The Khmer Empire (c. AD 802 – AD 1451) was an important polity centred in what is now northern Cambodia and which came to dominate much of mainland South-East Asia. At the beginning of the First Millennium AD, the region that would later be identified as Indochina saw an increasing process of Indianization by way of extensive maritime trade networks with the Indian subcontinent starting in the Fifth Century AD; in addition to goods, Hindu and Buddhist missionaries followed these routes to mainland and island South East Asia, where they eventually established footholds for their respective religions within the power structures of indigenous polities. Through continuous interest in Indian goods and commerce, a demand for members of the Brahmin class to confirm local kings, and the spread of Sanskrit and Pali as languages of liturgy and learning, a distinct cosmopolitan culture emerged which took on Indian influence but nevertheless maintained a particular local character. By the time of the Khmer Empire’s founding in the Ninth Century AD, Mahayana Buddhism and Hinduism were firmly established and their promotion throughout Khmer holdings – through temple building and the arts – proved to be a major preoccupation of the state.

This 12th -13th Century Khmer depiction of the Buddha is rendered in feldspathic aranite sandstone with a serene expression and open eyes with a downward gaze. Characteristic of Cambodian and South East Asian sculpture is the angular eyebrows which in this example connect at the start of the thin and slightly protruding nose. The mouth, with a thinner upper lip and a fuller lower lip, is taut and pulled into a gentle smile. His earlobes are pierced and long, hinting at Siddhartha Gautama’s noble birth and upbringing, but they are free of jewellery to indicate his ultimate rejection of worldly possessions. In accordance with the ‘thirty-two characteristics of a great man’ (skt. mahāpuruṣa lakṣaṇa) which are traditionally ascribed to Gautama and recorded in the Pali Lakkhaṇa Sutta, the Buddha is depicted as having a protuberance at the top of his head (uṇhīsasīso, idam-pi tassa bhoto Gotamassa mahāpurisassa mahāpurisalakkhaṇaṁ bhavati…) and hair which is tightly curled to the right (uddhaggalomo ... uddhaggāni lomāni jātāni nīlāni, añjanavaṇṇāni kuṇḍalāvaṭṭāni dakkhiṇāvaṭṭakajātāni...).

The golden age for Buddhism – that is, when Buddhism began to supersede Hinduism with governmental backing – began under Jayavarman VII. Following the AD 1177-78 invasions of the Chams, the traditional enemies of the Khmer people, Jayavarman began an intensive program of rebuilding the Khmer empire; at the same time, perhaps under the influence of his Mahayana Buddhist wives Jayarajadevi and Indradevi, he strove to transform the empire into something which was distinctly Buddhist in its character. Towards the end of the 12th Century, Jayavarman directed not only the building of Buddhist stone shrines and temples across the empire, but also the refurbishment of the famed Angkor Wat into a Buddhist centre of worship after centuries of hosting Hindu functions. The success of Jayavarman’s Buddhist campaign across the Khmer Empire, as witnessed by this bust of Gautama Buddha, can still be observed in the ubiquity of statues depicting the seated Khmer king across Cambodia today.

Research by Michael Harazin