At Phnom Da in Takeo, this sandstone lintel captures the epic Churning of the Ocean of Milk, where gods and demons join forces to seek the amrita, the nectar of immortality. The naga Vasuki coils around the cosmic mountain as a living rope, while aligned Khmer figures strain in unison, their bodies echoing the rhythmic pull of the mythic tug-of-war. In this fragment, Phnom Da’s quiet hill becomes a cosmic stage, linking early Khmer art to the wider Hindu imagination that flowed across mainland Southeast Asia.
