Ravana Shaking Mt. Kailasa

East Pediment, South Library
Banteay Srei (plan)

Ravana (bottom) shakes Mt. Kailasa, the home of Shiva. The great god (top), with Parvati on his lap, stabilizes the mountain with his toe. Below Shiva are represented first his hermit devotees, then the ganas (attendants of Shiva, with animal heads), and finally the animals fleeing to either side of Ravana. The story is an allegory of the natural force of earthquakes.