The Hindu God Who Became a Buddha: Syncretism at Angkor

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the religious syncretism that shaped the Khmer Empire, focusing on the figure of the Hindu god Vishnu who was recast as a Buddha under Jayavarman VII. They discuss the transformation of Angkor Wat from a Vishnuite temple to a Buddhist shrine, the political motives behind Jayavarman's conversion to Mahayana Buddhism, and how the devaraja cult was reimagined as the Buddha-king. The conversation also touches on the iconography of the Bayon's smiling faces, the role of the Buddhist queen Indradevi, and the lingering tensions between Hinduism and Buddhism that outlasted the empire. Drawing on recent scholarship, they examine how Angkor's religious landscape was far more fluid than the stark Hindu-Buddhist divide often assumed. #KhmerEmpire #AngkorWat #BuddhistSyncretism #JayavarmanVII #Devaraja #MahayanaBuddhism #Vishnu #Bayon #Indradevi #Avalokiteshvara #AngkorThom #CambodianHistory #SoutheastAsia #ReligiousHistory #Archaeology #Hinduism #BuddhaKing #FexingoHistory #JayavarmanII #SuryavarmanII Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo