Not forgotten

Wooden pediment to be found at Kompong Speu's Culture department

I have so many photos to post and articles to write - there's still a host of details to blog from my recent Phnom Chi trip - that I can often forget to post photos that I think are worth showing. The above is a good example. As I was leaving Kompong Speu town on a recent trip, I stopped at the Culture & Fine Arts office, which was closed but this excellent wooden pediment of Rahu, taken from above the doorway to a wooden pagoda somewhere in the province, was residing in the open air. I've touched on the sad loss of the country's wooden pagodas before and pediments like these are now in short supply. I've seen a few at the Angkor Conservation Depot in Siem Reap and they are well worth displaying for their intricate design and historical value. I don't know how many of these carvings are left but this one, and the handful of others I've seen, should be on show somewhere, as part of Cambodia's dwindling heritage.