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Mara from Dong Duong

Keywords : Dong Duong, Mara

Site common nameDong Duong
Type of artworkSculpture
Province/CityDanang
StateDanang
CountryVietnam
Geographic Coordinates
Decimal degree		Lat : 16.059722
Long : 108.223056

History of productionKing Indraworman II ordered the construction of Laksameenatarlokesarvara temple to dedicate this to Mahayan Buddhism. Now, this temple is Dong Deung Prasat, the largest Buddhist place in Vietnam.
PeriodHistorical Period
Art periodDong Duong
Age15 Century Be.
ReligionBuddhism
SectMahayana
Religion and beliefBefore the lord Buddha’s enlightenment, the demon rode the elephant and marched his army to disturb him together with the demon’s daughters, which were desires and causes of sorrow. The demon scence is the comparison of the time when the Lord Buddha is attaining his enlightenment and not being affected by the last desire.
Related artworkIt is rather strange that this sculpture was not designed to have the demon riding the elephant to the lord buddha as usual. Instead, it is the scene of multi-headed demon trying to shake the throne or the feet of the lord Buddha. This is similar to the iconography of Ravana shaking Krilas mouth in Indian and Khmer arts. Thus, it is possible that this concept might be borrowed from there.

Type of LicenseAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND)
RightsPrincess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre
Date of record creation2015-06-00
Record creatorChedha Tingsanchali