English: Vishnu (in Thai: Phra Narai) asleep in the cosmic ocean on the back of a great serpent deity known as a Naga. From his navel sprouts a lotus with one thousand petals. In the middle of the lotus sits Brahma, the creator.
Between 1961 and 1965 persons unknown illegally removed and exported this stone-work. Subsequent investigations showed that it had been donated to the Oriental Art Institute in Chicago. Only in December 1988 did the Alsdorf Institute return the lintel to Phanom Rung after a long and vigorous campaign by the Thai people.