Presentation made by Dr. Nandita Krishna at the International Seminar on Mahabharata organized by Draupadi Trust in April 2012 at New Delhi.

1. TALES OF KRISHNA’S CHILDHOOD
GOPAS AND THEIR COWS

2. BABY KRISHNA DRAGGING THE HEAVY MORTAR

3. KRISHNA DEFEATING TWO ASURAS

4. KRISHNA KILLING
A DEMON

5. KRISHNA ON GARUDA

6. ANIRUDDHA BOUND BY
BANA’S SNAKE ROPES.
Central door of the
southern gopura.
3RD ENCLOSURE

7. KRISHNA FIGHTING
BANA TO RESCUE HIS
GRANDSON.
Central door of the
northern gopura.
3rd enclosure

8. DEVAS VERSUS ASURAS
DEVAS versus ASURASDEVAS versus ASURASS versus ASURA
KRISHNA ON GARUDA FIGHTS
THE ASURA BANA

9. KRISHNA LIFTING MOUNT GOVARDHANA

10. KRISHNA LIFTING MOUNT GOVARDANA

11. KRISHNA AND BALARAMA

12. KRISHNA KILLING CANURA AND MUSHTIKA

13. KRISHNA KILLING KAMSA
ANGKOR WAT
BANTEAY SREI

14. NORTH LIBRARY EAST PEDIMENT, ANGKOR WAT.
EPISODE FROM MAHABHARATA .
INDRA TRIES TO PUT OUT A FIRE IN THE KHANDAVA FOREST BY SENDING RAIN.
KRISHNA’S ARROWS PREVENT THE WATER REACHING THE GROUND

15. VISHNU IN HIS HORSE INCARNATION AS HAYAGRIVA
HOLDS THE HEADS OF THE DEMONS MADHU AND KAITABHA.
West lintel of the inner entrance pavilion

16. VISHWAROOPA, ANGKOR WAT

17. VISHWAROOPA,
PRASAT KRAVAN

18. MULTI-FACED IMAGES, BAYON, ANGKOR THOM

19. WHO IS THE 4-FACED FIGURE OF ANGKOR THOM?
JAYAVARMAN? PROBABLY, IN ORDER
TO BE IDENTIFIED WITH…
2. BRAHMA? – Unlikely. No stories or
attributes of the Creator are associated
with the 4 faces.
3. SHIVA? – Likely, because Bayon was a
Shiva temple, but no other Shaivite
attributes.
4. BUDDHA – LOKESHVARA? Likely,
because Jayavarman became a Buddhist,

20. THE 4-FACES TOP MOUNT MERU, WHICH MAKES UP THE 5 GATES OF ANGKOR
THOM. IN THE STORY OF THE SAMUDRA MANTHANA, MERU IS THE CHURNING
STICK. IT IS THE STORY OF VISHNU’S KURMA AVATARA

21. THE 4-FACED MERU IS FLANKED BY THE DEVAS AND ASURAS
PULLING THE 7-HEADED SNAKE ROPE VASUKI

22. IN ANGKOR WAT AND ALL RELIEFS OF THE SAMUDRA MANTHANA,
VISHNU STANDS ABOVE THE TORTOISE KURMA,
WHO IS THE CHURNING STICK

23. 4- FACED HEADS MOST LIKELY TO BELONG
TO VISHNU
•
• ON THE WALLS OF THE BAYON IN ANGKOR
THOM, THERE ARE SCENES OF A 4-FACED,
MULTI-HEADED VISHNU STEALING THE
AMRITA DURING THE SAMUDRA MANTHANA.
• THE CULT OF VISHNU HAD OBVIOUSLY
ATTAINED GREAT INFLUENCE THAT KINGS
IDENTIFIED WITH HIM.
IN THE WAR WITH BANA, KRISHNA HAS MANY FACES AND HEADS

24. • THE MAHABHARATA REACHED
ENORMOUS POPULARITY IN SOUTH
EAST ASIA. IT BECAME LARGER
THAN LIFE
• EVEN TODAY, THE CITY CENTRES OF
JAKARTA, CAPITAL OF INDONESIA,
AND BALI HAVE A HUGE SCULPTURE
OF THE BHAGAVAD GITA.
• DANCE, DRAMAS AND PUPPET
SHOWS ON THE MAHABHARATA
KEEP THE STORY ALIVE AS AN

25. ARJUNA VIJAYA - BALI

26. ARJUNA VIJAYA - JAKARTA