Vishnu 46cm

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£375 In stock

Hardwood head carving of a 12 th century bronze of Vishnu, now in the Phnom Penh Museum. Vishnu is very popular in Khmer art and widely depicted in both sculpture and relief. In the pre-Angkor period Vishnu wears a cylindrical headdress, whereas later he wears a diadem. He is most frequently depicted in his four-armed form and carries characteristic items; a small globe (the earth), a disc (a throwing weapon, but also a symbol of the sun and which alludes to the samsara – ‘the cycle of human destines’), a conch shell (symbol of the links between god and ocean) and a club (a weapon but also a symbol of sovereign power). Vishnu, like Shiva, could assume various forms. Some of his avatars or manifestations appear in epic myths – Rama or Krishna. He can also appear in other manifestations, most popularly: Kurma (the tortoise, associated with creation. In the most famous Khmer relief – The Churning of the Ocean of Milk – Vishnu, in the form of a tortoise, serves as a pivot whilst the ocean is churned.), Narasimha (the man-lion), Matsya (a fish,Vishnu saved mankind from a flood in the form of a fish), the Buddha , and Kalki (a horse, or human figure with a horse’s head. This, Vishnu’s last incarnation, has not happened yet. Kalki will emerge at the end of our present time cycle.