Vishnu Churning of the Sea of Milk South wing of east gallery Angkor Wat

At the center of the relief, Vishnu appears in two forms: below, as Kurma, the tortoise upon which the mountain/pivot is set; and above, in four-armed form, holding sword and chakra with two hands and the snake with the other two, as the one who directs the operation. The figure above the pivot (closeup) has been identified either as Indra, the king of the gods, or as Vishnu again (this depends on which version of the myth one is following). This section of the relief is unfinished - most oddly, since it is arguably the most important in the temple. We know that work on the reliefs was stopped around the time of Suryavarman's death, and it is tempting to speculate that we are seeing here the very moment when the sculptors laid down their chisels.