Ravana

Churning of the Sea of Milk
South wing of east gallery
Angkor Wat

The churning of the ocean produced many sliced-up fish and other sea creatures (bottom of photo). Above, the asuras (demons), anchored by Ravana at the head of the snake, pull its front half. The snake is seen twice, once below the ocean and once above it. To the photo right, Ravana's team of asuras pulls for all it is worth, while above, a cloud of flying apsarasas is born from the churning.

Ravana, the asura king of Lanka, was Rama's opponent in the Ramayana epic. Other possible identifications for this figure include Bali, the king of the Asuras, and Kalanemi, Ravana's uncle.

The lower part of these reliefs has been recently (2004) cleaned. This, plus a significant degree of processing for contrast enhancement, accounts for the difference in color between the lower and upper parts of this and other photos in the series.