The 11th-century Preah Vihear temple, perched atop the Dangrek mountain range at the Cambodia-Thailand border, is once again caught in the crossfire—both literal and political—of a long-standing geopolitical feud. On July 24, 2025, tensions escalated into deadly confrontation as Cambodia and Thailand exchanged heavy firepower, including rocket attacks and retaliatory airstrikes. The situation grew especially dire when Thailand scrambled F-16 fighter jets to strike Cambodian military positions in response to reported artillery fire into its territory. This tragic episode adds yet another chapter to a saga where history, nationalism, and sacred heritage have become intertwined.
At the heart of the dispute lies not just a contested piece of land, but a shared civilizational legacy rooted in the glorious Hindu-Buddhist cultural continuum of ancient Bharat and Southeast Asia. The Preah Vihear temple—known as Khao Phra Viharn in Thailand—is more than a monument of stone; it is a sacred homage to Lord Shiva, standing as a symbol of artistic mastery, religious devotion, and regional interconnectedness dating back to the Khmer Empire.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) awarded the temple to Cambodia in a landmark 1962 ruling, reaffirmed again in 2013 to include surrounding land. But Thailand’s reluctance to fully acknowledge this verdict continues to fuel periodic unrest. Each time nationalist fervor ignites—whether it’s the hoisting of a flag or a rendition of a national anthem at a disputed shrine—sacred spaces become battlefields, and the shared legacy of the past becomes collateral damage.
Preah Vihear is not alone. The Ta Moan Thom temple, another ancient Hindu shrine dedicated to Shiva, similarly sits astride the fault lines of modern political boundaries. Constructed during the reign of Khmer king Udayadityavarman II in the 11th century, this temple served as a critical node on the royal road connecting Angkor (Cambodia) to Phimai (Thailand). Both nations lay claim to the site—Cambodia invoking the historical boundaries of the Khmer Empire, and Thailand citing present-day administrative demarcations. The tension escalated earlier this year when Cambodian troops visited the site and sang their national anthem, prompting a Thai military response.
This is not merely a matter of national sovereignty—it is a tragedy that ancient monuments of a shared Indic heritage, representing the cultural synthesis of Hinduism and Buddhism across Southeast Asia, are being politicized in the modern era. The Preah Vihear temple’s very architecture—with its sanctuaries aligned along an 800-meter-long axis, its sublime adaptation to mountainous terrain, and its ornate stone carvings—embodies the essence of the Bharatiya civilizational spirit that once radiated far beyond the Indian subcontinent into the lands of Khmer and Siam.
The region’s historical memory is not carved in isolation but shared through spiritual, linguistic, and architectural continuities that transcend today’s national borders. From the temples of Angkor Wat to the ruins of Dvaravati and Srivijaya, the Bharatiya Knowledge Tradition and sacred art united much of Southeast Asia in a cultural and philosophical dialogue lasting over a millennium.
It is this legacy that deserves to be protected—not only from physical destruction but also from the corrosive politics of nationalism. The world must look beyond borderlines and recognize that these temples are part of a global civilizational treasure, not pawns in geopolitical rivalry.
While both Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra have publicly advocated for peace and dialogue, rising domestic pressures and military posturing threaten to derail diplomatic efforts. The upcoming border commission meeting may offer a path forward, but only if approached in the spirit of mutual respect and historical responsibility.
May this conflict find swift resolution, and may wisdom prevail over war. Let these ancient temples, born from the timeless womb of Sanatan Dharma and nurtured through centuries of shared devotion, stand not as grounds for strife but as beacons of unity in a region bound by cultural kinship.
The soul of Bharatiya civilization still echoes through the jungles of Cambodia and the hills of Thailand. Let us protect these echoes—not with weapons, but with reverence.
