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This print friendly glossary is a subset of the full illustrated glossary to be found at http://www.asiatravel-cambodia.com/angkor-wat/glossary.htm This contains those terms which the visitor is most likely to encounter when exploring Angkor temples with a guide. Print it out and take it with you for easy reference - Link to Home |
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Angkor Temple print friendly glossary |
| -aditya | Rising sun (suffix) . |
| Airavata | Multi-headed elephant; India's vehicle. |
| Amitabha | The "Father" Buddha (Mahayana Buddhism). In Khmer art a seated Buddha meditating; depicted on the headdress of a bodhisattva. |
| Amrita | The drink of immortality that was created by the Churning of the Ocean of Milk. |
| Angkor | From the Sanskrit nagara (holy city). In Thai is nakhon and in Cham nagar. Ancient capital in Cambodia: was the main centre of the Khmer Empire from AD 802 to 1432. |
| Angkor Thom | The 'great' city. Built by Jayavarman VII in the late 12th century . It is positioned north of Angkor Wat (the temple of the Bayon at its centre). |
| Apsara | Sanskrit for a heavenly female dancer attentive to kings, gods and heroes. |
| Asura | Demon,enemy of the gods, with god-like power that represents the forces of evil. |
| Avatar | Sanskrit term for the incarnation of a deity in a different form. Refers to the descent of Vishnu (reincarnation) . |
| Baluster | Short posts or pillars that support a rail and forms a balustrade. |
| Banteay | Fortress or citadel. It has been applied to temples because of their encircling walls. |
| Baray | Sanskrit for reservoir, lake. |
| Bas-relief | Sculpture in low relief. The figures project less than half the true proportions from the background. |
| Boeng | lake. |
| Brahma | God part of a trinity with Shiva and Vishnu. The creator of the world and universe. |
| Buddha | Compassionate being who has attained spiritual enlightenment. Gautama Siddhartha was the first Buddha, he lived in the sixth century BC. |
| Buddhism | The Buddhist religion that adheres to the basic principles of non-violence, compassion, and generous works. |
| Causeway | Raised road across a body of water. |
| Champa | An ancient Indianised state and rival of the Khmer Empire. It was situated in an area corresponding approximately to present-day south and central Vietnam. It existed from the second century to the fifteenth century. the Chams A people speaking an Austronesian language who occupied southern coastal Vietnam and were often enganged in war with the Khmer. |
| Chenla | see Zhenla. Chinese for the states that occupied Cambodia from about AD 550 to 800. |
| Corbel | Khmer method of spanning an opening used for vaults. Overlapping arrangement of stones, each course projecting one third beyond the one below. |
| Churning of the ocean milk | Hindu myth where gods and demons pull on Vasuki, a snake coiled round Mount Mahendra, to churn the ocean of milk and produce the elixir of immortality. |
| Deva | (feminine = devi) (devata in Sanskrit); deity that is often a guardian. Heavenly or divine. |
| Devaraja | Cult instituted by Jayavarman II in AD 802 in Cambodia: the king was an emanation of a god and would be reunited with that god upon death; usually represented in Khmer art as Shiva, symbolising the spiritual and royal essence of the Khmer king . |
| Funan | Chinese name for an ancient Indianised kingdom, probably the predecessor to Angkor; located in the lower Mekong basin; although it existed in the first century AD, its zenith was the fifth century; in the seventh century it was eclipsed by the state of Zhenla. |
| Garuda | A mythical creature depicted in Khmer art with a human body and birdlike wings, legs and a thick curved beak with bulging eyes; his lower body is covered with feathers and he has the claws of an eagle; Vishnu's vehicle. |
| Hanuman | In the Ramayana, chief of the army of monkeys. |
| Hari-Hara | ('Hari' = Vishnu; 'Hara' = Shiva) Deity combination of these two gods. Seen as a synthesis of the two Hindu cults. The figure is depicted with Vishnu's tiara on one side and Shiva's plaited locks on the other. |
| Hinduism | Religion and social system of the Hindus; popular in Cambodia especially from the first century to the 12th century. |
| Indra | Hindu god of war and tempests (from the east).. |
| -isvara | intrinsic q ualities of Shiva (suffix). |
| Jaya | Sanskrit word for victory (prefix). |
| Khleang | "Emporium", monument whose purpose is still unclear. |
| Khmer | (Kh) Ancient indigenous people of Cambodia: the language of Cambodia. |
| Lakshmi | Spouse of Shiva and goddess of beauty, created in the churning of the ocean of milk. |
| Laterite | Basic building material from red residual soil in humid tropical and subtropical regions that is leached of soluble minerals abundant in Cambodia and north-eastern Thailand. Rock of porous texture and a red colour that hardens on exposure to air. |
| Linga | Phallic symbol of Shiva and his role in creation. |
| Lintel | Crossbeam resting on two upright posts. |
| Mandara | Mythical mountain in the Himalayas pole for the Churning of the Ocean of Milk. |
| Makara | Sea animal with the body of a reptile and a big jaw and snout that is elongated into a trunk. |
| Mebon | Island temple. |
| Meru | Home of the gods. Mythical mountain at the centre of the Universe and axis of the world around which the continents and the oceans are ordered. |
| Mratan | Official appointed by the king in central and regional administration. |
| Naga | Serpent-god (cobra) of the waters; seven or nine-headed with a scaly body. Protector of the Angkorian state. |
| Nirvana | Goal of Buddhists seen as the f inal liberation from the cycle of rebirths. |
| Pediment | Fronton: triangular upper portion of a wall above the portico. |
| Phnom | Mountain. |
| Pon | Hereditary (from a man to his sister's son) high title. In use until the early VIII century AD, for a local leader who had authority over land and livestock. |
| Pilaster | Column on the side of an open doorway that projects slightly from the wall. |
| Prasat | Tower |
| Preah | Holy. Preah khan: sacred sword. |
| Psar | market |
| Raja | King. |
| Rama | Hero of the Ramayana, the seventh incarnation of Vishnu. |
| Rishi | Sanskrit for sage, ascetic, or hermit. Represented meditating crosslegged. |
| Sampot | Cambodian garment covering for the lower body |
| Sanskrit | With Pali root of modern Khmer language. |
| Shiva | Hindu god of creation and destruction. |
| Spean | Bridge. |
| Srah | Pond. |
| Srei | Woman. |
| Stung | River. |
| Sugriva | Monkey king (Ramayana). |
| Surya- | Name prefix for sun. |
| Ta | Ancestor. |
| Tanub | Dyke. |
| Tonle' Sap | 'sweet water' (tonle'=large river) the largest lake in SE Asia, linked with the Mekong River by the Tonle Sap River. |
| Vap | Title meaning father. |
| -varman | Shield or protector (name suffix). |
| Vasuki | (Ananta, Sesa) Serpent upon which Vishnu reclines or sits. |
| Vihara | Sanctuary, temple. |
| Vishnu | The Hindu god of compassion and preservation. |
| Wat | Siamese for 'temple' |
| Yoni | Female fertility symbol at the base of the linga. |
| Zhenla (Chenla) | Chinese name given to a state that existed in Cambodia from the sixth century to the eighth century. |
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