In this Angkor Wat bas-relief, Yama (Khmer: ព្រះយម préah yâm) sits in judgment over the dead, astride his buffalo and surrounded by tiers of heavens and hells stretching across the east part of the south gallery wall. Khmer sculptors translated ancient Puranic visions into sandstone, carving 37 celestial realms and 32 terrifying hells where every deed finds its consequence. Standing before this panel, visitors glimpse how Angkor’s artists imagined cosmic law, moral responsibility, and the delicate balance between merit and sin.
