Symbols of Reverence — Ritual & Devotion : Artwork 4

A Shiva portrait constructed in the Khmer tradition of geometric facial faceting — the same angular planarisation seen on the sandstone face-towers of the Bayon temple at Angkor, where monumental heads are built from large flat planes that resolve into recognisable features only at a distance. The crescent moon at the hairline is the Chandrashekhara attribute — the moon as the measure of time, worn to signify dominion over it. The cobra at the left shoulder is the Nagabharana. The gaze is turned away from the viewer, which in Shaiva iconography signals the contemplative rather than the active aspect.