Khmer Art In Thailand

Introduction To Khmer Art & Architecture

• Khmer and Lop Buri art refers to the art of the Khmer people.
• In the 6th century the Khmer settled North Eastern Thailand [ I 'san ] and were in the area which today is Cambodia. Lop Buri, a town in the central Chao Phraya Valley was the major city for Khmer administration in Thailand.
• The Khmer Empire ruled Thailand from 7th century until the mid 13th century. Khmer culture was dominant between the 11th to 13th centuries, particularly in Northeast Thailand [ I 'san ], such as at Phimai and Phnom Rung.
• In the prior period the Khmer Empire was divided between the Upper Chenla on the Mun River Basin and Lower Chenla. The art of Upper Chenla is referred to as Kompong style [ 8th to 9th centuries ]. The art of the later period is referred to as the Bayon Style. Following the death of Jayavarman the 7th, in 1219 Khmer power faded and the Kingdom of Sukhothai emerged as the dominant political force.
• Khmer art in Thailand is varied. There was the pre Angkorian period of 7th to 10th centuries, when Khmer Temples and monuments were constructed in Northeast Thailand, the Angkor period until 13th century when the Khmer ruled parts of Thailand and the prior cultural domination of the Mon Dvaravati waned in the 11th century and later when Thai artists copied or were aesthetically influenced to create a merged style we call Lop Buri.

Khmer Architecture

• Khmer existence was totally dictated by Hindu beliefs, astrology and subjugation to the Gods and their God Kings. The role of architecture was to demonstrate these beliefs for the believers and enforce by demonstration the system to those subjugated to the system. Read More About Hindu Deities In Thailand and Southeast Asia Here...
  
• Architecture was based on a system where boundaries, axes, and other architectural parameters have measurement or size based on their physical extent and internal divisions [ that is subdivided parts into logical parts with each measurable against the whole ] but where additionally these structures contained calendar and cosmological concepts. Read more Here....