KHMER HARIHARA IN SANDSTONE IN THE STYLE OF PRE-RUP CAMBODIA, 10th CENTURY

Magnificient Khmer Harihara in sandstone
Style of Pre-Rup Cambodia, second half of the 10th century
The work proposed here is one of the last representations of Harihara: in grey sandstone, recognisable from its double bun cover, with a serene facial expression bearing the famous khmer smile.

Dimensions: Height (outside pedestal): 100 cm
Width: 40 cm, Depth: 16 cm

Various flakes, breaks and peeling

The hairstyle is composed of a bun cover which is on one hand side half conical shaped like a three-tiered pagodon (attribute of Vishnu) and on the other side half-cylindrical in horizontal tresses decorated with half of a lunar crescent (attribute of Shiva).

The clothing is composed of a pleated sampot with a double anchor chute with a pocketed drape on the left thigh. It is maintained by a large fabric belt whose two endings fall back onto the top of the thighs in the shape of a symmetrical fold. A part of the clothing passes under the buckle of the belt and emerges behind her in the elegant form of a fan fold.

Harihara is a khmer syncretic divinity which is half Vishnu (Hari), half Shiva (Hara), created to underline the unity of God through his opposing forces (Shiva the Destructor and Vishnu the Creator).
The cult of this composite divinity was observed in Cambodia especially during the pre-Angkor period to then progressively disappear.