page_title: Khmer architecture
section_title: Lintel, pediment, and tympanum
hierarchical_section_title: Khmer architecture / Elements / Lintel, pediment, and tympanum
caption_attribution_description: Banteay Srei - Śiva Nāṭarāja is depicted on the eastern gopura of the inner enclosure wall. Less rubbish version. Own work November 2010.
context_page_description: Khmer architecture, also known as Angkorian architecture is the architecture produced by the Khmers during the Angkor period of the Khmer Empire from approximately the later half of the 8th century CE to the first half of the 15th century CE.
  The architecture of the Indian rock-cut temples, particularly the sculptures, were widely adopted in South Indian, and Indianised architecture of Cambodian, Annamese and Javanese temples. In any study of Angkorian architecture, the emphasis is necessarily on religious architecture, since all the remaining Angkorian buildings are religious in nature. During the period of Angkor, only temples and other religious buildings were constructed of stone. Non-religious buildings such as dwellings were constructed of perishable materials such as wood, and so have not survived. The religious architecture of Angkor has characteristic structures, elements, and motifs, which are identified in the glossary below. Since a number of different architectural styles succeeded one another during the Angkorean period, not all of these features were equally in evidence throughout the period.
context_section_description: A lintel is a horizontal beam connecting two vertical columns between which runs a door or passageway. Because the Angkorean Khmer lacked the ability to construct a true arch, they constructed their passageways using lintels or corbelling. A pediment is a roughly triangular structure above a lintel. A tympanum is the decorated surface of a pediment.
  The styles employed by Angkorean artists in the decoration of lintels evolved over time, as a result, the study of lintels has proven a useful guide to the dating of temples. Some scholars have endeavored to develop a periodization of lintel styles. The most beautiful Angkorean lintels are thought to be those of the Preah Ko style from the late 9th century.
  Common motifs in the decoration of lintels include the kala, the nāga and the makara, as well as various forms of vegetation. Also frequently depicted are the Hindu gods associated with the four cardinal directions, with the identity of the god depicted on a given lintel or pediment depending on the direction faced by that element. Indra, the god of the sky, is associated with East; Yama, the god of judgment and Hell, with South; Varuna, the god of the ocean, with West; and Kubera, god of wealth, with North.
caption: Lintel and pediment at Banteay Srei; the motif on the pediment is Shiva Nataraja.
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