Apsara: The exciting dance of Khmer population

Apsara dance is one of the most fascinating cultural heritage of Cambodia. With
a long tradition in Khmer society, the dance claims itself from the playful Hind
u deities mentioned by the Sanskrit sacred texts.
Apsara: heavenly or mundane
When they sing from their divine instruments, the Apsara girls enter in a merril
y dance. Through various Aryan heavens (Arya in Sanskrit means "noble man"), the
se little fairies delight the gods with their music and dancing and also those w
ho have come to know the bliss at zenith.
The dancing girls are somewhat voluptuous and beautiful and do nothing else than
to inspire love both in heaven and on earth. Apsara dancers cross the worlds an
d they make love with the gods, Gandharva and with the mortals. The Apsara dance
r in Hindu mythology is portrayed as such: she is a provocative dairy who brings
bliss and happiness.
Apsara is a female spirit descended from the Hindu and Buddhist mythological clo
uds and waters. In order to traslate the image in the Western culture, we could
probably call her "nymph", "heavenly maiden" or "muse".
Supernatural creatures endowed with the divine grace of dancing, they are the wi
ves of Gandharvas gods (natural male spirits) or maids at the court of Indra ( t
he god of thunder and lightning, the leader of the gods).
In the palace where the gods dwell, they dance to the music made by their husban
ds, to the delight of gods and fallen heroes.
Each of the 26 Apsara virgins of Indra's court represent somekind of aspect of t
he arts. In general, Apsara dancers are associated with luck, water and fertilit
y rituals. In hinduis, it is believed that some of these little deities entice m
en and lead them to death (same as the mermaids).
Apsara girls in the Saskrit texts
In one of the sacred texts reminds of Arjuna, the human son of Indra, who was tr
ansported in the heavenly chariot to Swarga, over Suravithi ("Milky Way"). In hi
s journey, Arjuna was charmed by the music and dance of some celestial fairies.
He watched a group of Gandharvas gods who were "skilled in sacred music and prof
ane"and he then saw the fascinating Apsara, "with eyes like lotus flowers, who w
ere preocupated to tempt and tease the hearts". They had "round hips and slim ti
ghts"and they "began to perform various wide movements, juggling their generous
chest
and throwing gazing around, as to fascinate and tease the viewers' hearts.
Rig Veda text
In the "Rig Veda" text is told about a water nymph called Apsaras. She was the w
ife of Gandharva, an atmospheric deity who prepairs Soma for gods and reveals di
vine truths to mortals.However, later, they disappear and instead, appear in oth
er Vedas as spirit groups who are very present in epic stories.
As such there is an underlying truth in Rig Veda about the existance of more tha
n one Apsara. An entire hymn is dedicated to one Apsara, named Urvashi, showing
actually the conversation between her and her boyfriend, the mortal Pururavas.
Mahabharata. Apsara nymphs tease the wise
Hence even in the Mahabharata the Apsara nymphs play important roles. The epic s
tory contants several lists of the most important Apsara, but they are not alway
s identical. One of them is: Ghritachi and Menaka and Rambha and Purvachitti and
Swayamprabha and Urvashi and Misrakeshi and Dandagauri and Varuthini and Gopali
and Sahajanya and Kumbhayoni and Prajagara and Chitrasena and Chitralekha and S
aha and Madhuraswana.

A recurring theme in the Mahabharata is that of an Apsara sent to lure a wive or

a master spirit, in order to disturb his ascetic practices. One of the stories
that contains the subject is told by a woman named Sakuntala who explains her ow
n coming into the world: the sage Viswamitra had a power so great that even Indr
a became fearful.
Thinking that the sage can be corrupted, he sent it on Menaka the Apsara to rele
ase all her charms upon him. Menaka trembled at the thought of annoying such an
powerful ascet, but she obeyed the orders. When she approached Viswamitra, Vayuthe god of wind- torn down her garmets.
Thus, seeing her without any cover, the sage let himself be filled with lust. Th
e affair resulted in a daughter, which Menaka abandoned on a river bank. This da
ughter's name is Sakuntala, who narrates the whole story.
Apsara in the Cambodian scenery
Apsara is an important decorative motif of the temples in Cambodia. There are tw
o types of representations of the goddesses: figures dancing called Apsara, and
figures standing, facing foward, like guardians of temples, called Devata.
Apsara sculptures are often found at Angkor Wat, one of the largest of the ancie
nt angkoriene temples. Researchers found more than 1860 statues, some carved in
the pillars, others in the walls, and others perched in the towers. A study publ
ished in 1927 by Sappho Marchal highlighted the diversity of the attire, hairsty
le and hair ornaments, jewerly and floral motifs, all based on the realities of
the Angkor period.
The exciting Khmer dance
Similar to ballet, the native Cambodian dance, is often called Apsara dance. Whi
ch means that it is believed that the Khmer traditional dance is connected by a
long tradition to the dance practiced in the court of the angkorien monarchs, wh
ich in turn were inspired by the Apsara mythology. The influences on music and d
ance came from India, through Thailand and Indonesia.
In the Apsara dance, the women dressed in brightly colored costumes with elabora
te headdresses, make gentle and graceful moves which are accompanied by a set of
percussion instruments called Pin Peat. The orchestra is made up of drums, gong
s, and bamboo xylophones. In the villages of Cambodia, it is common for actors w
ho are part of the show to wear different masks.
For almost twenty centuries, the heart of the classical dance remained the Apsar
a dancer, a jovial almost wanton dancer, whose images are everywhere. The prince
ss Buppha Devi, the daughter of King Norodom Sihanouk, is a professional Apsara
dancer.
Adorned with gold headdresses and tunics and silk skirts, the dancers execute fi
ne movements with knees plie with the heels first on the floor at the every step
and shy smiles on their faces. Each position carries its own symbolism: for exa
mple, a finger pointing to the sky means today and the stand to the side with th
e foot up represents the fly. The Apsara dance is like ballet, representing vari
ous ancient myths.
Many of the performances take their roots from Ramayana and Mahabharata, and oth
ers are based on the legendary battles and other mythical stories carved in basrelief on the walls of the temples of Angkor Wat, including the great battle bet
ween gods and demons for the holy elixir that gives immortality.
King Jyavarman VII had over 3000 Apsara dancers at his court and all of them dan
ced exclusively for the monarch. When the Thais have destroyed Angkor in the XV
century, they took with them the dancers.
Traditionally, the art of the dance was taught only at the royal court, and afte
r few have survived the ravages of the Khmer Rouge, the dance was in danger of d
isappearing. The one who wanted to revive it was the pricess Boppha Devi. Only i
n 1955, 16 years later after the fall of the Khmer Rouge, the Cambodians were ab
le to see an Apsara dance show at Angkor Wat.
Today, the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Pen deals with educating the d

ancers in the Apsara art. The girls start training at the age of seven and they
must be flexible and have a certain elegance of the hands. They need almost 6 ye
ars to teach the students all the 1500 dance positions and then between 3 and 6
years to reach artistic maturity.
The University of Fine Arts organizes Apsara dance performances on special occas
ions such as at the New Year's Eve or the day of the king in front of the Angkor
Wat temple ad sometimes in the capital. But these dances can be traced also in
hotels and restaurants in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.