For centuries, the reign of King Jayavarman VII of Cambodia was largely lost to history.
That was before archaeologists began to uncover evidence of its monarchy in the architecture around them.
According to Britannica, the king was responsible for rebuilding the city of Angkor, building elaborate temples, and extending a system of highways across the country while he was in power from 1181 until his death in 1220.
Today, at Ta Prohm temple, archaeologists have found more evidence of Jayavarman’s legacy.
Researchers from the Apsara National Authority of Cambodia and the Archaeological Survey of India were excavating in the temple’s dance hall when they discovered stones buried underground, according to a September 17 Facebook post from the Apsara National Authority.
Carefully arranged between the tree roots, large sections of carved stone were discovered, pieces of a long-destroyed statue, archaeologists said.
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The pieces are part of the heads of Naga, archaeologists said, a guardian deity believed to have sheltered the Buddha from rain during a seven-day deep meditation.
Naga is often depicted as a hooded cobra and may appear in artwork as a seven-headed animal that coils around the Buddha, according to Britannica.
Archaeologists said the pieces found in the dance hall belonged to the middle and right heads of a seven-headed Naga that once coiled around a Buddha statue in the temple.
“Experts believe that one of the head fragments matches the size and design of existing pieces, indicating that they were once part of a larger statue,” the officials said. “The careful arrangement of these fragments suggests that they were reverently buried, likely after the reign of King Jayavarman VII, during a period of transition from Mahayana Buddhism to Brahmanism.”
A headless Buddha sitting on the rings of the Naga still appears in the temple today, as shown in the photos.
Since one of the pieces likely matches the existing Buddha statue, authorities said they hope to uncover more pieces of the Naga heads, and archaeologists plan to reassemble the pieces so the statue can once again be worshipped by Buddhists.
During the excavation, archaeologists also found other pieces of Buddha sculptures, including arms, legs and stone pillars, the publication said.
Ta Prohm Temple is located near the town of Siem Reap in northwestern Cambodia.
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