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.
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.
