Untitled (east entrance gate, Angkor Thom, Cambodia)

The motif of large figures carrying a thick pole horizontally is a common motif in sculpture, relief sculpture, and 2-dimensional representation at the temples of Angkor. It probably represents the story of "the churning of the sea of milk by the gods." See Dumarçay and Smithies, Cultural Sites of Burma, Thailand, and Cambodia (Oxford U. Press, 1990), 99.