Khmer Art & Architecture In Northeast Thailand [ I 'san ]

• Khmer art and architecture are explained in detail in the Khmer art link. Here also are the sub links detailing Khmer art in Central Thailand Khmer art in Lower North Thailand and Khmer mythological beliefs in art and architecture. After 1220 no major Khmer monuments were constructed and by 1431 the Siamese Kingdom of Ayutthaya destroyed the Khmer Kingdom sacked Angkor [ its Capital city ] and forced its survivors to re-establish at Phnom Phen.
• By this time these Cambodians were no longer Hindu, but Buddhists who had lost their Khmer heritage. So it remained until French colonialists re-discovered Angkor's ruins in 1860. The Khmer ruins and art in Thailand and Cambodia are more than a pile of rocks and mortar with unusual art objects. They reflect a belief system, the remains of which are apparent everywhere today in South East Asia and confirm the level of understanding the Khmer had 1000 years ago about astrology and the impact of the planets on daily life, mathematics and mythological concepts.
• Many Thai architectural forms are adopted from Khmer heritage, such as the Phrang, and many mythological animals are also adopted, the Garuda, the Naga, Kala etc.

The major Khmer settlements in East Thailand [ I' san ] were at:

• Muang Sema
• Muang Tapoo
• Muang Phimai
• Muang Phlbpha
• Prasat Phnom Wan, all in Nakhon Ratchasima Province
• Prasat Phnom Rung
• Prasat Muang Tham, both in Buri Ram Province
• Prasat Prang Ku
• Prasat Sra Kamphaeng Nai
• Prasat Sra Khampaeng Yai, all in Si Sa Ket Province
• Ban Khu Muang in Ubon Ratchathani Province
• Muang Nakhon Champasi in Maha Sarakham Province
• Muang Nong Noi in Udon Thani Province
• Prasat Ban Phan-na and
• Muang Nong Han Luang, both in Sakhon Nakhon Province

Where To See Better Examples Of Khmer Art In East Thailand:

• Phimai National Meseum, and
• Ubon Ratchathani National Museum

The major Khmer Historical Sites In Northeast Thailand
[1] Phanom Rung Historical Park

• Phanom Rung Historical Park is mounted on a volcanic hill 1,257 feet high in Buri Ram Province and is perhaps the most beautiful and important of the Khmer sites in Thailand.
• The location was originally a main stopping centre on the ancient Angkor Thom to Phimai laterite road. Built in the 12 C it was dedicated to the Hindu God, Shiva, the supreme Hindu Deity.
• The design of the complex on the hill is intended to symbolize Mount Kailasa, the Indian heavenly residence of Shiva. The main tower is 23 meters tall and 9.5 meters wide and is made of pink sandstone. Read More Here...

[2] Phimai

• Phimai Historical Park is an ancient Khmer city of the Khmer Empire in Thailand situated in Phimai District of Nakhon Ratchasima Province and is about 60 kilometers north from Phimai, the Capital. The ancient Khmer city [ and earlier in 7 - 8 C part of Chenla Kingdom ] is surrounded by a moat adjacent to the Mun River on the east and north boundaries. Phimai is the largest Khmer ruins complex in Thailand and comprises an inner moated city, 565 by 1030 metres, which was built in the 11 – 12 C with further additions in the 13 C.
• The Temple City was surrounded by a laterite wall 3,350 feet by 1,900 feet with the Temple enclosed by two walls, the outer measuring 900 feet by 720 feet and the innermost wall 272 by 243 feet.  Read More Here.....
  

Khmer Art In I ‘san, Cosmology And Architecture

• Khmer religious Temples were built to demonstrate on earth the divine nature or order of the Universe as proclaimed by the Hindu religion. The monuments were the earthly embodiment of the cosmos, a microcosm of that belief. At Temples such as Phimai and Phanom Rung, the Central sanctuary tower [ prang ] represents in stone and architectural design, Mount Meru, at the center of the Hindu perceived universe.
• The various decorative and strange figures that ornament the tower represent the various inhabitants of the many levels on Mount Meru. The stone galleries that encircle the tower represent the surrounding ranges. The ponds and moats around and within the complex represent the cosmic ocean on which the universe rests. At Phimai the outer rectangular wall represents the boundary wall that encircles the universe.
• The temple complex was designed to be seen from above, before man could fly, and for the Gods to view and to so demonstrate that here on earth we replicated in stone the divine order of the cosmos, ensuring harmony between the world of man and the world of Gods.