33Dynasties.com - Item#:9017 Sandstone Head of Kala

Sandstone Head of Kala (Architectural Fragment)

Champa (Central Vietnam), 10th - 12th Century)

24" (61 cms.) high

Item #9017

Pictured below is a closely related piece. It is in the collection of the Cham Museum in Danag and is illustrated in the book “Cham Sculpture”, Social Science Publishing House, Hanoi, 1988.

Kala figures were carved on Cham stone temples. They are representations of monster like beings whose function was to scare off evil influences and thus to protect the temple. They are thus related in function to figures such as the temple guardians (Lokopalas) in Chinese Buddhism.

In the evolution of Cham sculpture from the 10th - 14th century there is a tendency for the carving to get progressively more detailed but also less expressive. The piece pictured below is dated 12th century. The piece I am offering, however, has qualities that make me believe an earlier date is likely.

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