Tuesday 14th August 2012.
No chaos please, boys and girls!
Wat Ounalom is the most important Wat of Phnom Penh, being the centre of Cambodian Buddhism.
Wat Ounalom was built in 1443 to house an eyebrow hair of the Buddha. Before the Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot emptied Phnom Penh in 1975, more than 500 monks used to live at the Wat. The Khmer Rouge killed the abbot and a large number of monks and ransacked the buildings and their treasures. After the Vietnamese invasion of 1979 the Wat was restored, so most of what can be seen today is either new or repaired. Today Wat Ounalom again serves as the centre of Cambodian Buddhism.
One of the three open gates which lead into Wat Ounalom from the main road.
There are 44 buildings within the complex, this two-storey one being the main one (I think). From the top floor, there were beautiful views of the complex and over the wall to the city and the Tonle Sap river.
Pictures taken from inside this building:
Pictures taken from the top floor:
Pat and the Tonle Sap river.
Buddhist monk and visitor.
Buddhist monk’s washing line.
Looking over the wall to the Tonle Sap river. (That’s not a real elephant.)
Buddhist monk contemplating the river, and the high rise development on the other side.
We didn’t know about Buddha’s eyebrow hair until later. Apparently it’s in a small unmarked room at the back. You can go in, and they will show you where it is kept, but you don’t get to see the actual hair.
More pictures from around the complex:
We did find the pagoda to be an oasis of peace and tranquillity in the heart of the bustling city.
No chaos please, boys and girls!
Wat Ounalom is the most important Wat of Phnom Penh, being the centre of Cambodian Buddhism.
Wat Ounalom was built in 1443 to house an eyebrow hair of the Buddha. Before the Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot emptied Phnom Penh in 1975, more than 500 monks used to live at the Wat. The Khmer Rouge killed the abbot and a large number of monks and ransacked the buildings and their treasures. After the Vietnamese invasion of 1979 the Wat was restored, so most of what can be seen today is either new or repaired. Today Wat Ounalom again serves as the centre of Cambodian Buddhism.
One of the three open gates which lead into Wat Ounalom from the main road.
There are 44 buildings within the complex, this two-storey one being the main one (I think). From the top floor, there were beautiful views of the complex and over the wall to the city and the Tonle Sap river.
Pictures taken from inside this building:
Pictures taken from the top floor:
Pat and the Tonle Sap river.
Buddhist monk and visitor.
Buddhist monk’s washing line.
Looking over the wall to the Tonle Sap river. (That’s not a real elephant.)
Buddhist monk contemplating the river, and the high rise development on the other side.
We didn’t know about Buddha’s eyebrow hair until later. Apparently it’s in a small unmarked room at the back. You can go in, and they will show you where it is kept, but you don’t get to see the actual hair.
More pictures from around the complex:
We did find the pagoda to be an oasis of peace and tranquillity in the heart of the bustling city.
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