Churning of the Ocean of Milk

Travel Location Siem Reap

The southern section of the east gallery is decorated by the most famous of the bas-relief scenes at Angkor Wat, the Churning of the Ocean of Milk. This brilliantly executed carving depicts 88 asuras on the left, and 92 devas, with crested helmets, churning up the sea to extract from it the elixir of ...

OVERVIEW

The demons hold the head of the serpent Vasuki and the gods hold its tail. At the centre of the sea, Vasuki is coiled around Mt Mandala, which turns and churns up the water in the tug of war between the demons and the gods. Vishnu, incarnated as a huge turtle, lends his shell to serve as the base and pivot of Mt Mandala. Brahma, Shiva, Hanuman (the monkey god) and Lakshmi (the goddess of wealth and prosperity) all make appearances, while overhead a host of heavenly female spirits sing and dance in encouragement. Luckily for us, the gods won through, as the apsaras above were too much for the hot-blooded devils to take. Restoration work on this incredible panel by the World Monuments Fund (WMF) was completed in 2012.

Video Travel Inspiration

The Churning of the Ocean of Milk (also called Samudra manthan in Hindi or Ko Samut Teuk Dos in Khmer) is one of the most well-known legends of the Hindu mythology and of the Cambodian culture. That story is depicted on a 49 meter-wide bas-relief carved on the walls of the east gallery of Angkor Wat temple, a religious site built in the 12th century by Khmer King Suryavarman II. Indeed, that World Heritage temple was in the first place a Hindu shrine dedicated to God Vishnu that was later converted to a Buddhist one. That’s the reason why nowadays, both Hindu and Buddhist rites are practiced inside.

It is said that a long time ago, Devas (Gods) and Asuras (Demons) were fighting against each other to ensure their domination over the world. After many years of war, Devas were weakened and almost vanquished; so they went to see Supreme God Vishnu to ask Him for help. The latter promised to strengthen Devas by ordering them to seek for the Amrita, the sacred Elixir of Immortality. But this difficult task could not be achieved by them alone. They had to gather their forces in cooperation with Asuras in order to extract the Amrita from the depths of the cosmic sea.

To do so, they used Mount Meru as a churning stick and the King of snakes Vasuki as a churning rope. Devas and Asuras both pulled alternatively the Naga Vasuki on their respective side to churn the Ocean of Milk. As MountMeru was sinking, God Vishnu turned himself into his turtle avatar Akûpara to stabilize the mountain. Many treasures came out of the Ocean of Milk. Amongst them were celestial creatures called Apsaras coming on earth to entertain Gods and Kings.

The demons, tricked into pulling the head of the giant snake, were weakened after a thousand years of efforts by the Naga’s poison. Fortunately for them, God of health Dhanvantari emerged from the Ocean of Milk with the sacred Amrita. So they seized the elixir for their own sake.

As they were frightened by this act, the Devas informed Vishnu of the situation. The Supreme God then turned into another of His avatar, Mohini, the most beautiful women on earth. Mohini charmed the Asuras and took the opportunity to steal the Elixir of Immortality and gave it to the Devas. From this moment, the Gods would rule the world and send the Demons to hell.

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