Cultural object
Lintel with Visnu on Garuda
The lintel with Visnu on Garuda is a tenth-century pink sandstone lintel from Prasat Sralao, now in the National Museum of Cambodia, Phnom Penh.[1] It is carved in the Banteay Srei style, and the museum calls it a masterpiece.[1][2]
The object
A lintel is the long block of stone laid across the top of a temple doorway and carried by columns. Khmer lintels are of two kinds, those with plant ornament only and those that show a scene. This lintel shows a scene.[2] The museum gives its size as 82 centimeters (32 inches) high and 186 centimeters (73 inches) long.[2] The Angkor Database gives 81.5 centimeters (32 inches) high and 185 centimeters (73 inches) across.[3] The National Museum of Cambodia catalogs it as C.346 C.30.32 Ka.1819.[1]
A vertical axis divides the lintel into two matching halves, one Khmer principle of decorative design.[2] The museum credits its nearly perfect survival to the quality of the stone: "The entire composition has a rhythm and lyricism that typify Banteay Srei carving, a perfection that has survived almost intact because of the high quality of the sandstone medium."[1][2]
Iconography
At the center, Visnu rides Garuda, his winged mount. Visnu has four arms, each holding an attribute, and he wears the sampot can kbin, a wrapped lower garment, with the same ornaments as Garuda.[1][2] Garuda's wings are shown in motion, and he holds Visnu's right foot to steady and support him.[2]
On either side, the foliage branch is made of two naga bodies, the bodies of sacred serpents. Each bends in an upside-down U and carries small heads of a three-headed naga.[2] At each end of the branch, another Garuda holds a large three-headed naga head in his mouth. The head faces away from the center and turns into a large leaf, like the leaves above the branch.[1][3] Curling tendrils above the branches form a pseudo-tympanum, a shape like the triangular face of a gable.[2]
The upper frieze, the carved band along the top, follows the curving arc of the pediment. Twelve male dancers fill it, each wearing the sampot can kbin and a miter, or mukuta, a tall crown, and all making the same gesture.[1][3] A row of stylized lotus motifs runs along the base of the frieze. Above it is a row of flowers called Lum ang chhouk, meaning a row of double lotus petals and lotus stamens.[1]
Date and origin
The lintel dates to the third quarter of the tenth century.[1] With pediments and columns, lintels help date Khmer temples.[2] It comes from the central sanctuary of Sralao Temple, Prasat Sralao, in Siem Reap Province.[1] Prasat Sralao was a small temple outside the main Angkor Park, built in the same period as Banteay Srei, 5 kilometers (3 miles) northwest of the North Gate of Angkor Thom.[3] The temple takes its name from the sralao tree (ស្រឡៅ, sralao), a crape myrtle that grows around Angkor and whose wood was used for building.[3]
Provenance
Henri Marchal, then curator of the Angkor site, collected the lintel from the ruined Prasat Sralao in March 1937. It stayed for a short time at the Conservation depot in Siem Reap and was then taken to Phnom Penh to be shown to the public.[3] It is on display at the National Museum of Cambodia.[3]
In 2026 the National Museum lent the lintel to the exhibition Avatar: Forms of Vishnu at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, which opened on June 20, 2026, and runs until October 5, 2026.[4]
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 National Museum of Cambodia
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 National Museum of Cambodia, LINTEL - National Museum of Cambodia
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Angkor Database, Lintel - Prasat Sralao (2021-12-10)
- ↑ Cambodianess, Khmer Vishnu Masterpieces Take Centre Stage in Landmark Sydney Exhibition (June 23, 2026)