Bakong lintel views

Vishvakarma sits above a spewing kala on the lintel above. Figures on elephants rise out of the garland.

I'm trying to catch up with some blog posts today including the final instalment of the lintels to be found above the doorways of the eight brick towers that surround the central pyramid sanctuary of Bakong in the Roluos Group, near Siem Reap. Constructed in the 9th century these lintels are evocative and beautifully presented with lots of vegetal scrolling, gods and deities festooned around a central kala theme in most instances. My next posts will show some of the devatas and male guardians that also enhance this particular temple complex.

No fierce kala monster on this lintel, which is practically covered in small naga heads and a central god figure on a plinth. The top of the lintel is badly damaged.

Naga heads, flying apsara figures and a central kala on a lintel that has seen better days

You can just see the brick indentations above the lintel in this photo. The lintel itself is very badly eroded and in danger of collapse.

A more regimented lintel, in fine detail, particularly the gods in a line above the central narrative, though the lintel itself is damaged

Two large nagas form the ends of this lintel narrative, with a central Vishvakarma figure though the rest of the lintel is in poor condition, and in danger of breaking apart

The final lintel, with naga ends, and a small god sitting on the kala, who is spewing forth the garlands from which dancing figures emerge

This is one of the eight brick towers, in the northwest corner, on which these lintels are still in situ and represent some of the finest of their style in all Angkor