Knowledgeable person, officiant, spiritual preceptor/guide, religious teacher. Royal acharyas are named in pre-Angkorian and Angkorian inscriptions.

In modern Cambodia, the Achar is the officiant who communicate with the monks performing rituals for the community.

1. blessings or inspiration that a Buddhist may receive from a Buddha, bodhisattva or guru (mostly in Tibetan Buddhism).
2. the raised base supporting the jagati, the platform on which Hindu, Buddhist, or Jain temples stand.

ព្រះអាទិត្យ Preah Atit or Adit: the sun, in Khmer.

In Hinduism, Aditya as singular refers to the Sun-God Surya. In Vaishnavism, Aditya ("The Son of Aditi) is one of the 108 names of Krishna.

ព្រះអគ្គី preah aki indicates the god of fire. Guardian of the Southeast.

The Hindu god of fire. Guardian of the Southeast. One of the major gods of the Vedas, along with Indra and Soma.

Ahimsa: the ethic of non-violence adopted by many of the ascetics of North India to counter the aggression of the new states. Cardinal virtue of Jainism, it is one of the Five Precepts of Buddhism.

Akusala: 'unskilful' or 'unhelpful' condition that will impede the quest for enlightenment; negative actions affecting the karma.

In the Pali canon of Theravada Buddhism, there are 12 अकुशलचित्त akusala citta, "evil perceptions".

ornament, often in a king's honorific name. | វចនាលង្ការ vochnealangkar, "ornament of speech".3

Buddha of the higher spirit, represented on the headdress of bodhisattvas.

Elixir of life, the nectar of immortality created from the churning of the Ocean of Milk.

In Khmer, the word is related to អមត amt, "immortal", "that does not die, does not know death; that does not cease, does not decay (that is always there)", and "the path of death, to nirvana". Like in India, there is a flower called "amrita" [Hoya Amrita], អម្រឹតបុស្ប amritabupa.

In Ayurvedic medicine, name given to several medicinal plants.

The doctrine that denies the existence of a constant, stable and discrete personality. 'Not-self', non-ego, egolessness, impersonality.

The last of the three characteristics of existence (ti-lakkhana), meaning the suppression of ego-entity.

Lokeśvara ("Lord of the World") and Chenrezig (in Tibetan) is a tenth-level bodhisattva associated with great compassion (mahakaruṇā), and often with Amitabha Buddha in Mahayana Buddhism. Avalokiteśvara has numerous manifestations and is depicted in various forms and styles. In some texts, he is even considered to be the source of all Hindu deities (such as Vishnu, Shiva, Saraswati, Brahma, etc).

In modern Cambodia, the four faces of Avalokitesvara (or Avaloksvara, Loksvara) are usually represented at the top of a pagoda or a stupa, as protector of all the planets. When Brahmanism was popular, these faces were considered as the faces of Brahma. In ancient Khmer art, he is represented with two, four, six or eight arms in freestanding sculptures, and ten arms in temple bas-reliefs such those at Banteay Chhmar. The massive stone faces of Bayon are believed to represent Lokeshvara.

Khmer worship of Lokeshvara reached a peak during the reign of Jayavarman VII. Due to his healing powers, the he was given a predominant position in the scenes carved on the chapels of the hospitals built by this king. Lokeshvara was also omnipresent at Neak Poan Temple, whose waters could cleanse the sins and diseases of the pilgrims. Jayavarman VII dedicated the temple of Preah Khan Temple to the memory of his father, deified in the likeness of Lokeshvara.

A sculpture from Prei Monti (Roluos), late 12th-early 13th century, at the National Museum of Cambodia (piece Ga.2424), represents three adorned divinities: Buddha shelled by the Naga in the middle, Lokesvara to the right of the Buddha, and Prajnaparamita to the left. Lokesvara's attributes are the lotus bud, rosary, vase with water of immortality (amrta) and book. Those of Prajnaparamita include the book and the lotus bud.

While Avalokiteśvara was depicted as male in India, and male or female in Tibetan tradition, the deity is often depicted as a female figure in East Asian Buddhism, known as Guanyin /Kuan Yin in Chinese, Kannon in Japanese, Gwaneum in Korean and Quan Am in Vietnamese. In Sri Lanka, Natha literally means ‘no form’ or ‘no shape’, thus associating Avalokiteśvara with Maitreya, the next Buddha

Avalokiteśvara is also known for his popular mantra, oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ, which is the most popular mantra in Tibetan Buddhism.

The Ayutthaya Kingdom or Empire was a Mon and later Siamese kingdom existed in Southeast Asia from 1351 to 1767, with its center Ayutthaya city, in Siam [nowadays Thailand]. Considered as the precursor of modern Thailand.

According to traditions, the kingdom was founded by King Uthong, but the latter's origin is unclear, as he is depicted as "a Northern Thai prince, a fugitive Chinese prince from the sea, a Khmer noble from Angkor, a ruler from one of the gulf cities, or a Chola dignitary."

Balaha, emanation of bodhisatva Avalokitesvara (Lokesvara) as a flying horse rescuing the trader Samhala and his five companions from a shipwreck (or from being held captive by a group of Rakshasa. Part of Buddhist Valahassa Jataka.

In Tibet and Nepal, Balaha is represented as the Wind Horse on Buddhist prayer flags. In Cambodia, the Balaha stone statue at Prasat Neak Pean was restored and identified in the 1920s. A copy of the sculpture was erected at the entrance of former Siem Reap International Airport.

A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral forces arisingout of the roof structures that lack adequate bracing.

Bhikshatana-murti is the representation of the Hindu god Shiva as the "Supreme Beggar", a nude, four-armed male figure (Kapali mendicant) with a begging bowl, surrounded by demonic followers and love-sick women.

Contrary to Shiva's other avatar Bhairava, fierce and threatening, Shiva as Bhikshatana is gentle, so handsome he easily seduces the female companions of forest ascets while wandering as a mendicant to atone for his sin of severing Brahma's fifth head on his way to the holy city of Varanasi. After this experience, triumphan Bhikshatana establishes the worship of the Linga or, according to other traditions, becomes Nataraja, the "Cosmic Dancer".

A bas-relief representing Bhikshatana seducing the wives of sages has been identified by Madeleine Giteau in the southwestern pavilion of Angkor Wat's third precinct. Jean Boulbet has identified representations of Shiva as Bhikshatana at Kbal Spean. Several bronze statues of Bhikshtana dating back from Cambodia's 12th century are hosted in museums worldwide, including the Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA).

The bowl used by Buddhist monks to collect food alms is called បិណ្ឌបាត benbat in Khmer, and the practice of begging for food បិណ្ឌបាតចារិកវត្ត benbatcharikwat. The festival of Pchum Ben ថ្ងៃភ្ជុំបិណ្ឌ in order to collect food for monks and the departed is a solemn celebration in Cambodia.

Archaeological term for an ornament or plate of thinly beaten precious metal, typically a thin gold disc.

A candi is a Hindu or Buddhist temple in Indonesia, particularly in Central and Eastern Java, mostly built during the "Hindu-Buddhist period"(between 4th and 15th centuries).

The official definition is an ancient stone building used for worship, or for storing the ashes of cremated Hindu or Buddhist kings and priests, with a larger archaeological definition as Hindu and/or Buddhist sacred structures for religious rituals and ceremonies. In Balinese architecture, the candi is a stone or brick structure of one cell-shrine with portico and pyramidal roof, located within a pura.

The candi architecture reflects a form of syncretism typical of Java. As V.M.Y Degroot, noted in 2009 "the Indian concept of space appears to have been more directly implemented into Buddhist architecture than in Hindu shrines. The layout of the large Buddhist temples of Central Java indeed depicts a rather concentric view of the cosmos, compatible in most respects with Indian descriptions of the universe. The Hindu religious compounds, on the contrary, emphasize a different approach in which the idea of progression is reinforced, as well as the association of sanctity with the rear of the temple compound, as so frequently found in East Java."

Durga is a major Hindu goddess, worshipped as a principal avatar of mother goddess Mahadevi, associated with protection, strength, motherhood, destruction, and wars. She has different names, including Durgā, Bhadrakālī, Vijayā, Vaiṣṇavī, Kumudā, Caṇḍikā, Kṛṣṇā, Mādhavī, Kanyakā, Māyā, Nārāyaṇī, Īśānī, Śāradā and Ambikā.

In Shaktism (goddess-centric sect), she is Devi (the Goddess), primordial creator of the universe, and in the Bhagavata purana she is Vishnu's younger sister. In Indian representations - in particular at Aihole Temple - Mahishasura Mardini Durga has eight arms, carrying the weapons and attributes given to her by male deities: the trident (given by Shiva), the Chakra (Vishnu), the conch (Varuna), the Pasha an iron rod (Yama), the dart (Agni), the bow (Vayu), the quiver and arrows (Surya), the thuderbolt (Indra), the mace (Kubera), the rosary and a water pot (Brahma), the sword and shield (Kala), the battle axe (Vishwakarma), the lion (Himavan), a disc and a lotus, a bell, etc...She is standing in the Tribhanga pose (three bends), legs apart, left leg pressing down the buffalo demon.

Across Indonesian islands, Durga was the most common representation among ancient sculptures of female deities. Durga statues have been discovered at stone temples and archaeological sites in Vietnam, likely related to Champa or Cham dynasty era.

In Cambodian art, Durga, in particular in the Mahishasurmardini form, was revered since the oldest recorded times. An 1.65 meter-high statue was retrieved at what has been supposed to be the site of the main temple of King Ishanavarman of Chenla (r. c. 615–628 C.E.) in Ishanapura (Sambor Prei Kuk).

In modern Cambodia, the Indian community has started to give social resonance to the celebration of Durga Puja, the festival observed usually in September or October, from the sixth (Shashti) to the tenth day of the bright lunar fortnight in the Hindu lunar calendar month of Ashvin, concluding with Durga Visarjan (immersion of the idol).