A Kutisvara update in the light of a couple of precisions regarding our recent post on Angkor’s Kutisvara Temple from some interesting feedback we received.
Kutisvara Firstly, whilst several prominent archaeologists, such as Coedes and Jacques have ascribed the central tower, pictured above, to the Jayavarman II/Preah Ko style, according to the E.F.E.O. (École Française d’Extrême-Orient) there is no conclusive evidence for that and a late 8th- early 9th-century dating is only speculative. The adjacent towers are almost definitely mid-10th century and an inscription mentioning a priest of Rajendravarman II (c. 944 to 968) was found nearby. However, since the central tower is built on a brick base and the north and south towers lie on laterite bases it’s a reasonable assumption that; a. the towers were not built at the same time and b. the central tower must then have been constructed before the other 2.
Further E.F.E.O information is that when French archaeologist Maurice Glaize, (himself later a member of the Ecole), discovered the temple in 1930 he ascribed the name Kutisvara to it – jumping to the conclusion that this small temple corresponded to the 9th-century temple of Kutisvara mentioned in several texts, (including that of Sdok Kok Thom), and that there may not actually be any historical justification to associate this temple with Kutisvara.
So, yes speculation, but we reckon reasonable speculation and at the end of the day much of Khmer history remains at present in the realm of speculation anyway!
