There are five immense gates, 20m in height, one each in the northern, southern and western walls and two in the eastern walls, topped with the benevolent faces of the Bodhisatta Avalokiteshvara looking out over the kingdom.
Elephants and their brightly dressed riders coming through the Angkor Thom Gate in Cambodia.
Elephants must have been a common form of transport and labor in the 12th century; there is a Terrace of Elephants in the center of the walled enclosure which was considered one of the city's most important monuments.
The entrance to the gate is bordered by a monumental representation of the Churning of the Ocean of Milk, 54 demons and 54 gods engaged in an epic tug of war on the causeway.
One can see from the first image in the Angkor Thom gates series how the gods and demons tower over the people walking along the causeway.
The gods and demons participated in the vital tug of war and the Churning of the Ocean of Milk in order to control the extraction from the sea of the elixir of immortality.
One can visualize more clearly the tug of war in this photograph.
Looking past this god-king, one can see the water of the moat which encircles the city of Angkor Thom.
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Angkor Thom Gates, Cambodia
© 2016 Sanctuary for Sacred Arts