When Jayavarman II united the Khmer people and founded a kingdom at the turn of the ninth century, he would probably have never imagined that centuries later his country would eventually become the mighty Khmer Empire, nor would he have envisioned that his nation would build some of the most impressive structures the world has ever seen. From the massive Angkor Wat to the great city of Angkor Thom, the successive kings of the empire did know how to leave their marks.
In terms of temple building, outdoing their predecessors seemed to be the norm, especially when a new king ascended the throne. However, every now and then new ideas came up, whether introduced by the rulers themselves, or by people who held important positions within the royal court, which was exactly what happened during the reign of Suryavarman I, the Mahayana Buddhist king who commissioned Baphuon in the 11th century.
In the Kulen Hills to the northeast of the empire’s capital, a tributary of what is now known as the Siem Reap River purportedly inspired one of Suryavarman I’s Hindu ministers to begin works of carving out the riverbed of a particular stretch of the stream. Multiple lingas and yonis, an iconography associated with the worship of Shiva, were chiseled out of the rock. This was meant to bless and sanctify the water that flowed down the highlands all the way to Angkor. In the following decades, this section of the river saw an increasing number of carvings etched along its banks. Vishnu reclining on the serpent Ananta accompanied by his consort Lakshmi, Shiva with his consort Uma riding the bull Nandi, and Brahma emerging from Vishnu’s navel through a lotus were among the most common images ancient Khmer sculptors added to this place. This tradition was carried out until the reign of Udayadityavarman II – the direct successor of Suryavarman I – who was king until the year 1066.
Almost a thousand years after those reliefs were created, James and I went to this part of Cambodia which is easily accessible from the city of Siem Reap on a day trip. From the parking area where our trusted tuktuk driver Vonn dropped us, it was a relatively easy hike to reach Kbal Spean (literally “Bridge Head”), a reference to a slab of natural rock spanning the stream that appears like a bridge around which images of Hindu deities were carved. We walked at a steady pace along a dirt path which must be very tricky to traverse during rainy season. As we were nearing our destination, the sound of a waterfall became increasingly louder. Then, before we knew it, we arrived at what is probably among the most unique archaeological sites left by the ancient Khmer people.
It’s easy to see why some call Kbal Spean the “River of 1,000 Lingas”. You just need to get closer to the water and you will immediately see a lot of small bumps – some half-spherical, others half-tubular – with different stages of weathering. It is along this approximately 200-meter stretch from the “bridge” to the waterfall where most carvings can be found, and spotting them turned out to be a lot of fun as we followed the river downstream. However, had we not been told by two local staff members of the park stationed around the corner to take a narrow path that wasn’t marked, we would’ve completely missed the waterfall. It didn’t take long to get to the end of the trail where we saw more figures carved out of the rock. Some were still quite discernible, others not so much. Is that a frog, a turtle, or something else? A statue perched at the edge of the bedrock that abruptly drops several meters particularly stole my attention.
Whatever it was we didn’t linger for too long. Soon enough, we were already back at the parking area again where Vonn had been patiently waiting for us underneath a big tree. We returned to Angkor to see a few more great temples constructed many centuries ago, as well as to taste more Khmer cuisine which I found very underrated.
Hindu iconography carved into the rocks at Kbal Spean
This rock slab bears the image of Vishnu the Preserver with Lakshmi and Brahma