The Indians had developed a form of writing called Sanskrit by around 1,500BC and with it, highly sophisticated literary traditions. From this date until around 200BC, religious literature known as the Vedic Hymns, or [G 33/ Vedas] (wise hymns) were written. They celebrated the lives of the Hindu gods, [G 07 / Brahma], [G 34 / Vishnu] and [G 29 / Siva]. The famous epic poems, the [G 20 / Mahabharata], and the [G 28 / Ramayana] were written between 400BC and AD200. The classical period of Indian literature followed, ending around AD1000.
Indian Sanskrit writing was brought to Cambodia and used in the inscriptions found on temple walls. It was these inscriptions which the scholars of the [G 12 / Ecole Francaise d'Extreme Orient] translated in order to piece together their knowledge of Cambodian history and culture, together with the histories and diplomatic reports of the Chinese. Much of the [G 05 / bas-relief] carving found on the temple walls of Angkor illustrates scenes from the Mahabharata and the [P 009 / Ramayana].
