Wat Preah Prohmreath Pagoda

From Hard Rock Café, Jandy, Osang, Violet and I again walked, along the riverside, to Wat Preah Prohmreath Pagoda, one of the oldest monasteries in Siem Reap in terms of running time. It had a large imposing gateway and a red wall with a base of huge, golden lotus flower (which represents all achievement of all enlightenment) petals and Bayonesque heads on top of it .

The imposing temple gate

This monastery, dedicated to Ang Chang-han Hoy, a revered 14th century monk, and the spirit of Ta Pom Yeay Rat (who provided the land for the temple), ancestor of a rich family in the area, was founded in 1371 AD.  It was also built to spread the Dharma (teaching of Buddha) and to provide lodging for monks.

The beautiful and quiet garden

King Ang Chan (reigned from 1806-1834) came to this temple to pray for victory against his rivals and, when he achieved this, the temple was named Ta Pum Yeay Rath. In the 1940s, it was renamed Wat Preah Promreath.

Golden lotus petals and a cannon

An active monastery and a school for monks, it also has stupas (cremation boxes) where the rich and famous have their ashes interred. Enjoying the peace and quiet of the gardens, we noticed a number of odd, garishly painted statues and a large replica of a boat with a monk on top.

Large replica of the monk and his boat

The revered monk Ang Chang-han Hoy (1358-1456) was said to have traveled 300 odd kms. every day by boat across the Tonle Sap lake, from Siem Reap to Long Vek (near Phnom Penh), to collect alms and then returned, that same day, to Siem Reap to have lunch.

One day (so the story goes), his boat was struck by a shark and cut in half. He continued on to Siem Reap, using the front half of the boat, while the other half ended up at Wat Boribo in Boribo District, Kampong Chang province.

Thanking Buddha for saving the monk, a temple was built at each place.  In Siem Reap, a huge, reclining Buddha was made using wood from the boat.  The golden boat statue in front of the vihear was built by Cheakaro Tong Teourm in 2007.

 

Inner wall with religious murals

The small open-sided temple has small statue of Buddha while the inner walls have a number of murals of religious scenes. The Preah Vihear (main temple), built in 1945, has a vast open hall with a huge seated Buddha at one end. The enormous reclining Buddha, which we failed to notice, draped in a very decorous orange and gold cloth robe, can be found in a pit at the back.

Posing with some monks in the temple