One of the smaller temples at the Koh Ker complex can be found squeezed amongst the homes of the villagers of Koh Ker, namely Prasat Dang Tong North, a brick, sandstone and laterite structure from the earliest a part of the tenth century, but now during a ruined state. consistent with locals, a rare statue was housed within the temple, namely an Ardhanarishvara, a half-man half-woman representation of the god Shiva and his wife Parvati. Translated as ‘God who is half-woman,’ it symbolizes the harmony and unity of opposites, with the left side related to the heart and feminine attributes such as intuition and creativity, while the proper side is akin to the brain and masculine traits such as valour. Upon entering the temple, I noticed the tenon and two feet of a broken and looted statue, lying on the ground next to a substantial pedestal. That set my mind clicking into gear on whether the feet could belong to the half-man half-woman sculpture and where that statue might reside today. Two potential candidates, from the 10th century, are currently held within the Honolulu Museum of Art and the Metropolitan Museum of New York, though actually , it might be anywhere.
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