Banteay Srei Temple

Banteay Srei Temple, often glossed as the Citadel of Women, was consecrated in 967 and is famed in the Angkor world for its intimate scale and astonishingly crisp carving. Commissioned by the Brahmin scholar Yajnavaraha rather than a king and dedicated to Shiva, its warm pink sandstone carries scenes from The Ramayana and other Hindu myths cut with a jeweller’s finesse. After 20th c. rediscovery and restoration, it endures as a touchstone of Khmer devotional art.