legend:
Khmer descended from the union of an Indian Brahman king named Kaundinya and a Naga princess named Soma (neang neak).
the story thus reflects how Khmer civilization emerged predominantly from the union of Indian and indigenous khmer loeu elements.
Kaundinya had left India in search of a better life and came upon the land of the Nagas. he defeated the Naga princess in battle and spared her life when she agreed to marry him. Kaundinya became king of the land and Soma his queen, seeding the beginning of a new people, the Khmer and their properous Angkor empire, out of their unique Union.
the story of Kaundinya and Soma in fact derives from the Cham king Prakasadharma, who claimed to be a descent of Kaundinya, and Kaudinya in term is likely a king of Kambojan (india/afghan) origin.
Kaundinya, under guidance by a genie (jinn), was provided with a divine bow. when his ship arrived in Cambodia, a local princess (Soma/Neang Neak) tried to capture it. Kaundinya, however, used his bow to repel the attack and to force the princess to surrender. they were married, and Kaundinya took command of the country.
a stele stone scribe erected by the Cham King Prakasadharma in 657 A.D. at near Da Nang, VN traces the king's lineage back to the pre-Angkorian Cambodian kings of Chenla. it says brahman king Kaundinya had obtained a spear from Asvatthama, the son of Drona (the legendary weapons master, one of the great heroes of the Mahabharata). upon 'planting his spear in a certain place' (visiting the princess once a week for sex and loving it), he took as his wife Soma, that princess and daughter of the king of serpents, and started a family with her. Prakasadharma himself was their descendant, through his father, a Cambodian prince.
"Verily incomprehensible is the way of God in providing conditions leading to future events" the stone scrive comments, in attempt to explain this mysterious union of man and serpent.
Chinese diplomat Zhou Daguan, who visited Angkor in 1296 AD, reported in his travel memoires that at night the Khmer king slept in a tower that was home to the soul of a nine-headed Naga, the lord of the country and the kingdom. Every night, the Naga would assume the form of a woman and would sleep with the king. The tower was so sacred, Zhou reported, that not even the king's senior wives dared enter.
source: http://www.angkorblog.com/id16.html
Preah Thong Taong Sbai Neang Neak
in their ancient courtship, the Naga kingdom is the holy place where human Preah Taong(Kaundinya) and his Nagini warbride Princess Soma(Neang Neak/Liu-Yeh), daughter of the Naga king, spend their honeymoon night and consummate their marriage.
today, this legend serves as the crux of the khmer marriage ceremony, as the groom clings to a piece of cloth worn on his nagini bride on their path to that holy place where they shall enjoy their first night of lovemaking together, symbolizing consumation of the marriage between husband and wife, signals for the couple to enter the realm of married life and enjoy their honeymoon.
at the beginning of the day, the bride customarily waits at her parent's house while the groom gathers a procession of his family and friends. the procession symbolizes the journey of the prince Preah Thong (Kaudinya) to meet his bride the princess Neang Neak (Soma). groom's procession approaches the bride's home bearing wrapped platters of gifts, usually fruits and Khmer desserts, and is led by a band of musicians and singers."
.....
history:
depends how far back u go.
don't most cambodians and cambodian-americans claim to be pure khmer with reference to the nationality (kampuchean)?
from East, circa 1500 BC:
mon -- khmer loeu -- present day khmer
from South, circa 600 AD:
austronesian rade & jarai -- champa -- khmer krom
from West:
india kamboja 100 BC -- sri lanka 400 BC -- ANKGOR WAT 1200 AD
anyways, even without the history mumbo-jumbo, one look at khmer tradition, culture, name & language origin (pali sanskrit), religion (preah phut & atikar),, and it's clear where kampuchean nationality & khmer nobility originated.
