Hindu Dharma Blog

FOUR months ago, when Thailand’s prime minister, Samak Sundaravej, visited his Cambodian counterpart, Hun Sen, the two countries seemed capable of dealing peacefully with a long-running dispute over an ancient temple on their borders. Thailand backed Cambodia’s bid to have the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple listed as a “world heritage” site and both sides agreed to keep talking over their overlapping claims to a nearby patch of land.

Since then, things have deteriorated to the point where each side has sent thousands of troops to the area. This week talks between the two countries agreed no more than to try to avoid settling things by force. Cambodia asked the UN Security Council to hold an emergency meeting over what it called a state of “imminent war”.

Read Full Article – ASEAN and the temple of doom
Source – The Economist

Cambodian Hindu Temple Declared World Heritage Site

The ancient Hindu temple of Preah Vihear on the Cambodia-Thailand border has been accorded World Heritage Site status by UNESCO at its meeting in Canada. Most of the Preah Vihear temple complex was built by Angkor kings Suryavarman I and Suryavarman II in the 11th and 12th centuries AD. At the center of controversy due to its proximity to Thailand, the International Court of Justice ruled in 1962 that the Hindu temple belonged to Cambodia.

Like other Angkor temples, Preah Vihear is a representation of the Hindu universe, with five peaks representing Mount Meru, home of the Gods. The temple also boasts an enormous depiction of the ‘Churning of the Ocean’ episode from Hindu mythology.

Also accorded World Heritage Site status by UNESCO this year are colonial trading towns of George Town and Malacca on the Straits of Malacca in Malaysia.