The Making of The Last Light of Kurukshetra, Angkor Wat Temple
The Last Light of Kurukshetra, Angkor Wat Temple, Cambodia — 2020
A hush had settled across the western gallery as if the stone itself were holding its breath. The last rays of the sun, burnished and low, glanced through the ancient columns and touched the wall with a light that did not fall but rose—from within the sandstone, as though the reliefs remembered the fire of their own making.
Before me: the battle. Chaos chiseled into silence. A galloping horse rears above a tangle of limbs and shields, yet nothing moves. The warriors, caught forever mid-charge or in the arc of their final gesture, seem less like the conquered and the conquerors than the visible dreaming of some deeper current—an eternal conflict beneath time. One figure stands out: a lone soldier, shield raised, neither fleeing nor triumphant. I could not decide if he was about to fall or break through. Perhaps both.
The light was difficult, diffuse yet glowing, with an uncanny green-gold cast, as if filtered through the canopy of centuries. I did not frame or compose so much as listen. The image came not with precision but with surrender. I waited, then made the exposure slowly, letting the long breath of time settle into the film.
Later, in the quiet of the darkroom, I returned not to the facts of what I had seen, but to the feeling—the weight of stone, the ache of myth, the glow that came not from the sun but from something older. I shaped the final print by hand, not in black and white, but in the gold and ash of memory, letting the toning seep into the paper like lichen across old walls. It is not the colour of war, but of what war leaves behind: dust, silence, a question unanswered in light.
— L.V.
Also in Library
From Mountain to Monastery
Angkor Wat survived by learning to change its posture. Built as a summit for gods and kings, it became a place of dwelling for monks and pilgrims. As belief shifted from ascent to practice, stone yielded to routine—and the mountain learned how to remain inhabited.
Why Theravada Could Outlast Stone
Theravada endured by refusing monumentality. It shifted belief from stone to practice, from kings to villages, from permanence to repetition. What it preserved was not form but rhythm—robes, bowls, chants, and lives lived close together—allowing faith to travel when capitals fell and temples emptied.
The End of Sanskrit at Angkor
The final Sanskrit inscription at Angkor does not announce an ending. It simply speaks once more, with elegance and certainty, into a world that had begun to listen differently. Its silence afterward marks not collapse, but a quiet transfer of meaning—from stone and proclamation to practice, breath, and impermanence.
$260
Angkor Wat Temple, Cambodia — 2020
Limited Edition Archival Pigment Print
Edition
Strictly limited to 25 prints + 2 Artist’s Proofs
Medium
Hand-toned black-and-white archival pigment print on Hahnemühle Bamboo — a museum-grade fine art paper chosen for its quiet tactility and reverent depth, echoing the spirit of the temples.
Signature & Numbering
Each print is individually signed and numbered by the artist on the border (recto)
Certificate of Authenticity
Accompanies every print
Image Size
8 x 8 inches (20.3 x 20.3 cm)
“There is a radiance that survives the clang of swords.”
A golden hush settles upon Angkor Wat’s western gallery. Here, the mythical Battle of Kurukshetra no longer roars; it breathes. A lone warrior—shield lifted—stands in the after-silence where conflict surrenders to memory. Late-afternoon light glides across the relief, awakening an inner glow that seems to rise from the stone itself.
During a solitary visit in 2020, photographer Lucas Varro waited, listening for that subtle radiance. Exposing large-format black-and-white film in a single, patient breath, he received the scene rather than seized it. In the darkroom he coaxed warmth into silver, hand-toning each print with whispers of gold that echo the canopy-filtered light of that evening.
Printed on museum-grade Hahnemühle Bamboo, renowned for its velvety surface and sustainable heart, every sheet becomes a quiet sanctuary for tone and texture. Limited to 25 signed prints (+ 2 Artist’s Proofs), the work offers permanence not only in craft but in contemplative presence.
Should this image find its way to your wall, may it stand as a still point—an illuminated threshold where stone remembers, and light speaks without sound.
Follow the quiet path into the Artist’s Journal to wander deeper into this hush.
Previously titled ‘Battle of Kurukshetra I, Study II, Angkor Wat Temple, Cambodia. 2020,’ this photograph has been renamed to better reflect its place in the series and its spiritual tone. The edition, provenance, and authenticity remain unchanged.
