Angkor: Indian gods in the stone? Research of two relief images (to statement of a question)

The article is devoted to the study of the interaction of ancient Indian and Khmer cultures. The unique ancient and rich Indian civilization influenced the development of cultures of many people. The architectural ensemble Angkor (which building began in the 9^th century), situated in the province Siem Reap in Cambodia, is one of the typical example of the global penetration of the ancient Indian culture into contiguous areas. A great amount of Angkor artifacts has been lost or destroyed but many buildings and sculptural masterpieces survive, they are investigated and described. Unfortunately many relief images and architectonic monuments of Angkor possess illegible forms, are partly damaged and are not understood and unexplainable. Such "exhibits" are of great interest for researchers. The whole comprehension of all artifacts of Angkor contributes to know the peculiarities of the penetration of the ancient Indian culture into the ancient Cambodia territory, to understand the significance of Indian culture in the origin and forming of the Khmer plastic art, to reveal the interaction of ancient Indian and Khmer cultures. The aim of this article is to study two relief images created on the Angkor walls and to define their origin and meaning. The author investigates the mentioned items of the plastic art using the comparative, phenomeno-logical and descriptive methods. The author describes the wall relief items (photos), studies well known mythological episodes of the ancient Indian culture, compares descriptions of characters, defines the degree of identity of all known and plots under investigation. The following conclusions were made: - A great deal of the unique cultures of India, Cambodia and Asia in general is still unknown. The represented study of two relief images confirms this fact. - The mentioned images (figure with the man body and the animal face- muzzle and a woman figure with three heads) are unlike the well known characters of Indian or Khmer cultures. Admittedly these relief images may be regarded as variants of the incarnation of the ancient Indian worship objects (Brakhma, Vishnu, Trimurti) or they reflect quite other unknown personages and situations. - The presented two images need the detailed careful study that promotes to reveal the sources and peculiarities of their appearance in Angkor temple, to understand their meaning and the basic regularities of interaction of ancient Indian and Khmer cultures.

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