Theravada Buddhism in Cambodia – Post-Phra Nakhon Period Study Notes

Article analyses Theravada Buddhism in Cambodia during the Post-Phra Nakhon / Post-Angkor period.
Methods: purely documentary – review of inscriptions, Chinese travelogues, archaeological reports, modern scholarship.
Central thesis:
- Decline of Mahayana-Hindu court religion after the fall of Angkor ⇒ rise of Theravada as the popular and later state religion.
- Key evidence: Sri Lankan link (Mahāvihāra), the figure of “Tamlinda / Tam Lintha”, Pali-language inscriptions (e.g., Khok Sawai Jek K. $754$ ).
Continuities traced from late $13^{ ext{th}}$ -century through modern Cambodian history, including colonial, republican, communist and contemporary eras.

Angkorian Empire (Khmer) flourished between $650$ – $1250\,\text{CE}$ (Coedès), absorbing Indic Brahmanism & Buddhism.
Shared cultural zone with modern Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Sri Lanka; continuous religious, linguistic, political exchanges.
Key chronological landmarks (court capitals):
- Phnom Kulén → Angkor Wat → Angkor Thom/Bayon → Chaktomuk (Phnom Penh) → Longvek → Srei Santhor → Oudong → present Phnom Penh.

First firm royal patronage under King Suryavarman I ( $1001−1050$ CE).
Zenith under King Jayavarman VII (1181− 1218 CE):
- Built Bayon, Ta Prohm, Preah Khan, $102$ regional hospitals (Arogyasālā).
- Concept of the king as Bodhisattva-Avalokiteśvara ⇒ “Buddharāja / Dhammarāja” replacing earlier Brahminic “Devarāja”.
- Gigantic labour mobilisation – tens of thousands of blocks moved.
Archaeological & art-historical studies (Vannak Lim, Preap, Harris, Rawson, Chau Séng et al.) confirm Mahayana iconography & Sanskrit inscriptions.

Syncretic ideology: king embodies Buddhist virtue & protects realm by Dharma, analogous to Aśoka.
Faces of Bayon: four-direction omnipresence of “compassionate ruler”.
Later Thai polities (Sukhothai, Ayutthaya, Thonburi, Rattanakosin) & modern Cambodia (e.g., Norodom Sihanouk $1941−1955$ ) inherit “Ten Royal Virtues” (Dasavidha-rājadhamma).

Chinese envoy Zhou Daguan’s “Customs of Zhenla” ( $1296$ visit; pub. $1297$ ):
- Describes three religious groups – Bungy (Brahmin sages), Zhugu (yellow-robed Buddhist monks, one-meal rule), Ba Su Wei (Taoists) – Theravada already dominant among populace.
Khok Sawai Jek (KSJ) Pali inscription $1839−1852\,BE$ (≈ $1296−1308\,CE$ ):
- Reign of King Srinadavarman; Pali metrics, gematria via fruit names; orders to build temples & Buddha images.
Lankāvong transmission narrative:
- Mon novice Chapata (aged $20$ ) + four monks incl. Tam Lintha (Jayavarman VII’s son) spend $20$ yrs at Mahāvihāra, Sri Lanka ( $1180−1190$ ).
- Return ≈ $1196$ ; propagate Lankā-Theravada through Greater Khmer realm.
Wat Pa Daeng inscription (Lanna), Chingal Mali Pākorn Pali chronicle – attest multilateral study circuits (Sri Lanka ⇄ Mon ⇄ Lanna ⇄ Khmer).

King Indravarman II ( $1220s−1280s$ ?) – Mahayana continuance.
King Jayavarman VIII ( $1243−1295$ ) – Shivaite reaction; destroys many Buddhist images.
King Srinadavarman (also Srindravarman) $1295−1308$ :
- Seizes throne (son-in-law of Jayavarman VIII).
- Officially endorses Theravada; commissions Lanka-style stupa inside Preah Khan.
- KSJ inscription marks earliest royal Pali epigraphy.

Lan Xang founder Fa Ngum ( $⟶1353$ ) educated in Cambodia; imports Khmer Theravada, polity rituals to Laos.
Mon King Dhammazedi $1471−1492$ (Hongsawadi):
- Detects sangha schisms ⇒ sends $22$ thera + $22$ novices to Sri Lanka; ordination reforms create Kalyani-nikāya ( $15\,666$ monks re-ordained).
- Inscriptions mention “Tam Lin Thera, son of the king of Kamboja” returning to Bagan – proof of enduring Khmer-Lanka nexus.
Siamese chronicles & Ayutthayan influence foster further diffusion of Pali canon & monastic codes into Cambodia.

Mahayana: court-centred, monument-heavy, reliant on corvée labour.
Theravada: village-based; sangha integrated with rice-growing peasantry; temples become cultural/ethnic nuclei (“Khmer speak Khmer & gather at the wat”).
Post-Jayavarman VII labour fatigue; popular resentment hastens Mahayana collapse (“When the king died, workers laid down hoes & chisels”).

Was Theravada adoption a cause or symptom of empire’s decline?
- Some scholars: egalitarian ethos undermined divine-kingship, eroded central power.
- Others: external pressures (Ayutthaya expansion, Siamese warfare) primary; Buddhism merely adapted to new socio-political fabric.
“Dark Age” (Chandler) label for $14^{ ext{th}}−16^{ ext{th}}$ centuries reflects paucity of inscriptions yet evidence shows persistent Theravada practice.

Capitals shift: Longvek ( $1530s$ ), Oudong ( $1618−1863$ ), Phnom Penh.
French protectorate (since $1863$ ) codifies sangha; Dhammayuttika Nikāya imported from Bangkok $1855$ .
Sihanouk’s “Buddhist Socialism” $1950s−1960s$ – state welfare framed in Buddhist ethics.
Khmer Rouge $1975−1979$ : sangha nearly annihilated; monks’ population ↓ to $~3000$ .
Post- $1979$ revival: nationwide ordinations;  $95\%$ population Theravada today.

KSJ K. $754$ ( $1296$ ) – first royal Pali record.
Angkor Wat Post-Classical corpus ( $1566−1747$ ) – $40$ inscriptions, $35$ mention monks, temple donations.
Kalyani inscriptions ( $1480s$ ) – Mon reform narrative, references to Cambodian lineage.
Cambodian chronicles, palm-leaf manuscripts, royal edicts (many translated by Uraisri Worasarin, Michael Wright).

Sri Lankan Lankāvong lineage = primary catalyst for Khmer Theravada.
Replacement of Sanskrit by Pali signals doctrinal & social paradigm shift.
“Buddharāja” ideal morphs over centuries but anchors legitimacy of rulers (from Jayavarman VII to modern constitutional monarchy).
Theravada temples function as ethnic identity preservers during political fragmentation and foreign domination.
Contemporary Cambodian Buddhism shaped by centuries of oscillation between cosmopolitan imports (Sri Lanka, Siam, France) and indigenous resilience.