Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Other structures to be found in the complex (listed clockwise from the north gate) in-
sacred texts written on palm leaves (now moved to the safety of air-conditioned storage);
GOOGLE MAP
of King Ang Duong (r 1845-59); a pavilion housing a huge footprint of the
where the bell is rung to order the gates to be opened or closed.
National Museum of Cambodia
(
www.cambodiamuseum.info
; cnr St 13 & St 178; admission US$5; 8am-5pm)
Located just north
of the Royal Palace, the National Museum of Cambodia is housed in a graceful terracotta
structure of traditional design (built 1917-20), with an inviting courtyard garden. The mu-
seum is home to the world's finest collection of Khmer sculpture - more than a millenni-
um's worth of masterful Khmer design.
The museum comprises four pavilions, facing the pretty garden. Most visitors start left
and continue in a clockwise, chronological direction. The first significant sculpture to
greet visitors is a large fragment - including the relatively intact head, shoulders and two
arms - of an immense bronze reclining Vishnu statue recovered from the Western Mebon
temple near Angkor Wat in 1936.
Continue into the left pavilion, where the pre-Angkorian collection begins. It illustrates
the journey from the human form of Indian sculpture to the more divine form of Khmer
sculpture from the 5th to 8th centuries. Highlights include an imposing eight-armed Vish-
nu statue from the 6th century found at Phnom Da, and a staring Harihara, combining the
attributes of Shiva and Vishnu, from Prasat Andet in Kompong Thom province. The
Angkor collection includes several striking statues of Shiva from the 9th, 10th and 11th
centuries; a giant pair of wrestling monkeys (Ko Ker, 10th century); a beautiful 12th-cen-
tury stele (stone) from Oddar Meanchey inscribed with scenes from the life of Shiva; and
MUSEUM
