A Memorable Photo

I often marvel at the amazing dexterity of the brain, especially the mysterious ways in which it stores memories. Neurologists and psychologists explain that the human brain has separate storage locations and vaults for short-term and long-term memories, and its filing and retrieval system is so powerful that it easily produces the required data in a jiffy, just like the hard disk of a powerful computer. Except when memory slips in old age and is progressively erased when afflicted with Alzheimer’s. Whenever I can’t recall the name of a person I have known for years, I’m terrified. Is this the onset of the dreaded A…?

There had been a strong shower on Friday night, and forecast of further rain at Bhopal. I was tempted to stay at home and enjoy an unfinished novel, but chose to drive to attend the Saturday Club meeting. It was worth the effort since Mr. D.S. Sood, a former ASI official made an excellent presentation about India’s rehabilitation and conservation project - Ta Prohm – an important monument of the Angkor Wat UNESCO World Heritage Site. Anshu Vaish, former DG, ASI presided over the session.

Angkor Wat at Siem Reap, Cambodia is the largest Hindu temple in the world, originally dedicated to Vishnu, and built by Khmer king Suryavarman-II in the 12^th century AD. With annual tourist arrival of about 26 lakhs, it is one of the most-visited monuments in the world.

(Image Source: Ministry of Tourism, Cambodia)

After the Khmer kings shifted their capital from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh, these monuments fell into ruins. UNESCO designated it as a World Heritage Site in 1992 and began a global rehabilitation and conservation project supported by 30 countries and organizations with France, Japan, India, and Germany as the major contributors. ASI, with funding support from MEA, has been associated with this global initiative since 1986, even prior to its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Hollywood film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) was partially filmed at Ta Prohm, one of the iconic temples within the Angkor Archaeological Park. This temple, known for its intertwining tree roots of silk cotton and strangler fig trees growing through ancient stone structures, provided a dramatic and atmospheric backdrop for the movie's adventurous and mystical scenes. Angelina Jolie starred as Lara Croft, bringing the video game heroine to life; a Lady James Bond with loads of oomph. Daniel Craig who acted as the tomb raider helping the villains would later play James Bond in Casino Royale (2006) and four other James Bond movies!

Mr Sood presented several interesting slides, and read from his detailed notes. During and after the talk, he answered several queries competently. He is very knowledgeable having been associated with Angkor Wat project since 1986, and has been honoured by Government of Cambodia more than once.

Of the many slides Mr. Sood presented, one lit a bulb in an obscure corner of my brain. The slide showed the wooden bridge across the moat to take the tourists to the temple complex.

Do you remember that bridge? My brain asked.

Of course, I do.

Is this the scene that you recall? The brain brought up a picture post-card with the flourish of a magician.

After Mr Sood’s talk, the vote of thanks, and before the few members in the audience dispersed, I shared the following memory.

A Memorable Photo

A memorable photo of which I have no copy!

Arriving at Siem Reap via Bangkok on a Sunday morning, we spent the better part of the day visiting the heritage site and the monuments with an ASI official as our friendly guide.

The massive, sprawling Angkor Wat temple was impressive even from a distance. Our guide said, ‘The best photos with the entire monument in the backdrop are clicked from this lawn. Once you go nearer, you can only click it in segments.’

We clicked solo and group photos after which we proceeded towards the complex. Before we climbed the wooden bridge to take us across the moat, from among a group of Chinese college students, a girl approached me and said, ‘May I have a photo, please?’

‘Of course,’ I said and waited for her to give me her camera for me to click her photo.

‘No, I want a photo with you.’

A bit amused, I said okay, and she got her friend to click our photo with the Angkor Wat monument in the backdrop.

‘Thank you very much,’ she said with a beaming smile.

‘Why a photo with me?’ I asked.

‘Oh! You’re so handsome,’ she said blushing a little.

Once she and her group of chattering, boisterous, bubbly friends were beyond ear-shot, Anant Swarup, my younger colleague gently rebuked me, ‘Sir, you should have said no.’

Why so? I asked.

‘You’re a senior government official with a sensitive assignment in the Ministry of Commerce, and she could be a Chinese spy preparing a dossier on you.’ Anant wasn’t joking, he was truly concerned.

‘I very much doubt that. I’m no Secretary, but a mere Joint Secretary, a middle-level official. Why would China waste its resources on me? Maybe, Chinese college girls have a thing for middle-aged Indian males; or, the bewitching sunrays made me look a bit like Shah Rukh Khan with kale kale mukhde pe kala kala chasma!’

Thanks, Dear Brain, for that heart-warming recall; but my spouse (who had accompanied me to the meeting) wasn’t amused for I had never shared it with her, dismissing it as a trifling incident.

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Postscript

When did I visit Angkor Wat, was it 2007 or 2008? Back at home, I checked my old passport: Siem Reap- Arrival: 22 July 2007, Dep: 26 July.

Were you at Siem Reap in July 2007? I texted Mr. Sood.

Yes, I had joined as the ASI Team Leader in May 2007, he replied. 

Mr. Sood, requested by Embassy of India at Phnom Penh, had received us at the Siem Reap airport, and had taken us for the visit to the monuments.

I had forgotten that, but not the incident with the Chinese girl!

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Notes

Angkor Wat

Angkor derives from the Sanskrit "nagara" (नगर), meaning "city" or "capital." In Khmer, it evolved to "nokor" and then to "Angkor," reflecting its role as the central hub of the Khmer Empire.

Wat derives from Pali/Sanskrit "vatta" (वत्त), meaning "enclosure," "sacred precinct," or "temple." In Khmer, it specifically refers to a Buddhist or Hindu temple complex.

Built in the early 12th century during the reign of King Suryavarman II (1113–1150 CE), it was originally a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu, with the central tower representing Mount Meru and the surrounding moat symbolizing the cosmic ocean. Later, when Cambodia transitioned to Buddhism, Angkor Wat became a Buddhist shrine while retaining its Hindu iconography.

“After the Cham people of modern-day Vietnam sacked Angkor in 1177, King Jayavarman VII (reigned 1181–c. 1220) decided that the Hindu gods had failed him. When he built a new capital nearby, Angkor Thom, he dedicated it to Buddhism. Thereafter, Angkor Wat became a Buddhist shrine, and many of its carvings and statues of Hindu deities were replaced by Buddhist art.” (Encyclopaedia Brittanica)

Ta Prohm

In Khmer, Ta means "ancestor," "elder," or "grandfather," conveying respect and reverence. Prohm derives from Sanskrit "Brahma", the Hindu god of creation.

The name "Ta Prohm" can be interpreted as "Ancestor Brahma" or "Grandfather Brahma," reflecting its dedication to spirituality and the veneration of familial and divine lineage.

King Jayavarman VII possibly built this temple for his mother, and installed an idol of her personal deity Prajna Paramita (Saraswati) here. During the Buddhist period, an idol of Avalokiteshvara, one of the most revered Bodhisattvas in Mahayana Buddhism, embodying infinite compassion and mercy, was installed here.

Avalokitesvara

“Avalokiteshvara, in Buddhism, and primarily in Mahayana (“Greater Vehicle”) Buddhism, the bodhisattva (“buddha-to-be”) of infinite compassion and mercy, possibly the most popular of all figures in Buddhist legend.

Avalokiteshvara supremely exemplifies the bodhisattva’s resolve to postpone his own buddhahood until he has helped every sentient being on earth achieve liberation (moksha; literally, “release”) from suffering (dukkha) and the process of death and rebirth (samsara). His name has been variously interpreted as “the lord who looks in every direction” and “the lord of what we see” (that is, the actual created world).

The title invariably used for him in Cambodia and Thailand is Lokeshvara (“Lord of the World”).”

Avalokiteshvara, China

(Quotes & Image: Encyclopaedia Brittanica)

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