Invitation for lecture on Angkor archaeology

Dear Colleagues,

I have the pleasure to invite you to a lecture of dr Andrew Harris, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, National University of Singapore

titled:

THE ANGKOR VIHARA PROJECT – MAPPING AND EXCAVATING EARLY THERAVADA BUDDHIST PLACE-MAKING IN CAMBODIA.

The lecture will be held as part of a seminar on Archeology of the Far East and the Pacific Coast on Monday, 12.06.2023 at 16.45 online, on ZOOM:

https://uw-edu-pl.zoom.us/j/92692524516?pwd=U251cXoyNEVMeG9xRGZCSGtpK1M1QT09

Identyfikator spotkania: 926 9252 4516
Kod dostępu: 170340
Wystarczy jedno stuknięcie na urządzeniu mobilnym:
+48223065342,,92692524516#,,,,*170340# Polska
+48223073488,,92692524516#,,,,*170340# Polska

Wybierz numer zgodny z Twoją lokalizacją
+48 22 306 5342 Polska
+48 22 307 3488 Polska
+48 22 398 7356 Polska
Identyfikator spotkania: 926 9252 4516
Kod dostępu: 170340
Znajdź numer zgodny z Twoją lokalizacją: https://uw-edu-pl.zoom.us/u/alewmCLY4

Abstract: The Angkor Vihara Project, a collaborative campaign between the Archaeology Centre of the University of Toronto and APSARA National Authority, has sought to clarify both the religious transition and syncretism between Hindu and Mahayana Buddhist (Brahmano-Buddhist) temple (prasat) construction and Theravada (Sinhalese/Pali) Buddhist monastic construction. This unique religious phenomenon, one which proves pivotal to both ancient and modern Cambodian religious history, is thought to have occurred beginning in the mid-late 13^th century, and features primarily within the civic-ceremonial citadel of Angkor Thom, where upwards of seventy prayer-halls/vihara (Khmer: preah vihear, known archaeologically as “Buddhist Terraces”) have been identified through nearly a century of survey work verified in 2017 and 2018. Archaeological campaigns conducted by the Angkor Vihara Project in 2019, 2022, and 2023 have focused on the structural mapping, imaging, and excavation of these structures alongside artifactual and radiometric analysis. Our results have not only established preah vihear as prominent and overwhelmingly abundant religious architectures from the 14^th century onwards, but also as focal points of community, social organization, and microcosms of a larger politico-religious order embedded within architecture in a similar manner to prasat. This presentation will primarily discuss the material results and formative interpretations generated from both campaigns, but will also briefly explore the nature of how past and present religious spaces were reconciled at Angkor Thom, a palimpsest of six centuries of religious construction, which are ideas key to understanding the successful dissemination of preah vihear and thus monastic-focused Theravada Buddhism in general. 

Kind regards,
Marta Żuchowska