Dvarapala
Credits
A dvarapala (or Sanskrit dvârapâla) is a deity who guards the doors of Buddhist and Hindu temples and monasteries. She may be depicted in human or demonic form, sometimes armed with a club, spear or trident, and with a fierce appearance.
These prophylactic representations are commonly placed in pairs on either side of the door jamb, but smaller structures have only one dvarapala, while larger ones have up to twelve, always positioned in pairs.
Dvarapalas can be found on the toranas (gates, 1st century B.C.) of Sanchi and on the gates of the oldest surviving Hindu temples dating from the Gupta period (4th-5th century A.D.).
Names
In most Southeast Asian languages (including Thai, Burmese, Vietnamese, Khmer and Javanese), these figures are known as dvarapala. Dvara (Sanskrit dvāra) means door, and pala (Sanskrit pāla) means protector.
The corresponding name in Malay and Indonesian is dwarapala. The equivalents of these figures in North Asian languages are Kongōrikishi or Niō in Japanese, Heng Ha Er Jiang in Chinese and Narayeongeumgang in Korean.
Origins and forms
Dvarapalas as architectural subjects have their origins among tutelary deities such as the Yaksha and warrior figures like Acala, in Asian folk religion. Today, some dvarapalas are even depicted as policemen or soldiers standing guard.
These statues were traditionally installed outside Hindu or Buddhist temples, as well as other structures such as royal palaces, to protect the sacred places inside. Dvarapalas are usually depicted as menacing, demon-like guardians, but at the gates of Buddhist temples in Sri Lanka, they often display human features. In other circumstances, a fierce-looking nāga may play the same role.
Sculptures from Java and Bali, usually carved in andesite, depict dvarapalas as ferocious danavas or daityas (en) (two types of asura) with a rather massive physique half-kneeling and holding a club. Java's largest dvarapala statue, a dvarapala from the Singasari kingdom period (13th century), stands 3.7 meters high. Traditional dvarapalas from Cambodia and Thailand are thinner; they are depicted standing, holding their clubs down in the center.
Older dvarapala sculptures in Thailand are made of high-temperature-fired sandstone clay with a pale, almost milky celadon glaze. Ceramic sculptures of this type were produced during the Sukhothai and Ayutthaya kingdoms (between the 14th and 16th centuries), in kilns located in northern Thailand.
Depending on the size and wealth of the temple, guardians could be placed singly, in pairs or in groups. The most modest structures could have a single dvarapala. Often, they were placed in pairs on either side of the sanctuary entrance. Some larger sites might have four (lokapālas, guardians of the four cardinal points), eight or twelve. In some cases, only the face or ferocious head of the guardian is represented, a very common case in the kratons of Java.