devarāja

devarāja, in ancient Cambodia, the cult of the “god-king” established early in the 9th century ad by Jayavarman II, founder of the Khmer empire of Angkor. For centuries, the cult provided the religious basis of the royal authority of the Khmer kings. The devarāja cult grew out of both Hindu and indigenous traditions. It taught that the king was a divine universal ruler, a manifestation of the Hindu god Śiva, whose divine essence was represented...