Seven headed serpent forming stone balustrade at Angkor Wat
About this photograph
- Creator
- Margery H. Freeman
- Date created
- May 1997
- Location
- near Siem Reap, Cambodia
- License
- This photograph copyright ©1997. Terms of use
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A seven-headed serpent or “naga” forms a stone balustrade beside a walkway leading into a building at Angkor Wat.
The naga, literally “serpent” in Sanskrit, represents power, water, and fertility in many Hindu texts. Khmer adopted the Hindu Indian myths and elaborated on them extensively in their own stories, rituals, and art. Using the naga body as a stone balustrade is called a Khmer invention although stone dragon balustrades also are seen in Chinese architecture.
