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The RitualOrigins
of the Classical
Dance Dramaof Cambodia
Paul Cravath
Paul Cravath recently completed his doctoral dissertation on Cambodian theatre at the University of
Hawaii, where he is an instructor of acting in the Department of Drama and Theatre.
180 Cravath
the most influential Southeast Asian scholar of the century, due in large
part to his translation of many early stone inscriptions. His subsequent
interpretation of virtually all early Southeast Asian culture as a colonial
transmission by Brahmans and traders from India was never veiled: "It is
interesting to note that even in prehistoric times the autochthonous peoples
of Indochina seem to have been lacking in creative genius and showed
little aptitude for making progress without stimulus from outside" ([ 1962]
1972, 13).
Minority views developed, however, with the Dutch historians in
particular tending to a more "Southeast Asia-centric" point of view. The
most radical and, ultimately, the most influential of these was the economic
historian J. C. van Leur, who wrote in 1934 that in Southeast Asia both
Hinduism and Islam are a "thin, easily flaking glaze on the massive body
of indigenous civilization" (1955, 169). During the past three decades, this
claim has been dramatically substantiated by a widespread network of
scholars whose dean is archaeologist Wilhelm G. Solheim. Their conclu-
sions are the impetus for my rejection of the belief that Indian elements
form the foundation of Cambodia's classical dance.
In an excellent summary of the spectrum of theories concerning the
so-called Indianization of Southeast Asia, I. W. Mabbett summarizes
Solheim's work as a series of claims which
FIGURE 4. Royal dancers attending the funerary urn of King Monivong in 1941.
rendered. Thus, there has always been an ambiguous identity between the
spirit of the powerful ancestor and the spirit of the land with which he or
she was associated. As Paul Mus concluded, ancestor worship and a
fecundity cult were the two primary, interrelated features of indigenous
religious belief in mainland Southeast Asia (1933, 367). On the basis of the
many dancers known from the earliest written records to have been as-
sociated with temples, it seems fairly certain that ritual dance has been
intimately connected with ancestor communion and fertility rites in the
area of Cambodia from the most ancient times.
books, libraries, taxes paid in gold, and a port city on the Mekong delta
controlling much of the earliest international trade through Southeast Asia
(Pelliot 1903, 254; Wolters 1967, 37). Numerous records from the sixth
century onward mention dance as a temple offering. One seventh-century
account, for instance, details the gifts given by a high dignitary to a temple
which he had erected. Included were nine female dancers, seven female
singers, and nine male musicians, together with three other female dancers
and six female singers who presumably held a different position or function
than those first indicated; all are mentioned by name (Coedes 1937, V,
64).
Such accounts appear in stone inscriptions listing the property and
lands attached to particular temples. Female dancers, female musicians,
female singers, and male musicians donated or belonging to the temple as
"slaves of the god" often headed the lists. The "god" so honored was
traditionally a sacred tree or stone which embodied the spirit of that place,
and dances were performed in its honor according to a strict schedule.
These inscriptions reflect certain forms of Indian influence now
believed to have begun in the second half of the fourth century A.D.
(Christie 1970, 3) through a process that has been much debated. In a
recent summary of all arguments, Kenneth R. Hall concludes that "entre-
preneurial activities of traders of various cultures stimulated the local
rulers to selectively adopt Indianized patterns for their own purposes,"
namely to lend greater authority and legitimacy to a central overlord
capable of dominating regional patterns of maritime trade and enforcing a
stable network of interdependence and loyalty among his lesser chiefs
(1985, 53).
Sanskrit became a religious and socially cohesive force in the hands
of an increasingly powerful monarch whose authority was believed to
emanate from his spiritual prowess rather than, as previously believed,
from his military power (Hall 1985, 47). In the local temples to which
dancers were attached, deities (sacred trees and stones) were given addi-
tional Sanskrit names and Indian forms (Aeusrivongse 1976, 116). For
example, the oldest inscription in the Khmer language (dated A.D. 611)
mentions that a single donation to a temple included seven dancers, eleven
singers, and four musicians offered to the local deity whose name signifies
a tree but included the suffix -isvara, indicating Shiva (Coedes 1937, V,
18-19).
Temples which the dancers served in the pre-Angkorean period
were ultimately extensions of the state temples, and in the dancers them-
selves we see evidence of the monarch's pervasive influence. Unlike other
slaves who bore Khmer names such as "Cat," "Dog," or "Stinking,"
dancers in the earliest inscriptions bear Sanskrit names including "Ador-
able," "Gifted in the Art of Love," and "SpringJasmine" (Lancaster 1971,
184 Cravath
9). Such names should not be viewed as revealing a link between their
dance and the dance of India, but as a badge of their significance in the
royal cult.
While kingship and its religious adjuncts betray Indian influence in
the pre-Angkorean period, the arts in general do not. We can document
drainage and irrigation systems of"astonishing" magnitude and engineer-
ing skill (Groslier and Arthaud [1957] 1966, 19). Large sculpture-portraits
erected as a further means of maintaining contact with ancestors and
which are among the most exquisite works of art in the ancient world
betray no Indian elements whatsoever (Giteau 1965, 55). Even Coedes
observes that the architecture is clearly distinguished from that of India by
"very remarkable differences" ([1944]1968, 255). Similarly, there is no
evidence of Indian influence in the function of ritual dancers in pre-
Angkorean temples.
Always associated in the eyes of the populace with ancestor worship
and, ultimately, fertility, the dancer played an important role in reconcil-
ing those ancient concerns with new ideas of kingship emanating from
India. The greatly enhanced political power of the monarch, the expansion
of territory under his control, the construction of a capital, and the perpet-
uation of an empire all evolved by "successfully integrating indigenous folk
traditions, symbols, and religious beliefs into a cult which was visibly
concentrated in the center" (Hall 1976, 8). The dancer lay at the very
heart of that integration process, and her numbers and significance ex-
panded in proportion to the mystical power that was increasingly attri-
buted to the Khmer king and to the vast temples of Angkor Thom, the
"Great City" that was his capital.
FIGURE 5. In a bas relief from Angkor, ogres (below) pull on the head of a serpent.
The celestial dancers (above) emerge from the ocean's foam. (Photo: Groslier.)
FIGURE6. A detail of the celestial dancers (Figure 15) being created from the
foam of the churning sea. (Photo: Groslier.)
THE RITUAL ORIGINS OF THE CLASSICAL DANCE DRAMA OF CAMBODIA 187
Whether or not the king's dancers were actually his sexual partners-and
many were-they collectively symbolized in all periods the energy of the
fecund earth itself and of necessity were in constant attendance on the
monarch as an image of the fertility which together they represented and
mystically engendered.
While there is some correspondence between the Angkorean cos-
mology thus described and the Indian model-as Vishnu is surrounded by
heavenly dancers in paradise, for instance, so should his earthly correlate
be similarly attended-its overall contour is nonetheless determined by
Khmer beliefs regarding ancestral influence and fertility. There is one
element, however, which has been widely assumed to reveal an Indian base
for the Khmer performing arts and requires some analysis-namely the
Rdmker, the legend of the Indian epic hero Rama (Ram in Khmer).
Excerpts from the Rdmkerform one of the three most frequently
performed pieces in the repertoire of Khmer classical dance drama, and the
story is known by virtually all Khmers in simplified form. Popular versions
of the tale, however, are not necessarily to be identified with the classical
Indian Rdmayanawhich was recited in Khmer temples under sponsorship of
the Indianized, indigenous, ruling elite as early as the sixth century A.D.2
This sacerdotal function of the Ram legend was not maintained in
Cambodia, and the Rdmkeris not among the seven "sacred" stories tradi-
tionally performed in palace ritual. In brief, the Indian Rdmayana was
known in Brahmanic Cambodian temples in early times, but it did not
survive with either its form or religious function intact.
The Rdmker, the "jewel of Khmer literature," has, on the other
hand, remained an important form of entertainment uniquely reflective of
fundamental Khmer concerns. In the Ramker,for instance, as performed by
all-male lakhon khol troupes-a village tradition conforming in most ele-
ments to the form of royal dance-Komphakar, the brother of Reap
(Ravana), is the central focus. He has stopped the flow of the waters and
only by trickery on the part of Ram's monkey cohorts are the rains
liberated. The scene was often performed to bring an end to drought (Sem
1967, 161-162), as were a few other revered dances in the village folk dance
tradition.
On such evidence, as well as careful study of many scenes from the
Ram story carved by Angkorean sculptors, and on the basis of internal
literary evidence, some scholars have concluded that the Rdmker was
indigenous to Southeast Asia and appreciably different from the Indian
Rdmdyana(Martini 1938, 1950, 1961; Przyluski 1924). The main difference
lies in the primary focus of the Rdmkeron control of feminine power and the
resultant fertility. Thus, the Indian epic of Ram was not so significant to
the Cambodian people as were selected motifs coinciding with their belief
structure and the rituals which gave it life.
188 Cravath
On the realistic level it concerns the timeless, painful passing of the female
from father to husband. The hero-husband requires magic power and even
help from animal energies to wrest his beloved from her father, who is in
most instances a yakkha. The yakkha does not represent evil but rather
the older order with an incestuous aspect. The oldest Khmer myths con-
cern the union of a female-male pair of progenitors. The contemporary
repertoire of the dance drama adds pair after pair of characters to this list.
It is by the action of the male upon the female that fertility must be
achieved in the face of all opposition. This concern with fertility is a
dramatic reflection of the dancers themselves, who symbolically enact its
creation onstage and, as the king's harem, embody it themselves offstage.
The second branch of the repertoire is the robam ("pure dance"
pieces), of which some sixty are known to have been performed in this
century. The robamare group dances in which female and male roles are
both danced by women (PLATE 9). The robamare much older than the
roeungand are believed to have originated as ritual dances to hasten the
coming of the rains. In the seventeenth century, robamwere performed "on
the occasion of ceremonies and also at the beginning of theatre presenta-
tions ... to put the spectator in some way under the invocation and the
protection of the divinities incarnated by the dancers" (Coedes 1963, 499).
Dancers are accompanied by a standard ensemble of male musi-
cians who play eight percussion instruments (drums, gongs, and xylo-
phones) and a four-reed sralay, somewhat similar to an oboe. The high-
pitched blend of the chorus leader's chant with the sralay is one of the
distinguishing features of the genre. Traditionally, Khmer music was
performed as an offering to the spirit world and was considered to be an
ancestral heritage and, hence, sacred. French musicologistJacques Brunet
has pointed out that:
D) Fruit
Picking
a Flc 7jwer
FIGURE 8. The four basic hand gestures of Khmer dance, and a specific mimed
application.
THE RITUAL ORIGINS OF THE CLASSICAL DANCE DRAMA OF CAMBODIA 195
India in either the form or function of the dance, especially in light of the
fact that the basic structural pattern of large group dances by female and
male partners (both played by women or otherwise) is virtually unknown
in India. It is in the contemporary offertory function of these dances,
however, that we discern the strongest circumstantial evidence for con-
cluding that Khmer court dance derives from indigenous roots and still
reveals the essentially spiritual function that dance has always maintained
in Cambodia.
FIGURE 9. The buongsuongceremony being performed at Wat Preah Keo near the
royal palace. (Photo: Cambodian Information Department.)
Eyso and knocked him to the ground. In the fracas, tevodaand tepthidaas
well as Vorachhun departed, leaving the two principals to their eternal
contest symbolizing lightning and thunder, earth and sky, beauty and
ugliness, gentleness and violence, female and male. The dance concluded
when Mekhala flung her lightning bolt one final time and ran away
smiling, leaving Ream Eyso temporarily vanquished. "From their invisible
confrontation in the skies there results ... the rainfall which fertilizes the
earth" and causes the rice to grow (Anonymous 1967, 23).
Significantly, the dances included in the buongsuongtevodawere not
esoteric in nature. In fact, they were among the most popular in the
repertoire and would have been known by most classically trained dancers,
including dance students at the University of Fine Arts. Within the ritual
context of the buongsuong tevoda,however, and following the preparatory
rites, the dances assumed a unique power due to the fact that the tevoda
(celestial deities) actually appeared in the dances as main characters. A
dancer performed the role of tevodaor other supernatural force, and the
giver, the gift, and the recipient became one. In a limited sense, the spirit
entered the dancer.4
Until the 1940s, one important element traditionally identifying
the dancer with the spirit world was her makeup, which obscured all
personal features under a layer of white paste. (Teeth and eyebrows were
blackened and lips were reddened.) The color white is identified with
death throughout much of Southeast Asia, and the female spirit mediums
of southern Thailand still rub their faces with white rice powder in prepa-
ration for going into trance (Gandour and Gandour 1976, 100). We cannot
say whether the Khmer dancer's makeup is the vestige of any similar
function, but unquestionably the thick white powder gave her the ap-
pearance of a dissociated, otherworldly spirit. Today, in fashionable
makeup, the dancer's face still remains immobile (in sharp contrast to
Indian dance) except for a mysterious half-smile.
Royal Khmer dancers were believed to have a positive effect on
natural disorders not only through buongsuong but also by performance of
their weekly ceremony to assure good health for themselves and proper
rhythm for the musicians. This ceremony, known as tway kru ("salutation to
the spirits"), was performed every Thursday in a large rehearsal space on
the ground floor of the palace. The musicians were required to play at least
five specified pieces of music, four of which corresponded to the four role
types: female, male, monkey, and ogre.5 Dancers trained in each of the role
types danced with the music; if dancers were not present to represent one of
the four types, the musicians performed anyway. The king (or president)
could ask that this ceremony be done in a more elaborate form-including
thirty pieces of music lasting up to two hours-to "create security" for the
country or to fulfill some national need.
198 Cravath
the masks are in fact regarded as living spirits as soon as they are worn by
the dancers. The purpose of all the invocations before the dance is to
ensure that the masksare "possessed"so that the dancers may become one
and the same person with the mask (1974, 221).
Popped rice was thrown to the spirits assembled to receive the offering of
food and dance, and the sampeahkruconcluded with a group dance in which
each performer wore her mask or headdress-many for the first time-
followed by a dance from each of the role types: yakkha, masculine roles,
feminine roles, and monkeys, in that order.
The bond established between spirit and dancer in the ritual act of
placing the mask on the dancer's head in the sampeah kru was highly
respected by all performers. The dancer always saluted the mask with the
sampeahsalutation before wearing it, and she never put the mask on by
herself. Even for simple dances she would take the mask and have it placed
on her head by the teacher of that role, thus receiving the spirit (kru) of the
mask from the kruof the role. When a young dancer feared performance or
had difficulty remembering her role, the tep robamplaced the mask of the
eysei momentarily on her head to infuse her directly with the spirit of the
THE RITUALORIGINSOFTHECLASSICAL
DANCEDRAMAOFCAMBODIA 199
dance, the chief kru. In this ceremony, then, we see the certification of the
Khmer dancer's contact with the spirit world, since her art subsequently
always had the ability to call forth the presence and life-power of the spirits
to calm the aberrations of nature, if not of armies.
NOTES
REFERENCES
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"Sacred Dances." Kambuja, no. 19 (September 15): 19.
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Bayard, Donn T. 1972.
"Early Thai Bronze." Science 176, no. 4042 (June 30): 1411-1412.
Brunet, Jacques. 1970.
Jacket Notes. "Royal Music of Cambodia." Art Musicfrom South-EastAsia
(UNESCO IX-3) Philips 6586-002.
1974.
"Music and Rituals in Traditional Cambodia." In TraditionalDrama and
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Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia.
Chheng Phon. 1975.
Personal communication.
Christie, Anthony. 1970.
"The Provenance and Chronology of Early Indian Cultural Influences in
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[1944] 1968.
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[1962] 1972.
The Making of Southeast Asia. Translated by H. M. Wright. Berkeley:
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"Origine et evolution des diverses formes du theatre traditionnel en
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491-506.
Cravath, Paul. 1985.
"Earth in Flower: An Historical and Descriptive Study of the Classical
Dance Drama of Cambodia." Ph.D. diss., University of Hawaii.
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Gandour, MaryJane, and Jackson T. Gandour. 1976.
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202 Cravath