EASTERN WEATHER
Rajendravarman II had the Mebon built in honour of Shiva and his ancestors in the second half of the 10th century. The superb finely crafted sandstone elephants are the most beautiful ornament of this temple, once located on an island, in the middle of the immense Eastern Baray and only accessible by boat. In the entrance pavilion of the first enclosure, a Sanskrit inscription praises the king and indicates that he had eight linga and statues of Vishnu and Brahma erected, which were housed in the small brick towers of the first enclosure. Almost all lintels are of great beauty. On the central tower, to the east: Indra mounted on a three-headed elephant; to the west: Skanda, the god of war, on his peacock and surrounded by lotus carriers; to the south: Shiva on Nandin. At the northwest corner tower, on the east side, Ganesha riding her trunk; at the southeast corner tower, on the north side, a monster's head devouring an elephant; on the east side of the western gopura of the first enclosure, Vishnu, under his avatar as a lion-man, killing the king of the Assurans who had allowed himself to be compared to him; at the northeast corner tower of the first enclosure, on the west side, Lakshmi sprayed with water by two elephants. The restoration work was carried out by Henri Marchal and Maurice Glaize from 1935 to 1939. It is necessary to visit the Eastern Mebon at sunset, when an exceptional light highlights all the shades of red of this brick and laterite temple.
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