khmer sources

Peung Kom-nou (the cave of paintings and sculptures) was discovered by French adventurers in 1867 – their one visit the only record of the site. Many representations of Rokha Tevada (Shiva) were carved here in the depths of Preah Vihear province, around 180 km from Angkor.

Local guides from the tiny hamlet of Ampil are available, though getting to Peung Kom-nou is far from easy. A wide logging road leads to a narrow hunter’s track which winds through the thick forest for about 2km. An even smaller trail meanders upwards between rocks and thick tree trunks, eventually leading to the Peung Kom-nou, also known as Rokha Tevada – the Gods of the Wilderness.

Elaborate carvings sprawl across giant boulders in a scene unchanged for centuries. Peung Kom-nou is the mysterious heart of a mighty jungle, an enigmatic yet peaceful spot where sacred imagery merges into living nature. The area is littered with stones – lichen spotted sentinels, silent under a blanket of pink blossom.

In one carving a four-armed Preah Vishnu sleeping atop a five-headed serpent in the midst of gentle waves. His wife Lakshmi stands behind. Siva sits cross-legged on a lotus flower rising from his Vishnu’s navel, part of the Hindu creation myth. The opposite cave depicts a six-armed Preah Kannes (Ganesh) in meditation.

On another face of the stone, a meeting takes place between deities. Preah Shiva, god of mountain and forest, stands in the middle, flanked by his two wives Uma and Parvarti. Three thickly-set stick-wielding gods stand guard.
At either side of the larger carvings, there is smaller but no less spectacular art. Two more Vishnus sleep and stand and a scene from the Moha Rusey shows four characters from popular mythology.

A long path leads deeper into the forest. Purple and white flowers stand out from the verdant greens and branches are heavy with birds. The jungle is thick with wildlife all but gone from other areas – a solemn owl stares as an antelope quietly laps from a limpid pool below. Here, amongst the primal menagerie, a large Garauda (birdman) trails limp snakes from his sharp talons. He is ridden by a god, probably Vishnu, though certain identification is difficult.
A further 1km up the same path another Vishnu, unrecorded and unknown, reclines alongside a channel cut through the bedrock. Many other such masterpieces may be waiting in the dark recesses of this primordial paradise.

Peung Kom-nou looks set to be the next Kbal Spean. Kbaal Spean (‘front bridge’) near Kulen Mountain in Siem Reap is the location of the ‘Thousand Linga River,’ a popular resort, around 60km from the temples of Angkor. The Peung Kom-nou carvings are similar to the Kbaal Spean depictions of nature deities in what was once a forbidding wilderness.
Scholars are excited about the opening of a new chapter in the hidden history of jungle and mountain spirits. In fact, Peung Kom-nou already attracts worshippers who come to pray to the wild, uncultivated side of the Khmer pantheon, known as Prei.
Ph.D. Michael Tranett said the site was priceless. "It’s one of the mythological places where our ancestors carved on the mountain stone for the younger generations to worship," said the Ex-Deputy Director of the National Committee for UNESCO. "From stylistic touches we know that most of these sculptures were carved in the 11th century AD, during the Angkor period. [Some were carved] in the reign of King Jayavaraman V and others were carved under King Jayavaraman VII."