Carvings at Cambodia’s Baphuon temple depict the Mahabharata beheading of Jayadratha, king of Sindhu in the modern Pakistan region. A flying severed head wears a crown, with arrows visible in the scene; a paired carving shows the head in the lap of a meditating figure. Arjuna killed Jayadratha, whose boon made his head explode if it touched the ground, and directed it into his father Upaputra’s lap. When Upaputra rose, the head touched the earth and burst into a thousand pieces. The relief belongs to Baphuon’s 11th-century art. Upaputra did not curse Arjuna for Abhimanyu’s death. 📜
Baphuon carving illustrates Jayadratha’s decapitation in the Mahabharata
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Key facts
- The relief shows a flying, crowned severed head with an arrow at the neck and other arrows in the scene.
- A paired carving shows the severed head in the lap of a meditating figure representing Jayadratha’s father, Upaputra.
- In the Mahabharata, Arjuna kills Jayadratha, king of Sindhu in the modern Pakistan region, whose boon caused his head to explode if it touched the ground.
- Arjuna directs the head into Upaputra’s lap; when Upaputra rises, it touches the ground and bursts into a thousand pieces.
- Upaputra did not curse Arjuna for Abhimanyu’s death; that detail is not part of the account.
- Baphuon’s narrative relief dates to the temple’s 11th-century phase.
Sources
[PDF] Serpents in Angkor Apotheosis of a Decorative Motifcdn.angkordatabase.asia
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Baphuon art was produced in a largely Hindu courtly environment, especially linked to Shiva worship, though Buddhism continued to be present.
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