Sculptures from Angkor National Museum: This male sandstone statue, devoid of his arms and legs below his short sampot is something of an enigma. The temple of Ta Prohm at Angkor was cleared and initial restorations began as early as the 1920s by EFEO, who delivered this sculpture to the Angkor Conservation Depot in 1931. At that time, it was recognized as a Dvarapala, a temple door guardian that protected the western entrance to the fourth gopura at Ta Prohm nearly a thousand years ago. It has all the hallmarks of a standalone guardian keeping out unwanted riffraff. They are very often located either side of the entrance doorway, either in niches or as free-standing statues. They are designed to make visitors think twice before entering the sacred chamber. Usually, the Deva Dvarapala is identified by his weapon, a three-pronged trident and a less fanciful, conical headdress, while the Asura Dvarapala is the fiercest of the duo with an expansive flaming headdress and both hands grasping his weapon of choice, a mace. This statue has neither identifiers but it does present an image of refined strength and despite the weathering of 800+ years, the detail of his headdress, body jewelry and heavily-belted sampot with double fish-tail pleats, is a striking exhibit. Today, the museum calls it a male divinity on its signage, hedging its bets as to the identity. The expansive necklace and arm bangles are often found on door guardians, though the weathered diadem and braided hair piled high into a cylindrical chignon are not usual features. To add to the mystery, the chignon is topped by a lotus flower relief and the ‘Om’ symbol is incised into the front of the jatamukuta, which you usually find on images of the god Shiva. This might indicate that a Shiva statue was re-appropriated as a Dvarapala, or vice-versa, when the temple was dedicated to the mother of King Jayavarman VII in 1186AD.