Decoration and Architecture of Wooden Prayer Halls - CambodiaElements for a Typolopy
(Song Sophy – Wooden Architecture of Cambodia A disappearing heritage)
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In contrast to the neighboring countries, Cambodia’s monastic architecture has received little scholarly attention. Ironically, while Buddhist monasteries play a major role in village communities and the traditional arts and crafts displayed in prayer halls are unique, Cambodian or international scholars have shown little interest in them. Today the situation is critical because the few old wooden prayer halls remaining are in very bad condition, strained as they are by a severe lack of maintenance and harsh climate.
Based on a survey of 18 wooden prayer halls spread over three provinces, this contribution attempts to shed light on regional trends displayed in the architecture and decoration of there monastic buildings. It presents the idea that by the late 19th and 20th centuries, head carpenters and artists had developed sets of techniques in ornamentation and carpentry that were specific to certain regions. Such techniques demonstrated a great sense of ingenuity and inventiveness.
These traditions, localized both in time and space, flourished over many decades but started to fade in the 1939s-40s, when new construction materials were introduced and colonial authorities restricted the use of wood for the construction of prayer halls. They simply vanished later on as standards of construction endorsed by officially sponsored and Phnom Penh – based initiatives became more widespread in the provinces and were followed by heads of monasteries. Promoting a national culture based on an oversimplified version of the reality was seen as a priority and eventually was done at the expense of these localized traditions.
Focusing on murals painted in Buddhist monasteries Madeleine Giteau, the late French historian, in Iconographie du Cambodge post-angkorien identified some of these regional differences; owing a considerable debt to her research, the present contribution expands her perspectives on the architecture and decoration techniques used in prayer halls.
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