1.0 Introduction:
India, Sanskrit, grantha, varman, Hariharaa, Brahmin, pantheon of Hindu Gods beginning with Sivaa, vedaas, upanishads, puraanas, epics Raamayanam and Mahaabhaaratham, aagamaas inundate the vocabulary of Cambodian history since its known beginning. From the mythological Kaundanya to the most recent Sikaamony, the line of kings had Indian names, all of them connecting themselves to a common lineage. In this intricately woven Indian connection, the sculptures of Kaaraikkal Ammaiyaar in Cambodia emphasize the unique Tamil contribution. An attempt is made in this paper to assess the impact.
2.0 Materials and Methods:
Even though references to the presence of statues and temples of Kaaraikkaal Ammaiyaar in Thailand, Cambodia and Champa have been made in various texts, I could not access references to any specific location, until Vijay Kumar of Singapore (2008), whose hobby is Dravidian iconography and sculpture, posted in his website, (http://poetryinstone.in/lang/en/2008/10/06/from-tamil-nadu-to-cambodia-karaikkal-ammai), a question: how did such a very south Indian character reach Cambodia?
I was at Preah Vihear for a day; I went to Banteay Srei twice; both visits were during my stay in Cambodia during 2nd to 6th September 2012. I visited the archeological museum and the libraries of Siam Reap.
I had a guide who instantly understood when I said Kaaraikkaal Ammaiyaar. I asked him as to wherefrom he picked up the name. He told me that all accredited tourist guides were taught about Kaaraikkaal Ammaiyaar during their training period. Since the tourist traffic from Tamil Nadu is thin, familiarity with Kaaraikkaal Ammaiyaar sites in Cambodia is poor among the guides. I was fortunate that I had the right guide.
Then there had been a large number of authors, mostly French, who had analyzed the impact of south India on Indo China. I happen to read the available and accessible English translations to search for clues on the Tamil connections.
3.0 Discussion:
3.1 Life sketch of Kaaraikkaal Ammaiyaar: In 66 poems, Seakizhaar (1148 CE) in the 24th canto of his magnum opus Thiruththondar Puraanam, gives a biographical sketch of Kaaraikkaal Ammaiyaar. Earlier, Suntharar (740 CE) and Nambiyaandaar Nambi (1025 CE) provided the basic information on which Seakizhaar reconstructed the biography.
Punithavathy was born to a merchant Thanathaththan and his wife Tharmavathy at Kaaraikkaal, a coastal village along the southern Kaaveri delta of Choazha Naadu. Punithavathy was born during the Kalapirar era (300 – 400 CE) of Tamilakam. She received education in Kaaraikkal which enhanced her knowledge of the ancient Tamil Saiva texts and improved her poetic skills. As a teenager, she wed Paramathaththan, a trader in jewelery and lived with him in Kaaraikkaal. She was an excellent wife and companion to Paramathaththan. Her thirst for knowledge and philosophical yearnings attracted sages and saints to her house. Because of her hospitality to sages, the sweetness of a mango fruit turned her family life sour. Paramathaththan saw the divinely pursuits of Kaaraikkaal Ammaiyaar, left her to marry another. Disillusioned, she left Kaaraikaal northwards. Penance and prayers leached her flesh. With thin skin exposing every bone in her skeleton, she lost the lushness of the womanly beauty to acquire a horrifying ugly look.
She undertook the travel to Kayilaayam. This hazardous travel was undertaken only by strong powerful mythological characters like king Raavanan. She worked on the safest and shortest route with experienced travelers and geographers before embarking on this trip. She was a woman in her twenties, in a male chauvinist world, when she started this long trek to Himalayas. Her skin clothed skeleton was no impediment. She spoke in languages of the area, begged her way to eat all types of food, chose directions without compass, navigated heavily flowing perennial rivers like Krishna, Goathavari, Mahanathi, Ganagai and Yamunai, crossed carnivores infested thick forests, withstood flooding monsoons interspaced by heat waved summers, walked on rugged rocky terrain, followed river banks to reach the mountains, escaped earth slips, hid when boulders rolled down, clothed herself to withstand snows, accompanied caravans to cross mountain passes, reached the foot hills of Kayilaayam, bathed in the chilling waters of Manasoroavar, perambulated the holy mountain, entered the inner sanctum, received the blessings of Sivaa and Paarvathi in their own abode, heard being called Ammai, stayed through the summer and trekked back along the same route to reach Thiruvaalankaadu.
At Thiruvaalankaadu, she spent most of her time in the cremation ground. She was a different person. Her life history, her travel history and her renounced life style attracted persons with similar saintly genre. For the sages, saints and disciples who had known her, associated with her, she was a divine person endowed with super human abilities. She was a person with a great will. Confidence overflowed in her attitudes. She had the physical stamina to reinforce her mental strength. The depth of her devotion, the severity of her penance, the sweetness of her prayer hymns, the near perfection of her detachment, she was a living example of a teacher leading students towards self-realization and purposeful living.
When she passed away, she was a celebrity among saints, sages, intellectuals and disciples. She was a miracle maker and a re-born mythological character to illiterate village folk.
3.2 Kaaraikkaal Ammaiyaar and the dancing Sivaa: She was the forerunner for the later saints in musical compositions. Poetical genre, venpaa, anthaathi and viruththam were her forte. Of the many thousands she should have composed then, we are left only with 143 hymns in four pathikams (1102, 1103, 1104 and 1105 of thirumurari). These literarily rich and musically enchanting poems have been translated to Telugu, Sanskrit, French and English during the modern era.
A prolific poet, her poems set to music in praise of Sivaa and Paarvathi, were part of the folklore in the Pallavar kingdom for a long period to follow. These sages eulogized the hymns of Kaaraikkaal Ammaiyaar and the Tamil musical tradition embodied therein.
Her greatest wish was that she should be at the feet of the dancing Sivaa while he danced to the percussor of Nandhi. 700 years later Seakkizhaar said this of her wish: …. நான் மகிழ்ந்து பாடி, அறவாநீ ஆடும் போது, உன் அடியின்கீழ் இருக்க… (தி12240060). So much so the early statues of Kaaraikkaal Ammaiyaar had the dancing Sivaa in the centre, with Nandhi on His left and Kaaraikkaal Ammaiyaar at His feet on the right.
3.3 Palllavar patronage of Kaaraikkaal Ammaiyaar: Not far away, south of Thiruvaalankaadu was Kaanchipuram, a city Pallavars wanted to be their capital since Sivaskanthavarman (320-345 CE). They could not hold on to Kaanchipuram until Simmavarman (540-556 CE) and his son Simma Vishnu (550-583 CE) recaptured it to make it their capital. It remained as the Pallavar capital for the next 350 years, until the last of the Pallavar king Aparaajitha Vikirama Varman (885-903 CE).
Simmavarman III (540-556 CE) was later known as the Saivaite saint Aiyadikal Kaadavarkoan. He composed 24 hymns of Shethira venpa ( a literary genre revived by Kaaraikkaal Ammaiyaar), the 5th pathikam in 11th thirumurai. He restored Sivaa temples and adored Tamil Saivaite saints. Sanskrit was the court language of the Pallavar. Praakritham and Paali were recognized along with Tamil. A Tamil scholar devoted to Sivaa, Simmavarman left state matters to his son and was mostly on pilgrimage to Sivaa temples. Kaaraikkal Ammaiyaar was his mentor. Sages and saints devoted to her were patronized by the Pallavar court.
Simha Vishnu (540-556 CE) and Bavavarman alies Beemavarman (540-598 CE) were brothers or close cousins at the palace of Pallavars. They grew up under the same teachers, sages, saints and schools of thought. For them Kaaraikkaal Ammaiyaar and her works were part of the curriculum. The former re-established the Pallavar rule with Kaanchipuram as the capital. The latter travelled from south India to Cambodia, to become its king.
Early Pallavar dynasty contributed to the reducing of tensions among sectarian groups. Hariharaa concept unified worshippers of Sivaa and Vishnu. Discovery of the 42 character grantha script enabled non-Tamil, script less language groups to write their languages in addition to reading Tamil texts and Sanskrit texts. Vedas, upanishads, puraanas, aagamaas, epics were sanctified. Sanskrit was the lingua franca among courtesans and elite.
3.4 Bavavarman (540-598 CE) had an entourage not only of the various wings of the armed forces but also of teachers, sages, saints, artists, musicians, sculptors and others. Hariharaa concept, grantha script and the Holy Scriptures were part of the cultural load carried to Cambodia by Bavavarman.
That was the beginning of a renewed Saivaite tradition in Cambodia with Kaaraikkaal Ammaiyaar embedded into it. Literary works in Cambodian language emerged with the introduction of grantha script. Sanskrit literature proliferated among literate Cambodians. Kings were pre-occupied with stately matters and depended on the sages and saints to advise them on matters related to protection from Gods.
Kaaraikkaal Ammaiyaar along with vedic and puraanic traditions were passed through successive generations of saints and sages in the courts of Khmer kings. The frequent contacts Cambodia had with Pallavars refreshed and reimbursed this philosophical tradition.
3.4 Cambodia was deeply rooted in Saivaism when another Khmer royal dynasty had its beginnings during early ninth century CE with Jayavarman II. He re-established the Khmer rule of Cambodia in 802 CE, built a Sivan temple in Maheandra Parvatha now known as Phnom Kulen, a hill north of Siam Reap. Also he carved 1008 lingas along the rocky bed of the river in the Maheandra Parvatha. Water along the shallow stream continuously flows over the 1008 lingas while trees along its banks continuously shower flowers on them. This water, considered sacred, flowing down stream continued to be used for irrigation, with the belief that it would improve the crop yield in the adjoining delta. Cambodia was ruled by this royal clan, uninterrupted for 312 years.
Various theories had been floated about the biological roots of Jayavarman II. One of them revolves around the Pallavar kingdom of South India.
Pallavar king Narasimhavarman II (700-728) had a son Parameswaravarman II (705-710) who died without heir to the throne. Nandhivarman II was one of the four princes born to Kadavesaharivarman, in the lineage of Bavavarman, came from Cambodia to Kaanchipuram to become the adopted heir to the Pallavar throne. (This information forms part of the carvings and inscriptions of Nandhivarman II at Vaikuntha Perumaal Koil, Kaanchipuram) Jayavarman II was said to be the son of Nandhivarman II (732-796 CE) born at Kaanchipuram to a Cambodian wife.
Jayavarman II was sent to Java from Kaanchipuram to quell the rebellion by a Srivijayan vassal of the Pallavars. Jayavarman II was imprisoned in Java, from where he escaped and proceeded to reach his ancestors in Cambodia where the royalty was under attack by Srivijaya kings.
Jayavarman II was at constant war with the Champas on the eastern front and the Siamese on the western front and Srivijayas on the southern front. He changed his capital thrice; one of them was Maheandra Parvatha, named after his famous Pallavar ancestor, Maheandravarman I (585-630 CE) of Kaanchipuram.
Pallavar Maheandravarman I patronized in his later years, the Saivaite saint Thirunaavukkarasar. Another saint Thirugnaanasambandar was born during his tenure. Third saint Suntharar was propagating Saivaisim during the tenure of Nandivarman II. Saint Manikkavasagar lived during the tenure of Paandiyan king Varagunan II (862-885 CE), a contemporary of Pallavar king Nirupathunkavarman (865-890 CE). These 300 years saw many other Saivaite saints described later by Seakizhaar (1148 CE).
Saivaite renaissance in Tamil Nadu during those 300 years, it appears from the evidences unearthed in Cambodia so far, had very little direct impact there. However Kaaraikkaal Ammaiyaar (around 300-400 CE), had influenced the Saivaite tradition in Cambodia. The dancing Sivaa - Nataraja, the Nandhi with his precursor and Kaaraikkal Ammaiyar at the feet of dancing Sivaa, as granite stone sculptures found themselves at the pediments above the lintels of the sanctum sanctorum of the two temples, Preah Vihear and Banteay Srei in Cambodia.
3.5 The claim of Jayavarman II to the Khmer throne in 802 CE stems from his direct lineage to Bavavarman. He regrouped the supporters of the royal family and its paraphernalia during the successful campaigns against Champas, Siamese and Srivijayas. He had the unqualified and unrelenting support of Kaanchipuram, which not only provided armed forces but also gave scholarly and cultural support which included Saivaite vedic, puraanic and Tamil and Sanskrit traditions.
Successive Khmer kings sought the help of the Pallavar, Paandiyar and Choazhar kings in Tamil Nadu in protecting Cambodia. Tamil kings willingly sent armies. Karanthai copper plate inscription in Tamil Nadu speaks of a gift of a model of a chariot in gold, from Khmer Suryavarman I (1006-1050 CE) to Choazhar Rajeandran I (1018-1044) for the latter’s support in meeting a threat and military pressure from Srivijaya.
Sivakaivalyar from Kaanchipuram was the teacher counselor and mentor to Jayavaramn II. Large extents of agricultural land to maintain the saintly institution of Sivakaivalyar were donated by Jayavarman II who also made a royal proclamation that the families of Sivakaivalyar shall be the court sages and saints advising Khmer kings of the future.
3.6 Successors to the Khmer throne from Jayavarman II (802-835 CE) were: Jayavarman III (835-877 CE), Indravarman III (877-890 CE), Yasovarman I (889-910 CE), Harshavarman I (910-923 CE), Eesaanavarman II (923-928 CE), Jayavarman IV (928-941), Harshavarman II (941-944 CE), Rajeandravarman II (944-968 CE), Jayavarman V (968-1001 CE), Udayadityavarman I (1002 CE), Jayavirahvarman (1002-1006 CE), Suryavarman I (1006-1050), Udayadityavarman II (1050-1066 CE), Suryavarman II (1066-1080 CE), Jayavarman VI (1090-1107 CE), Dharanindravarman I (1107-1113 CE).
3.7 Yasovarman I (889-910 CE) located the Nakaram (present day Anchor) to be his future capital. He built the Sikaieaswarar (or Sikaraeaswarar) temple (present day Preah Vihear) on top of Sivapaatha hill. His teacher Vaamasivan was the grandson of Sivakaivalyar. Vaamasivan taught Yasovarman I of the greatness of Kaaraikkaal Ammaiyaar as told to him by Sivakaivalyar.
Probably, as young a man Yasovarman I, accompanied by his teacher Vaamasivan, visited Kaanchipuram for higher learning. During his pilgrimage to Sivaa temples in south India, Yasovarman I may have visited Thiruvaalankaadu as well. Those visits may have left remarkable impressions in his mind about Kaaraikkaal Ammaiyaar. At the pediment on the lintel of the entrance to the sanctum sanctorum of the Sikaieswarar temple, in Sivapaatha hill (Preah Vihear) there stands a carving of dancing Sivaa with Nandhi to His lower left and Kaaraikkaal Ammaiyaar to His lower right.
Divaakara Pandithar, teacher to Suryavarman II (1066-1080 CE) donated a golden statue of Natarajar to the temple, says an inscription in the temple complex confirming its Tamil ancestry.
Sivapaatham is a north-south hill (625 m high) with a cliff on its southern end. Sikaieaswaram is located on the cliff with its entrance facing north. A sloped granite stone pathway with steps, 800 m. long leading to the main temple has five gopurams. Fifth gopuram is in the lowest point and the first gopuram is in the perimeter wall of the sanctum sanctorum.
Ownership of the terrain around Sikaieaswaram was the bone of contention between Thailand and Cambodia. International Court of Justice awarded the temple to Cambodia in 1962. UNESCO declared the temple as a world heritage site in July 2008. The area around remains disputed; battles were fought in October 2008, April 2009 and February 2011 causing damage to the main temple. When I visited in September 2012, heaps of granite stones of the damaged temple were beside the sanctum sanctorum.
The granite stone carving of Kaaraikkaal Ammaiyaar in Sikaieaswaram is of historical importance to the Tamils. Potential damage to this carving will permanently remove this archeological evidence of the Tamil connection to Cambodia. Sculptors from Tamil Nadu could be sent to Cambodia to make replicas of this carving for preservation in Tamil Nadu for posterity.
3.8 Thirupuvana maheaswaram was the name given by Gnaanavaraahar (Yajnavaraha) to the temple he built in the plains of Cambodia when it was consecrated on 22nd April 967 CE. The entire temple complex, built of sandstone, a pinkish hardened clayey stone, was dedicated to Sivaa.
Sandstone behaves as wood for sculptors. Intricate decorative carvings adorn every wall, pillar, lintel, pediment, vimana and gopura in the entire complex. Its present name Banteay Srei, reflects the beauty of the temple as the citadel of women. It is tiny in comparison to the elaborate constructions of larger magnitude of the Khmer dynasty. The patient and pain-taking efforts to carve such intricate motifs lead to the speculation of the contribution of women sculptors in its construction.
Khmer kings gave their sisters in marriage to the intellectual members of the court, some of them recent arrivals from south India. Matrimonial alliances between kings and court councilors were common then. Family of Sivakaivalyar had women from the royal family.
Yasovarman I (889-910 CE) had a son named Harshavarman I. He married the daughter of Vaamasivan, grandson of Sivakaivalyar. Vaamasivan played a pivotal role in installing the carving of Kaaraikkaal Ammaiyaar at Preah Vihear.
Yasovarman was succeeded by his son Harshavarman I (910-923 CE). He had a son through the daughter of Vaamasivan named Gnaanavaraahar who was disinterested in the throne. He was intellectually inclined. He learnt Saiva philosophy, was well versed in vedas, upanishads, puraanas, epics, aagamaas and of course along the lines of his grandparents, in the veneration of Kaaraikkaal Ammaiyaar. He should have travelled to south India on pilgrimage, visited Thiruvaalankaadu among other places of religious interest. During his visit, Choazhar rule had replaced Pallavar rule in Tamil Nadu and the Choazhar kings were addressed as thiripuvana chakravarthis.
Eesaanavarman II (923-928 CE) succeeded his brother Harshavarman I. The brothers failed to meet the Champa threat and were defeated by the Champas led by Indravarman II. This led Yasovarman’s sister’s husband to rebel. He conquered the capital Yasoathapura, usurped the throne and ruled Cambodia as Jayavarman IV (928-941). A nephew of Yasovarman I succeeded the throne as Harshavarman II (941-944 CE). He was later killed in a palace coup. His brother Rajeandravarman II (944-968 CE) was crowned king.
Rajeandravarman II, as a great admirer of Yasovarman I, restored the capital Yasoathapura to its former glory and appointed Gnaanavaraahar, the intellectually inclined grandson of Yasovarman I, as his councilor. When a son was born to Rajeandravarman II, he asked Gnaanavaraahar to be his teacher as well. Also Rajeandravarman gave his sister Indiraludchumi in marriage to Divya Pattar, who came from Kaanchipuram to Cambodia accompanying Gnaanavaariyar on his return journey.
The royal ancestry and its tradition of building Sivaa temples inspired Gnaanavaraahar to build another temple for Sivaa. He sought funds from Rajeandravarman II who gladly provided whatever was asked for. For the first time in the history of the Khmer rule, a royal councilor was embarking on a massive temple building project.
Thiripuvana maheswara temple was the contribution of Gnaanavaraahar to the glorification of Sivaa in Cambodia. About 60 years after the consecration of Preah Vihar by Yasovarman I, Banteay Srei was consecrated (22nd April 967 CE). Again on the pediment on the lintel at the entrance to the sanctum sanctorum of the thirupuvana mahesvara, majestically stood the dancing Sivaa, Nataraja, with Nandhi with precursor on His left and Kaaraikkaal Ammaiyaar sitting at His feet to His right.
3.9 Indian influence in Cambodia is a vague terminology. India then was a vast region with many kingdoms, sub-kingdoms and to ascribe the specific cultural inputs into Cambodia to this vast reservoir of cultural condominium is untenable.
H. Otley Bayer, R. B. Dixon and M. Coedes concluded from archeological and literary evidences that Sri Lanka, Malaya, Cambodia, Champa, Java, Sumatra, Bali, Borneo and Philippines were most exposed to Tamil influence for many centuries beginning 500 BCE.
One could pin the eastern sea board of the Indian subcontinent as the base area and the Tamil country as the specific area. A wall map in the archeological museum in Siam Reap names Naagapattinam as the only port with direct sea route to Cambodia indicating that Tamil country was the major source for cultural inputs bringing Indian influences on indigenous Cambodia.
The word Brahmin repeatedly appears in Cambodian mythology, literature and inscriptions. The accepted custom among Brahmins for centuries together has been not to cross seas and oceans. Were there exceptions to the rule running through centuries of contacts with Cambodia? Were they actually from the Brahmin caste? Or did the sages, saints, teachers and intellectuals proclaimed them to be Brahmins to earn a respected status? Since the word Hindu is of recent origin, was the word Brahmin used to denote the religion of the missionary? However much the Indian influence had been, its caste system could not make any headway in Cambodia at any point of time. When I asked my guide whether Brahmins lived in Cambodia, his answer was: Yes, they are up in the hills doing penance and they don’t mix with normal people. Kaundanya, (the Chinese sources also mention), the mythological progenitor of the Cambodian royal dynasty, was a foreign Brahmin who married an indigenous Naaga by winning her at war and naming her Soma. How can Kaundanya, a Brahmin, be a warrior?
Sanskrit was the court language and the lingua franca among the elite in Kaanchipuram for four centuries. Sanskrit was the court language of the Guptha Empire (320-550 CE) as well. Armies of the Guptha Empire also conquered Cambodia. Pallavars were their southern contemporaries. Sanskrit went from all sides to Cambodia. However, grantha characters, the base of the Cambodian script to this day, went only from Kanchipuram indicating the heavy involvement of Pallavars in influencing the linguistic map of Cambodia.
The name ending varman of the Cambodian royal dynasty was common in all countries in the then South East Asia. Words ending in the consonant n generally indicate male names of Tamils. This is rare in other languages. Pallavar kings also had similar name endings. One theory puts a Cambodian prince Sivaskanthavarman, as the founder of the Pallava dynasty during the mid-fourth century CE. Maaran is a Paandyar male name ending; there were kings in Champa and Srivijaya with such name endings suggesting Paandiyar influence. Varman name endings in Cambodia went from the Tamil country is less probable.
Hariharaa (Sivaa and Vishnu united as a single body) was a Pallavar concept that united the Saivaite and Vaishnavite worshippers. It first appeared on the rocks of Badami and Mahavellipur in the Pallavar country. When Jayavarman II (802-835 CE) built his first capital, he named it Hariharaalaya, a typical Pallavar nomenclature. This naming supports the theory that Jayavarman II was from Kaanchipuram as the son of Nandhivarman II. His third capital was Maheandra Parvatha, naming it after his famous Pallavar ancestor Maheandravarman I.
Most explanations, on the entry of Kaaraikkaal Ammaiyaar into the stone carvings of Cambodia, center around the activities of the Tamil merchant community, Nakaraththaar. She was a Nakaraththaar by birth. Nakaraththaar community was part of almost all merchant guilds around the Indian Ocean. So they took the worship of Kaaraikkaal Ammaiyaar to the ports and cities they went.
Vijay Kumar opines that the Preah Vihear carvings were made by Cambodian sculptors. He poses a question and answers it: Could it be the handiwork of our (Tamil) craftsmen? Chances seem remote as the facial features of these sculptures are more south East Asian than Indian.
Preah Vihear is deep inside Cambodia. It was not a trading post. Had Nakaraththaar reached to reside there long enough, they might have built a temple for her or placed her at the feet of Natarajar at a temple.
This carving is part of a whole heap of carvings on events in Ramaayanam, Mahaabhaaratham, Kantha puraanam and related mythologies. Only kings could undertake such massive temple building projects. Also Cambodian commentators record nothing of any Tamil merchant community either in Preah Vihear or Banteay Srei.
Kaaraikaal Ammaiyaar sculptures in Cambodia, in my opinion were the result of the patronage by Simmavarman III (540-556 CE), later known as Aiyadikal Kaadavan Koan, who worshipped Kaaraikkaal Ammaiyaar in his court temple; his heirs thereafter maintained this worshipping tradition. By the time Sivakaivalyar was emigrating with Jayavarman II, knowledge of the other saints was available at the Saivaite Pallavar court. But the palace temple would have had the carving of dancing Sivaa with Nandhi to His lower left and Kaaraikkaal Ammaiyaar to His lower right. This worshipping tradition was followed at Preah Vihear and Banteay Srei by the parampari of Sivakaivalyar, the Tamil teacher from the palace at Kaanchipuram.
It is a pity that Sachchidanand Sahai (2009) who brought out a detailed publication after extensive studies at Preah Vihear, for the Cambodian National Commission for UNESCO did not write anything about the sculpture of Kaaraikkaal Ammaiyaar in his book. He included a photograph of the sculpture of dancing Siva in the pediment above the lintel.
One should also read, Poems of Sivaa by Peter de Bruijn (2007), where he says that Kaaraikkaal Ammaiyaar being depicted in South or South East Asian art does not represent her and is twisted.
4.0 Results and conclusions:
Cambodia had close connections with the Tamil country for centuries together. Sanskrit literature, grantha script, Hariharaa worshipping tradition, granite stone sculpturing art, temple construction architecture, aagamic principles of worship, rituals related to social events were introduced into Cambodia by Tamils. Kaaraikkal Ammaiyaar legend is unique to the Tamil country and its introduction in Cambodia underlies the intimate and close relationship Tamils and Cambodians enjoyed through centuries. Sculptures or carvings unique to any other part of India are yet to be found in Cambodia. Grantha script is another product of the Tamil country that lives as modified Cambodian script to this day.
5.0 Bibiliography:
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