Connecting Empires and States: Selected Papers from the 13th International Conference of the European Association of Southeast Asian Archaeologists

Chapter 18: The Face Towers of the Bayon Period in Angkor

236 Adalbert J. Gail Chapter 18 The Face Towers of the Bayon Period in Angkor* Adalbert J. Gail Abstract Keeping in view other proposals regarding the identity of the faces on the towers of temples and gates of the Bayon period, I come to the conclusion that the father of Jayavarman VII (AD 1181–ca. 1218), Dharaṇīndravarman II, to whom the great king dedicated the Preah Khan monastery and temple, and the cult image of which was a portrait of him, was also represented in these tower faces. The third eye points to Lokeśvara, while the manufactured crown refers to the royal personality Dharaṇīndravarman II. It cannot, however, be ruled out that even Śiva, the closest relative of Avalokiteśvara from an iconographical point of view, was also alluded to in these faces. In Angkor, in a way that is comparable to Nepal, there was no sharp barrier between the Hindu and the Buddhist religion. In contrast to India, a unique feature is that many Hindu gods and stories are depicted in the inner gallery of the Bayon temple. Introduction Various suggestions have been put forward from the very beginning of Angkor studies in order to identify the face towers of the Buddhist Bayon temple (Jaques and Held 1997: pl. 109, [Fig. 18.1]) the faced gopuras leading to monasteries [Fig. 18.2] and the faced gates [Fig. 18.3] leading to Angkor Thom, all of them structures founded by Jayavarman VII. The faces have been ascribed to Brahmā or Śiva, to Avalokiteśvara, to the Buddha or to Jayavarman VII. Saya Mizono tries to differentiate three types of faces ascribed to devatās (? better: devīs), devas and asuras (Lobo and Jessup 2006: 189). The most popular explanations at the moment seem to be the Buddhist Brahmā on the one hand, and the all-seeing Avalokiteśvara on the other. The latter interpretation has also been attributed to the four pairs of eyes on top of the major Stūpas of the Kathmandu Valley. And here we are confronted with the same circumstance as in Angkor: the indigenous tradition is silent about the meaning of a spectacular phenomenon. In connection with the Bayon face towers, Thomas S. Maxwell has recently put forward new interpretations of the numerous faces in question (2007: 182–5, 189–207). In many variations he connects the faces with the idea of protective spirits, sometimes called dvārapalas (Maxwell 2007: 184–97), yet this function of the faces is not corroborated anywhere. On the one hand he sees nearly identical faces (Maxwell 2007: 184), on the other hand he observes a more ferocious, Śiva-like type with moustache whom he interprets as raudra and both aesthetically and iconographically opposite to the peaceful or śānta face of the meditating Buddha (see Golzio and Heitmann 2007: fig. 23). The third eye, visible on many of these faces, is, according to Maxwell, a trait of the Hindu god Śiva, and in Buddhism the third eye belongs to the appearance of a group of multi-headed Vajrayāna-deities (Maxwell 2007: 185). Maxwell does not communicate who these Vajrayāna-deities are, and he is silent about the fact that it is primarily Avalokiteśvara, both in India and Angkor, who exhibits a third eye like a jewel that he most probably inherited from Śiva (specimens in Lobo and Jessup 2006: nos. 60, 82, 84). Maxwell’s interpretations with regard to the moustache are even more questionable. The moustache can by no means be taken as a feature of a ferocious nature or behavior. A glance at the Guimet catalogue (Bapthiste and Zéphir 2008: cat. 7 and 48) presents not only Avalokiteśvara with a moustache but also 236 Connecting Empires hi res combin236 236 8/24/2012 9:47:57 PM 237 The Face Towers of the Bayon Period in Angkor Fig. 18.1: Bayon, smiling faces in southwest quadrant (Photo: A.J. Gail). Fig. 18.2: Gopura east of Banteay Kdei temple (Photo: A.J. Gail). Connecting Empires hi res combin237 237 8/24/2012 9:47:59 PM 238 Adalbert J. Gail peaceful Hindu gods such as Harihara (Lobo and Jessup 2006: no. 35), Viṣṇu (Lobo and Jessup 2006: nos. 25–6, 59) and Brahmā (Lobo and Jessup 2006: no. 42), not to mention the Hindu triad Śiva, Brahmā and Viṣṇu, all with moustaches (Lobo and Jessup 2006...