Pair of polycephalous Nagas; Cambodia, Angkor Wat period, 12th century.

Pair of polycephalous Nagas; Cambodia, Angkor Wat period, 12th century.
Bronze.
Slight flaws and restorations.
Measurements: 27.5 cm (height); 28 cm (height).
Pair of bronze polycephalous naga protoms with five heads arranged in a fan shape under skullcaps decorated with scroll and volute motifs. In various Asian religious traditions, nagas are a divine or semi-divine race of half-human, half-serpent beings who reside in the world of the dead (Patala) and may sometimes take human or part-human form, or are depicted as such in art. In addition, Nagas are also known as dragons and water spirits.
Angkor Wat, located in Cambodia, is the largest preserved religious monument (or monumental complex) in the world, covering just over 162 hectares. It was originally built as a Hindu temple to the god Vishnu by the Khmer Empire, becoming an important center of Buddhism towards the end of the twelfth century (which continues today), without ever being completely abandoned although it did go through periods of decadence (mainly after the sixteenth century). Apart from the typology of constructions (mainly two, the "mountain-temple" and the later gallery temple; designed to represent Mount Meru, home of the "devas" of Hindu mythology) it is decorated with a large number of friezes of stone bas-reliefs with various themes (Ramayana and Mahabharata on the inner walls of the outer gallery; in other areas the Battle of Lanka, the Battle of Kurukshetra, a procession of King Suryavarman II, the 32 hells and the 37 paradises or heavens of Hinduism, the Samudramanthan, Vishnu defeating "asuras" -added in the 16th century, apparently-, scenes from the life of Krishna, apsaras, devata, etc.).