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Since the ancient time,
the Khmers had accepted
the two great religions
from India, i.e.
Hinduism and
Buddhism, by which
the former one was more
popular. Hinduism had
played an important role
in Khmer civilization as
the Angkor monarchs
adopted its concept of
deva-raja, or "god-king",
by which the king was
revered as an
incarnation of the god
Shiva, a supreme Hindu
deity who was regarded
as a protector.
Most temples in the
Angkor Empire were
dedicated to either god
Shiva or god Vishnu.
Believed to be the holy
house of the supreme
gods, the temples were
carefully built with
fine arts, and the
materials used are those
of everlasting stones.
Many impressive
sculptures of great
craftsmanship were
enshrined.
The second religion
being revered by the
Khmers was Buddhism
of Mahayana sect
which came into the
region quite at same
time as Hinduism,
however, Buddhism was
less prominent.
Both Hinduism and
Mahayana Buddhism played
an important role as the
political, religious and
philosophical pillars of
Khmer Civilization by
which the king was
revered as the god-king
or deva-raja.
This ideology enabled
the king to rule over
the country as an
absolute monarch with
sovereign spirituality
over his people, and
thus enhanced the unity
of the kingdom.
Successive kings were
able to mobilize large
manpower to serve the
army, to maintain
extensive irrigation
system and to build
numerous massive
temples.
Not until the 13th
century, Theravada
Buddhism was
introduced to the Khmer
from Sri Lanka and
became more prominent in
the royal court as well
as in the local people.
The teaching of
Theravada Buddhism
directly crashed with
the original belief of
the Khmer people as it
taught the people to
seek self enlightenment
and abandoned the
worldly things. With
this teaching, the
attitudes of the people
towards its Hindu gods
as well as the god-king
changed, and thus led to
the gradual weakening of
the empire which
eventually collapsed in
the first half of 15th
century.
The Khmer people seem to
be the obedient
students, as they did
not raise doubts about
the riligious teaching
of the original
doctrines. We can see
in Khmer history that
the religions such as
Hinduism and Buddhism
were not divided into
the different sub-sects
in the land of Khmer, as
they were so in some
other civilizations.
In addition to Hinduism
and Buddhism, the Khmer
people also had their
own indigenous
beliefs such as the
local deities, ancestral
spirits, as well as the
evil spirits. There are
no inscriptions or
manuscripts to describe
these beliefs, however,
it can be found to be
prevalent in modern
Cambodia, especially in
the remote villages.
These beliefs are passed
on from one generation
to another through the
words of mouth.
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