Rahu, considered a planetary deity who represents the eclipses of the sun and the moon, plays a number of roles in the myths, art, and religions of South and Southeast Asia. In Khmer art (from Cambodia and Thailand) and Cham art (from Vietnam), he is almost always shown in conjunction with other deities. LACMA's sculpture of Rahu was once part of a nine-deity set. Although it was removed from the set at some point, the Rahu can be placed into its likely context as the eighth of nine deities by comparing it to other complete sets.

This Rahu takes a specific fom shared by most Rahu images in the art of Cambodia and Thailand. He has a fierce face with bulging eyes, a stylized frown between heavy eyebrows, a large, flat nose, full lips that are marked by lines of a moustache, and a beard. His hair bursts out from his fillet in ringlets, framing his face and accentuating his angry expression. Large earrings that rest on his shoulders are his only jewelry.

Khmer art consistently depicts only Rahu's head, with part of his upper body and a raised right arm exposed; his lower body is covered by a variety of repeated designs, often arranged in rows. In some interpretations of Khmer art, the deity is shown in a tornado of clouds in the sky. In this example, Rahu is shown rising from a whirlpool caused by the churning of the Milk Ocean in a scene in which he attempts to steal the nectar of immortality from the gods. 

Visit Rahu, The Demon of Eclipses in the South and Southeast Asian art galleries in the Ahmanson Building, Level 4. Learn more about LACMA's renowned collection of South and Southeast Asian art.