A 1.82-metre-high, 0.78-metre-wide, and 0.5-metre-thick sandstone door guardian statue from Tonle Snguot Temple has been repaired and displayed in the Preah Norodom Sihanouk-Angkor Museum.

According to the APSARA National Authority’s news release issued this morning, the head of the exhibition team and the guide at the Preah Norodom Sihanouk-Angkor Museum, Mr. Kun Phally, said that the door guardian statue was broken into six different pieces, such as the head, body, arms, legs, and earrings. The face was also eroded, almost losing the shape of the lips, nose, and eyes.

After the team studied the history of the statue, the decoration, and the size of the damage, both inside and outside, the experts used the repair technique according to each stage and reconnected to the original form, he continued.

In addition, to keep the door guardian statue stable and secure, the team also made a new sandstone pedestal and prepared a poster about the history of the statue on display in the Preah Norodom Sihanouk-Angkor Museum for visitors to study and understand the evolution of Khmer art history, he pointed out.

This huge door guardian statue was found during excavations in 2017 at the Tonle Snguot temple, an ancient Angkorian hospital in the north of the former city of Angkor Thom, now located in Nokor Krao village. Sangkat Kork Chak, Siem Reap city. Researchers have speculated that the statue may have been built in the late 12th and early 13th centuries AD, the source added.

Mr. Kun Phally explained that the first door guardian statue of Khmer art was found on the brick walls of the Sambor Prei Kuk group of temples during the 7th-8th centuries AD. Later, the door guardian statue became more popular and evolved into single-door guardian statue in the Pre-Rup style during the 10th century AD and continued to King Jayavarman VII’s reign from 1181 to 1220 AD. In general, the single-door guardian statue in the reign of King Jayavarman VII was big and tall on the body, adorned with ornaments such as crowns, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and ankles. In the hand of Deva door guardian statue, there is a trident, while Asura guardian statue holds a long stick.

Source: Agence Kampuchea Presse (AKP)