“No matter the border, the Mekong has been an indiscriminate giver and taker of life in Southeast Asia for thousands of years. It’s a paradox like civilization’s other great rivers—be it the Nile, Indus, Euphrates, Ganges or China’s Sorrow the Huang He—for without its waters life is a daily struggle for survival; yet with its waters life is a daily bet that natural disasters and diseases will visit someone else’s village, because it’s not if, but when it’s going to happen that’s the relevant question.” RiversChinaVietnamLaosRainy SeasonFloodsMekong Book:The Rainy Season Source: The Rainy Season
“It now seems probable that the Krishna statue was erected at the place which was revered as the site of the founding Khmer myth: the place where the newly arrived Indian Brahmin Kaundinya was believed to have met and married local Mera the naga princess (we will hear more of this myth shortly). By erecting a major temple there to Lord Krishna, ‘Phnom Da becomes a new Mount Govardhan, and probably, by extension, the Mekong River becomes the holy river Yamuna,’ thereby ritually extending the sacred geography of India to South-east Asia.” KrishnaIndosphereMekongGovardhan Book:The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World Source: The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World