Angkor Wat: The Hidden Paintings

Collaborators

Group 16

Sara Nadeera binti Rahim (67637)

Nur Farrah Dayana binti Nordin (67130)

Nur Rabiatul Addawiyah binti Abu Bakar (67203)

Siti Nur Lyana binti Jumaat (68330)

The History of Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat was originally built in the first half of the 12th century. Angkor was an elaborate ritual, iconography and cosmological construct (Roveda, 2002). This building is the most famous and largest ancient Buddhist temple located in Cambodia dedicated to the Vishnu (Hindu God). Angkor Wat is known as "the temple city", the capital of the Khmer empire. While the original name of the monument remains unknown, we do know that Angkor Wat is most certainly a new name, as the urban area around it was called Yasodharapura from the late 9th century, and only became known as Angkor after the 15th century (Groslier, 2006). Angkor Wat's building was built by the Emperor Suryavarman II, who ruled the area from 1113 to 1150 AD. In order for a king to claim his political office, he had to build the greatest temple or palace for the people and the Gods.

Angkor, a vast archaeological relic of an ancient Khmer city, attracts about two million visitors each year. The 390-square-foot site is filled with shrines and hidden gems. Although many eyes pass through the ancient alleys every year, no one had been able to notice the paintings, at least not until archaeologists found up to 200 paintings that have various simple and elaborate meanings which covers the walls of the temple. Many of the paintings found in Angkor Wat were previously categorized as graffiti. However, further research proves that many of the paintings found are schematic.

The Hidden Paintings

Noel Hidalgo Tan—Antiquity Publications

Left: plain view; right: after decorrelation stretch analysis digital enhancement

Decorrelation stretch analysis

Around 200 paintings were discovered in 2010 by a rock-art researcher at Australian National University, Noel Hidalgo Tan while he was on an excavation at Angkor Wat. Through a digital enhancement technique called decorrelation stretch analysis, he was able to reveal the images on temple walls. The technique was used to enhance the paintings as the murals and paintings could not be seen with the naked eye caused by years of weathering.

(Image: © Antiquity, Tan et al.)

(Before decorrelation stretch analysis)

(Image: © Antiquity, Tan et al.)

(After decorrelation stretch analysis)

The enhanced image shows a painting of two elephants facing each other

(Image credit: copyright Antiquity)

Painting of a pyramid structure in the south entrance chamber of the third enclosure, possibly a painting of Angkor Wat itself.

(Credit: copyright Antiquity)

Painting of Khmer musical ensemble known as the pinpeat, which is made up of different gongs, xylophones, wind instruments and other percussion instruments.

(Image: © Antiquity, Tan et al.)

Painting of two elephants facing each other, depicting the animals involved in the daily life of the Khmer people.

Traces of Angkor Wat

Surprisingly, there are also paintings of Angkor Wat itself. Archaeologists believe the paintings are something they made as a mark of their society. “People had dismissed the visible pigment as marks of vandalism. While I agree that some of these paintings could be random graffiti, many are done so systematically and elaborately that they suggest deliberate action and planning. You couldn’t just do all these scenes in a day,” Tan said.

Khmer's Musical Ensemble: Pinpeat

Most paintings found in the Bakan (the chamber of the highest tier of Angkor Wat's central tower), contains an elaborate scene of a traditional Khmer musical ensemble known as the pinpeat, which is made up of different gongs, xylophones, wind instruments and other percussion instruments. Besides food, building, cloth, festival and landscape, musics are also one of the famous attraction of the Cambodian community.

Relations to the Khmer Society

(Courtesy Noel Hidalgo Tan and Antiquity Publications Ltd.)

Plan of Angkor Wat central structure showing locations of paintings.

Culture, Religion & Beliefs

Mainly, the unique hidden paintings around Angkor Wat are focused on the culture, religion and beliefs of the Khmer society. It is important that their religion and beliefs are portrayed through arts in the structure as it can create a sense of belonging within the society through symbolism. It can also be a symbol of perpetual greatness of that empire for the future generation to see.

We can relate the paintings with Animism - the religion that was practiced in the early period of the Khmer empire. Animism is the belief in a supernatural power that organizes and animates the material universe. They also believe in the landscape, animals, and plants which are considered very important sources of food. This explains the paintings of elephants, lions and boats as this may be an interpretation of how important these sources are for the society to maintain sustenance. From the paintings we can also see how Hinduism had also made its way to the Khmer empire in the 9th century. This religion had many important roles in the empire in every aspect - mainly politics and religion. This then explains the hidden painting of the Hindu monkey god, Hanuman at the top of Angkor Wat. Signs of Buddhism were also present in the hidden paintings of the temple.

“..the image depicts a man seated in a meditation pose with something that looks like a crown on his head—Tan believes that the oldest images may go back to the 16th century, or the reign of Cambodian King Ang Chan I, who moved his capital back to Angkor and began transforming the Hindu temples into Buddhist sites” (Masis, 2014).

The paintings of musical instruments depicts the ancient entertainment the society had, and how this tradition evolves to the Cambodian orchestra we know now.

The paintings, which some archaeologists believe to be an ancient act of vandalism, had now helped us to understand the Khmer society better. The paintings tells a story of how this society evolved as a whole.

The paintings in Angkor Wat have been portrayed in both ancient and modern style. Common themes represented in the paintings include the history of Buddha, Ramayana, portraits of heaven and hell and various folk tales (Martinique, 2016). These mural painters have interpreted their social life through paintings. It shows the differences and uniqueness of their culture and have managed to attract people especially archaeologists to explore more about the temple.

In this research it shows that our knowledge of the famous, widely-visited monument can be altered through archaeological research. The development of architecture in Cambodia was remarkable. It created an exceptional structure with incredible scope, but this success, due to the means required to obtain it, remained without posterity (Dumarcay, 2011). It became impossible to even consider building another Angkor Wat. Until this day, Cambodia remains the powerful successor to the ruling Khmer empire of what is now Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. It is a land of people with unbreakable passion and infectious optimism, stunning temples and monuments, and rich culture and history.

References

Barron, L. (2014). Angkor still has secrets to reveal. Retrieved from https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/angkor-still-has-secrets-reveal

Dumarçay, J., & Royère, P. (2018). Cambodian Architecture, Eighth to Thirteenth Centuries. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004392038

Gannon, M. (2014). Hidden Paintings Revealed at Ancient Temple of Angkor Wat. Retrieved from https://www.livescience.com/45909-hidden-paintings-revealed-at-angkor-wat.html

Martinique, E. (2016). Cambodian Culture and its Glorious Tradition of Artistic Practice. Retrieved from https://www.widewalls.ch/magazine/cambodian-culture

Masis, J. (2014). The Hidden Art of Angkor Wat. Retrieved from https://popular-archaeology.com/article/the-hidden-art-of-angkor-wat/

Singh. S. (2009). Domestic Tourism in Asia: Diversity and Divergence. Routledge.

Wade, L. (2014). Hidden Paintings Revealed at Angkor Wat. Retrieved from https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2014/05/hidden-paintings-revealed-at-angkor-wat.html

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