Monumental head of a Deva (deity) from a temple causeway

This monumental head probably once belonged to a eight foot tall deva (male deity) that was one of as many as 54 gods lining the causeway leading up to a Khmer temple. The gods would have been kneeling and holding a long snake, while on the opposite side of the causeway, a line of demons would have engaged in the same activity. This refers to the Hindu legend, common to Indian and Cambodian creation, myths in which demons and gods churned the cosmic ocean, using the snake as a rope twisted around the fulcrum of mount Meru. In so doing, they churned the world out of chaos, also retrieving the elixir of immortality, which the gods kept for themselves. The sculptures symbolically equate Mount Meru with the temple at the end of the causeway, suggesting the ruler's dominion over both worldly and heavenly realms, and delimited the boundaries of sacred and secular space.