Temple hanging with Buddhist scenes (pidan)

In Cambodian Buddhist practice, textiles were used to make a variety of items, including robes for monks and Buddha images; pennants and banners for decorating temple grounds, and sacred cloths to be hung within the pillared halls of a temple. Photographs from the 1920s and contemporary practice indicate that rectangular silk textiles such as the one shown here were hung from the ceilings of Buddhist temples as canopies; in fact pidan, the Cambodian word for these hangings, literally means ceiling or canopy.

These cloths were made using the ikat technique, which involves tie-dyeing an elaborate pattern into the threads of a cloth before they are woven. Cambodian weavers were experts in this technique, producing textiles with both intricate patterning and a wide range of colors. This cloth depicts scenes from the Vessantara Jataka (the story of next-to-last incarnation of the historical Buddha).