Prasat Banteay Srie 6, Siem Reap, Central Shrine

In the central of innermost sanctuary stand the three towers of temple, central shrine, northern and the southern shrine.

Figure A

Central shrine:

The 10-meter high central shrine is the only tower which has a mandapa leading to main shrine inside and has doors on the north and west as well.

A golden Shiva Linga was enshrined at the entrance giving the temple its earlier name, Tribhuwaneshwar (Lord of the three worlds)

central shrine with mandapa in front

Figure B

Entrance to Central Shrine:
Entrance to shrine (#1 in Figure B above) is through a 1 meter high door flanked by guardians in kneeling position on both sides.

entrance to mandapa

Indra, the god of rain on his white elephant, Airavat, facing east on the tympanum

Garuda top on the tower

temple guardians

central shrine with mandapa and temple guardians on north

central shrine with mandapa and temple guardians on south

North door of mandapa (#2):

The entrance to mandapa from this side has lion faced guardians.

guardians at north door to mandapa

a white mark on pediment obstructed the illustration.  Moreover, the distance was too much for my

mobile camera to take a good picture.

South door of mandapa (#3):
South entrance is guarded by monkey face guardians.

south door of mandapa

The pediment on southern door of mandapa has Rahu with head missing devouring an elephant or is it Shiva devouring Kaal.

West facade of central shrine(#4):

I couldn't avoid the lens flare :(

Only the west false door of this shrine has guardians outside. The other towers have guardians only in the east direction.

Pediment has Varuna on geese, the lintel which is too small depicts a scene from Ramayana where Sita is being abducted by Ravana.
My pictures were too bad to be put so I have taken it from two sites.

Pediment has Varuna on a lotus. The lintel which is too small depicts a scene from Ramayana where Sita is being abducted by Ravana.

Varuna 

The picture above illustrates a scene from Ramayana where Ravana, the King of Lanka abducts Sita, the wife of Rama which later leads to a battle between Rama and Ravana.

There are two shrines on both sides of central shrine. In my next post, I shall write about the two adjacent shrines.

Prasat Banteay Srei 5, Siem Reap, Central Sanctuary

Within the inner enclosure through gopura I, behind the libraries are three shrines-- the central and one to the north and other to the south.
The central and the south shrine are dedicated to Shiva and the one at north to Vishnu.

Figure 4

Central Sanctuary or the main shrines:

the three towers of inner sanctuary, rear view

view from outside moat

rear view of temple

The central shrine is slightly taller than the other two shrines. This is clearly seen from rear view of the temple.

Also, central shrine is the only one to be connected by a mandapa (chamber) in front.

view from west side, entrance to central sanctuary and south library

view from west side, notice the false doors. The entrance to temple was only from the east

southern shrine behind southern library

Right ahead in the above picture is the southern shrine and next to it is mandap of central shrine, both being dedicated to Lord Shiva. Six steps lead to inside of each temple.

The pinnacle of shrines is crowned with a "kalasha" which stands on a lotus. Kalasha is supposed to contain the "amrit" or elixer of life.

Guardian figures: Yaksha on the left, Hanuman on the right side

The central area is cordoned off and visitors can only admire the structures from a distance. Guardian figures in kneeling position are seen at entrance of all shrines. The ones seen are replicas, originals have been moved to the museum.
The cordoning off the area is essential in preserving the structure but at the same time it makes it extremely difficult to take pictures.

Yaksha are seen in front of central shrine facing east and other two on the west side (rear side) of the same shrine.

Other guardian figures have human torso with head of a lion, monkey or garuda. Guardian figure with monkey head (Hanuman) is seen on the north and south of mandapa of the central shrine.
Garuda guards facing east of north shrine and Narasimha guards the southern shrine facing east.

temple guardians

southern shrine with guardians facing east

Beside the door to temple entrance can be seen standing figures of men and women.

The male figures(devpaal) hold a wooden shaft in one hand and a fly wisp in other hand. The hair is tied up in a Cambodian style. Their torso is devoid of any clothing but wear tight short pants. They stand on a pedestal supported by three lions.

false doors

devkanya

The devkanya (female) do not have any clothes in their upper body. The hair is pulled back in a chignon behind. They have heavy jewelry around their neck, ears and waist. They wear a simple long skirt. In one hand they hold a lotus bud and  the other hand holds the end of a tassel and stand on a pedestal of three geese.

I now focus my attention on the three shrines.