MAHA EYSEI: | Welcome to Cambodia, to the great inland sea the Tonle Sap, to the Flying Palaces of Angkor and to the greatest of them all, the largest religious building in the world, Angkor Wat. |
We shall explain the meaning of the spear, a vital part of the many creations myths of Cambodia and we shall tell you of the legends, the religion and the history of one of the world’s greatest empires. |
MAHA EYSEI: | We pay homage to the Lord Buddha, To Vishnu, God, Protector and Patron of the Arts And to Shiva, Destroyer, Creator and God of the Dance. |
MAHA EYSEI: | Honour self created Kambu. (Invoking) He descends from the conjunction of the sun and of the moon. And his glory rises like a star at the horizon. He dispels ignorance. He is accomplished in all the arts. |
MAHA EYSEI: | I honour Mera, the most glorious of celestial women, (Invoking) whom Shiva gave on high as Queen to this wise man. |
MAHA EYSEI: | (He turns and addresses the audience.) These invocations are taken from a tenth century, Sanskrit poem, inscribed on the temple of Baksei Chamkrong. The names Kambu and Mera are merged into Kambumera or Kampuchea or, as it called in English, Cambodia. Kambu was the first of the God Kings of Cambodia. |
Mera is one of the heavenly women known in Cambodia as apsaras. These divinities are models of perfect femininity, and also of the dance. |
MAHA EYSEI: | A later God King, King Rajendravarman re-established the empire at Angkor in 944 A.D. To celebrate he planted a gold statue of Shiva on the summit of the temple pyramid of Baksei Chamkrong. In this way he paid respect to his ancestors, Kambu and Mera. |
MAHA EYSEI: | But allow me to introduce myself. I am Maha Eysei, the ancestral guardian of the performing arts. I see the past, the present (he smiles) and I see the future. |
MAHA EYSEI: | There are other, even earlier creation myths told by the small eyed people of the jungle, who worshipped snakes. |
NAGA: | How dare you invade my land? I should have you put to death. |
KAMBU: | I come to ask for help. |
NAGA: | Explain yourself. |
KAMBU: | In my country I was King, but Shiva, the destroyer, caused a great drought and destroyed our crops. My people are desolate. My wife is dead. |
NAGA: | My daughter has fallen in love with you. |
DRAGON PRINCESS: | You have pierced my heart. (Almost a threat) I desire you. |
NAGA: | For the sake of peace in my household, we will overlook your crime in coming here. We shall arrange your marriage. (Almost a threat) I desire you. |
KAMBU:
And we shall build a kingdom that will be a stepping stone to heaven. We shall call it “the Flying Palaces of the Holy City
MAHA EYSEI: | This is why today the Cambodians say they are “born from the Naga” and Khmer weddings symbolize the beautiful legend of the origin of Cambodia when Kambu the first Khmer prince married the Naga princess. Before their marriage Kambu gave her clothes and jewellery to wear. |
MAHA EYSEI: | And in exchange her father enlarged the possessions of his son-in-law by drinking up the water that covered the country, So that the people could grow rice; and with the wealth created from rice, he built a capital for Kambu and his daughter. Today we Cambodians see ourselves as the offspring of a marriage between “culture” and “nature”. |
MAHA EYSEI: | To be a true King one had to be a Cambodian and an Indian at the same time. The inscriptions on the Angkor temples are in both Khmer and Sanskrit, the ancient language of India. |
MAHA EYSEI: | Sanskrit was the language of the superior caste, the consumers, who kept order and who ruled; while Khmer was the language of the producers who grew rice and who fished in the Tonle Sap. |
MAHA EYSEI: | Whenever Mother Earth has needed help, the superior caste had called on the God, Vishnu to restore peace and order, as he had during the Churning of the Sea of milk, when the Gods had to regain the elixir of immortality. |
MAHA EYSEI: | To obtain this heavenly drink, they took the Great Naga, as a rope, twisted it around the world-mountain, Mandara, as the pivot and started churning the sea which frothed like milk. |
Ninety two asuras – or demons – pulled on the head of serpent and eighty eight devas – or demi-gods – pulled the tail. Realizing that thousands of years of work were unsuccessful, they sought the help of Vishnu. He advised them to work together and to organize themselves. But at this point Mount Mandara suddenly began to sink and Vishnu, in his incarnation as the tortoise Kurma, had to support the mountain with his shell, while Indra squeezed down the top of the mountain with his foot. The spinning of the mountain caused such a violent whirlpool that the fishes around it were torn to pieces. The sea of milk was churned for another thousand years and then, to the delight of the gods, the heavenly nymphs or apsaras were born of the waves and finally they created the Amrita, the much desired elixir of immortality. |
MAHA EYSEI: | And so Kambu married the Dragon Princess – or he married Mera. (smiles) Perhaps he married both. |
MAHA EYSEI: | Mera was the greatest of the Apsaras, sometimes called Lakshmi. You can see thousands of these apsaras on the walls of Angkor Wat.. |
MERA:
MERA:
MERA:
MAHA EYSEI:
MERA:
MAHA EYSEI:
BRAHMIN PRIEST:
Chakravartin !
JAYAVARMAN II:
BRAHMIN:
INDRAVARMAN:
BRAHMIN:
INDRAVARMAN:
MAHA EYSEI:
MAHA EYSEI:
Indravarman leaves the stage. An extra enters dressed as Yashovarman
MAHA EYSEI:
BRAHMIN:
MAHA EYSEI:
SURYAVARMAN I:
MAHA EYSEI:
MAHA EYSEI:
ZHOU DAGUAN:
MAHA EYSEI:
MAHA EYSEI:
The boy smiles and bows and they hold hands and leave together.
MAHA EYSEI:
MAHA EYSEI:
BRAHMIN:
MAHA EYSEI:
BRAHMIN:
MAHA EYSEI:
BRAHMIN:
MAHA EYSEI:
MAHA EYSEI:
BRAHMIN:
MAHA EYSEI:
MAHA EYSEI:
BRAHMIN:
MAHA EYSEI:
MAHA EYSEI:
MAHA EYSEI:
MAHA EYSEI:
MAHA EYSEI:
MAHA EYSEI:
MAHA EYSEI:
MERA:
MERA:
MAHA EYSEI:
MAHA EYSEI:
Fade Music
MAHA EYSEI:
Music short reprise
MAHA EYSEI:
Fade Music again
MAHA EYSEI:
KUBLAI KHAN:
MERA:
KAMBU: