Tug-of-war statues found near Bayon Temple

via Khmer Times, 01 April 2020: Fragments of a deity and a giant engaged in the celestial tug-of-war have been found in a canal outside the Gate of the Dead in Angkor Thom.

Two sandstone heads of tug-of-war statues have been spotted and brought out from a canal near the Gate of the Dead. This was found today on the eastern side of Siem Reap province’s Bayon temple.

Chhouk Somala, an officer in charge of archaeological registration at the Department of Monuments and Preventive Archaeology said, two heads of statues including one god and a giant of the tug-of-war statue at the Gate of the Dead, have been found by the department’s working team, heritage police and Apsara Authority’s travel agents.

He added, “The god statue found by the working team has four pieces, while another giant statue has only the back part without a face.”

Source: Tug-of-war statues found near Bayon Temple – Khmer Times