Until the 13th century, Theravada Buddhism was not introduced to the Khmer religion. But after that Theravada Buddhism became more prominent in the local people as well as in the royal court. In Cambodia, Theravada Buddhism came from Sri Lanka. The teaching of Theravada Buddhism instantly crashed with the Khmer people about their original belief. According to the Theravada Buddhism the people seek self enlightenment and deserted the worldly things as well.
With this teaching of Theravada Buddhism very slowly the attitudes of the people towards the Hindu gods and god-king changed. All these activities of Buddhism led to the gradual weakening of the Hindu empire and finally in the first half of 15th century the whole empire collapsed.
Most of the Khmer people appear to be the obedient students. They never raised any doubts about the religious or spiritual teaching of the original doctrines or philosophies. It can be seen in Khmer history that different religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism were not divided into the different sub-sects. But they were treated like this such as divided into different sub-sects in some other civilizations.
The Khmer people were more or less religious. In addition to Buddhism and Hinduism, the Khmer people also had their own beliefs as for example the local deities. They also believed in the Ancestral spirits as well as the evil spirits. You cannot have a look on these as there are no inscriptions i.e. lettering or manuscripts to depict these beliefs. But if you visit Cambodia, especially in some remote villages it can be found to be prevalent. It can be believed that these beliefs are passed from generation to generation by oral tradition. You cannot find any prove of these spirits presence, still some wave is there by which you can at least get a feel of this.
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