Architectural element with three-headed mythical serpent

Three fierce-faced serpent heads loom over what appears to be the top of the headdress of a now missing figure—perhaps the Hindu bird-deity Garuda. Mythical enemies, Garuda and serpents (nagas) are often depicted together and can be found in this configuration on other Cham sculptures. Serpents often play a protective role in local stories and myths. An ancient Cham inscription describes the origin of the Cham people stemming from the marriage between a Hindu priest and a naga princess.

A doctor, Jean Claude Albert Morice, likely took this sculpture from the ruins of the temples at Tháp Ðôi, a site five kilometers from where he was stationed at the French consulate. The modern Vietnamese name, Tháp Ðôi, means twin towers, but a third temple tower once stood at the site. Arial photography from the 1920s shows a large pile of bricks to the north of the standing towers.

Sculptures of multiheaded serpents decorate the corners of towers at some Cham temples, including the temples at Tháp Ðôi. The dimensions of this sculpture do not fit any of the missing parts of those temples, leading scholars to assume it comes from a now destroyed structure.