Know The wonderful unknow Hindu Temple, Vote for Angkor Wat Temple
Please read it if You are really hindu.
The world wide contest is underway to find new Seven Wonders of the World by a Swiss philanthropist Bernard Weber, a Swiss filmmaker and curator.
One of the Kerala based television channel is campaigning heavily for Taj Mahal, even without mentioning that World’s largest and best-preserved Hindu Temple Ankor Wat is in this contest with third position as on date.
We appeal to the all Hindus to vote for Angkorwat Temple in Cambodia without promoting the Taj Mahal which is a symbol of oppression and cruelty of Mughal invaders.
Here is the brief history of Taj Mahal & Angkor Wat Temple for comparison and to decide which is the true wonder and think twice before casting the vote that should promote a symbol of Barbarism by voting to Taj Mahal.
‘TAJ MAHAL’
‘Taj Mahal’ was constructed by destroying a Siva Temple – Tejo-mahalaya by a 5th Generation of Mughal invader Shah Jahan, who was a cruel tyrant, a great womaniser and a drug and drink addict. Â
(For More Details on the Historical Revealation by Eminent Historian  P.N.Oak  http://www.hindunet.org/hindu_history/modern/taj_oak.html)
ANGKOR TEMPLE
World’s largest sacred temple dedicated to Lord Maha Vishnu
Built during the reign of King Suryavaman II, at the beginning of the 12th century,
The Angkor Wat temple is a classical example of Mount Meru, central in Hindu cosmology (For More info http://home.wxs.nl/~bellaart/html/cambodia/awtsub3.htm
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Please visit http://www.new7wonders.com & vote for Angkor Wat Temple.Â
http://www.haindavakeralam.org/PageModule.aspx?PageID=3922&SKIN=W
http://www.hinduwisdom.info/Sacred_Angkor.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_Wat
Seven “new wonders�
Angkor Wat too deserves your vote
By K.G. Suresh
The most important monument of the Khmer Empire and the world’s largest sacred temple complex, Angkor is famous for its complex ornamentation and striking beauty. The temples at Angkor are spread out over 64 kms around the village of Sien Reap, about 308 kms from the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh.
Indian television channels and websites have of late launched a campaign asking people to vote for the inclusion of the Taj Mahal as one of the seven “new wonders� of the world. With barely three weeks left for the nominations to close, hectic efforts including celebrity endorsements are on to get the most perfect jewel of Muslim art in India into the elite club through sms, internet and phone voting. Music wizard A R Rahman has even composed a theme song for the Taj to canvass support for the historic monument in Agra built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his beloved wife Persian born princess Arjuman Bano Begum popularly known as Mumtaz Mahal.Notwithstanding the controversies surrounding the Taj, including claims by some Hindu groups that it was built over a temple dedicated to Goddess Yamuna and the alleged atrocities perpetrated on the workmen (whose hands were reportedly cut-off by the Emperor who did not want them to build any such grand mausoleum), the Mughal tomb remains an integral part of our composite heritage and attracts tourists from the world over, providing employment to lakhs of our countrymen and millions of dollars in foreign exchange.
And as Indians, we should also undoubtedly join this campaign to enable this enduring symbol of our country to make it to the top seven. But equally significant, both for all Indians and Hindus across the globe is the presence of the world’s largest Hindu temple, Angkor, among the 21 finalist candidates in the campaign to choose the New Seven Wonders of the World.
The most important monument of the Khmer Empire and the world’s largest sacred temple complex, Angkor is famous for its complex ornamentation and striking beauty. The temples at Angkor are spread out over 64 kms around the village of Sien Reap, about 308 kms from the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh.
Like many other aspects of their culture, the Cambodians adapted Indian architectural methods and styles. The Hindu religion played an important part in the Khmer temples. In fact, the Hindu monarch Jayavarman II introduced the cult of ‘Devaraja’ into Cambodia, which saw the King as a representative of Lord Shiva. From then on, the temples were built to honour both the Lord and the King. However, the Angkor Wat temple was originally dedicated to Lord Vishnu though later it was converted to a Buddhist temple.
Angkor is a vernacular form of the word nokor which comes from the Sanskrit word nagara (city), while wat is the Khmer word for temple.
The most famous temple in Angkor is Angkor Wat, a huge pyramid temple built by King Suryavarman II between 1113 and 1150, generally seen as the masterpiece of Khmer architecture. It is surrounded by a 570 feet wide and about 6.4 km long moat. With its water moats, concentric walls and great temple mountain in the center, Angkor Wat symbolizes the Hindu cosmos, with its oceans at the periphery and the Meru mountain at the centre of the universe.
Other impressive temples include Ta Prohm in the midst of still dense jungles and the Bayon built by King Jayavarman VII in the later part of 12th century that features among other things 3,936 feet of beautiful bas-relief carving.
There are other temples located in the area and Khmer temples can also be found in many other parts of Cambodia, as well as China, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam.
For the Cambodians, the Angkor Wat has become a matter of national pride with the temple appearing even on its national flag, the only building to appear on any national flag. In fact, riots erupted in the capital city after a Thai artist claimed that the temple belonged to Thailand.
For us Indians too, Angkor not only reminds us of our ancient glory but also symbolizes the deep impact Indian culture had across the globe, particularly South-East Asia. After the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas by the fundamentalist Taliban in Afghanistan, Angkor remains the most potent symbol of the glory of Hindu culture outside of India.
The shortlist was chosen by a panel of world remowned architects and ex-UNESCO Chief Federico Mayor in January 2006, out of 77 public nominations.
In fact, only one of the seven ancient wonders of the world, the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, survives to this date.
The internet contest for the new seven wonders is aimed at raising global awareness about the world’s shared cultural heritage and was conceived by Swiss film maker, curator and traveler Bernard Weber, following the destruction of the giant Buddha statues at Bamyan in 2001.
Though Indian television channels are running a campaign for the inclusion of the Taj in the list appealing to the nationalist sentiments, much of the internet and phone text message voting so far has avoided national preferences.
A visit to the site ‘ www.new7wonders.com ’ would reveal that any visitor can vote for any seven monuments of his or her choice. So, if Taj deserves your vote, click the mouse for Angkor Wat too. It is as much ours as is the Taj.
http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid
ONLY FEW DAYS MORE TO VOTE ….VOTE NOW FORWARD THIS TO YOUR FRIENDS KEEP VOTING …
angkor watt is reall man made great built
we really proud to be an Hindu and citizen of Hindustan. And this is really a great and Historical monument not for only INDIA but also for WORLD.
THESE FACTS HAVE BEEN BORROWED FROM WIKIPEDIA – THE FREE ENCYCLOPEDIA. READ ON TO GET YOUR FACTS RIGHT. Angkor Wat (or Angkor Vat)
is a temple complex at Angkor, Cambodia, built for the king Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre since its foundation—first Hindu, dedicated to the god Vishnu, then Buddhist. The temple is the epitome of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, and it is the country’s prime attraction for visitors.
Angkor Wat combines two basic plans of Khmer temple architecture: the temple mountain and the later galleried temple, based on early South Indian Hindu architecture, with key features such as the Jagati. It is designed to represent Mount Meru, home of the devas in Hindu mythology: within a moat and an outer wall 3.6 kilometres (2.2 mi) long are three rectangular galleries, each raised above the next. At the centre of the temple stands a quincunx of towers. Unlike most Angkorian temples, Angkor Wat is oriented to the west; scholars are divided as to the significance of this. The temple is admired for the grandeur and harmony of the architecture, its extensive bas-reliefs and for the numerous devatas (guardian spirits) adorning its walls.
The modern name, Angkor Wat, means “City Temple”; Angkor is a vernacular form of the word nokor which comes from the Sanskrit word nagara meaning capital. wat is the Khmer word for temple. Prior to this time the temple was known as Preah Pisnulok, after the posthumous title of its founder, Suryavarman II.[1]
Angkor Wat lies 5.5 km north of the modern town of Siem Reap, and a short distance south and slightly east of the previous capital, which was centred on the Baphuon. It is in an area of Cambodia where there is an important group of ancient structures. It is the southernmost of Angkor’s main sites.
The initial design and construction of the temple took place in the first half of the 12th century, during the reign of Suryavarman II (ruled 1113 – c. 1150), Dedicated to Vishnu, it was built as the king’s state temple and capital city. As neither the foundation stela nor any contemporary inscriptions referring to the temple have been found, its original name is unknown, but it may have been known as Vrah Vishnulok after the presiding deity. Work seems to have ended shortly after the king’s death, leaving some of the bas-relief decoration unfinished.[2] In 1177, approximately 27 years after the death of Sulyavarman II, Angkor was sacked by the Chams, the traditional enemies of the Khmer. Thereafter the empire was restored by a new king, Jayavarman VII, who established a new capital and state temple (Angkor Thom and the Bayon respectively) a few kilometres to the north.
In the late 13th century, King Jayavarman VIII, who was Hindu, was deposed by his son in law, Srindravarman. Srindravarman had spent the previous 10 years in Sri Lanka becoming ordained as a Buddhist monk. Hence, the new King decided to convert the official religion of the empire from Hindu to Buddhist. Given the constant political corruption of the time, citizens were quick to follow a faith founded on tranquility without a need for material gain and power. This made the conversion relatively easy. [3] Hence, Angkor Wat was converted from Hindu to Theravada Buddhist use, which continues to the present day. Angkor Wat is unusual among the Angkor temples in that although it was somewhat neglected after the 16th century it was never completely abandoned, its preservation being due in part to the fact that its moat also provided some protection from encroachment by the jungle.[4]
SO TECHNICALLY SPEAKING JAYAVARMAN AND SURYAVARMAN INVADED COMBODIA AND BUILT THAT GRAND TEMPLE AFTER RAZING TO THE GROUND WHATEVER REMAINED THERE ( WE CANNOT SPEAK RUBBISH LIKE YOU PEOPLE DO, BEFORE WE SPEAK WE HAVE TO GET OUR FACTS TOGETHER)THEREFORE IF SHAHJAHAN WAS AN INVADER (WHICH IS ABSOLUTELY RUBBISH)THEN JAYAVARMAN WAS ALSO AN INVADER WHO INVADED COMBODIA AND THEN BUILT THAT TEMPLE – LEAVE THE CONTROVERSY BEHIND, I TELL YOU VOTE FOR THE TAJ AND ALSO FOR THE TEMPLE. TELLING PEOPLE TO REJECT THE TAJ AND VOTE FOR THE TEMPLE IS LIKE SAYING THAT WHAT YOU HAVE IN YOUR COUNTRY IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH SO YOU ARE ASKING TO VOTE FOR A BUILDING WHICH IS IN A FORIEGN COUNTRY. YOU A HINDU BIGOT IF I HAVE SEEN ONE. ANGKOR WAT IS NOT A HINDU TEMPLE BUT A BUDDISHT TEMPLE. BECAUSE IT WAS CONVERTED INTO A BUDDISHT TEMPLE BY SURYAVARMAN. GET YOUR FACTS RIGHT.
I AM NOT AGAINST HINDUISM OR AGAINST HINDUS. I AM AGAINST THOSE SO CALLED PROTECTORS OF HINDUISM (BIGOTS) WHO CREATE DIFFERECES BETWEEN THE MASSES AND WATCH GLEEFULLY WHILE THE INNOCENT PEOPLE FIGHT EACH OTHER.
SOME FACTS FROM THE WIKIPEDIA FREE DICTIONARY ABOUT YOUR SO CALLED “PROFESSOR” P.N. OAK WHO SADLY DOES NOT HAVE EVEN A DEGREE TO SUPPORT HIS PROFESSORSHIP.
Oak was born in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. During World War II, he was with the Indian army, and was in Malaya. He joined the Indian National Army[6] after Singapore fell to the Japanese, and thereafter was involved in Radio bulletins. “From 1947 to 1974 his profession has been mainly journalism having worked on the editorial staffs of the Hindustan Times and The Statesman, as a Class I officer in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, and as editor in the American Embassy’s Information Service.” [6]
Dozens of blogs and websites refer to him as “Professor” P. N. Oak, but he never was a professor, nor was he a PhD. According to his own account,he did M.A. (Agra) and L.L.B (Mumbai), and was an official in the Ministry for Information, and wrote various journalistic pieces.
Revisionist theories
Intent on rectifying what he believes to be “biased and distorted versions of India’s history produced by the invaders and colonizers”, Oak has written several books and articles on Indian history and founded an “Institute for Rewriting Indian History” in 1964. According to Oak, modern secular and Marxist historians have fabricated “idealized versions” of India’s past and drained it of its “Vedic context and content”. Srinivas Aravamudan noted that Oak’s work typically resorts to “deep punning” associating Sanskrit sound-alikes with non-Sanskrit religious terms (such as Vatican=vatika “hermitage”, Islam=ishalayam “temple of God” and similar). Based on this, Oak claims that both Islam and Christianity originated as distortions of “Vedic” beliefs. He thus alleges that the Kaaba in Mecca was originally a shrine to Shiva (LAUGHABALE)and that the Papacy was “a Vedic priesthood” until Constantine the Great killed the “Vedic Pope” and replaced him with the head of the hitherto unimportant Christian sect.
Oak finds some mention in passing as an eccentric in academic literature on the Hindutva wing of Hindu nationalism. Aravamudan (2005) calls him a “mythistorian”[4] whose life’s work may be summarized by the title of his work World Vedic Heritage: A History of Histories, Presenting a Unique Unified Field Theory of History that from the Beginning of Time the World Practised Vedic and Spoke Sanskrit. Edwin Bryant writes that most academics would consider him a ‘crackpot’. Giles Tillotson describes his work as a “startling piece of pseudo-scholarship”.
While Oak’s theories have been summarily rejected in academia, they have found a popular following among Indocentrists and some members of India’s Hindu right. Art historian Rebecca Brown describes Oak’s books as “revisionist history as subtle as Captain Russell’s smirk” (referring to a character in the Hindi movie Lagaan).
The Taj Mahal
In his book Taj Mahal: The True Story, Oak claims that the Taj Mahal was originally a Shiva temple or a Rajput palace seized by Shah Jahan and adopted as a tomb.
The Taj, Oak says, is a “typical illustration of how all historic buildings and townships from Kashmir to Cape Comorin though of Hindu origin have been ascribed to this or that Muslim ruler or courtier”.He goes on to propose Hindu origins for the tombs of Humayun, Akbar and Itmiad-u-Dallah and “all historic buildings” in India as well as the Vatican, the Kaaba and Stonehenge.
Oak claims that Hindu ornaments and symbols were effaced from the Taj, whose sealed chambers hold the remnants, including a Shiva Lingam, of the original temple and that Mumtaz Mahal was not buried at her cenotaph.
In support of these claims, Oak presents carbon dating results of the wood from the riverside doorway of the Taj, quotes from European travellers’ accounts and the Taj’s Hindu architectural features. Oak further alleges that eyewitness accounts of the Taj Mahal’s construction as well as Shah Jahan’s construction orders and voluminous financial records are elaborate frauds meant to hide its Hindu origin[citation needed].
Oak petitioned demanding that the Taj be declared a Hindu monument and that cenotaphs and sealed apartments be opened to determine whether Shivalingam or other temple remains were hidden in them. According to Oak, the Indian government’s refusal to allow him unfettered access amounts to a conspiracy against Hinduism.
Oak’s denial of Islamic architecture in India has been described as one of the “more extreme manifestations of anti-Muslim sentiment” in Maharashtrian popular culture. K. N. Panikkar locates Oak’s work in the Hindutva movements attempt to foster a communal understanding of Indian history. Tapan Raychaudhuri has referred to him as “a ‘historian’ much respected by the Sangh Parivar.”
The writer Koenraad Elst sees Oak’s claim as an example of “funny attempts at compensation” within a “Hindu inferiority complex” arising from what he describes as a crackdown by “arrogant Leftists” on Hindutva following the murder of Gandhi.
In 2000 India’s Supreme Court dismissed Oak’s petition to declare that a Hindu king had built the Taj Mahal and reprimanded him for bringing the action, saying he had a “bee in his bonnet” about the Taj. In 2005 a similar petition was dismissed by the Allahabad High Court. This case was brought by Amar Nath Mishra, a social worker and preacher who says that the Taj Mahal was built by the Hindu King Parmar Dev in 1196.
The Kaaba
In a 13 page pamphlet headed ‘WAS KAABA A HINDU TEMPLE? IS ALLAH A HINDU GOD?’, Oak derives a claim of a “Vedic past of Arabia” based on an alleged inscription mentioning king VikramÄditya found at the Kaaba. He further claims Muhammad was born to a Hindu family. The text of the inscription Oak quotes from is said to be taken from a manuscript he identifies as Sayar-ul-Okul, allegedly an anthology of Arabic poetry kept in the Makhtab-e-Sultania Library in Istanbul, Turkey. Oak claims the anthology was compiled in 1742 on the orders of a “Sultan Salim” (the actual Sultan at the time being Mahmud I), and alleges it was first edited in 1864 in Berlin. The Sayar ul-Okul has since been propagated by fringe Vedic mysticist Stephen Knapp, but is unknown to the pertinent Arabist reference works.
WHEN WILL THESE HATE MONGERS LEARN THAT INDIA IS INDEED A COMPOSITE CULTURE COMPOSED OF VARIOUS RELIGIONS BIG AND SMALL AND ALL THESE RELIGIONS HAVE AN EQUAL PLACE IN THE EYES OF THE CONSTITUTION. PLEASE DONT PROPAGATE FALSEHOOD. AS THE SAYING GOES “A LIE WHICH IS SHOUTED FROM THE ROOFTOPS A THOUSAND TIMES TENDS TO BECOME A TRUTH. PLEASE DONT BELIEVE THE WRITINGS OF THESE FUNNY MEN, MAYBE MR.OAK WAS UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THE WEED WHEN HE WROTE ALL THIS RUBBISH. – VOTE FOR THE TAJ AND IF YOU WISH VOTE FOR THE COMBODIAN TEMPLE OF ANGKOR WAT. BUT REMEMBER IT IS NOT AN INDIAN MONUMENT. EVEN IF IT IS A HINDU OR A BUDDISHT TEMPLE, IT IS STILL ON FOREIGN SOIL. PLEASE DONT BELIEVE THE WRITINGS AND SAYING OF THESE RIGHT WING HINDU BIGOTS WHO ONLY WANT TO CREATE EVERLASTING ENMITY BETWEEN THE HINDU BROTHERS AND THEIR MUSLIM COUNTERPARTS. ALWAYS SEARCH FOR AND FIND THE TRUTH BEFORE YOU BELIEVE ANYTHING.