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The Phimai historical park ((タイ語:ปราสาทหินพิมาย)) protects one of the most important Khmer temples of Thailand. It is located in the town of Phimai, Nakhon Ratchasima province. The temple marks one end of the Ancient Khmer Highway from Angkor. As the enclosed area of 1020x580m is comparable with that of Angkor Wat, Phimai must have been an important city in the Khmer empire. Most buildings are from the late 11th to the late 12th century, built in the Baphuon, Bayon and Angkor Wat style. However, even though the Khmer at that time were Hindu, the temple was built as a Buddhist temple, as Buddhism in the Khorat area dated back to the 7th century. Inscriptions name the site ''Vimayapura'' (which means city of ''Vimaya''), which developed into the Thai name ''Phimai''. The first inventory of the ruins was done in 1901 by the French geographer Etienne Aymonier. They were put under governmental protection by announcement in the Government Gazette, Volume 53, section 34, from September 27, 1936. Most of the restorations were done from 1964 to 1969 as a joint Thai-French project. The historical park, now managed by the Fine Arts Department, was officially opened by Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn on April 12, 1989. In the aftermath of the fall of the Ayutthaya Kingdom in 1767, attempts were made to set up five separate states, with Prince Teppipit, a son of king Boromakot, attempting to establish Phimai as one, holding sway over eastern provinces including Nakhon Ratchasima. The weakest of the five, Prince Teppipit was the first defeated and was executed in 1768. Phimai had also been an important town at the time of the Khmer. The temple Prasat Hin Phimai, located in the center of the town, was one of the major Khmer temples in ancient Thailand, connected with Angkor by an ancient Khmer Highway, and oriented so as to face Angkor as its cardinal direction. The site is now protected as the Phimai historical park. Phimai has recently been the base of operations for the excavation of Ban Non Wat. == Khmer influence == Because of its location deep in the northeastern part of Thailand, which was once a territory of the Khmer (modern day Cambodia), Phimai’s architecture and cultural decorations are heavily influenced by Khmer culture. Art and architecture shown on the temple itself shows great evidence of the ancient Khmer civilization. Similar in its look and design to Angkor, it also has the same function for worshiping the gods in the Hindu religion. Despite the fact that Phimai has been built in a similar fashion to Angkor and other Khmer Buddhist temples, some religious structures located within Phimai’s walls are still being debated about its original religion. Evidence such as the sculpture of "the Wheel of Law" or the statue of Buddha that were built in Dvaravati style shows that Phimai was certainly an important Buddhist spiritual location. Though a large quantity of Buddhist artwork has been shown in Phimai, evidence such as large the pots that were embedded in some corners of the structure suggest that spiritual practices other than Buddhism have been practiced in Phimai. In other words, Phimai has been an important religious landmark for Animists, Buddhists, and Hindus. There has not been much evidence of how Phimai or the Khmer civilization in Thailand came about. There are pieces of evidence that archaeologists have studied regarding the history of these Khmer art forms. The earliest engraved records of the Khmer, dating from the 6th century AD, were found in the northeast of Thailand, such as in Surin where Sanskrit inscriptions in stone have been found. There were statues and engraved images of Hindu gods such as the image of Shiva’s bull Nandin. Later the king during that time, Mahendravarman, ordered his men to obliterate the engraved inscription. In modern day’s issue, it has still been debating about the unsure territory that the evidence may have been vanished. Phimai along with other Khmer-influenced temples in Thailand have been built mainly under the cause of the "Deveraja cult", or in other words "King that resembles a god". JayavarmanII was the most mentioned "devaraja". The Devaraja cult developed the belief of worshiping Shiva and the principle that the king during the certain reign was an avartar of Shiva. The kings under this principle built temples to glorify the reign of the king along with the spread of Hinduism. The 10th century was the time of the reign of king Rajendravarman II (944-968 AD), which was also a time when the Cambodian Khmer control was spreading into the northeastern Thai territory. Consequently, temples with the Kleang and Baphuon styles were left as a heritage in Thailand. These structures shared the same signature of having three brick towers on a single platform, for instance the Prasat Prang Ku in Sisaket province and Ban Phuluang in Surin province. Each individual building has its own special features or functions. For example, Prang Brahmadat was built of laterite blocks that form a square. Or Prang Hin Daeng which translates to "Red Stone Tower" which is also a square but was made of red sandstone. Or the main sanctuary built of white sandstone that is almost 32 meters long. The southern lintel has a statue of Buddha meditating with "seven hoods of naga Muchalinda". Adjacent to the statue is a collection of statues of evils and animals that was depicted from the Tantric Mahayana Buddhist scripture. Today Phimai is a well-known tourist attraction, especially among people interested in history and archaeology. Located in the middle of Phimai is a small gallery which forms a rectangle surrounding the courtyard which has been newly built for commercial purpose. Within the gallery there is a pre-Angkorean (Buddhist) inscription that tells the story of Buddha (prince Siddhartha Gautama) and his journey to becoming Buddha, along with other classic Buddhist stories. Along with the prangs which symbolize that the area is a sacred area. Phimai has always been an important tourist attraction for Thailand. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Phimai Historical Park」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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