WHEN THE GODS BEGIN TO DANCE IN ANGKOR 

Architecture for the Dancing God: Hall with Dancers in the Jayavarman VII Temples.

Speaker: Dr. Swati Chemburkar

 

Chair: Shri B.M. Pande

 

The spiritual power of dance in Cambodia has been valued since pre-Angkorian times, and plentiful images of dance and music in the bas-reliefs of the great monuments of Angkor suggest that this tradition was markedly enhanced in the reign of Jayavarman VII, as a contemporary Chinese report attests. Focusing on the ‘halls with dancers’, a distinct architectural feature of Jayavarman VII’s temples, the article explores the link between the architecture, associated inscriptions, dance and music rituals evolving in Angkor and contemporary Chola temples that housed several mandapas. The lecture argues that the architecture of the halls with dancers worked in tandem with ritual practices to provide a symbolic and possibly actual space for encountering divine