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241 K. 227 and the “Bharata Rāhu” Relief Chapter 19 K. 227 and the “Bharata Rāhu” Relief: Two Narratives from Banteay Chmar Ian Lowman Abstract This paper reexamines the relationship between the Old Khmer inscription K. 227 from the late Angkorian temple of Banteay Chmar and a bas-relief panel from the same temple. One section of the text of the inscription has long been assumed to record the story depicted in the bas-relief scene. This paper proposes a new translation of a key passage in the inscription that undermines any connection between the two narratives and opens the way for a possible reinterpretation of the bas-relief. Introduction One of the more intriguing texts in the epigraphic corpus of Angkorian Cambodia is the Old Khmer inscription K. 227 from the temple of Banteay Chmar. The inscription, a rare example of Old Khmer historical prose, has long been believed to narrate the story depicted in a bas-relief panel at the same temple. Recently Claude Jacques has suggested that the two narratives are in fact distinct; the inscription recounts a rebellion at the palace while the bas-relief appears to represent a mythological scene in the forest (Jacques and Lafond 2007: 239). However, the connection between the bas-relief and the inscription has become so firmly established that we cannot simply dismiss it at face value. I will review how George Cœdès originally linked the two narratives in his brilliant translation and historical analysis of K. 227. I will also show how his later revised translation of the relevant passage in the inscription contradicts his original interpretation of the bas-relief. I will then attempt to clarify the two narratives’ intended and very separate significances. Banteay Chmar is a large temple complex built by Jayavarman VII (AD 1182‒c. 1218) in northwestern Cambodia near the present-day Thai border. Though we lack textual confirmation of its original name or purpose, it was clearly of considerable political importance. Like the king’s central temple at Angkor, the Bayon, it features extensive bas-reliefs as well as the so-called “face-towers”. Three unfinished stelae (the fourth is missing) intended for the king’s genealogy were recently discovered in three of the corners of the temple just within the third enclosure wall (Pottier 2004: 144, fn. 17).1 This arrangement recalls the position of the four genealogical stelae found in the four corner shrines (Prasat Chrung) of the king’s capital at Angkor Thom, with the Bayon at its center. Taking the matching stelae together with the bas-reliefs and the face-towers, it is tempting to surmise that Banteay Chmar was something like a second capital for Jayavarman VII. The bas-reliefs of Banteay Chmar are situated on the temple’s third enclosure wall [Fig. 19.1]. Like those of the Bayon, the bas-reliefs of Banteay Chmar are generally believed to depict scenes of Jayavarman VII, his subjects and his wars (Cœdès 1932: 71). The most famous images at Banteay Chmar are, however, religious in nature. These are the eight images of Avalokiteśvara located on the western wall south of the entry pavilion (Boisselier 1965), only two of which remain in situ. The so-called “BharataR āhu” relief, depicting a hero or prince in combat with an armed monster, is just north of the western entry pavilion on the same wall. 241 Connecting Empires hi res combin241 241 8/24/2012 9:48:01 PM 242 Ian Lowman Inscription K. 227 was originally located on a doorjamb of the eastern entrance to the hypostyle hall [Fig. 19.1] preceding the central shrine of the temple’s eastern annex (Cunin 2004: 164).2 This doorjamb inscription is just one manifestation of an entire epigraphic sub-genre particular to the temples of Jayavarman VII (Cœdès 1951a: 97–119; Groslier 1973: 86–99; Maxwell 2007). These inscriptions are found on the doorjambs of various rooms or shrines in a majority of this king’s temples at the capital as well as at Banteay Chmar. They typically identify the name of a statue of a god placed in a room or shrine, and they often include the original name of the apotheosized individual whom the statue represents. These labels can also list several statues at once. The preamble of K. 227 identifies five deities or five deified individuals who are said to be located in the central shrine or “jewel-house” (gṛha ratna...

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