Angkor Bas-reliefs

Timeline

1. c. 1000–1140Early temples of the Angkor region · CambodiaIn the 10th–11th centuries Khmer artisans developed sandstone low reliefs on temple lintels and niches, mainly depicting deities and donors, laying the technical foundation for the large-scale narrative reliefs of Angkor Wat.
2. c. 1141–1150Angkor Wat first gallery · Siem Reap ProvinceThe outer gallery of Angkor Wat carved scenes of the Churning of the Ocean of Milk and Suryavarman II's personal campaigns, with layered figures and flowing drapery, representing the peak of 12th-century Khmer relief narrative and spatial organization.
3. c. 1181–1220Bayon Temple · Siem Reap ProvinceBuildings such as the Bayon featured reliefs with Avalokitesvara faces and scenes of everyday life, shifting subject matter from Hindu epics to Mahayana Buddhism and secular scenes, in a more realistic and dense style.