THE ORIGIN OF PHNOM PENH CITY

The mountain whose name the Cambodian capital city , namely the present-day city of Phnom Penh, was named after, originated before the construction of the royal palace with a story which tells that in 1372 AD there existed an old lady named Penh who was very wealthy and lived close to the banks of the four-fronted river. Her house was built on a small hill to the east of a small mountain.

One day, there was a heavy rain causing a vast flood. Grandma Penh went down to the dock and saw a big Korki tree (Hopea Odorata) floating towards the riverbank. Because of the confronting tides, the tree was staying afloat close to the bank.

Seeing this, Grandma Penh ran to call the neighbors to help pull the tree out. The neighbors tied the tree with a rope and pulled it in gradually until it reached the top of the riverbank. When Grandma Penh cleaned the mud from the tree with a wood bar, she saw four bronze statues of Buddha in the hole in the tree, while another, made of stone, was in a standing posture with hair made in a band, and one hand holding a stick and the other holding a snail shell. Grandma Penh and the neighbors were so happy to have found these sacred objects. They then paraded those statues to Grandma Penh's home. Grandma Penh managed to have a small hut to store the statues in temporarily.

Later on, Grandma Penh called for help from the neighbors to mound the hill to the west of her house to make it a real mountain. Then she had the Korki tree (Hopea Odorata) sawn so it could be used as pillars of the shrine she planned to build on that mountain.

When the shrine construction was completed, she invited monks to stay at the mountain foot to the west in what was called "Wat Phnom Daun Penh (Daun Penh Mountain Pagoda)" which has been shortened to "Wat Phnom" up to the present. The four Buddha statues and Neakta.Preah Chao are of great sacred power, so anyone who prayed there could realize their wishes (based on the villagers' beliefs).

This is the origin of Phnom Penh city. And about 60 years later it became the prosperous city of the Cambodian King.

- THE END -