Étude de la distribution des apsaras "avec ou sans diademe" (Apsaras and their ornaments in Angkor Wat)

Sculpture in Angkor is by large the most ​“feminine” form of sacred art in the world history. Following pioneering studies by Sapho Marchal or more recent researchers, the author attempts a comprehensive analysis of the apsaras spatial distribution across the Angkor Wat temple and sanctuary according to the kind of ornaments they are wearing in stone.

Earlier researchers have noted that the apsaras wearing a tiara or crown (mokot in Khmer, mukuta in Sanskrit) held an exalted status in the population of ​“celestial dancers”. George Coedès, for instance, called them ​“gouvernantes” (head dancers), while the ones without head ornament were obviously younger, pre-nubile female figures.

Here, the author adds another distinction between apsaras with or without the distinctive, round pendant so characteristic of Angkorian art. Also, the spatial distribution of ornamented figures seems to follow a strict rule: in the innermost sanctuary, the 62 apsaras are all wearing a tiara, except one devoid of any kind of ornament.

The study ends up on a stimulating, still open question: are these numerous celestial figures thriving to become nubile just to access to the elevated rank of ​“inner sanctuary guardians”? Or are they, in fact, ​“preparing themselves to greet the glorious death of the Khmer Empire?”