A feature common to early and late ancient temples is the beautiful lion statues acting not only as guardians to the shrines but also emblematic of ancient royalty and divinity. On the early pyramid temples, they flanked the staircases leading to the top of the shrine, at early brick temples flanking the entrance to the main shrine, and at later temples flanking the terraces often alongside naga balustrades.
They are also a true wonder of ancient art with incredible diversity presented across the eras and style periods of the ancient empire. Their first known use is those guarding the 7th-century central tower of Prasat Tao, Sambor Prei Kuk.
Lions in Situ & Museums
Here is a collection of images taken by HA over the past four years across Cambodia, whilst it’s certainly not every lion out there, it’s what’s seen at the ancient standing sites and at the two major museums. Omissions include what may be located at provincial museums not yet visited, smaller ruins, and those already mentioned at C1 of Sambor Prei Kuk which is under wraps at this time (mid-2022).
It’s interesting to note that Phnom Banan of Battambang Province, features three different styles of lions growing in size as they ascend up the staircase but the question would be as to whether they are original to the site or later works, regardless, it’s a cool quirk of the site. At Bakong Temple, it’s the opposite, they decrease in size as you ascend.
Another interesting site is the Royal Terraces of Angkor Thom, the Elephants Terrace receives two differing styles of lions, but, an area witnessing turmoil and change over many centuries, so, it’s difficult to know what is original to where. On that note, and still in Angkor Thom, Prampi Lven features a beautiful set of lions and historical images would appear to reflect the reuse of lions around the post-Angkor Buddhist Terraces, the same likely true of Tep Pranam.
At the Bayon Temple, a palace scene in the reliefs along the south inner wall depicts a lion guarding the entrance to the king’s chamber highlighting their importance in beliefs. The Bayon is also interesting for featuring lions on the east entrance that look straight ahead, while lions on the lesser entrances look inward upon those entering. It’s likewise at the cruciform terrace preceding the moat at Angkor Wat.
For me, the most beautiful lions are those in situ at the lower entrances of Phnom Bakheng, the lions of Kanseng now on display at the Angkor National Museum, and of course the lions of Sambor Prei Kuk C1.
The pair of lions from “Kanseng” are quite interesting, originating from the pagoda near Preah Khan of Kampong Svay and previously from Preah Thkol, the grand mebon temple located east of the Bakan. What’s also interesting is that the Museum Guimet has a lion statue tentatively believed to come from Preah Thkol but of a completely different style, another mystery to solve. The Kanseng lions are believed to represent Gajasimha (or perhaps the Gajasimha Vyala version, in a minimalist form), being the part elephant/part lion creature from early Hindu and Buddhist mythology that depicts the lion vanquishing the elephant, the meaning of such which has many interpretations. A similar representation is seen today atop the northern end of the Elephants Terrace and in historical images of Preah Pithu. Gajasimha can be found on the present-day Royal Arms of Cambodia and seen as far back as the ancient 7th-century site Prei Khmeng where he is quite beautifully depicted on a lintel that now resides in the Museum Guimet.
On the note of mythical hybrid characters, Narashima, the part lion/part man avatar of Vishnu appears (at least in historical images) at Angkor Wat (and in lintels elsewhere but let’s stick to statues/sculptures for now). At Banteay Srei, we also see Narashima, although some prefer to label them guardians with lion heads, protecting the inner sanctuary.
As for style, there are a lot of intricacies, their defining features at a glance would be size, stance, mane, and nose. All very worthy of a much deeper dive at some stage. For now, let’s take a look at what’s out there including on-site, in museums, and in historical documentation.
Captions below include the site name plus the date of the site (not necessarily the date of the lion). ANM = Angkor National Museum in Siem Reap. PPNM = Phnom Penh National Museum.
Historical Images – Via Fonds Cambodge and Persee/BEFEO
For those not seen at their original sites, a lot have been lost to time as you’d expect, some possibly finding their way into private collections, or now, wonderfully showcased in museums projecting the wonders of Khmer art to the world. The outstanding documentation efforts of the early French researchers and conservation teams thankfully provide a window back to the early to mid-1900s at the least. These images are property of EFEO, only thumbnails are displayed here and you can view their catalogue with a larger view at Fonds Cambodge and also within Persee/BEFEO documents.
Captions below include the site name plus its IK# if necessary, the year the photo was taken (if recorded), and location if known. ANM = Angkor National Museum, PPNM = Phnom Penh National Museum, MG = Museum Guimet.
Stay tuned, I’ll return to this article in the near future with an update to include some notes on style periods along with some better quality images, and I think there are some more historical images and info to dig out etc.
Update June 2023: added 10 more images from the latest tours