monks and temples: |
Priesthood in Angkor was hereditary. This means that a person had to inherit the role. Priests, or Brahmins, were an elite class who lived very comfortably and were separated from the general population. Their power and position were great because they were linked through the temple to the king. The Brahmins came to the region well before the time of the Khmer Empire, and they retained their power and position until Theravada Buddhism spread throughout the Empire. This new belief system allowed any person to become a monk.
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