The temple at Wat Phnom, the birthplace of a capital city
Wat Phnom Daun Penh (Khmer: វត្តភ្នំ; "Mountain Pagoda" of Lady Penh) is a Buddhist temple (wat) located in the former Center in the capital Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
The hill was built in CE 1372, and the foundation of the temple stands 27 metres (88.5 ft) above the ground. It is the tallest religious structure in the city.
The statues in the hollow tree
It contains a shrine with four Buddha Statues. They where found hidden in a hollow tree floating down the Tonle Sap River after a storm.
They were accompanied by a statue of Vishnu, one of the main deities of Hinduism. The Vishnu statue got its own shrine slightly lower than the main pagoda.
It was an elder, wealthy widowed lady Penh who was said to have discovered the hollow tree. The artificial hill was built on property donated by her, and was called "Penh's Hill", Phnom Penh in khmer.
The hill and the pagoda still have an outlook to the Tonle Sap River.
The wood from the hollow tree formed part of the temple structure. The full name of the pagoda complex was given the name of Wat Preah Chedey Borapaut.
The formal and the popular
The city founded on the completion of the pagoda in 1374 got its name from the fortunate lady and her hill, and the blessed pagoda.
In the year of the snake CE 1437 it is said King Ponhea Yat ordered His Excellency Decho Srei to raise the mount even higher when he finished building the new Royal Palace in the new capital city chosen 1434. The first king of Kampuchead named the capital Krong Chaktomok Mongkol.
But the name Phnom Penh was informally kept throught the centuries, when the capital city changed location several times. It became the formal name when the capital city finally was declared to be Phnom Penh in 1865.
The prominent stupa immediately west of the sanctuary contains the ashes of the king and his royal family.
