Buddhism in Cambodia dates back to at least the 5th century A.D.. Buddhist legends say that Buddhism was originally introduced into Suvannabhumi, or the "Golden Peninsula" by King Ashoka, the great Buddhist Emperor in India, during the 3rd century B.C.

"Unconfirmed Singhalese sources state that Buddhism was introduced to Suvannabhumi, or the 'Golden Peninsula', as mainland Southeast Asia was once referred to, in the 3rd century B.C. under the reign of King Ashoka, the great Buddhist ruler. According to these sources, two monks, Sona and Uttara, were sent to propagate the doctrine of the Master in this region following the great council of 274 B.C. held in Asoka's capital Pataliputta, India. While this misison may be legendary, it points to a thruth that Buddhism has been present in Southeast Asia for along time. Various Buddhist sects and schools, including Tantrism, vied or coexisted with a dominant Brhamanism and indigeneious animistic faiths for centuries before the rise of the classical Southeast Asian empires beginning in the 9th century A.D. Through in part Indian merchant traders, Indian cultural influence was pervasive in this early period. In Funan (1st to 5th century A.D.) the first organized Khmer polity, the Khmer people embraced not only the diverse Brahmanic and Buddhist religions but also the social customs and mores of India." [1]

The history of Buddhism in Cambodia covers nearly two thousand years, across a number of successive kingdoms and empires incluidng Oc-Eo, Funan, Chenla, Angkor, and present day Cambodia. The Angkor Empire at its high point extended into southern Thailand, as far as Burma in the west, Changmai and Vientianne in the north, and central Veitnam in east. Funan was the pre-southern Chinese inhabitant in SEA (the Mongoloid-southern Chinese), which is today became Thai-Lao-and Vietnam. ... Chenla, known from Chinese records as Zhenla （真腊）, was an early Khmer kingdom. ... Angkor was the site of a series of capital cities of the Khmer empire for much of the period from the 9th century to the 15th century CE. Their ruins (13°24N, 103°51E) are located amid forests and farmland to the north of the Great Lake (Tonle...

Buddhism entered Cambodia through two different streams. The earliest forms of Buddhism entered Oc-Eo and Funan along with Hindu influences of Hindu merchants. In later history, a second stream of Buddhism entered Khmer culture during the Angkor empire when Cambodia absorbed the various Buddhist traditons of the Mon kingdoms of Dvaravati and Haripunchai. The Dvaravati kingdom of the Mon people existed from the 6th to the 11th centuries, when it was conquered by the Khmer Empire. ... Haripunchai (or Haribhunjaya) was a Mon kingdom in northern Thailand in the centuries before the Thais moved into the area. ...

For the first tousand years of Khmer history, Cambodia was ruled by a series of Hindu kings with an occassional Buddhist king, such as Jayavarman of Fu-nan, and Suryvarman I. A variety of Buddhist ineages co-existed peacefully thorughout Cambodian lands, under the tolerant auspices of Hindu kings, and in neighboring Mon-Theravada kingdoms. Funan was a pre-Angkor Cambodian kingdom located around the Mekong delta, probably established by Mon-Khmer settlers speaking an Austro-Asiatic language. ...

Brahmin preists flourished in large urban temples. While Buddhist monks tended to live in rual, rustic settings in closer contact with the peasaon folks.

Suvannabhumi

King Asohka sent missionaries to the land of Suvannabhumi, which has generally been identified as the mailnand souteast Asian region of the Mon kingdoms of southern Thaton in Burma, central Thaland and Issan. The Edicts of Ashoka and the Dipavamsa of Ceylon mention these missions. Mon may refer to: Monday, the day of the week between Sunday and Tuesday mon (monster) in anime, a sort of monster character Môn or Anglesey, an island in Wales Mon State, a subdivision of Myanmar Mon people, a Southeast Asian ethnicity Mon language Mon, India, a town in... Thaton is a town in Mon State, in southern Myanmar on the Tenasserim plains. ... Issan : The north-east reagon of Thailand This article is a stub. ...

Funan

In the period between 100 B.C. and 500 A.D, the Kingdom of Funan in the present-day Mekong Delta established a flourishing sea-faring trade between China, Indonesia, and India. This kingdom was Hindu, with the kings of Funan sponsoring worship of Vishnu and Shiva. Buddhism was already present in Funan as a secondary religion in these earliest times.

An India Sanskrit inscription from 375 A.D documents the presence of Buddhism in Funan. King Kuandinya Jayavarman (478-514) cultivated Buddhism and sent a Buddhist mission complete with Funanese Buddhist images, carved in coral, to the Emperor of China. [2]

Another early inscription in Sanskrit dated 586-664 at Wat Prey Vier notes that two Buddhist monks named Ratnabhanu and Ratnasimha were brothers. Cinese texts attest that Buddhism flourished in Cambodia in the last half of the fifth century, and that King Jayavarman sent the Indian monk Nagasena to present a memorial in the Chinese Imperial court.[3]

Buddhism was clearly begining to assert its prsence from about year 450 A.D. onward, when the Chinese explorer I-tsing, toward the close of the seventh century, wrote the celebrated Records of the Buddhist Religion.

Chenla

The Kingdom of Chenla replaced Funan and endured from 500-700 A.D. Chenla extend from the Mekong Delta, and along the lands surrounding the Mekong and Sap rivers.

"According to Ma Touan-Lin, a 13th century Chinese chronicler, there were ten monasteries of Buddhist monks and nuns studying the sacred texts in the 4th and 5th centuries. He stated that two monks from Funan traveled to China in this period at the request of the Chinese emperor, to translate teh Sanskrit Tipitika into Chinese. A passage from the History of Leang, a Chinese chronicle written in 502-556, tells us that King Rudravarman sent a mission of monks to China in 535 under the direction of an Indian monk, Gunaratana. The delegation arrived in China in 546, accompained by 240 palm leaf manuscripts of Mahayana Buddhist texts. Evidence of a cult of Buddha's relics was seen in Rudravarman's request of the Chinese emperor for a 12 foot long relic of Buddha's hair." [4]

Buddhism was weakened in the Cenhla period, but survived, as seen in the inscprition of Sambor Prei Kuk (626 A.D.) and those of Siem Reap dealing with the erection of statues of Avalikotesvara (791 A.D.). Some preAngkorean statuary in the Mekong Delta region indicate teh existence of Sanskrit-based Saravastavada Buddhism.[5]

Khmer-style Buddha images are abudant from the period of 600-800 A.D. Also many Mahayana Buddhist images, such as bodhisattvas, are found in Cambodia, dating from this period, alongside the predominant Hindu images of Shiva and Vishnu.

An inscription from Ta Prohn temple in Bali province, dated about 625 A.D., states, that the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha are in a flourishing condition. [6]

Angkor

The transition from Hindu god-king to Mahayana Buddha-kin was probably gradual and imperceptible. The cult of Shiva and Vishnu gradually blended and morphed into the cult of the Bodhisattva. The prevailing cult of Brahmanism worship of Vishnu and Shiva gave way to the worship of Buddha and Avilokitsvara.

Jayavarman VII was the greatest of all Buddhist kings. Statue of Jayavarman VII, 12th century, Khmer Empire, Cambodia. ...

Up to the 13th century, Cambodia was primarily influenced by Mahayana Buddhism and Saivism. After the 13th century Theravada Buddhism became the main religion of Cambodia. Relief image of the bodhisattva Kuan Yin from Mt. ... Shaivism, also Saivism, is a branch of Hinduism that worships Siva as the Supreme God. ... Theravada (Pāli: theravāda, Sanskrit: sthaviravāda → English: The Way of the Elders) is the oldest surviving Buddhist school, and for many centuries has been the predominant religion of Sri Lanka (about 70% of the population[1]) and continental Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and parts of southwest...

There are two branches in Cambodia: Mohanikay, the biggest sect, and Dhammayuth which relates to the Royal Family.

Notes:

1. France on the Mekong, John Tully

2. "Notes of the Rebirth of Khmer Buddhism," Radical Conservativism, Peter Gayla-pap.

3. The Art of Southeast Asia, Philip Dawson.

4. Sanskrit Buddhism in Burma, Nihar-Ranjan Ray.

5. Sanskrit Buddhism in Burma, Nihar-Ranjan Ray.

6. The Art of Southeast Asia, Philip Dawson

See also

• Supreme Patriarch of Cambodia
• Preah Maha Ghosananda
• Choun Nath

The Supreme Patriach of Cambodia (Sangharaja) is the effective leader of the Buddhist community in Cambodia. ... Maha Ghosananda, (full title Samdech Preah Maha Ghosananda), is a highly revered Cambodian Buddhist monk in the Theravada tradition, who served as the Patriarch (Sangharaja) of Cambodian Buddhism during the Khmer Rouge period and post-communist transition period of Cambodian history. ... Samdech Sangha Raja Jhotañano Choun Nath (born March 11, 1883 - died September 25, 1969) is the late Supreme Patriarch Kana Mahanikaya of Cambodia. ...

Further Reading

Cambodian Buddhism, Ian Harris

External links

• Buddhism in Cambodia