Manasara Series (I. A Dictionary of Hindu Architecture; II. Indian Architecture according to Manasara-Shilpashastra; III. Manasara on Architecture and Sculpture: Sanskrit Text; IV. Architecture of Manasara: Translation; V. Architecture of Manasara: Illustrations; VI. Hindu Architecture in India and Abroad; VII. An Encyclopaedia of Hindu Architecture) v6.c41.s17.26

v6.c41.s17.26

The most wonderful features of the colonnades of Angkor Vāt are the sculptures that adorn their walls. 'These are distributed in eight compartments, one on each side of the four central groups of entrances, measuring each from 250 to 300 feet in length, with a height of about 6½ feet. Their aggregate length is thus at least 2,000 feet. The number of men and animals represented extends from 18,000 to 20,000. Generally speaking, the reliefs represent battle scenes of the most animated description, taken from the *Rāmāyaṇa* or the *Mahābhārata*.' There are other bas-reliefs, also, dealing with different subjects, 'one representing heaven, earth, and hell; one representing the second Avatāra of Vishṇu, the world-supporting tortoise, another dealing with the churning of the ocean with the great snake Nāga.'²