Roots stretch back to the Funan and Chenla kingdoms (1st–8th centuries CE), when Indian traders and Brahmin priests sailed into Southeast Asia alongside spices and silks. Sanskrit inscriptions carved on stone stelae reveal how early Khmer rulers embraced Brahmanism’s triad of Shiva, Vishnu and Brahmā, importing the Devarāja (god-king) cult as their bread and butter of political legitimacy.

During the 9th to 12th centuries, Angkor’s temple city blossomed under Jayavarman II and his successors. Towering prasats (temple towers) dedicated to Hindu deities multiplied, forming a spiritual melting pot. Yet Buddhism never languished in the wings. Monks traveled along the same maritime and overland trade routes, carrying Mahāyāna sutras that found eager audiences among both nobles and commoners.

By the late 12th century, Jayavarman VII threw his weight behind Mahāyāna Buddhism, commissioning the Bayon temple with its serene Buddha faces peering over former Shiva shrines. Rather than bulldoze earlier beliefs, this king artfully wove Brahmanic rituals into Buddhist practice—ritual offerings to guardian deities, Sanskrit mantras alongside Pāli chants—creating a seamless tapestry of faith.

When Angkor’s golden age faded and Theravāda Buddhism surged in the 13th century, the existing Brahmanic framework simply got repurposed: Hindu gods became protective spirits, Brahmin priests often performed merit-making ceremonies at Buddhist pagodas, and the ancient rite of incense offering continued unabated. To this day, Khmer New Year and Pchum Ben festivals highlight this blend: Buddhist almsgiving sits comfortably beside rituals invoking local spirits inherited from Brahmanism.

Modern restoration projects at Angkor Wat and renewed cultural pride are shining a spotlight on this religious fusion. Tourists now stand in awe at bas-reliefs portraying both Hindu epics and Buddhist cosmology, a reminder that Cambodian spirituality has always thrived at the crossroads of faith.