GARUDA

Garuda, the bird man of Hindu and Buddhist mythology, king of birds according to legend, is the mount and one of the incarnations of the god Vishnu

According to Khmer art historian Jean Boisselier, Garuda “acquires in Khmer art an expression of life, majesty and balance rarely achieved, harmoniously uniting the very dissimilar characters of the bird, the man and of the feline. […] The important place that Garudas and Suparnas hold in statuary, bas-relief and in the round, is undoubtedly due to the role they play both in Hindu texts and in Buddhist texts. Few fabulous beings are involved in more diverse legends, and as such the changes in religious orientation experienced by the Khmer empire could hardly influence the frequency of representations. […] King Garuda, Solar God, is the one who transported Mount Mandara for the churning of the Sea of ​​Milk and the one who ravished the Amrita* for the benefit of the gods. »

Source: Garuda in Khmer Art, Jean Boisselier, Bulletin of the French School of the Far East Volume 44 N°1, 1951.

*Amrita: literally “undeath” in Sanskrit, is the nectar of immortality of the Devas, the gods of Hinduism. The term is usually translated as “nectar of immortality.