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Jayavarman VII's Buddhist Rise: Angkor's Great Transformation
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the dramatic religious and political transformation of the Khmer Empire under Jayavarman VII. Coming to power after the devastating Cham invasion of 1177, Jayavarman VII rebuilt Angkor not as a Hindu kingdom but as a Mahayana Buddhist state. Lucas explains how the king's personal faith, shaped by the trauma of invasion and his devotion to Avalokiteshvara, led to the construction of Angkor Thom, Ta Prohm, Preah Khan, and the Bayon—temples that reimagined the king as a bodhisattva. They discuss the integration of Hindu and Buddhist iconography, the…
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