Preah Ko Preah Keo

Preah Ko Preah Keo (Khmer: ព្រះកោ ព្រះកែវ "Sacred Ox and Sacred Gem") is a famous Cambodian legend about two brothers who were born in Cambodia. The older brother was an ox called Preah Ko and the younger one was a man named Preah Keo. Preah Ko was an ox who possessed divine power. His belly contained precious objects and valuable things that people wanted very much. Both sacred brothers were believed to bring peace and prosperity to the place where they resided.[1]

The Legend of Preah Ko Preah Keo is very popular in Cambodian society. The story has existed in several versions including oral, written, film and paintings. The Khmer people have great respect for the enchanting brothers. In some shrines throughout the country, Khmers have placed statues of Preah Ko and Preah Keo, who keep watch over the land they left but never abandoned.

Origin of the name

Preah (ព្រះ) refers to what is sacred or royal. Ko (កោ) means cow and Keo (កែវ) means gem. Preah Keo can also refer to the Emerald Buddha, which directly refers this legend back to its Thai origin.[2] The name of the legendary duo is a rich alliteration similar to other legendary duos such as Romulus and Remus in Roman culture or Hengist and Horsa in Germanic mythology.

Origin

The origins of the legend of Preah Ko and Preah Keo can be explained on different levels: religious, historical and political.

The Khmer approriation of Hindu and Buddhist traditions
Preah Ko (Khmer: ប្រាសាទព្រះគោ, "The Sacred Bull") is also the name of the first temple to be built in the ancient and now defunct city of Hariharalaya (in the area that today is called Roluos), some 15 kilometers south-east of the main group of temples at Angkor, Cambodia.

Preah Ko and Preah Keo, the Holy Cow and the Holy Gem can be seen as a blend of Hindu and Buddhist traditions into the Khmer culture.

The brahmanic origin of Preah Ko

Preah Ko, the Holy Cow, has often been associated to the brahmanic account of Nandi in Cambodia. In fact, the Holy Cow is linked to the spread of hinduism as Nandi is considered as the chief guru of eight disciples of Nandinatha Sampradaya, namely, Sanaka, Sanatana, Sanandana, Sanatkumara, Tirumular, Vyagrapada, Patanjali, and Sivayoga Muni, who were sent in eight different directions, to spread the wisdom of Shaivism.[3]

The cow is one of the protecting animals of the Buddha Gautama often represented in Cambodian pagodas.[4]

Preah Keo as a metaphor of buddhism
The Silver Pagoda, located on the south side of the Royal Palace, Phnom Penh is commonly known as the Wat Preah Keo (Khmer: វត្តព្រះកែវ) in Khmer.

According to David Chandler, Preah Keo, the "Sacred Gem", is a metaphor of buddhism as protecting Cambodia.[5] In fact, in neighbouring Thailand, the Emerald Buddha is the national palladium.

The painful matter after the historical fall of Lovek in 1594

The Khmers and the Siamese (Khmer: "Siem") throughout their history had many wars with each other. The Siamese had sacked the Khmer's capital of Angkor. Later on, they attacked Longvek, another of Cambodia's capitals in the 16th century. After their successful capture of Angkor and Longvek, the Siamese brought many precious objects, jewels, statues, texts, learned men and many prisoners of war from Cambodia to their capital of Ayutthaya. The loss of these materials and human resources had a tremendous effect on the kingdom. The country had declined and lacked signs of progress in the later periods. After the fall of Lovek in 1594, it is believed that the Legend of Preah Ko Preah Keo began as an etiological myth to explain these historical events and to express the great sadness over the loss of these priceless resources.

According to E. Porée-Maspero, the legend goes back to the rapt of the Preah Ko by the Thai soldiers. Preah Ko was a metal calf, in the womb of which a great collection of pali writings were treasured. Rubbed with mercury, after seven days, this statue could even walk. Another protecting divinity called Khuoc in the Khmer locality of Pisei was beheaded by the villagers. And in revenge, this neak ta gave the Siamese soldiers a banana log to capture Preah Ko, which they were seeking to capture as the Thai back then did not own any Pali scripts accordingly.[6]

Another version was recorded in 1870 from a brief oral tradition by ethnologist Gustave Janneau. As the King of Siam had failed many times with his army to capture Preah Ko and Preah Keo from Cambodia in order to enrich his kingdom, he ordered that the firearms of his soldiers be loaded with gold and silver which he shot into the Cambodian fortress. As the Khmer realized the valuable projectiles had fallen into the bamboo fields around their fortress, they decided to cut the bamboo forest down to pick the gold and silver from the ground. As soon as the field was barren, the Siamese king came hurriedly with his army and triumphed over the Cambodian army in disarray. They captured the two statues, opened them up to steal their valuable Pali manuscripts, which explains why the Siamese have dominated over the Khmer people ever since.[7]

The Royal request of King Chey Chettha IV in 1692

The legend of Preak Ko Preah Keo has also been given a more precise date of origin. In 1692, Cambodian king Chey Chettha IV asked his aunt to write down from her own memory the forgotten costumes of Cambodia. At that time, she was able to recover the lost Khmer manuscripts written on kampi and santra which had been taken to Siam. It is from these manuscripts that the legend may have been recovered.[8]

Narrative

Textual criticism
The earliest records of the legend were carved on palm leaves. Palm-leaf manuscripts called Lontar in dedicated stone libraries have been discovered by archaeologists at Hindu temples in Bali Indonesia and in 10th century Cambodian temples such as Angkor Wat and Banteay Srei.[9]

Textual criticism shows a great variety of expressions of the legend of Preah Ko Preah Keo stemming from an oral tradition in verse. In 1870, ethnologist Gustave Janneau translated the legend of Preah Ko Preah Keo from a very succinct oral tradition.[10] In 1952, Kim Ky copied and printed the legend of Preah Ko Preah Keo from palm-leaf manuscripts dating back from the late 19th or early 20th century. In the transcription, the narrator who refers to himself as Kau and describes himself as "an ordinary man of the people" originating from the Prey Kabbas District (Khmer: ស្រុកព្រៃកប្បាស), says he heard this song from a story-teller named Chai who sang it in verse. The Reyum Institute published a Khmer-English abbreviated version of this legend in 2001[11] and Ly Thayly published another Khmer version in prose in 2004.[12]

Synopsis

A miraculous birth

In the land of Takkasila during the reign of Preah Bat Reachea Reamathireach, a man called Meanop, poor but of great virtue is married with a woman who has a dream of three diamond rings. They meet a fortune-teller who announces that she will give birth three neak boun (virtuous spiritus), but that she has to refrain from eating green mangoes. However, while her husband is away hunting, she is so violently tempted that she climbs up a mango tree from she falls, causing her to die and her children to be born prematurely. The two children are a cow, Preah Ko, and a small child still in the placenta, which Meanop liberates from the ombilical and tries to feed. They are however rejected by the villagers, who fear this anomalous death.

The rapt of Preah Ko and Preah Keo

After living in the forests for years, the young cow and the young child go to play with the other children one day, and they laugh at them, beat them up, and refuse to share their food with them. Seeing the dearth of Preah Keo, Preah Ko miraculously pulls ut silver knifes, forks and dishes as well as food for him. Seeing the treasure Preah Ko has in him, the villagers decide to capture him, tie him to a kandol tree (Careya arborea). Preah Ko tells Preah Keo to hold on to his tail, and both take off in the air throwing the tree down on earth thus killing the villagers, who Preah Keo later brings back to life with an infusion of the same wood in boiling water. Meanop, with no news from his offspring, dies of grief, but Lord Indra brings him back to life in the trai trins under the avatar of Preah Ketumealea, the King for God Bisnukar is said to have build the temple of Angkor Vat.[13]

The encounter with Princess Neang Peou

King Preah Bat Reachea Reamathireach had five daughters, who went down to the pond of Mocharim (Mucalinda) to play. Preah Keo join their play, and falling in love with the youngest princess named Neang Peou, seized and kissed her, sparking off the jealousy of her other sisters. Back at the place, the King ordered the execution of his youngest daughter, despite the petitions of her mother Botumea. After her execution, Lord Indra brings her back to life, and she is led by the spirits through the forest back to the pond, where she sees Preah Ko and Preah Keo resting under a fig tree. Preah Ko brings a whole place out of his womb and the marriage of Neang Prou and Preah Keo is celerated.

The three fights
The Cockfight

In an attempt to invade the Kingdom of Cambodia, the King of Siam challenges King Reamathireach to a cockfight, between his rooster A Romduol (literally "Sphaerocoryne affinis" (Khmer: រំដួល, a species of flowering plant in the soursop family) and that of the Cambodian ruler, A Rompong Phnom (literally "the one who retains the mountain"). After A Rompong Phnom is defeated, Preah Ko transforms into a young black rooster and a new fight is organized for revenge. Preah Ko is victorious and as an acknowledgement, King Reameathireach gives his kingdom to Preah Keo and his daughter Neang Peou, despite the low origin of Preah Keo who is recognized as a neak mean bou, a meritorious being.

The Elephant fight

Humiliated, the King of Siam challenges the King of Cambodia to an elephant fight. Preah Ko transforms into an elephant and faces off Kompoul Pich (literally "diamond peak") and comes out victorious.

The Bull fight

In a final attempt, the King of Siam challenges Preah Keo to a bull fight. A mechanical bull is created by Thai craftsmen with powers beyond any created animal. Premonitory dreams warn Neang Prou of the upcoming menace. The fight begins, and Preah Ko, seeing his defeat coming, tells Preah Keo and Neang Prou to hold hands and hold on to his tail, as he flies away. But Neang Prou loses grip and falls back to the earth to her death. Lord Indra turns her body into stone and brings her soul to paradise. Rather that become captive of the king of Siam, Preah Keo and Preah Ko fly off to the lang of Phnom Sruoch (literally, the "pointy mountain").

The capture and captivity of Preah Ko and Preah Keo

The King of Siam send his army to seize Preah Keo and Preo Ko in Phnom Sruoch, but the brothers fly off to the citadel of Lovek, surrounded by a bamboo forest. The King of Siam, instead of ordering the bamboo forest to be cut down, asks his soldiers to throw silver coins or duong, into the forest. The Khmer people then rush to the bamboo forest and cut out the bamboo trees to pick up the silver. Feeling exposed, Preah Ko and Preah Keo fly off to Phnom Attharoeus, a mountain in Oudong. As the Siamese guards seek them, Preah Ko and Preah Keo transform as buffaloes, but finally they are caught with ropes. Taken hostages in a Siamese palace, they prepare their escape, and flee to Pailin to the northwest of Cambodia. Surrounded again, they flee to Phnom Sampeou in Battambang, then further on to Phnom Thipadei and Phnom Thbeng. Finally captured, they are taken to Ayutthaya, where a special palace with seven surrounding walls is built to keep them captive in the Siamese capital, where they are to this day.

Cultural influence

Pictural representations of the legend of Preah Ko Preah Keo are rather recent. Those of the Svay Chroum Pagoda for example were elaborated in 1987. Most of the statues of Preah Ko Preah Keo were erected in the second half of the 20th century. On the Hill of Oudong, the full-size statues of the Tonle Bati Pagoda date back only to 1990.[14]

In the region of Kampong Chhnang, various sites are exploiting the legend of Preah Ko Preah Keo to attract tourists.

Very popular to this day, this legend is called back to the memory of the Khmer people in times of tension with the government of Thailand, especially in 1958 when diplomatic ties where cut between Cambodia and Thailand[15] or in recent years over the control of the temples of Preah Vihear and its surroundings.

Bibliography
  • Notton, Camille. The Chronicle of the Emerald Buddha. Translated from Pali version. Consul of France: Second Impression, 1933.
  • Thung, Heng. “Revising the Collapse of Angkor.” Southeast Asian Regional Centre for Archaeology and Fine Arts, Vo. 9, no. 1, 1999.
  • The Government of the People’s Republic of Kampuchea. Thai Policy vis- a- vis Kampuchea. Phnom Penh: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 1983.

References
  1. Kimly Ngoun (2006). "The Legend of Preah Ko Preah Keo" (PDF). Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  2. Santi, Phakdeekham (2002). Prah Keo nai tam na Prah Ko Prah Keo Khamen: Prah Keo morokot ching re? [Preah Keo in the Khmer legend of Preah Ko and Preah Keo: is Preah Keo the name of the Emeral Buddha or not?]. Bangkok: Silpakorn University.
  3. Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (2003). Dancing with Siva: Hinduism's Contemporary Catechism. Himalayan Academy Publications. ISBN 978-0-945497-89-9.
  4. Giteau, Madeleine (1975). Iconographie du Cambode post-angkorien (in French). Paris: Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient. p. 104.
  5. Chandler, David P. (1983). A History of Cambodia. Colorado: Westview Press. pp. 84–85.
  6. Porée-Maspero, Eveline (1972). Etude sur les rites agraires des Cambodgiens. « Le monde d'outre-mer présent et passé » (in French). Paris - La Haye: Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes. pp. t. I, p. 111, , n.3.
  7. Janneau, Gustave (1870). Manuel pratique de la langue cambodgienne (in French). Saigon: auta-published. pp. 87–88.
  8. Solange, Thierry (Spring 1962). "Manuscrits cambodgiens du Départements d'Asie". Objets et Mondes. tome 22 - fascicule 1: 13–24.
  9. Wayne A. Wiegand and Donald Davis (1994), Encyclopedia of Library History, Routledge, ISBN 978-0824057879, page 350
  10. Janneau, Gustave (1870). Manuel pratique de la langue cambodgienne (in French). Saigon: auta-published. pp. 87–88.
  11. Ly, Daravuth (2001). Preah Ko Preah Keo. Phnom Penh: Reyum Institute. p. 40.
  12. Ly, Thaily (2004). The Legend of Preah Ko Preah Keo. Phnom Penh: Pai Neth Bookshop.
  13. Khing, Hoc Dy (1989). La légende du Temple d'Angkor Vat (in French). Paris: CILF. pp. 13–24.
  14. Giteau, Madeleine (1975). Iconographie du Cambodge post-angkorien (in French). Paris: Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient.
  15. Royaume de Cambodge: Livre blanc sur la rupture des relations diplomatiques entre le cambodge et la Thailande le 23 Octobre 1961 (in French). 1962.

See also
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