In December 1936, a villager was led by a dream to the ruins of the West Mebon shrine in Angkor where he found the remains of a bronze sculpture. This was the West Mebon Visnu, the largest bronze remaining from pre-modern Southeast Asia, and a work of great artistic, historical and political significance. Prominently placed in an island-temple in the middle of the vast artificial reservoir, the West Mebon Visnu sculpture was a key focus point of the Angkorian hydraulic network. Interpretations of the statue, its setting, date and role, have remained largely unchanged since the 1960s, until now. Integrating the latest archaeological and historical work on Angkor, extensive art historical analysis of the figure of Visnu Anantasayin in Hindu-Buddhist art across the region, and a detailed digital reconstruction of the sculpture and its setting, Marnie Feneley brings new light to this important piece. Framed with a useful update on the latest archaeological and historical insights into the history of the Angkor World Heritage Site, this new understanding of the West Mebon Visnu sculpture reorients our understanding of religious and political change in Angkor in the 12th century. Fully illustrated in colour throughout, the book will be of interest to art historians and curators, historians of Southeast Asia, and anyone with an interest in the art and history of Angkor. *** "If Angkor Wat is the greatest temple mausoleum at Angkor, the gilded bronze Visnu is the greatest statue. Fully six metres long, the date and significance of this remarkable artefact has been much debated since its discovery in 1936. In this superb volume, Marnie Feneley has concluded that it was Suryavarman II, one of Angkor’s greatest sovereigns, who ordered the reclining Visnu to be placed in the island temple in the midst of the huge Western Baray. This minutely documented and generously illustrated book illuminates like no other, the vital nexus linking royal intercession with Visnu to ensure through the control of water, the wellbeing of the kingdom." - Professor Charles Higham, University of Otago

1. Hindu sculpture - Cambodia - History. 2. Cambodia - Antiquities. 3. Cambodia - Politics and government - History