Pierre Dieulefils’ Angkor Wat Pilgrimage Postcard

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Given countless images showing the architectural grandeur of Angkor Wat, it’s easy to forget it was once an important religious site – not just a tourist destination. Here we see a photo by Pierre Dieulefils from 1905 showing “Buddhist monks on pilgrimage” to the sacred site.

In anticipation of the Exposition coloniale de Marseille in 1906, Dieulefils toured Cambodia to take photographs. His photos reveal many active shrines throughout the Angkor Wat complex, most of which have been cleared out and placed in museums today.

Dieulefils arrived in Vietnam as part of French military forces in 1885. Many of his photographs of Angkor Wat were printed as postcards that were popular among French officers who mailed them home to France.

This Theravadin monk wears his outer cloak (saṃghāti) covering both shoulders, while the monk behind drapes his folded cloak over his left shoulder, bearing his right. Based on contrasting shades, we may infer this monk is wearing maroon robes, while the others wear brighter saffron.

Despite Dieulefils’ photographic record, French colonial guide books portrayed Angkor Wat as an abandoned archaeological marvel, see further discussion in Michael Falser’s “From Colonial Map to Visitor’s Parcours” in ‘Archaeologizing’ Heritage? (2013).

The Buddhas in the West Material Archive is a digital scholarship project that catalogues artifacts depicting Buddhist material culture for Western audiences. It’s comprised of prints, photos, and an assortment of ephemera and other objects. For a brief introduction to this archive, visit the main Buddhas in the West project page.

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