Editing Khmer architecture (section)

===Nāga===<!-- This section is linked from [[Angkor]] -->
[[File:Buddha shielded by Naga.jpg|left|thumb|[[Mucalinda]], the '''nāga''' king who shielded [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]] as he sat in meditation, was a favorite motif for Cambodian Buddhist sculptors from the 11th century. This statue is dated between 1150 and 1175 CE.]]

Mythical serpents, or [[Naga (mythology)|nāga]]s, represent an important motif in Khmer architecture as well as in free-standing sculpture. They are frequently depicted as having multiple heads, always uneven in number, arranged in a fan. Each head has a flared hood, in the manner of a cobra.

[[File:Linteau Musée Guimet 25973.jpg|right|thumb|This multi-headed '''nāga''' is part of a decorative lintel from the end of the 9th century.]]
Nāgas are frequently depicted in Angkorian [[lintel]]s. The composition of such lintels characteristically consists in a dominant image at the center of a rectangle, from which issue swirling elements that reach to the far ends of the rectangle. These swirling elements may take shape as either vinelike vegetation or as the bodies of nāgas. Some such nāgas are depicted wearing crowns, and others are depicted serving as mounts for human riders.

To the Angkorian, nāgas were symbols of water and figured in the myths of origin for the Khmer people, who were said to be descended from the union of an Indian [[Brahman]] and a serpent princess from Cambodia.<ref>Glaize, ''The Monuments of Angkor'', p. 1.</ref> Nāgas were also characters in other well-known legends and stories depicted in Khmer art, such as the churning of the [[Ocean of Milk]], the legend of the Leper King as depicted in the bas-reliefs of the [[Bayon]], and the story of [[Mucalinda]], the serpent king who protected the Buddha from the elements.<ref>Glaize, ''The Monuments of the Angkor Group'', p. 43.</ref>