| Abstract: |
Keeping in view other proposals regarding the identity of the faces on the towers of temples and gates of the Bayon period, I come to the conclusion that the father of Jayavarman VII (AD 1181-ca. 1218), Dharaṇīndravarman II, to whom the great king dedicated the Preah Khan monastery and temple, and the cult image of which was a portrait of him, was also represented in these tower faces. The third eye points to Lokeśvara, while the manufactured crown refers to the royal personality Dharaṇīndravarman II. It cannot, however, be ruled out that even Śiva, the closest relative of Avalokiteśvara from an iconographical point of view, was also alluded to in these faces. In Angkor, in a way that is comparable to Nepal, there was no sharp barrier between the Hindu and the Buddhist religion. In contrast to India, a unique feature is that many Hindu gods and stories are depicted in the inner gallery of the Bayon temple.
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