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Guardian statue found at Angkor Wat
A sandstone guardian statue has been discovered at Banteay Prei Temple in the ancient Khmer capital of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. It was found about 30 inches under the surface next to the eastern entrance to the second gate of the temple when archaeologists were clearing rubble from the collapsed gate.
Guardian statues, known as dvarapala from the Sanskrit words for “gate” and “guard”, were protective figures located at doors and gates in Hindu and Buddhist temples as well as royal palaces throughout southeast Asia. They were depicted as armed warriors, and in Cambodia usually stood with their hands on a large club pointed downward to the ground.
The newly-discovered dvarapala is 5’2″ high from pedestal to top of the head. It was broken into six pieces when the upper structure of the gate collapsed. The neck, left forearm, waist and shins of both legs are broken, but the breaks are comparatively clean. Only parts of the club are missing. A small part of the handle of the club has survived under the figure’s crossed hands and a longer piece of it that was in front of his legs.
The statue’s serene visage is typical of the Bayon style, named after the Banyon temple in the center of Angkor Thom, the state of capital of Khmer King Jayavarman VII. This last temples in the Angkor Wat complex date to this period. Banteay Prei is relatively remote in the 250-square-mile complex, five miles north of the main temple, but like Banyon, it was built by King Jayavarman VII in the late 13th or early 14th century. The dvarapala dates to that time.
The guardian will now be studied and conserved at the Preah Norodom Sihanouk-Angkor Museum.
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