The art and architecture of India - Buddhist, Hindu, Jain (Art Ebook)

4i3
344- Angkor Thorn, the Bayon, Buddha
345. Angkor Thorn, the Bayon, outer wall,
scene of military campaign
B'SvS
various provinces of the Empire, and had in
them images, Brahmanic or Buddhist, which
were locally worshipped in these places, in order
to proclaim by this concentration in the central
temple of the Empire that Jayavarman was king,
not only at Angkor, but in every region of his
Empire. It was the magic function of the masks
of Lokesvara and of the chapels of the provinces
to maintain the essence of sovereignty, the
divine power of the Devaraja, in every quarter
of the realm.
The Bayon, transformed into a templemountain
by Jayavarman VII, illustrates an
arrangement of horizontal and vertical elements
only somewhat different from that which
determined the form of Angkor Wat. The
galleries are all roofed with corbelled vaults; the
exterior of these roofs, as at Angkor Wat, is
carved in imitation of tiling. The towers, constructed
as usual without any mortar, maintain
their stability only through the sheer downward
pressure of the enormous mass of masonry. The
monument illustrates the final stage in a process
whereby the sculptural ornament completely
dominates and overwhelms the architecture
that supports it.
^^^
The quantity of carving on the Bayon is so
great that it is difficult to single out any
individual details of sculpture for special
analysis. The outer walls of the precinct are
decorated with reliefs of scenes of peace and
war within the Empire and subjects from the
Rdmdyana [345]. This carving remains unfinished,
and we can see in our illustration how
the sculptors proceeded by first incising the
design on the surface and then chiselling out the
K