Neath Phileap, a guardian of traditions (Photo: Cambodge Soir)07-09-2007
By Ung Chamrouen
Cambodge Soir
Translated from French by Luc Sâr
At the heart of the magic belief and practice in the country, a Yantra exposition is being organized to display the works of an artist-monk from Battambang.
The supernatural and the belief to magic forces are deeply attached to the Cambodian psyche. The Yantra (“Yoan” in Khmer) which an object bearing a Mantra – a magic formula – exists in the form of amulets or diagrams on which sacred formulas are drawn onto them, and they serve as magic protection instruments. These are practices with Brahmanic (Hinduist) origin which continue to be observed nowadays.
Neth Phileap, a young 21-year-old monk, does not want to see the disappearance of these traditions. He takes the opportunity of the monk retreat season to show his Yantra works (a mixing of sacred writings, paintings and collage) in the exposition hall of the French Cultural Center. Net Phileap became a monk at the age of 15, and he studied since 2002 at the Phare Ponleu Selpak (art light beacon) school in Battambang. “My goal is to present ancestral Cambodian customs and to bring peace to the public mind,” he said during the opening of the exposition on Thursday 06 November.
The artist-monk took 6 months of work to create this huge display. “Even if science progresses, the supernatural things (belief and Mantra) still remain as an engine to encourage us and to protect us, morally,” he said while affirming that his goal is to safeguard this particular type of magic.
His works mix Buddhist and Brahmanist worlds. Each yantra was created for a specific aim. The one showing Ganesha favors the learning of magic, another protects against bad luck, yet another is used during ceremonies to avoid dangers, to appease the water and the earth spirits, to protect the construction, etc… According to this artist-monk, the Yantras are not created to be read, but are there to generate magic protection. The exposition “Belief and Mantra” at the French Cultural Center Hall will end on 09 October.
The supernatural and the belief to magic forces are deeply attached to the Cambodian psyche. The Yantra (“Yoan” in Khmer) which an object bearing a Mantra – a magic formula – exists in the form of amulets or diagrams on which sacred formulas are drawn onto them, and they serve as magic protection instruments. These are practices with Brahmanic (Hinduist) origin which continue to be observed nowadays.
Neth Phileap, a young 21-year-old monk, does not want to see the disappearance of these traditions. He takes the opportunity of the monk retreat season to show his Yantra works (a mixing of sacred writings, paintings and collage) in the exposition hall of the French Cultural Center. Net Phileap became a monk at the age of 15, and he studied since 2002 at the Phare Ponleu Selpak (art light beacon) school in Battambang. “My goal is to present ancestral Cambodian customs and to bring peace to the public mind,” he said during the opening of the exposition on Thursday 06 November.
The artist-monk took 6 months of work to create this huge display. “Even if science progresses, the supernatural things (belief and Mantra) still remain as an engine to encourage us and to protect us, morally,” he said while affirming that his goal is to safeguard this particular type of magic.
His works mix Buddhist and Brahmanist worlds. Each yantra was created for a specific aim. The one showing Ganesha favors the learning of magic, another protects against bad luck, yet another is used during ceremonies to avoid dangers, to appease the water and the earth spirits, to protect the construction, etc… According to this artist-monk, the Yantras are not created to be read, but are there to generate magic protection. The exposition “Belief and Mantra” at the French Cultural Center Hall will end on 09 October.
