Virtual gallery

Last update: December 12, 2025

All these instruments can be ordered from Cambodia. Rates and deadlines on request using the CONTACT page.

Click on each instrument to enlarge it

Rebuilding the musical instruments of the ancient Khmer

This film is an introduction to the instrumental rebuilding work initiated in 2012 by Patrick Kersalé.

Harps

To date, we have reconstructed four types of harps with different aesthetics:

Pre Angkorian harp (7^th- 8^th century)
The Angkor Vat's harp (first half of the 12^th century)
Angkorian harp (late 12^th - early 13^th century)
Garuda harp (13^th century)

Pre-Angkorian harp

Name, ancient Khmer: viṇā
Structure: jackfruit wood
Tailpiece: red wood
Soundbox: python
Attachments: calfskin
Strings: synthetic ‘silk’
Strings clamps: palm fiber
Decor of the volute: chemical gilding
79 x 66 x 15 cm

Name, ancient Khmer: viṇā
Structure: jackfruit wood
Tailpiece: red wood
Soundbox & attachments: goat skin from Nepal
Strings: synthetic ‘silk’
Strings clamps: palm fiber
79 x 66 x 15 cm

Name, ancient Khmer: viṇā
Structure: jackfruit wood
Tailpiece: red wood
Soundbox & attachments: goat skin from Nepal
Decoration: red & black acrylic lacquer
Strings: synthetic ‘silk’
Strings clamps: braided red cotton
Balls: rosewood
79 x 66 x 15 cm

Name, ancient Khmer: viṇā
Structure: jackfruit wood
Tailpiece: red wood
Soundbox & attachments: goat skin from Nepal
Skin fixation: bamboo nails
Decoration: red & black acrylic lacquer
Strings: synthetic ‘silk’
Strings clamps: braided red cotton
Balls: rosewood
Stand : wild jackfruit wood
79 x 66 x 15 cm

The Angkor Vat's harp

Name, ancient Khmer: viṇā
Structure: wild jackfruit wood
Tailpiece: red wood
Soundbox: python
Skin fixation: bamboo nails
Decoration: red & black acrylic lacquer, golden sheet
Strings: synthetic ‘silk’
Strings clamps: palm fiber
95 x 70 x 19 cm

Angkorian harp

Name, ancient Khmer: viṇā
Structure: wild jackfruit wood
Tailpiece: red wood
Pegs: rosewood
Soundbox: calfskin
Skin fixation: Bone nails
Strings: synthetic ‘silk’
Decoration: red & black acrylic lacquer, golden sheet
88 x 70 x 17 cm

Garuda harp

Name, ancient Khmer: viṇā
Structure: jackfruit wood
Tailpiece: red wood
Pegs: rosewood
Soundbox: python
Skin fixation: Bone nails
Strings: synthetic ‘silk’
Head decoration: chemical gilding
108 x 70 x 17 cm

Zithers

We reconstructed five types of zithers over a period from the 7th to the 20th century:

Monochord zither with single gourd resonator
Double-resonator zither
Fretted zither
Monochord zither with a coconut resonator
Crocodile-zither

Monochord zither with single gourd resonator

7^th - 20^th centuries

Name, ancien Khmer: kañjaṅ, kañjoṅ
Body, peg: rosewood & bone
Resonator: calabash from Cardamom mountains
Resonator attachment & string: rattan
Naga: buffalo horn & 24ct gold sheet
Junction piece: hammered red copper
String: brass

Monochord zither with double calabash resonator

Late 12^th - early 13^th centuries

Name: vīṇā (Sanskrit) ; kinnara (ancient Khmer)
Body, peg: rosewood & bone
Resonators: calabash from Cardamom
Resonator attachment & string: rattan
Naga: buffalo horn & 24ct gold sheet
Junction piece: hammered red copper
String: brass

Fretted zither

Late 12^th - early 13^th centuries

Body, pegs, frets : red wood & bone
Resonators: calabash from Cardamom
Resonator attachment & string: Nylon
Strings: synthetic ‘silk’

Monochord zither with a coconut resonator

16^th century

Body, peg: red wood & bone
Resonator: coconut shell
Resonator attachment & string: rattan
Naga: buffalo horn & 24ct gold sheet
Junction piece: hammered red copper
String: brass

Crocodile-zither

?^th - 20^th centuries

Name: krapeu ក្រពើ
Body: jackfruit wood
Body, pegs, frets: red wood & bone
Decoration: plastic, brass
Tailpiece: brass
Strings: Nylon

Lute

The trisari lute is only known to us through epigraphy. No iconography exists in Cambodia but representations exist in Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia at the same time, with common features.

Body: jackfruit wood
Pegs: rosewood & bone
Tailpiece: bamboo
Nut: bone
Strings: synthetic ‘silk’
Head decoration: red & black acrylic lacquer
84 x 18 x 12 cm

Body: jackfruit wood
Pegs: rosewood & bone
Tailpiece: bamboo
Nut: bone
Strings: synthetic ‘silk’
Decoration: red & black acrylic lacquer
84 x 18 x 12 cm

Flute (transverse)

The flute appeared as early as the 7^th century and is no longer represented after the 10^th century.

Body: bamboo
48 x 2,5 x 2,5 cm

Body: bamboo
Decoration: red & black acrylic lacquer, golden sheet
48 x 2,5 x 2,5 cm

Oboe

The first oboe iconography appears in the twelfth century on the bas-reliefs in Banteay Chhmar temple, and later, in the sixteenth century, on those in the north gallery of Angkor Wat, as well as in a fresco of the same period located in the central tower of this same temple.

Body: koko wood
Reed : palm leaf
Reed holder: brass
Pirouette : coconut shell
28 x 2 cm

Trumpets and horns

Trumpets and horns are represented in Angkorian iconography of a martial nature and cited in Sanskrit epigraphy.

Body: bamboo (Bambusa vulgaris Wamin)

Body: hammered red copper and brass
72,5 x 10,5 x 8,5 cm

Body: hammered red copper and brass
80 x 10,5 x 8,5 cm

Body: hammered red copper and brass
137 x 17 x 15 cm

Body : water buffalo horn
Decor: pavilion set with brass, gold leaf
Handle: palm fiber rope

Conch

The conchs are represented in Angkorian iconography in martial and religious contexts, Brahmanic and Buddhist and quoted in pre-Angkorian epigraphy in Old Khmer.

Body: gasteropod
18 x 10,5 x 9 cm

Body: gasteropod
Decor: hammered red copper and brass
30 x 20,5 x 8,5 cm

Drums

Drums are omnipresent in the musical life of the ancient and contemporary Khmer, for all types of use: martial, religious, palatine, popular ...

Shoulder carried drum (angkorian)

Drum: chankiri wood
Membrane: buffalo
Fastening: bamboo nails
Suspension ring: iron
Carrying: bamboo
Nagas tips: bronze
Sticks: wood
Drum : 59 x 59 cm

Barrel drums (pre-Angkorian & Angkorian)

Drum: red wood
Membrane: calfskin
Ligature: cow leather
Suspension ring: iron

Drum: chankiri wood
Membrane: cow leather
Fastening: bamboo nails
Suspension ring: iron

Cylindrical drums (Angkorian)

Drum: jackfruit wood
Membrane: calfskin
Ligature: cow leather

Drum: jackfruit wood
Membrane: calfskin
Ligature: cow calfskin

Hourglass drum (pre-Angkorian & Angkorian)

Name: timila / thimila
Drum: jackfruit wood
Membrane: Nepalese goat
Ligature: cow skin
Rings: rattan

Angkorian

Name: timila / thimila
Drum: jackfruit wood
Membrane: Nepalese goat
Ligature: palm fiber
Rings and hoop: rattan
Bells and Nagas: bronze
Bells ligature: Nepalese goat
Naga heads: bronze

Angkorian

Name: timila / thimila
Drum: jackfruit wood
Membrane: Nepalese goat
Ligature: palm fiber
Rings and hoop: rattan
Bells and Nagas: bronze
Naga tails : water buffalo horn
87 x 60 x 24 cm

Angkorian

Drum: jackfruit wood
Membrane: Indonesian sheep
Ligature: braided cotton
Rings: rattan

Goblet drums

Angkorian > contemporain

Drum: jackfruit wood
Membrane: lizard
Ligature: cowhide
Decor: lotiform patterns

Angkorian > 20^th century

Drum: terracotta
Membrane: lizard
Ligature: cowhide
Decor: lotiform patt

20^th century

Drum: kassia wood
Membrane: python
Ligature: Nylon
Decor: Angkorian motifs
50 x 26 cm

Rattle drums (Angkorian)

Name: damaru / damarin
Source: coll. Wat Bo (Siem Reap)
Body: bronze
Handle: rosewood
Membranes: python
Whipping balls: Nylon
30 x 16 x 8 cm

Name: damaru / damarin
Source: coll. Musée Guimet (Paris)
Body: bronze
Handle: rosewood
Membranes: goat
Whipping balls: natural fiber
51 x 14 x 8 cm

Percussions

Like drums, idiophonic percussions are omnipresent in the musical life of the ancient and contemporary Khmer, for all types of use: martial, religious, palatine, popular ...

Cymbals