The Mountain of the Gods: How Hinduism Shaped the Soul of Angkor

Chapter One: The Celestial Court: The Hindu Pantheon at Angkor The great stone temples that rise from the plains of Angkor were not built as empty monuments. They were conceived as vibrant, living palaces, built to be the earthly homes for a vast and powerful pantheon of gods and goddesses. This celestial court was inherited from the great traditions of India, brought to Cambodia in the early centuries of the first millennium. The Khmer people, and particularly their kings, did not just borrow this pantheon; they embraced it, worshipped it, and made it the absolute center of their universe. The choice of which deity to honor, the stories of their triumphs, and the symbols of their power are the keys to understanding the art, architecture, and political ideology of the Khmer Empire. While a multitude of gods, spirits, and celestial beings were known and depicted, the state religion of the Angkorian era revolved primarily around the worship of a few supreme Hindu deities. The king would o…