TEMPLE TEXTILE PIDAN

Silk ikat.
Cambodia, the 3rd quarter of the 20th century.
Pidan textiles with their rich iconography related to the life and the cult of Buddha were offered by believers to temples, where they were used as the wall-hangings or ceilings over sculptures. Pidan textiles were also presented on the passage rites ceremonies like weddings or funerals. During the period of Red Khmers terror almost all pidans in Cambodia were destroyed, but some of them still exist in foreign collections as in The Asia and Pacific Museum in Warsaw. Nowadays the tradition of weaving and offering of pidan is again popular in Cambodia.

MAP 5098, acquired in 1979.