In the complex Hindu cosmology, the world on which humankind lives is a single disc-shaped continent (Jambudvipa) sitting on the head of a great cosmic serpent (Shesha), who sits in turn on the back of a great turtle (Akupara), who is supported by eight elephants (ashtadiggajas), who stand on the shell of Brahmanda, the golden egg from which the universe emerged. Jambudvipa is surrounded by an ocean of saltwater (Lavanoda). This is then surrounded by six ring-shaped continents, each separated by further oceans of different liquids. The fifth such ocean is Ksira Sagada, the Ocean of Milk. At one time, the gods had been weakened by the nefarious sage Durvasas. Vishnu realised that the Ocean of Milk was a potential source of amrita, the elixir of immortality which would restore the gods to full potency. He gathered the devas (minor gods) and the asuras (demons) and instructed them to churn the milk in the ocean. They wrapped the giant snake Vasuki around Mount Mandara and pulled to spin it, using it as a churning pole. After many years, the churning bore fruit: numerous great and wonderful things were brought up from the depths, including the apsaras (nymphs or feminine spirits) and Kamadhenu, the cow of plenty. Two of the most important treasures were Lakshmi, the beautiful goddess of prosperity, and Dhanvantari, the celestial physician who emerged bearing amrita. The gods and asuras fought over possession of the elixir. The gods eventually prevailed, and consumed the amrita, restoring them. Vishnu married Lakshmi, and they set adrift on the Ocean of Milk on the back of the great celestial snake Shesha.

The symbol of Vishnu reclining on the back of Shesha, floating on the Ocean of Milk, became a trope of Hindu art, the Vishnu anantashavin (literally). This exceptional Khmer relief depicts this important scene. Depicted as an athletic youth, Vishnu rests his head on his bent right arm. Wearing a sampot seng, a short loincloth characteristic of the Khmer people, his body is at rest, legs together and left arm by his side. His facial features are characterised by a sense of contentment and calm, eyes half-closed and mouth drawn into a slight smile. His face is exceptionally well-formed, demonstrating the ability of the artist to depict both the physical characteristics of a face, as well as the emotional energy behind it. His ears are weighed down with heavy pendulous gold earrings, and he wears a crown (mokot) on his head, with a blunt crest which dates this piece to the Bayon Style (Twelfth to Thirteenth Century AD). Vishnu rests on Shesha, who is depicted as a five-headed king cobra (Ophlophagus hannah), whose hooded heads rear up behind Vishnu in a protective guise.

Next to Vishnu sits Lakshmi, his new wife. She caresses his thigh affectionately, arms hanging over him, as she stares out at the viewer. She is represented as a beautiful Cambodian woman, with her detailed hair bunched up in a chignon. Her delicate features are presented full-frontally. She is bare-breasted, but richly adorned, with a clasp in her hair, heavy earrings stretching out her ears, armlets, and an elaborate necklace (sarong kor) characteristic of Khmer dancers, of which Lakshmi was a patron. Her ornamentation clearly fits with her status as goddess of prosperity. She is attended by four apsaras, also a product of the churning of the Ocean of Milk. They sit between the tall stems of lotus flowers, which crowd the upper part of the scene. Another lotus rises, unusually, from the navel of Vishnu. Upon the open flower sits Brahma, the four-headed and four-armed god of creation. Brahma is diminutive compared to Vishnu; this indicates that this depiction follows Vaishnavism, the sect of Hinduism which treats Vishnu as the supreme deity.

Vaishnavism’s rise in the Khmer Empire was the direct result of the expansionist policies of Suryavarman I (reigned AD 1006 – AD 1050). His invasion of what is now Vietnam brought his subjects into direct contact with Champa, a Buddhist kingdom that stretched from Saigon (modern Ho Chi Minh City) in the south to China in the north. Their Buddhist influence was treated with hostility by many Khmer, who turned to the god of protection and preservation, Vishnu, to reinforce their own faith. Vaishnavism became the state-sponsored sect of the Empire under Suryavarman II (reigned AD 1113 – AD 1150), who sought to undermine the powerful Khmer elite by switching from their favoured sect – Brahmanism, which held Brahma as the supreme god – to the more populist worship of Vishnu. It is perhaps for this reason that Brahma’s supposed birth from the navel of Vishnu on a lotus blossom is emphasised in this relief, and why the gods are presented in such different sizes.