MEBON ORIENTAL
Eastern Mebon with well-crafted sandstone elephants, built in the 10th century by Rajendravarman II in honor of Shiva and his ancestors
Rajendravarman II had the Mebon built in honor of Shiva and his ancestors in the second half of the 10th century. The temple, once situated on an island in the middle of the vast Eastern Baray and only accessible by boat, is adorned with superb, finely-worked sandstone elephants. In the entrance pavilion of the first enclosure, a Sanskrit inscription praises the king and states that he erected eight linga and statues of Vishnu and Brahma, which were housed in the small brick towers of the first enclosure. Almost all the lintels are of great beauty. On the central tower, to the east: Indra mounted on a three-headed elephant; to the west: Skanda, the god of war, on his peacock and surrounded by lotus bearers; to the south: Shiva on Nandin. On the north-west corner tower, on the east side, Ganesha riding his trunk; on the south-east corner tower, on the north side, a monster's head devouring an elephant; on the east side of the west gopura of the first enclosure, Vishnu, in his lion-man avatar, slaughtering the king of Assoura who had dared to compare himself to him; on the north-east corner tower of the first enclosure, on the west side, Lakshmi sprinkled with water by two elephants. Restoration work was carried out by Henri Marchal and Maurice Glaize between 1935 and 1939. A visit to Mebon Oriental is a must at sunset, when the exceptional light highlights all the shades of red of this brick and laterite temple.
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