this period, but historiography in general is moving
away from a clear-cut demarcation between Mahayana
and Theravada Buddhism in Southeast Asia, as well as
the idea that one form of Buddhism simply and rapidly
supplanted the other. More likely, given the syncretic
traditions in Southeast Asia, different Buddhist ideas
and practices became intermingled, just as Buddhism
itself became interwoven with spirit worship. Thera-
vada Buddhism had coexisted with other forms of
Buddhism for centuries but became gradually more in-
fluential as the Theravada kingdoms of Pagan and
SUKHOTHAI(in present-day Myanmar and Thailand)
developed into larger regional powers. As the domi-
nant influence of Angkor waned, increasing contact
with these kingdoms may have contributed to the
spread and authority of Theravada ideas in the Khmer
regions. A Khmer prince, possibly a son of Jayavarman
VII, is supposed to have been among a group of South-
east Asian monks who traveled to Sri Lanka for study
at the end of the twelfth century; he was ordained in
the Mahavihara (also known in Southeast Asia as “Sin-
halese”) order, a lineage they carried back to Pagan. In
post-Angkorian Cambodia, it has been suggested, a
backlash against the extravagant Mahayana expres-
sions of Jayavarman VII led to a “Hindu revival,” and
Theravadins may have used this as an opportunity to
assert their own interpretations and practices. During
the course of the next two centuries, Theravada Bud-
dhism became assimilated into all levels of Khmer so-
ciety and synthesized in court and villages with older
brahmanic and spirit practices, such as agricultural fer-
tility rites and the worship of neak ta(local spirits).
The post-Angkorian or “middle period,” dated by
Ashley Thompson from the end of Angkorian influ-
ence (the thirteenth through fourteenth centuries) un-
til the mid-nineteenth century, was until recently
perceived as one of decline by scholars fixated on the
disappearance of the great civilization of Angkor. Re-
cent scholarship tends to view the middle period in
terms of multiple shifts: The population and agricul-
tural centers of the kingdom shifted geographically
south; cultural influences moved from, as well as to,
the Thais; religious devotion continued to be syn-
cretistic but with an emphasis on Theravada forms and
ideas, as reflected in the wooden Theravada viharas
built adjacent to Angkorian brahmanic stone templesCAMBODIAA view of Angkor Wat, the great twelfth-century Buddhist–Hindu temple complex in Cambodia. © Chris Lisle/Corbis. Reproduced by
permission.