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Concept
Popil
Résumé
A popil or babil is an ancient type of candle holder that plays an important role in Khmer beliefs in both Hindu and Buddhist ceremonies.
The word popil was originally written volvel, which is found in three different Khmer inscriptions. In modern Khmer, popil is described as an iterative form of the vel, to turn, meaning to spin and containing the idea of moving things or people in circles.
According to a Khmer legend written down in the 1950s, a man named Chey Sorya had completed the magic training already with Lord Eyso or Shiva, so he asked the God for a sacred relic as a blessing tool for the weddings of human beings. Then the God gave the man a replica of his penis and a replica of his wife's vagina as the blessing tools to spread their reputation to the world. Eyso took diamond sand to make a gold banyan leaf representing his wife's vagina and took a diamond rock from the Himalayas to make a candle representing his penis and supposed them to be “two blessings”. He then told the man to take the candle wrapped in the banyan leaf to circle three times around grooms and brides in order to inhale the smoke making them powerful.
The popil is mentioned in stone inscriptions dating back to pre-Angkorian times, and they are at least three known occurrences of the popil in Khmer inscriptions. We find for example the mention of the gift of a popil in the inscription K. 240 in the second half of the tenth century.
However, identification of ancient popil in the extant archeological archive remains a challenge, as objects most resembling the modern popil have been systematically identified by archeologists as hand-held mirrors. On the other hand, others, such as Goerges Coedès and Jean Boisselier, connected the many bronze endings found in Angkorian archeological collections to be closely connected to the popil or ritual candle-holders.
Except for royal ceremonies, Khmer religious rituals are usually relatively devoid of sacred objects. A popil is most often made from metal alloy or sometimes of wood, popils are often shaped like betel or banyan leaves.
Source officielle
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