page_title: Chenla
section_title: Architecture
hierarchical_section_title: Chenla / Society / Religious structures / Architecture
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Sanctuaire S1 Prasat Boram de Sambor Prei Kuk an nord de Kampong Thom, au CambodgeEnglish: S1 Sanctuary, Prasat Boram in Sambor Prei Kuk. Cambodia
context_page_description: Chenla or Zhenla is the Chinese designation for the successor polity of the Kingdom of Funan preceding the Khmer Empire that existed from around the late sixth to the early ninth century in Indochina. The name was still used in the 13th century by the Chinese envoy Zhou Daguan, author of The Customs of Cambodia. It appears on the Mao Kun map. However, modern historiography applies the name exclusively to the period from the late 6th to the early ninth century. It is dubious if "Chenla" ever existed as a unitary kingdom or if this is a misconception by Chinese chronists. Most modern historians assert that "Chenla" was in fact just a series of loose and temporary confederations of principalities.
  Although most of the Chinese recordings on Chenla, including that of Chenla conquering Funan, have been contested since the 1970s as they are generally based on single remarks in the Chinese annals, the History of the Chinese Sui dynasty contains entries of a state called Chenla, a vassal of the Kingdom of Funan, which had sent an embassy to China in 616 or 617, yet under its ruler, Citrasena Mahendravarman, conquered Funan after Chenla had gained independence.
context_section_description: The design of the temples and shrines was greatly influenced by the prosperous Gupta state of northern and central India. The temple complexes were brick and stone based with a protruding statue representing a Hindu God or Buddha as the central focus of the building. Sandstone was the prominent material utilized for more important temples and was derived from the Kulen Mountains; because of its heavy weight, it required a lot of manpower, which usually involved slaves. (Freeman and Jaques). Cremation burials lined with bricks were also discovered; these structures are supposed to be devoted to the veneration of members of the Brahmin caste since the burials had been carried out according to Hindu practice (Coe 68).
caption: Prasat Boram structure at Sambor Prei Kuk in the ancient capital of Isanapura
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