Saibal Dasgupta
TIMES NEWS NETWORK (India)
BEIJING: China and Japan are in a race to grab a larger portion of the restoration work at Angkor Wat, the 12th century Hindu temple in Cambodia.
These well-intended moves also highlight India's inability to make the most of an opportunity to build on age-old cultural ties with Cambodia and be seen as an influential friend in the region, sources said.
The Cambodian government and the Unesco are considering an offer from Beijing to fully restore the 900-year-old ChouSay temple, one of the shrines in the sprawling temple complex built by the Chola dynasty.
The project would cost just $1.86 million to the Chinese but it would open the doors for bagging contracts for larger archaeological sites in the complex.
Beijing is likely to bag this contract because a Chinese conservation team has been working on re-creating some of the past glory of ChouSay temple since 1997.
The team led by Jiang Huaiying have managed to restore a part of this temple, which had nothing other than 5,000 broken pieces of sculpted stone lying around at the time when Jiang began work.
Dong Baohua, the Chinese deputy minister in charge of the task, has said that Beijing was seriously considering bidding for a larger $5.13 million restoration work on the historically more significant Ta Keo Temple. Work on this project is expected to begin later this year and end in 2014.
The Ta Keo temple project offers another opportunity for Indian archaeologists to make their presence felt in what is one of the most significant restoration work in the world, sources said.
The extent of Indian involvement in restoration of Angkor Wat could not be immediately determined. But, a quick check with Chinese experts involved in the project revealed that the Indian government had minimal role in it, if any.
The Chinese government has also joined hands with Washida Japan Organization to excavate, restore and conserve the old sites at the Sambo Prey Kok temple complex in Kompong Thom province in Cambodia, between 2007 and 2012, sources said.
These well-intended moves also highlight India's inability to make the most of an opportunity to build on age-old cultural ties with Cambodia and be seen as an influential friend in the region, sources said.
The Cambodian government and the Unesco are considering an offer from Beijing to fully restore the 900-year-old ChouSay temple, one of the shrines in the sprawling temple complex built by the Chola dynasty.
The project would cost just $1.86 million to the Chinese but it would open the doors for bagging contracts for larger archaeological sites in the complex.
Beijing is likely to bag this contract because a Chinese conservation team has been working on re-creating some of the past glory of ChouSay temple since 1997.
The team led by Jiang Huaiying have managed to restore a part of this temple, which had nothing other than 5,000 broken pieces of sculpted stone lying around at the time when Jiang began work.
Dong Baohua, the Chinese deputy minister in charge of the task, has said that Beijing was seriously considering bidding for a larger $5.13 million restoration work on the historically more significant Ta Keo Temple. Work on this project is expected to begin later this year and end in 2014.
The Ta Keo temple project offers another opportunity for Indian archaeologists to make their presence felt in what is one of the most significant restoration work in the world, sources said.
The extent of Indian involvement in restoration of Angkor Wat could not be immediately determined. But, a quick check with Chinese experts involved in the project revealed that the Indian government had minimal role in it, if any.
The Chinese government has also joined hands with Washida Japan Organization to excavate, restore and conserve the old sites at the Sambo Prey Kok temple complex in Kompong Thom province in Cambodia, between 2007 and 2012, sources said.
6 comments:
How do we understand about this statement that the 900 year-old Chau Soy ( Tevoda ) Temple built by the Chola Dynasty?.
My faint knowledge about Chola is that it is Indian Dynasty not Khmer.
To attribute the building of this Temple to other than the Khmer
seems very odd to me
I only know that in religious form of marking dates , two eras are in use. The Buddha-sakraj era, and the Chola-sakraj era.
What historic relationship between Khmer Angkor and Chola? somebody out there must know about it. Please tell us.
Indians came to Cambodia for trade; not building temples unless someone else has something to add here.
I think you should write the paper for clarification.
I think they misspelled Chola. It is Chenla dynasty.
the misspelling is possible but then the date is wrong. Chenla era lasted from around 6th to 9th century, how can this temple be only 900 years old?
DOM MAI AH SAKER !
Indians came and build temples in Cambodia and taught them how to live peacefully, otherwise these Cambodians cannials will be killing and eating each other. Till end of last century it was happening, PolPot is a good example. European visit Cambodia not for seeing temple but to Fuck young tight Cambodia Pussy. You have to believe it you Peice of shit Annonymous, Chola kingdom made templese otherwise what Cambodia can give to world other than thie girls, now a model is on sale for one milliong dollars.
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