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Banteay Srei (or Banteay Srey) is a 10th century Cambodian temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. Located in the area of Angkor in Cambodia, at 13.59 N, 103.96667 E, it lies near the hill of Phnom Dei, 25 km (15 miles) north-east of the main group of temples that once belonged to the medieval capitals of Yasodharapura and Angkor Thom. Banteay Srei is built largely of red sandstone, a medium that lends itself to the elaborate decorative wall carvings which are still observable today. The buildings themselves are miniature in scale, unusually so when measured by the standards of Angkorian construction. These factors have made the temple extremely popular with tourists, and have led to its being widely praised as a "precious gem", or the "jewel of Khmer art". Indeed, the modern name, Banteay Srei — citadel of the women, or citadel of beauty — is generally regarded as being due to the intricacy of the carving and the tiny dimensions of the architecture. Originally, however, the temple was named Tribhuvanamahesvara — great lord of the threefold world — in reference to the Shaivite linga that served as its central religious image. The temple was surrounded by a town called Isvarapura.
Consecrated in 967, Banteay Srei was the only major temple at Angkor not built by a monarch; its construction is credited to a courtier named Yajnyavahara, who served as a counsellor to king Rajendravarman. The foundation stela says that Yajnyavahara was a scholar and philanthropist who helped those who suffered from illness, injustice, or poverty. The temple was primarily dedicated to Shiva: the buildings south of the central east-west axis were and the central tower were devoted to Shiva, while the northern buidlings were dedicated to Vishnu.
Banteay Srei was subject to further expansion and rebuilding work in the eleventh century. At some point it came under the control of the king and had its original dedication changed; an inscription of the early twelfth century records the temple being given to the priest Divarakapandita and being rededicated to Shiva. It remained in use at least until the fourteenth century.
The temple was rediscovered only in 1914, and was the subject of a celebrated case of art theft when André Malraux stole four devatas in 1923 (he was soon arrested and the figures returned). The incident stimulated interest in the site, which was cleared the following year, and in the 1930s Banteay Srei was restored in the first important use of anastylosis at Angkor. Until the discovery of the foundation stela in 1936, it had been assumed that the extreme decoration indicated a later date than was in fact the case. To prevent the site from water damage, the joint Cambodian-Swiss Banteay Srei Conservation Project installed a drainage system between 2000 and 2003. Measures were also taken to prevent damage to the temples walls being caused by nearby trees.
Banteay Srei is built largely of red sandstone, with brick and laterite used only for the enclosure walls and some structural elements. Pediments, the roughly triangular spaces above rectangular openings, are relatively large in comparison to the openings below, and take a sweeping gabled shape. For the first time in Khmer architecture, whole scenes of mythological subject-matter are depicted on the pediments. Other noteworthy decorative features include the carved lintels (a lintel is a beam spanning the gap between two posts), the kalas (toothy monsters symbolic of time), the guardian dvarapalas (armed protectors of the temple), the false doors, and the colonettes. Indeed, decorative carvings cover almost every available surface. According to Maurice Glaize, "Given the very particular charm of Banteay Srei — its remarkable state of preservation and the excellence of a near perfect ornamental technique — one should not hesitate, of all the monuments of the Angkor group, to give it the highest priority." However, he also noted that the miniature scale and elaborate decoration make the temple more of a model than a monument: "the work relates more closely to the art of the goldsmith or to carving in wood than to sculpture in stone". The same style may also be observed in parts of Preah Vihear.
Like most Khmer temples, Banteay Srei is oriented towards the east. It consists of three concentric rectangular enclosures constructed on an east-west axis. A causeway stituated on the axis leads from an outer gopura, or gate, to the third or outermost of the three enclosures.
The gopura is all that remains of Isvarapura's outer wall, measuring approximately 500 m square, which may have been made of wood. The gopura's eastern pediment shows Indra, who was associated with that direction. The 67 m causeway with the remains of corridors on either side connects the gopura with the third enclosure. North and south of this causeway are galleries orientated north-south (one to the north and three to the south halfway along, with a further one on each side in front of the third gopura).
The third enclosure is 95 by 110 m; it is surrounded by a laterite wall breached by a gopura at the eastern end. Neither pediment of the gopura is in situ: one is on the ground nearby, while the other is in Paris's Guimet Museum. The pediment now located in the museum shows the Asura brothers Sunda and Upasunda fighting over the Apsaras Tilottama. Most of the area within the third enclosure is occupied by a moat divided into two parts by causeways to the east and west.
The second enclosure sits between an outer laterite wall measuring 38 by 42 m, with gopuras at the eastern and western ends, and a brick inner enclosure wall, measuring 24 by 24 m. The western gopura features an interesting bas relief depicting the duel of the monkey princes Vali and Sugreeva, as well as Rama's intervention on Sugreeva's behalf. The inner enclosure wall has collapsed, leaving a gopura at the eastern end and a brick shrine at the western. The eastern pediment of the gopura shows Shiva Nataraja; the west-facing pediment has an image of Durga. Likewise, the laterite galleries which once filled the second enclosure (one each to north and south, two each to east and west) have partially collapsed. A pediment on one of the galleries shows the lion-man Narasimha clawing the demon Hiranyakasipu.
Between the gopuras on the collapsed inner wall are the buildings of the inner enclosure: a library in the south-east corner and another in the north-east corner, and in the centre the sanctuary set on a T-shaped platform 0.9 m high. Besides being the most extravagantly decorated parts of the temple, these have also been the most successfully restored (helped by the durability of their sandstone and their small scale). As of 2005, the entire first enclosure was off-limits to visitors, as was the southern half of the second enclosure.
The two libraries are of brick, laterite and sandstone. Each library has two pediments, one on the eastern side and one on the western. According to Maurice Glaize, the four library pediments, "representing the first appearance of tympanums with scenes, are works of the highest order. Superior in composition to any which followed, they show true craftsmanship in their modelling in a skilful blend of stylisation and realism."
The sanctuary is entered from the east by a doorway only 1.08 m in height: inside is an entrance chamber (or mandapa) with a corbelled brick roof, then a short corridor leading to three towers to the west: the central tower is the tallest, at 9.8 m. Glaize notes the impression of delicacy given the towers by the antefixes on each of their tiers. The six stairways leading up to the platform were each guarded by two kneeling statues of human figures with animal heads; most of those now in place are replicas, the originals having been stolen or removed to museums.