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ANGKOR IN CAMBODIA AND PROPOSED VIDEHA REGION:
PHNOM PENH: For the Khmer word for hill is PHNOM and the second halfPenh- it was built by a pious lady named Penh. India was then a country exerting an immense influence over its neighboring lands. [23]. The Indian peoples voyages in those ancient times was the opening of a glorious period in mankind's history which was marked during the next thousand years by the appearance of several states of Greater India. Their broken remains now stand in many places. Particularly beautiful are the buried cities of Lanka, the many temples but long deserted Burmese capital at Pagan and numerous sanctuaries including the famous Borobudur in Java, Greatest of them all are the ruins of Angkor. The empire of Khmers grew from earlier kingdoms in the region. First the state called 'Funan', then the realm of Chenla and finally Kambuja. When the Khmers attained their glory. Funan's origin related in a tale with a legend and history. One night some time in the first century AD it is related to a divine spirit visited an indian youth named Kaundinya in his sleep advising him to fetch a bow, board a ship and sail eastward. He sighted a land at a place where a native queen named Willowleaf ruled a tiny country.
The Chinese name 'Willow leaf' means in Sanskrit -Amlatasha Pattri. 'The union of Kaundinya and the naga princess Soma proved instrumental in the establishment of a dynasty whose characteristic royal symbol was the representation of a nine- headed cobra which was continued down to the modern times and is vividly depicted in the Khmer and Thai iconography. The Indians had called the tribal nation of Kampuchea as Nagaraja, as the people had neither learnt wearing clothes, nor did they know the art of weaving, although they could not be called uncivilized'. Even after 240 years of Indian cultural standing, the peple of Funan went naked.' This statement clearly depicts the non-awareness of the historians that, in that where so many titrhankaras have born, they were Naked Jain Munis and sadhus. These munis lived even 2000 years before the Indians reached there. Naga Sadhus claimed religious suzerainity over Shiva temples. Naga Sadhus were well known even in 4th century BC who accompanied Alexander the Great, who informs us that Nagas were famous for their unworldly attitude and living on minimum requirements of life. The leader of Nagas, Dandiswami) living at Takshila, spurned the invitation of Alexander with the words 'I need nothing which needs the patronage of a king. Such was their selfless pursuit of religion.
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