Researchers have documented a massive 20-foot Vishnu sculpture submerged in a remote Cambodian stream. Dated to roughly 800-1000 years ago, the bronze sculpture shows Vishnu with his wife Lakshmi at his feet, while Brahma emerges from his navel. The deity rests on the cosmic Ocean of Milk with carved stone fish around him. At double the size of the famous Angkor Wat Vishnu, this is now Cambodia's largest known sculpture of the deity. Researchers believe the stones for Angkor Wat came from Phnom Kulen, where this discovery was made.
20-foot submerged Vishnu carving discovered at Phnom Kulen, Cambodia's largest
CambodiaExcavation
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Key facts
- 20-foot-long submerged Vishnu carving is the largest Vishnu carving in Cambodia
- Carved 800-1000 years ago according to mainstream archaeologists
- Features Vishnu with wife Lakshmi giving foot massage
- Brahma with four heads emerges from Vishnu's navel
- Resting on representation of the cosmic Ocean of Milk with stone fish carved around him
- Double the size of the famous 10-foot Vishnu statue inside Angkor Wat
- Stones for Angkor Wat were quarried from Phnom Kulen
- Location: remote stream on Phnom Kulen mountain in Cambodia, over 1,800 miles from India
Sources
Vishnu's Cosmic Ocean | Smithsonian Institutionsi.edu
This magnificent story of creation comes to life through the largest bronze ever cast in Southeast Asia, now on loan to us from the National Museum of Cambodia.
Cambodian sculpture, lost for centuries, on display at Mia - MinnPostminnpost.com
For hundreds of years, a seven-foot long, nearly thousand-year-old bronze sculpture on view at the Minneapolis Institute of Art lay in pieces.
Vishnu's Cosmic Ocean - Exhibitions - Asian Art Museumexhibitions.asianart.org
A thousand years ago, a colossal statue of the Hindu god Vishnu reclined on a serpent-shaped pedestal in a temple in the Cambodian kingdom of Angkor.
Vishnu's Cosmic Ocean - National Museum of Asian Artasia.si.edu
For the first time in centuries, you can experience this sculpture's full monumental scale: a breathtaking six meters long (nearly twenty feet).
Cambodian 'Vishnu's Cosmic Ocean' masterpiece goes on display ...khmertimeskh.com
A remarkable Cambodian sculpture, “Vishnu's Cosmic Ocean,” is now on display at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art in Washington ...
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