Hinduism and Buddhism in Thailand and Cambodia

Though it fell centuries ago, the mighty Khmer Empire (9th-15th centuries CE) had an indelible impact on Thai and Cambodian religion that endures to this day. An officially Hindu kingdom, the Khmer rulers derived their legitimacy from the belief that they could trace their lineage back to the divine blood of Vishnu and Shiva and organized Khmer society according to the Hindu caste system. Though Shaktist Hinduism never reached mainstream popularity in Khmer lands, Vishnuite and Shaivite Hinduism were extremely popular, followed closely by Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism (which eventually supplanted Hinduism as the dominant faith in the empire’s later years). The result of centuries of interplay between the two faiths was a highly syncretic blend of Buddhist and Hindu theologies that outlived the Khmer Empire itself. Modern Thais and Cambodians are overwhelmingly Buddhist, with less than 1% of either group remaining Hindu, yet most Thai and Cambodian Buddhists continue to worship Hindu gods. Indeed, statues of Vishnu, Brahma, Shiva, Ganesha, and Parvati are commonplace in Thai and Cambodian Buddhist temples, some of which are explicitly dedicated to them. Cambodia’s Angkor Wat, for example, remains the largest religious monument in the world, covering an area measuring approximately 1.6 million square meters, and was built by the Khmer King Suryavarman II (r. approximately 1113-1150 CE) to be a replica of Mount Meru; the mythical realm of the gods in Hinduism.