Hermit Founder-Ancestor of the Khmer
Khmer · demigod · mythic foundation age; named in Angkorian inscriptions (c. 10th c.) · Recorded classification
Progenitor demigod (a deified sage-ancestor of the royal line). English description leads; native/Sanskrit Kambu Svayambhuva in alt/transliterations. Paired with Mera below.
Domains
- ancestry of a people
- asceticism and sagehood
Powers
- Weds a naga-born princess and fathers the line of Khmer kings
Relations
- spouse: Celestial Founding-Mother of the KhmerThe hermit Kambu Svayambhuva and the celestial nymph Mera, given to him by Shiva, are the eponymous ancestral couple of the Kambuja royal line.Baksei Chamkrong inscription K. 286 (947 CE); cf. G. Coedes, The Indianized States of Southeast Asia (1968) (primary)
Sources
- Kambu Svayambhuva is the sage-ancestor named in Khmer inscriptions from whom the kings derive the dynastic name Kambuja ('Kambu-born').: George Cœdès, The Indianized States of Southeast Asia, University of Hawai'i Press, 1968 (secondary); George Cœdès, Inscriptions du Cambodge, EFEO, 1937–1966 (secondary)