Vishnu Anantasayin

West Mebon, Siem Reap
Bronze fragment, 222 cm (7'3") long; orig. 6m (20') long
2d half of the 11th century
National Museum of Cambodia

This huge fragment of an even more colossal bronze sculpture depicts Vishnu the Creator resting upon the cosmic ocean. The magnificent statue was placed in the middle of the Western Baray, a six-mile long artificial lake that was dug out by Udayadityavarman II in the mid-eleventh century to serve as a reservoir of water for the Angkor complex.