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Sambor Prei Kuk style (600-650)


Figure1. Durga Mahisasuramardini
Samnor Prei Kuk, Located approximately 30km from the city  of Kampong Thom, is an ancient capital city where the king commissioned the construction of numerous brick temples, classified into three groups, the northern, central and southern groups.

This sculpture of Durga is broken into three parts. The two upper fragments were found in the same location, close to sanctuary N1, northern group. About fifty years later, the lower fragment was discovered inside sanctuary N9, in the same group.

After studying the front side of the badly-damaged plinth, which most certainly represents a buffalo head, and the tip of the left shoulders, which shows the beginning of two arms, it is generally admitted that this is a statue of Durga.

In spite of the missing head and arms, this magnificent piece, characterized by a suppleness of the body, a slightly round stomach and harmonious proportions, is typical of the Sanbor Prei Kuk style.

She wears a full-length sampot that falls down to her ankles; it is tied to the front in radiating pleats and the long flat tail falls between the legs while the lower pleats of the skirt flare softly. This shape makes walking easy.

The cloth is draped below the navel, revealing the beauty of the stomach; it is transparent enough to suggest the shape of the left leg. This way of sculpting the stone is already used for the Buddha from the Phnom Da period. Indeed, the luminous body of the Enlightened must show through the monastic robe.

We know Durga as a fierce goddess, the one who defeated the Asura Mahisa. Here, the Khmer sculptor chose to show the extraordinary beauty of a woman with a supple, wide-hipped and luminous body; he is not attempting to express the deity’s fierceness.

Figyre2. Devi.

As stated, the Preah Neang Devi is the wives of gods, Bodhisattva and kings. Thus, they cannot be depicted in their extreme youth.

When there are no specific elements available to identify a goddess or another, the generic term Devi is used to refer to sculptures of female deities.

The local style used, free from Indian influence, means this Devi belongs to the Sambor Prei Kuk style (7th century). She is facing forward, in a hieratic posture and her features are typical of Khmer women: a benevolent expression, round breasts and round stomach.

Her hair is done up in a bun shaped as an ox hump, an additional element of beauty. Her sampot is tied with a belt and the clasp is finely adorned; her powerful body is hinted at through the cloth.

The various features of Khmer aestheticism that characterize this Devi suggest that she might be Laksmi, the goddess of beauty and fortune.

The statues of Devi and Durga show that during the Sambor Prei Kuk period, art reached as great a level of perfection as during the Norkor Phnom period.

Figure3. Durga

A four-arm female deity or a deity standing atop a plinth featuring a buffalo head can be none other than Durga. This small sculpture is therefore a representation of the goddess.

In the style of Sambor Prei Kuk, some Visnu (Ka. 1598 from Kampong Cham Kao, Ka. 1610) and the Preah Neang Devi wear full-length sampot tied in the front on the hip. A scarf is worn at the waist to complement the sampot. The scarves, ‘krama’ in Khmer, are strips of cloth that are used either in a practical way (belt) or as ornaments.

The Durga shown here wears a scarf draped low on her hips, from which hangs a heavy bell(?) on the left, unless the bell is held in the left hand.

Rural men have continued wearing a scarf round their waist to this day.

This piece captures the light of the body, which shows through the garment that seems tight-fitted but is actually tied at the waist and flared at the bottom.

Her hair is tied in a very high chignon, an indication that several hairstyles were in fashion at the time.

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