Wat Phnom Buddhist Temple

Wat Phnom is a Buddhist temple, a pagoda, that symbolizes the name of Phnom Penh, a historical site in the record of Khmer national identity. Wat Phnom Doun Penh has a total height of 46 meters. The pagoda is named after grandmother "Doun Penh" from the story of the discovery of the four statues: one Vishnu statue and four buddhas statue. In 1372, a wealthy old lady named "Doun Penh" lived on a small hill near the bank of the confluence of the four rivers. One day, when it was raining, Doun Penh went down to the port to take a bath and saw a floating Koki tree in the river and she called the village to fish it from the water. She and the villagers took a piece of wood to scrape off the mud and in the hole of the Koki tree, there were four Buddha statues made of bronze, brass and one made of marble. Another statue was in the form of Vishnu with the hands holding a staff, a chain, a snail, and a lotus flower. Doun Penh asked the villagers to help retrieve the Koki tree and retrieve the four treasures. Later, Doun Penh assigned the villagers to build an artificial hill and build a small wooden temple on top of the hill to house the statue. She invited monks to pray for the statues and the monks named the hermitage "Wat Phnom" which is known to this day. #scenicspotguide