Bust of Hevajra

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This colossal bust of the Esoteric Buddhist god Hevajra comes from the ruins of the ancient site of Angkor in northwestern Cambodia. It is said to have been found near the East Gate (the Gate of the Dead) of the great walled city of Angkor Thom, built by Jayavarman VII (r. 1181–1219). The Bayon, sited at the very center of Angkor Thom, was one of the last major monuments of the Khmer empire. This sculpture is fragmentary. The top head is missing. If the sculpture was, in fact, intended to represent the dancing Hevajra, it would have had eight arms on each side. Quite a few small bronze sculptures confirm this depiction. To judge from the rough surface of parts of this sculpture, it was never completed.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.

Metropolitan Museum of Art