Bakong Siva Temple

N early 200 years ago most of Cambodia was covered by forests. People believed the forests were haunted by Spirits of those who lived there.In 1860 Henri Mouhot, a French explorer, brought to light Angkor Wat. He died in 1863 at the age of 35. Drawn by Henry Mouhot. In 1867 Cambodia became a French colony. Since then, the French archaeologists & historians have discovered the glorious past of Cambodia.INDIANIZATION OF CAMBODIA . The tribals believed in & feared spirits of mountains, trees, forests,water, fire etc. The Brahmins transformed their fear into reverential love by projecting the spirits into benign protectors. Thus , the Sky Spirit became Siva & all hills became Swayambhu Lingams. Around 100 A.D Lin-Ye, the daughter of a tribal chieftain, loved & married one Kaundinya. Since their progeny were Vradhyas(Manu), the first capital of Funan was named Vradhyapura. The successors of Kaundinya bore the Kshatriya title of Varman and all their inscriptions were in Sanskrit. Royal ladies preferred to marry Brahmins from India. Indianization grew rapidly from the Guptan North (4 th - 5 th cent.s) & the Pallavan South India (5 th -6 th cent.s ).