Preah Vihear Temple 2367753 226124375 2008-07-16T22:39:55Z Escarbot 1554195 robot Adding: [[it:Tempio di Preah Vihear]] Modifying: [[vi:Đền Preah Vihear]] {{Infobox Mandir |image = Phraviharngopura.jpg |creator = [[Suryavarman I]] and [[Suryavarman II]] |proper_name = Preah Vihear Temple |date_built = 11th & 12th Centuries CE |primary_deity = [[Shiva]] |architecture = [[Banteay Srei style and others]] |location = [[Preah Vihear Province|Preah Vihear]], [[Cambodia]]}} '''Preah Vihear Temple''' ([[Khmer language|Khmer]] [[Khmer alphabet#Styles|regular script]]: [[Image:PreahVihier.png|100px]], ''Prasat Preah Vihear'', Khmer: ​ប្រាសាទព្រះវិហារ,<!--showing up as numerous question marks--> is a [[Khmer]] (Cambodian) temple situated atop a 525-meter cliff in the [[Dângrêk Mountains]] in the [[Preah Vihear Province]] of [[Cambodia]] and on the border of [[Sisaket Province]] in northeastern [[Thailand]]. In 1962, following a serious dispute between Thailand and Cambodia over ownership of the temple, the [[International Court of Justice]] in [[the Hague]] ruled that it belonged to Cambodia. The adjacent land to the north is under Thailand's control, in contravention of the ICJ's ruling. <ref>http://www.preah-vihear.com/</ref> Affording a view for many kilometers across a plain, Prasat Preah Vihear has the most spectacular setting of all the temples built during the six-century-long [[Khmer Empire]]. As a key edifice of the empire's spiritual life, it was supported and modified by successive kings and so bears elements of several architectural styles. Preah Vihear is unusual among Khmer temples in being constructed along a long north-south axis, rather than having the conventional rectangular plan with orientation toward the east. The temple gives its name to Cambodia's [[Preah Vihear Province|Preah Vihear]] province, in which it is located, as well as the [[Khao Phra Wihan National Park]] in Sisaket Province, Thailand, through which the temple is most easily accessible. On July 7, 2008, Preah Vihear was listed as a [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site]].<ref name="International Herald Tribune"> http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/07/08/america/NA-Canada-Thailand-Cambodia-Temple.php 900-year-old temple on disputed Thai-Cambodia border named world heritage site</ref> ==Ancient history== {{Infobox World Heritage Site | WHS = Temple of Preah Vihear | Image = [[Image:Phoukrisharjuna.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Pediment showing Krishna fighting Arjuna, gopura three.]] | State Party = {{CAM}} | Type = Cultural | Criteria = i | ID = 1224 | Region = [[List of World Heritage Sites in Asia and Australasia|Asia-Pacific]] | Year = 2008 | Session = 32nd | Extension = | Link = http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1224 }} [[Image:Preahvihear.jpg|thumb|right|240px|Plan of Prasat Preah Vihear.]] Construction of the first temple on the site began in the early 9th century; both then and in the following centuries it was dedicated to the [[Hindu]] god [[Shiva]] in his manifestations as the mountain gods [[Sikharesvara]] and [[Bhadresvara]]. The earliest surviving parts of the temple, however, date from the [[Koh Ker]] period in the early 10th century, when the empire's capital was at the city of that name. Today, elements of the [[Banteay Srei]] style of the late 10th century can be seen, but most of the temple was constructed during the reigns of the kings [[Suryavarman I]] (1002&ndash;1050) and [[Suryavarman II]] (1113&ndash;1150). An inscription found at the temple provides a detailed account of Suryavarman II studying sacred rituals, celebrating religious festivals and making gifts, including white [[parasol]]s, golden bowls and elephants, to his spiritual advisor, the aged [[Brahman]] [[Divakarapandita]]. The Brahman himself took an interest in the temple, according to the inscription, donating to it a golden statue of a dancing Shiva. ==International dispute over ownership== In modern times, Prasat Preah Vihear was rediscovered by the outside world and became subject of an emotional dispute between Thailand, where the temple's name is translated into Thai as Khao Phra Viharn ({{lang-th|[[wikt:ปราสาท|ปราสาท]][[wikt:เขา|เขา]][[wikt:พระ|พระ]][[wikt:วิหาร|วิหาร]]}}: ''Prasat Khao Phra Wihan''), and the newly independent Cambodia. In 1904, Siam and the French colonial authorities ruling Cambodia formed a joint commission to demarcate their mutual border. In the vicinity of the temple, the group was tasked by the two governments to work under the principle that the border would follow the watershed line of the Dângrêk mountain range that means Preah Vihear as being on the Thailand side. In 1907, after survey work, French officers draw up a map to show the border’s precise location. The resulting map, which was sent to Siamese authorities, showed Preah Vihear as being on the Cambodian side. In 1954, Thai forces occupied the temple following the withdrawal of French troops from Cambodia. Cambodia protested and in 1959 asked the [[International Court of Justice]], commonly known as the World Court, to rule that the temple lay in Cambodian territory. The case became a volatile political issue in both countries. Diplomatic relations were severed, and threats of force voiced by both governments. The court proceedings focused not on questions of cultural heritage or on which state was the successor to the Khmer Empire but on technicalities of the border demarcation work early in the century and Thailand's subsequent treatment of the resulting map. Arguing in the Hague for Cambodia was former U.S. secretary of state [[Dean Acheson]], while Thailand’s legal team included a former British attorney general, Sir [[Frank Soskice]]. Cambodia contended that the map showing the temple as being on Cambodian soil was the authoritative document. Thailand argued that the map was invalid, was not an official document of the border commission, and violated the commission’s working principle that the border would follow the watershed line, which would place the temple in Thailand. If Thailand had not protested the map earlier, the Thai side said, it was because Thai authorities had practical possession of the temple, due to the great difficulty of scaling the cliff from the Cambodian side, or had not understood that the map was wrong. [[Image:Prasat Preah Vihear.JPEG|thumb|right|240px|Thai soldiers dismantling the Thai [[Flag#Flagpoles|flagpole]] from Prasat Preah Vihear at 12 noon on July 15, 1962]] On June 15, 1962, the court ruled 9 to 3 that the temple belonged to Cambodia and, by a vote of 7 to 5, that Thailand must return any antiquities such as sculptures that it had removed from the temple. In its decision, the court noted that over the five decades after the map was devised, the Siamese/Thai authorities did not object in various international forums to the map’s depiction of the temple’s location. Nor did they object when a French colonial official received the Siamese scholar and government figure [[Prince Damrong]] at the temple in 1930. Thailand had accepted and benefited from other parts of the border treaty, the court ruled. With these and other acts, it said, Thailand had accepted the map and therefore Cambodia was the owner of the temple. Thailand reacted angrily. It announced it would boycott meetings of the [[Southeast Asia Treaty Organization]], with Thai officials saying this step was to protest a U.S. bias toward Cambodia in the dispute. As evidence, Thai officials cited the pro-Cambodia vote of an American judge on the court and Acheson’s role as Cambodia’s advocate; the U.S. government replied that Acheson was merely acting as a private attorney, engaged by Cambodia. Mass demonstrations were staged in Thailand protesting the ruling. Thailand eventually backed down. In January 1963, Cambodia formally took possession of the site in a colorful ceremony attended by close to 1,000 people, many of whom had made the arduous climb up the cliff from the Cambodian side. A fit Prince Sihanouk, Cambodia’s leader, bounded up the cliff in less than an hour, paused to sip lemonade, then made offerings to Buddhist monks. In the ceremony, he made a gesture of conciliation, announcing that all Thais would be able to visit the temple without visas, and that Thailand was free to keep antiquities that it had taken away from the site.<ref>The New York Times, Jan. 8, 1963, p. 7.</ref> ==Civil war== Civil war began in Cambodia in 1970; the temple's location high atop a cliff served to make it readily defensible militarily. Soldiers loyal to the [[Lon Nol]] government in [[Phnom Penh]] continued to hold it long after the plain below fell to communist forces. Tourists were able to visit from the Thai side during the war. The [[Khmer Rouge]] captured Phnom Penh in April 1975, but the soldiers at Preah Vihear continued to hold out after the collapse of their government. The Khmer Rouge made several unsuccessful attempts to capture the temple, then finally succeeded on May 22, 1975 by shelling the cliff, scaling it and routing the defenders, Thai officials reported at the time.<ref>United Press International, May 23, 1975</ref> It was said to be the last place in Cambodia to fall to the Khmer Rouge. Full-scale war began again in Cambodia in December 1978 when the Vietnamese army invaded to overthrow the Khmer Rouge. Khmer Rouge troops retreated to border areas. In January, the Vietnamese reportedly attacked Khmer Rouge troops holed up in the temple, but there were no reports of damage to it. Large numbers of Cambodian refugees entered Thailand after the invasion. In June 1979, Thai security forces forcibly expelled tens of thousands of them back into Cambodia in the vicinity of Preah Vihear. Unknown numbers were killed by landmines, gunfire and exposure; the government that Vietnam installed in Phnom Penh put the number of fatalities at more than 300. Guerilla warfare continued in Cambodia through the 1980s and well into the 1990s, hampering access to Preah Vihear. The temple opened briefly to the public in 1992, only to be re-occupied the following year by Khmer Rouge fighters. In December 1998, the temple was the scene of negotiations by which several hundred Khmer Rouge soldiers, said to be the guerrilla movement's last significant force, agreed to surrender to the Phnom Penh government.<ref>The New York Times, Dec. 6, 1998, p. 18.</ref> The temple opened again to visitors from the Thai side at the end of 1998; Cambodia completed the construction of a long-awaited access road up the cliff in 2003. ==New dispute over ownership== {{Missing information|The temple's central role in Thailand's political dispute of July 2008}} Preah Vihear temple has been the subject of often rancorous debate within both [[Cambodia]] and [[Thailand]] and between the two neighbours. The ownership dispute reappeared in recent years after Cambodia submitted an application to [[UNESCO]] requesting that Preah Vihear be designated as a [[World Heritage site]]. Thailand contended that the application requested such designation for surrounding land that Thailand considered to belong to it. The Cambodians withdrew the application, and in [[2008]], after winning support from Thailand, resubmitted a modified request requesting the designation just for the temple, not surrounding land. On [[June 22]], 2008, Cambodia closed the border crossing to Preah Vihear in response to Thai protests held at the border crossing. The protests were championed by anti-Thaksin opposition figure Sonthi Limthongkul, who claimed the government of Thai Prime Minister Samak Sudaravej had gained business concessions in Cambodia in payment for ceding Thai territory to Cambodia when negotiating the Preah Vihear site map that would be presented to UNESCO in [[Quebec]], [[Canada]]. <ref>http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7011368406</ref> On [[June 30]], 2008 the ''Nation'' newspaper in Bangkok published an editorial online highly critical of the People's Alliance for Democracy for its use of Preah Vihear temple in its campaign against the People Power Party government of Prime Minister Samak Sudaravej.<ref>http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2008/06/30/politics/politics_30076876.php</ref> On [[July 2]], 2008, as UNESCO began its annual meeting in Quebec, Canada, the ''Bangkok Post'' online published a [[Deutsche Presse-Agentur]] (German Press Agency) report that erroneously stated that Preah Vihear partially sits on Thai territory.<ref>http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=128686</ref> Following the Thai government's decision to support Cambodia's bid for World Heritage listing, anti-Thaksin Shinawatra Thai opposition figures mounted a legal challenge against Thai Foreign Minister [[Noppadon Pattama]]. The Thai Constitutional Court upheld the suit on [[July 7]], 2008 in an 8-1 judgement against the foreign minister.<ref>http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssInvestmentServices/idUSBKK2838520080709</ref> On [[July 8]], 2008, thousands of Phnom Penh residents marched through the streets in celebration of the inscription of Preah Vihear temple by UNESCO. On the same day, the Municipality of Phnom Penh held an evening outdoor concert at Wat Phnom to celebrate the inscription of Preah Vihear temple by UNESCO earlier in the day. The concert was nationally broadcast on [[CTN]], emceed by Cambodia's biggest television star and featured traditional Khmer performances as well as a fireworks display. Despite persistent rain thousands of Cambodians attended. The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), an anti-Thaksin Shinawatra coalition of Thai business, intellectual and political leaders, has used the Preah Vihear issue in its attempts to unseat the People Power Party (PPP) government of Prime Minister Samak Sudaravej. Samak Sudaravej is commonly seen as a proxy for former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted in a military coup in 2006. The most vocal leader of the PAD is newspaper publisher Sonthi Limthongkul.<ref>http://bangkokpost.net/090708_News/09Jul2008_news13.php</ref> On [[July 10]], 2008, Thai Foreign Minister Nappadon Pattama resigned over the listing of Preah Vihear by UNESCO. His resignation was brought about by having violated Thailand's 2007 Constitution Article 190 which called for a public debate and Cabinet-level approval BEFORE any such authorization could take place.<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7499116.stm</ref> On [[July 14]], 2008, 8,000 Cambodians filled [[Phnom Penh National Olympic Stadium|Phnom Penh's Olympic Stadium]] Indoor Arena for a concert hosted by Deputy Prime Minister [[Sok An]] and simulcast on Bayon Television. Sok An had just returned from UNESCO's annual conference in Quebec Canada, where Preah Vihear was inscribed as a World Heritage site.<ref>http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-07/15/content_8545444.htm</ref> On [[July 15]], 2008, cross-border tensions flared after Cambodian authorities arrested three Thai nationals who had crossed the closed border. Several dozen Thai soldiers were reported to have subsequently crossed the border. One Thai soldier lost his leg to a landmine detonation.<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7506872.stm</ref> On [[July 16]], 2008, Thailand increased the number of troops stationed in the illegally occupied border region adjacent to Preah Vihear temple. ==Access== Preah Vihear can be approached via Tbeng Meanchey in Preah Vihear province or from Siem Reap in Siem Reap province via Anlong Veng. The temple can be approached from [[Amphoe Kantharalak|Kantharalak district]], [[Sisaket Province]] of Thailand. Cambodia allows day-trip access to the temple on a visa-free basis from Thailand. Cambodia imposes an entrance fee of US$5 or 200 baht for foreigners (as of 2006, reduced to 50 baht for nationals of Thailand), plus a fee of 5 baht for processing a copy of the passport. In addition, Thailand imposes an access fee of 400 baht for entering the National Park. Cambodia has from time to time cut off access from Thailand during times of dispute with the Thai government. ==The site== The temple complex runs 800m along a north-south axis, and consists essentially of a causeway and steps rising up the hill towards the sanctuary, which sits on the clifftop at the southern end of the complex (120m above the northern end of the complex, 525m above the Cambodian plain and 625m above sea level). Although this structure is very different from the [[Cambodian architecture#Temple mountain|temple mountain]]s found at [[Angkor]], it serves the same purpose as a stylised representation of [[Mount Meru]], the home of the gods. The approach to the sanctuary is punctuated by five [[Cambodian architecture#Gopura|gopura]]s (these are conventionally numbered from the sanctuary outwards, so gopura five is the first to be reached by visitors). Each of the gopuras before the courtyards is reached by a set of steps, and so marks a change in height which increases their impact. The gopuras also block a visitor's view of the next part of the temple until he passes through the gateway, making it impossible to see the complex as a whole from any one point. The fifth gopura, in the [[Koh Ker]] style, retains traces of the red paint with which it was once decorated, although the tiled roof has now disappeared. The fourth gopura is later, from the [[Khleang]]/[[Baphuon]] periods, and has on its southern outer [[Cambodian architecture#Lintels and pediments|pediment]], "one of the masterpieces of Preah Vihear" (Freeman, p. 162): a depiction of the [[Kurma|Churning of the Sea of Milk]]. The third is the largest, and is also flanked by two halls. The sanctuary is reached via two successive courtyards, in the outer of which are two [[Cambodian architecture#Library|libraries]]. == Notes == {{reflist|2}} ==References== * Coe, Michael D. (2003). ''Angkor and the Khmer Civilization''. Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-28442-3. * Higham, Charles (2001). ''The Civilization of Angkor''. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-23442-1. ==External links== {{commonscat-inline|Category:Temple of Preah Vihear}} * {{wikitravelpar|Preah Vihear}} * [http://www.preah-vihear.com Preah-Vihear.com] - Preah Vihear Temple and the Thai's Misunderstanding of the World Court Judgment of 15 June 1962 * [http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/index.php?sum=284&code=ct&p1=3&p2=3&case=45&k=46&p3=5 Case Concerning the Temple of Preah Vihear] - International Court of Justice * [http://www.khmerwebgroup.com/tourismcambodia/preah_vihear.php Prasat Preah Vihear] A Khmer temple. {{Angkorian sites}} {{coor title dms|14|23|46|N|104|40|49|E|type:landmark_region:KH}} [[Category:Hindu temples in Cambodia]] [[Category:Hindu temples in Thailand]] <!-- Outside area still is in Thailand, inside is Cambodia. --> [[Category:World Heritage Sites in Cambodia]] [[Category:Borders of Cambodia]] [[Category:Borders of Thailand]] [[Category:Disputed territories in Asia]] [[Category:12th century architecture]] [[de:Prasat Preah Vihear]] [[es:Caso templo Preah Vihear]] [[it:Tempio di Preah Vihear]] [[km:ប្រាសាទព្រះវិហារ]] [[ta:பிரசாத் பிரா விகார்]] [[th:ปราสาทพระวิหาร]] [[vi:Đền Preah Vihear]]