Other Galleries of Angkor Wat

Buddha images at Angkor Wat (26 February, 2006)


Apart from the aforementioned galleries of Angkor Wat, the rest of the complex contain sections that were poorly executed, partly because they were not completed when Angkor Wat was finished. The Angkor Wat project was so mammoth - the ruler being so ambitious - that the whole project could not be completed within his lifespan, afterwhich, it continued intermittently.

Many bas-reliefs were only added later, between 1546 and 1564, during the reign of one or two kings, possibly King Ang Chan. Their workmanship is visibly inferior to those done when the building was completed.

Victory of Vishnu over the Demons North of the Churning of the Ocean of Milk gallery is a 52 meter gallery showing Vishnu fighting an army of asuras. As with the Battle of Kurukshetra and the Churning of the Ocean of Milk galleries, the composition focuses on the centre, showing the asuras converging from both sides on Vishnu, who stands on the shoulders of Garuda. A few meters from Vishnu is a group of asuras riding birds with their legs wrapped around the birds' necks.

A gallery Angkor Wat (26 February, 2006)

Victory of Krishna over Bana

The Victory of Vishnu over the Demons gallery ends at the Northeast Pavillion, another unadorned pavilion. We turn left, and here, we find the 66 meter gallery on the Victory of Krishna over Bana. Like the preceeding Victory of Vishnu gallery, the Victory of Krishna gallery is also poorly executed. 6 meters from the left, we see Krishna defeating the asura Bana. The 8-armed Krishna is depicted riding the Garuda. 3 meters later, we see Garuda facing a wall of glames thrown by Agni, the god of fire, who rides a rhinoceros. Krishna appears four times on the gallery, finally meeting the multi-armed Bana, who rides a chariot pulled by strange-looking lions. Krishna defeats Bana, cutting off all but two of its one thousand hands, but is stopped by Shiva from killing Bana.

We pass the North Gopura and continue arrive at the next gallery, depicting the battle between the gods and the demons. This well-executed gallery is 94 meters long. The gods faces right (the direction we are walking) and includes the 21 important gods in the Hindu pantheon with their vehicles.

Northwest Pavillion This pavillion, like the Southwest Pavillion, is adorned with rich carvings, many of which are from the epic of Ramayana.

Battle of Lanke

Battle of Lanka This is the final bas-relief gallery we visit before completeting a full circuit around Angkor Wat. The Battle of Lanka gallery depicts the climax of the Ramayana epic, where Rama and his allies, together with the aid of Hanuman and his monkey army, defeats Ravana and successfully rescues Sita. The panel is 51 meters long, and the main characters are found near the centre of it. 21 meters from the left, we see Rama with his bow standing on Hanuman's shoulders. Next to Hanuman is Vibhisana and Lakshmana. Vibhisana is Ravana's brother whom Rama has fodged an alliance while Lakshmana is Rama's brother.

The Battle of Lanka gallery ends at the Main Entrance where we started our circuit.

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