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Preah Bot
Buddhist painted scrolls in Cambodia
Vittorio Roveda & Sothon Yem
152 pages, 240 x 170 mm
Paperback
With 172 colour photographs
ISBN 978 974 9863 99 2
Graduallly fading in disuse, ignored by art historians and museums, the beautifully painted Buddhist scrolls called preah bot in Cambodia are the subjecct of this book by the two authors of Buddhist Painting of Cambodia
Preah bots have been produced since the end of the 19th century as a personal and intimate manifestation of the faith of pious cambodian lay people, and are an important element of the country's rich Buddhist cultural heritage. A large variety of preah bot are illustrated, showing events from the life of the Buddha and his previous lives narrated in the jataka tales. Particular emphasis has been paid to the Vessantara Jataka, the most popular of all Jatakas, detailing both its Pali version and previously unknown Khmer versions.
This important book, with a summary in Khmer is the first attempt to document the art and meaning of preah bot in Cambodian society at a time when the production of such cloths for religious use is gradually disappearing and being replaced by commercial production for tourists or art collectors.
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