Restoring history through art
Phnom Penh, 16 July 2010

While almost all of the restoration at the Angkor temples revolves around the ancient Khmer edifices, at Bakong there is also a restoration team working on 20th century buildings in the complex – the “working” monasteries as such.

Some of these monasteries in Cambodia are festooned with dozens of brightly rendered religious wall paintings highlighting often lurid scenes from the life of Buddha and the Jatakas (tales of the previous lives of the Buddha). Often, however, these paintings are overlooked or dismissed as kitsch, unworthy of being classified as serious art. Some of the more gruesome paintings, sort of Bosch-gone-Buddhist renderings, are often rejected as grotesqueries.

But that’s not the viewpoint of Restaurateurs Sans Frontiere, a cultural NGO established in 1981 that began work at the Bakong site in 2007 at the instigation of Dr Vittorio Roveda, co-author of the book Buddhist Painting in Cambodia.

Tourists flock to temple
Phnom Penh Post, 15 July 2010

Tourists visiting Cambodia’s Preah Vihear Temple increased nearly sevenfold in the first half of this year, as the area benefited from better infrastructure and reduced tension with Thailand.

Preah Vihear Tourism Department chief Kong Vibol said yesterday that from January to June this year 46,400 tourists visited the Preah Vihear temple complex.

The figure is a dramatic leap from the 5,940 tourists recorded over the same period last year. Foreign visitors were also being drawn to the site – they increased by 85 percent to 480 from 260.

‘Ramayana Trail’ in focus again
Asian Tribune, 13 July 2010

The Royal Asiatic Society is inviting the public to participate in a symposium at the Mahaweli Centre, Colombo 07 on July 17 on the negative impact on Sri Lanka by promoting the Ramayana legend for tourism purposes.

Leading academics, scholars and intellectuals will be among the speakers. They include Professor Tissa Kariyawasam (Ramayana in Sinhalese literature), Prof, Oliver Abeynaike (Indian Tourist Authorities’ “Buddhist Circuit” but no Indian “Ramayana Circuit”), Dr. Hema Goonatilake (Marketing Thailand for a mythical Ramayana instead of historical Buddhist sites), Dr. Nihal Perera (The factual pre-history of Sri Lanka), Dr. Malini Dias (Distortions of archaeological evidence) former Ambassador Bandu de Silva (Foreign policy implications of the “Ramayana Trail”) and the Venerable Hegoda Vipassi (My travails in refuting the Ramayana Trail).

Cambodia’s Bronze Mettle
Wall Street Journal, 15 July 2010

The very name “Angkor” conjures images of towering stone spires, rocks morphing into giant undulating snakes, carved faces bulging from temple walls. But these palaces and temples housed bronzes—idols, ritual objects and decorative statues that took their place within the endless unfolding of stone reliefs and statuary.

In “Gods of Angkor: Bronzes from the National Museum of Cambodia,” the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of Art presents 24 such bronzes along with a dozen others that precede the Angkor period (ninth to mid-15th century). Together they establish that the Khmer people of Cambodia have a rich bronze-casting tradition that produced magnificent works.

Villagers discover lost statues
Phnom Penh Post, 12 July 2010

Villagers in Prey Veng province discovered 86 statues of the Buddha inside a cavern near Slek Krey Mountain in Ba Phnom district, local officials said yesterday.

District Governor Mau Eang said the statues were found on Wednesday by a former soldier and his wife, who earn their living selling rock quarried from the mountain.

The couple came across the pieces while prospecting on the mountainside, uncovering a cavern where the statues were concealed in a large earthenware jar.

Museum gives insight into Bronze Age culture
Viet Nam News, 10 July 2010

More than 600 ancient artefacts from Viet Nam and some other Asian countries are on display at an exhibition at the Can Tho Museum.

The relics, some 2,000 years old, are from collections held by museums and 60 individuals in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta region.

Some are on public display for the first time, including some Lao and Cambodian decorative objects and prayer objects in bronze, silver, stone, and baked clay.

More than 1,000 officials, soldiers and local villagers turned out at Preah Vihear temple yesterday to celebrate the second anniversary of its inscription as a World Heritage site.

During the ceremony, Buddhist monks chanted blessings while performers beat traditional Khmer drums representing the warrior ethic of the Angkorian empire.

In an address, Chea Dara, deputy commander of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, paid tribute to the “smart leadership” of Prime Minister Hun Sen, which he said had helped protect the temple from Thai occupation.

Myanmar Makes Archaeological Research To Prove Origin Of Myanmar
Bernama, 07 July 2010

Myanmar archaeological experts have been making research in cooperation with international primate experts, to prove the proposal titled “The origin of Myanmar is Myanmar”, reported China’s Xinhua news agency on Wednesday.

These experts have been working together yearly to find out the fossilised remains of Pontaung primates in Pontaung rock layers.

Doing archaeological research on the Myanmar history from the origin of the race to date through the prehistoric period and Pyu period, Myanmar claimed that it has been able to discover the origin of Myanmar people who were born and who migrated from one place to another in the Myanmar soil along with the Myanmar civilisation.

The findings of the primates on the Stone Age, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age, gained from the archaeological research in Meiktila and Yamethin districts in Mandalay division over the past decade, stood some evidences for the Bronze Age and the Iron Age, as well as for the Myanmar culture and history, according to research report.

Declare Sungai Batu Area National Heritage Site – Researcher
Bernama, 07 July 2010

In-Depth Studies Needed To Establish Bujang Valley’s Early History – Archeologists
Bernama, 07 July 2010

The Bujang Valley rises at last
The Sun, 08 July 2010

The new discoveries made at the Bujang Valley, which prove the existence of the earliest civilisation in Southeast Asia, will be nominated for world heritage status in a year or two, said Universiti Sains Malaysia’s (USM) Global Archeology Research Centre director Dr Mohd Mokhtar Saidin.

He said the bid, which will be a joint effort between the centre and the Information Communication and Culture Ministry, would have to be pursued carefully so that the findings in Sungai Batu there could be exhibited using the latest technology besides attracting the public to view them.

Thousands of objects belonging to the Sa Huynh culture from 2,500-3,000 years ago have been discovered during excavations in the Ma Vuong Mound in Pho Thach commune, Duc Pho district, Quang Ngai province between June 17 and July 4 this year.

Head of the archaeologist team, Doan Ngoc Khoi, said that his group also found a porcelain Linga among earthen pots, vases, bowls and other porcelain and stone artefacts.