dhist priests. The Hindu god Siva now lost his place
of honour and was dethroned by Buddha. There
was, however, a serious loss from the artistic point
of view. With the rise of this new kingdom, the
class of artists which had come from India, disap-
peared. The local artists, who were trained by their
Indian gurus, could not keep up the high aesthetic
standard set up by the Indian artists. This new age,
therefore, is marked by the decay of art and sculpture
in Siam. The superb temples of the former days were
succeeded by pagodas, though of colosal dimensions,
yet devoid of the architectural beauty of the temples.
The architects of this age of decadence were of inferior
type and could not successfully imitate the grand
models set up by their predecessors. The aesthetic
sense of the artists of the previous age did not find
any echo in the hearts of the new artists in the con-
ception of new monuments.
It should net, however, be concluded that all the
Buddhist images are the products of this new age.
Some of the beautiful statues of Buddha were execut-
ed by the artists of the Cambojan age. Even at that
period, Buddhism had found its way into the Cambcjan
Empire. It was flourishing side by side with Brahman-
ism as proved by a Khmer inscription of Lophaburi,1
and was enjoying royal favour like its rival. Thus the
artists of that age had to make the images of Buddha
by royal order as they would the Brahmanic images.
1. Le Siam Ancien—L. Fournereau, I, p, 58.