DIVAKARAPANDITA

born 1040, Cambodia died c. 1120 original name Divakara Hindu of the Brahman (priestly) caste who rose through religious and administrative ranks to serve four Cambodian kingsHarshavarman II, Jayavarman VI, Dharanindravarman I, and the great Suryavarman IIand who was the most trusted adviser to three of them. The highly opportunistic Divakara was able not only to survive the successive usurpations of monarchies but also to ingratiate himself with each new sovereign. Divakarapandita played a singular role in Cambodian history, for it was at his urging that Suryavarman II began construction of the temple of Angkor Wat, one of the world's largest religious edifices and certainly one of the greatest achievements of ancient Khmer, or Cambodian, civilization. One of the monuments of Angkor Wat commemorates this powerful Brahman.