.
Chakra	The "wheel" of the Buddha symbol of immortality and power; solar-disc; disc-like weapon of Vishnu
Champa	An ancient Indianised state and rival of the Khmer Empire. It was situated in an area corresponding approximately to present-day south and central Vietnam. It existed from the second century to the fifteenth century. the Chams A people speaking an Austronesian language who occupied southern coastal Vietnam and were often enganged in war with the Khmer.
Chenla	see Zhenla. Chinese for the states that occupied Cambodia from about AD 550 to 800.
Corbel	Khnmer method of spanning an opening used for vaults. Overlapping arrangement of stones, each course projecting one third beyond the one below.
Churning of the ocean milk	Hindu myth where gods and demons pull on Vasuki, a snake coiled round Mount Mahendra, to churn the ocean of milk and produce the elixir of immortality.
Deva	(feminine = devi) (devata in Sanskrit); deity that is often a guardian. Heavenly or divine.
Devaraja	Cult instituted by Jayavarman II in AD 802 in Cambodia: the king was an emanation of a god and would be reunited with that god upon death; usually represented in Khmer art as Shiva, symbolising the spiritual and royal essence of the Khmer king .
Dhuli jen	literally, dust of the feet. Dhuli jen vrah kamraten an is the highest title a king could bestow.
Ddvarapala	Guardian at the entrance to a temple often standing and holding a club.
Dvaravati	Mon kingdom in Thailand from approximately the sixth or seventh century to the eleventh century.
Fan	Title for overlords or kings of Funan in Chinese histories. Equivalent of pon in Khmer.
Funan	Chinese name for an ancient Indianised kingdom, probably the predecessor to Angkor; located in the lower Mekong basin; although it existed in the first century AD, its zenith was the fifth century; in the seventh century it was eclipsed by the state of Zhenla.
Garuda	A mythical creature depicted in Khmer art with a human body and birdlike wings, legs and a thick curved beak with bulging eyes; his lower body is covered with feathers and he has the claws of an eagle; Vishnu's vehicle.
Gopura	Gateway to a temple in south India; entrance pavilion in enclosure walls around a temple. Often found in Khmer architecture.
Guru	Spiritual guide.
Hamsa	Sacred goose; Brahma's mount
Hanuman	In the Ramayana, chief of the army of monkeys.
Hari-Hara	('Hari' = Vishnu; 'Hara' = Shiva) Deity combination of these two gods. Seen as a synthesis of the two Hindu cults. The figure is depicted with Vishnu's tiara on one side and Shiva's plaited locks on the other.
Hinayana Buddhism	The 'Small Vehicle'; school of Buddhism, predominant religion in Cambodia in the 15th century; more commonly called Theravada Buddhism.
Hinduism	Religion and social system of the Hindus; popular in Cambodia especially from the first century to the 12th century.
Hotar	Priest .
Indra	Hindu god of war and tempests (from the east)..
-isvara	intrinsic q ualities of Shiva (suffix).
Jaya	Sanskrit word for victory (prefix).
Jyan	Weight measure.
Kailasa	Mythical mountain in the Himalayas and the abode of Shiva.
Kala	Creature with bulbous eyes, human or lion's nose, two horns, clawlike hands and a grinning face.
Kalkin	see Vishnu.
Kamratan	High religious title, superior to a kamsten.
Kamsten	Religious title.
Khleang	"Emporium", monument whose purpose is still unclear. There are two fine examples opposite the terraces of the elephants and leper king in Angkor Thom.
Khion glan	Title given to the chief of the warehouse.
Khion karya	Chief of corvee labour.
Khion visaya	Official responsible for land ownership.
Khmer	(Kh) Ancient indigenous people of Cambodia: the language of Cambodia.
Knum	Slave or junior kinsman.
Kpon	Feminine figure for ancestral or local deities.
Krishna	One of the avataras of Vishnu and hero of the Hindu epic Mahabharata.
Lakshmi	Spouse of Shiva and goddess of beauty, created in the churning of the ocean of milk.
Laksmana	Brother of Ramachandra (see Ramayana).
Laterite	Basic building material from red residual soil in humid tropical and subtropical regions that is leached of soluble minerals abundant in Cambodia and north-eastern Thailand. The rock has a porous texture but becomes extremely hard over time in contact with the air, thus making a substantial and lightweight building material.
Linga	Phallic symbol of Shiva and his role in creation.
Lintel	Crossbeam resting on two upright posts.
Lokapala	(Hindu mithology) Protector of one of the eight directions of the earth.
Lokeshvara	(Lord of the World) Compassionate bodhisattva concerned with mankind.
Mahabharata	Great Indian epic on a civil war in north India.
Mahayana Buddhism	The 'Greater Vehicle'; a school of Buddhism that extended the early teachings; flourished in Cambodia, particularly in the late 12th and early 13th centuries.
Mandara	Mythical mountain in the Himalayas pole for the Churning of the Ocean of Milk.
Makara	Sea animal with the body of a reptile and a big jaw and snout that is elongated into a trunk.
Mantrin	King's counsellor or minister.
Mebon	Island temple.
Meru	Home of the gods. Mythical mountain at the centre of the Universe and axis of the world around which the continents and the oceans are ordered.
Mratan	Official appointed by the king in central and regional administration.
Mratan klon	Official appointed to govern a place or region.
Mratan kurun	Higher official appointed to rule a region.
Mucilinda	Naga king; shelter of Buddha while he was meditating during a storm.
Naga	Serpent-god (cobra) of the waters; seven or nine-headed with a scaly body. Protector of the Angkorian state. First used in Bakong temple in Hariharalaya.
Nandi	'The Happy One'. White bull, mount of Shiva.
Nirvana	Goal of Buddhists seen as the final liberation from the cycle of rebirths.
Pala	Weight measure.
Pali	Language derived from Vedic Sanskrit.
Pediment	Fronton: triangular upper portion of a wall above the portico.
Phnom	Mountain.
Pon	Hereditary (from a man to his sister's son) high title. In use until the early VIII century AD, for a local leader who had authority over land and livestock.
Pilaster	Column on the side of an open doorway that projects slightly from the wall.
Praman	Administrative territory under the king's jurisdiction.
Prasat	Tower
Preah	Holy. Preah khan: sacred sword.
Psar	market
Rahu	Demon with a monster's head and no body. Thought to be the cause of eclipes by swallowing the sun and moon.
Raja	King.
Rakshasa	Demon who lives in Lanka (Sri).
Rajakulamahamantri	Title for great adviser.
Rama	Hero of the Ramayana, the seventh incarnation of Vishnu.
Ramayana	Sanskrit epic poem, composed around 300 BC, describing the adventures of Ramachandra and Sita.
Ravana	King of the rakshasas, with ten heads and twenty arms, who abducted Sita and battled against Rama in the Ramayana.
Rishi	Sanskrit for sage, ascetic, or hermit. Represented meditating crosslegged.
Sakti	Energy of a female deity consort of the god.
Sampot	Cambodian garment covering for the lower body
Sanskrit	With Pali root of modern Khmer language.
Sesa	see Vasuki.
Shiva	Hindu god of creation and destruction.
Sita	Rama's wife. See Ramayana.
Spean	Bridge.
Srah	Pond.
Srei	Woman.
Sresthin	Middle grade official.
Sruk	A small territorial division, possibly the size of a village.
Stung	River.
Sugriva	Monkey king (Ramayana).
Surya-	Name prefix for sun.
Ta	Ancestor.
Tamrvac	Agents for the government in the provinces.
Tanub	Dyke.
Theravada Buddhism	Religion found in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand. It follows the early Buddhist teachings .
Tonle' Sap	'sweet water' (tonle'=large river) the largest lake in SE Asia, linked with the Mekong River by the Tonle Sap River.
Upanisads	Ancient religious texts from India.
Vap	Title meaning father.
-varman	Shield or protector (name suffix).
Vasuki	(Ananta, Sesa) Serpent upon which Vishnu reclines or sits.
Vedas	Hymns and prayers Indo-Aryans of northern India (second millennium BC).
Vihara	Sanctuary, temple.
Visaya	Territorial area.
Vishnu	The Hindu god of compassion and preservation.
Vrah guru	Senior minister responsible for religious foundations.
Vyapara	Official appointed by the king responsible for boundaries.
Wat	Siamese for 'temple'
Yaksha	Male deity, guardian with bulging eyes, fangs and a leering grin.
Yoni	Female fertility symbol at the base of the linga.
Zhenla (Chenla)	Chinese name given to a state that existed in Cambodia from the sixth century to the eighth century.

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