Sculptures from Angkor National Museum: For something a little different

Sculptures from Angkor National Museum: For something a little different, these two standing Buddhas, made of wood and dated to the post-Angkorian period, particularly the 17-18th century era, were housed next to an exit and not in the dedicated Gallery of 1,000 Buddhas where the majority of the stone, bronze and wooden Buddhas are on display. Both of them were removed from Angkor Wat, which may’ve been their original home, or not, it’s impossible to tell. At the temple itself an area dedicated to a vast collection of Buddhas and religious reliefs was known by the same 1,000 Buddhas name, though many have subsequently been moved for safekeeping either to the Angkor museum, Angkor Conservation or the Preah Norodom Sihanouk-Angkor museum, all of which are in Siem Reap. A few have found their way to a specially allocated room at the National Museum in Phnom Penh as well. Much of the sculpture from the post-Angkorian period was predominantly made of hard wood. Since both tropical climate and pests are destructive, many of these have disappeared or are in bad repair. These two examples of wooden Buddhas are standing in the Abhaya-mudra form, a gesture which symbolizes protection, peace and to dispel fear. The Buddha stands with one or both hands at shoulder height, and one or both arms bent, with the palm facing outwards, or would have if the hands were still present, which they are not. In later centuries, the hands were carved separately from the main figure and later fixed to the arms. Many of the wooden figures would’ve been covered by lacquer, with an undercoat of black plus an overcoat of red and then gilding/gold leaf in order to protect the wood. Both statues are very slim and unadorned with jewelry or bracelets, while their sampot-style lower monastic clothing, known as antaravasaka, is belted with a central pleat. The upper or primary robe, uttarasanga, can be seen hanging from the outstretched arms. With downcast eyes and elongated earlobes, both Buddhas have a layer of hair covering the ushnisha (cranial protuberance attained through enlightenment) from which exits a pointed tuft of hair like a lotus bud or a conical shape of a flame. Both Buddhas are standing on their original pedestals.