Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
This section also contains some particularly fine statues from the tenth-century
temple of
Banteay Srei
, regarded by many scholars as one of the high points of Khmer
art. On a central plinth, a smiling
Shiva
and his (sadly headless) wife Uma face the
south. He is unadorned save for a carved necklace, but in situ they would both have
been draped with precious jewellery. On the wall a striking pediment from Banteay
Srei illustrates a scene from the
Mahabharata
, the Hindu epic of two warring families,
showing two cousins, Bhima and Duryodhana, in mortal combat.
1
West Gallery
Dating from the late tenth century on, the sculpture in the
West Gallery
is more formal
than in earlier periods. An elegant example of a graceful female statue of the eleventh-
century
Baphuon period
is the slender, small-breasted Lakshmi, consort of Vishnu; her
sampot
dips at the front to reveal her navel and rises above the waist at the back. By this
time, Buddhism was gaining influence, illustrated here by the Baphuon-era seated
Buddhas, some showing a faint smile and sheltered by the seven-headed naga.
he
Angkor period
is lightly represented, freestanding sculptures having been largely
replaced by the mighty bas-reliefs carved in situ at the temples. One of the few
noteworthy examples, by the west wall, is a pediment from the west entrance of
Angkor Wat, depicting part of the
Jataka
, the stories describing the previous
incarnations of the Buddha.
Towards the far end of the gallery is the museum's most famous statue, the image of
Jayavarman VII
, from the
Bayon period
(late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries).
Sitting cross-legged in meditation, the king is portrayed as a clean-shaven, slightly
rotund middle-aged man, the expression peaceful. The head may well be familiar - it's
much reproduced as a tourist souvenir. The Buddhist theme resumes in the Bayon-
period exhibits at the north end of the gallery, where a thirteenth-century pediment
from Prah Palilay shows a seated Buddha in the earth-witnessing
mudra
.
North Gallery
Leaving the stone statuary behind, you skip forward a few centuries to the miscellany of
the
North Gallery
. By far the most impressive exhibit here is the cabin of a nineteenth-
century
royal boat
, made of elaborately carved koki
wood. Inside, the floorboards are
smooth and polished, while leaves, flowers and dragons decorate the exterior; the cabin
would have been lavishly furnished, ensuring that the king could travel in relative comfort.
The massive funerary
urn
in the centre of the gallery, nearly 3m tall and made of wood,
silver and copper overlaid with gilt, was used for the ashes of King Sisowath in 1927 and
again for those of King Norodom Suramarit, the grandfather of the present king, in 1960.
Not to be missed, just outside under the eaves behind the refreshment stand, is a
magnificent
wall panel
, one of a pair looted from Banteay Chhmar temple in 1998 by
the military personnel who were supposed to be guarding it. The blocks were cut out
from the enclosing wall using machinery, loaded onto lorries and smuggled across the
Thai border en route for sale in Bangkok, but were seized by Thai police on the way.
Both were returned to Cambodia in 2000. Another panel reassembled here depicts a
larger-than-life, multi-armed image of Lokesvara.
Wat Botum Park and around
South of the Royal Palace complex, flanking Sothearos Boulevard, the peaceful
Wat
Botum
Park
gets its name from the adjacent temple. Within the park is a golden
stupa commemorating the sixteen people killed outside the old National Assembly
(corner of Street 240 and Sothearos Blvd) building on March 30, 1997, when
