Banteay Srei , Siem Reap

 

Banteay Srei or Banteay Srey is a 10th-century Cambodian temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. Located in the area of Angkor in Cambodia. It lies near the hill of Phnom Dei, 25 km (16 mi) north-east of the main group of temples that once belonged to the medieval capitals of Yasodharapura and Angkor Thom . Banteay Srei is built largely of red sandstone, a medium that lends itself to the elaborate decorative wall carvings which are still observable today .

The buildings themselves are miniature in scale, unusually so when measured by the standards of Angkorian construction. These factors have made the temple extremely popular with tourists, and have led to its being widely praised as a "precious gem" , or the "jewel of Khmer art . The foundational stela says that Yajnavaraha, grandson of king Harsavarman I , was a scholar and philanthropist .

However, the temple buildings appear to be divided along the central east-west axis between those buildings located south of the axis, which are devoted to Siva, and those north of the axis , During this period an old Siva Temple at 'Banteay Srei' 30 km from the Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia was 'expanded and new sections were added to an existing Siva temple' evidently by the Chola forces and re-dedicated to God Siva, with the new name "Thiribuvanamahadeva Temple" after Rajendra Chola's own mother's name the "Thiribhuvanamahadevi" .

In this temple in its second enclosure, on the Gopura over main entrance we see an image of Nadarajah represented with eight hands but not in the same style as the Nadarajah images in the Tamil Nadu with left leg lifted and with four hands. In the lower panel beneath the Nadarajah image on its right side we see an image of a Drummer playing the drums to the beat of the Dance of God Siva depicted as Nadarajah .