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The stone conservation team of the APSARA National Authority has continued to repair a 24-metre-long Naga balustrade in the northeast of Banteay Samre Temple, which has been in ruins for a long time, aiming at raising the temple’s value, said the authority in a news release this afternoon.
Mr. Long Nary, head of the stone conservation team from the Department of Conservation of Monuments and Preventive Archaeology, explained that the restoration work of the Naga balustrade at the Banteay Samre Temple had been underway for nearly two months. The team has collected small and large pieces of the original Naga balustrade in as many places as possible, trying not to replace them with new stones.
Technicians explain that the use of new pieces of stone can only be done where the main point is missing and unless the original pieces cannot be found.
For many years, the Naga balustrades of the Banteay Samre Temple have been severely challenged due to the weakness of the foundation structure, the inability to withstand the damage caused by the natural environment, moss, water, temperature, weather, and lack of maintenance.
Mr. Long Nary added that the stone repair, the stone treatment, and the reconnection of stone fragments require drills to connect the pieces of the Naga sculpture. The repairs focused on dismantling many of the old pedestals and the Naga sculpture, which had been completely torn apart at the risk of collapse. The team then reinforced the decayed stone surface, filled it with mortar in the small holes, and cracks in the stone surface, cleaned the moss and neutralised the salt from the stone surface, removed the old iron and cement, and re-installed the Naga balustrade in the original position.
The restoration work of the 12-metre-long southwest Naga balustrade took place from 2015 to 2016, the 8-metre-long west Naga balustrade from 2016 to 2017, the 6-metre-long southeast Naga balustrade in 2020, the 22-metres-long northeast Naga balustrade in 2020, and the southwest corner of 30 metres long inside the first gallery in 2021.
