by Jim Goodman
 |
| park in front of Phnom Penh's Royal Palace |
The story of Phnom Penh begins
in 1372, when a wealthy widow named Daun (Grandmother) Penh was walking along
the Tonle Sap River and noticed a tree trunk washed up on the riverbank. Inspecting it, she discovered five
Buddha images, four of bronze and one of stone, inside the trunk. She then arranged the building of a
sanctuary on top of a mound near her home to house the images. The mound was later enlarged to a
height of 27 meters to become the only hill (phnom) in the area and the village was thereafter known as Phnom
Penh (Penh’s Hill).
 |
| view of the Tonle Sap River from its western bank |
Sited at the confluence of the
Tonle Sap and Mekong Rivers, it was primarily a fishing village and part of the
Khmer Empire of Angkor. But this
was an empire very much in decline.
At its peak at the beginning of the 13th century under
Jayavarman VII, it ruled over all of present-day Cambodia, the southern third
of Vietnam, most of Laos and eastern and central Thailand. By the time of Daun Penh’s discovery it
had lost most of its western provinces to independent Thai states, Sukhothai
and Ayutthaya, which expanded their territory at the expense of the Angkor
Empire.
By 1400 Ayutthaya had absorbed
Sukhothai and turned its attention east.
In 1431 its army invaded Angkor and captured and sacked the capital
Angkor Thom. Though
Ayutthaya forces did not remain in possession, after their retreat the city was
half in ruins. Moreover, the
complex irrigation system, crucially important to a state based on agrarian
income, had collapsed. The cost
and required work to repair the irrigation system and the damaged city
buildings seemed to be so great that King Ponhea Yat decided to move the
capital downriver to Phnom Penh, further away from the Thai enemy.
 |
| image of Daun Penh at Wat Phnom |
 |
| the chedi at Wat Phnom |
Most of the buildings in
Angkor Thom were temples or religious monuments, reflecting how enmeshed
religion was in the organization of the state. King Ponhea Yat set out to endow Phnom Penh with the same
level of religious identity.
He raised Daun Penh’s mound to a proper hill and built a temple on
top. Unlike the great monuments of
Angkor Thom, this was a modest structure, probably very similar to what has
replaced it since then. And unlike
Angkor Thom temples, dedicated to Hindu and Mahayana Buddhist deities, Wat
Phnom was the first Theravada Buddhist temple in the country.
 |
| Angkor-style bronze frieze on the Wat Phnom stairway |
It’s not clear how, or how
long it took, but the Theravada form of Buddhism became the popular religion,
replacing the rather mild form of Hinduism in the Empire’s heyday. Kings identified themselves as
incarnations of Shiva or, if a Mahayana Buddhist like Jayavarman VII, as the
savior Boddhisattva. With the
collapse of the empire such beliefs no longer resonated with the general
populace. Post-Angkor kings laid
no claim to divinity.
They could still be religious
patrons, though, and King Ponhea Yat established four other temples in his new
capital that are still in use today, though nothing of their 15th
century foundations remain. Still,
because of their ancient prestige, they are outstanding compounds and among the
city’s tourist attractions today.
 |
| Wat Phnom |
The most popular, naturally,
is Wat Phnom. Entry is via a
stairway lined on each side with bronze plaques with bas-relief reproductions
of Angkor scenes. Within the
temple viharn, besides the main
Buddha image, are wall murals depicting scenes from the Jataka Tales. Behind
the viharn is a shrine to Daun Penh and a large white chedi containing Ponhea Yat’s ashes. Below the hill is a garden clock, installed during colonial
days.
Khmer locals come to the viharn to have their fortune told. They hold a palm-leaf book above their
heads and without looking insert a page marker. Then a pandit
reads what it is written on the page. If they don’t like the result they can
try again and again, but have to accept the third result.
 |
| river boat on the Mekong at Phnom Penh |
Phnom Penh’s new status only
lasted until the early years of the 16th century. King An Chan moved the court up the
Tonle Sap River to Lovek. The
realm was safe for a while, for Ayutthaya was involved with battling the
Burmese. Western missionaries,
traders and adventurers arrived and both Lovek and Phnom Penh grew into
important trading ports. But
towards the end of the century, temporarily freed of the Burmese threat,
Ayutthaya invaded Cambodia and in 1594 sacked Lovek. The Khmer court subsequently relocated to Oudong, next to
hills a little to the south.
 |
| colonial era building, now a government office |
Cambodia fared better the
following century, repelling another Thai invasion in the early years and
enjoying peace on the western frontier for a long time. But by mid=17th century the
royal family had split into antagonistic factions. Brothers fought over the royal succession and since neither
had enough support to vanquish the other, contenders enlisted the aid of their
Thai or Vietnamese neighbors. Winners rewarded their allies by ceding faraway provinces,
thus further shrinking the country’s size.
The civil wars continued
through the 18th century.
In 1770 Thai forces burned down Phnom Penh. The city recovered enough that in 1812 King Chan moved the
state’s capital to Phnom Penh. In
the early 19th century the Court occasionally returned to Oudong for
a while, but most of the time resided in Phnom Penh. When Cambodia became their protectorate in 1868, the French
recognized Phnom Penh as the capital and it has remained so ever since.
 |
| French villa from colonial times |
 |
| sunset at Wat Botum |
At the time the city more
resembled a large fishing village, consisting mostly of thatched hits along a
single main track and scores of houseboats along the riverbanks. The population was about 25,000. The French eventually installed
administrators in the capital and all the provinces, but didn’t do much to
develop Phnom Penh. Having also
taken control of southern Vietnam by then, they were more concerned about urban
transformation in Saigon.
 |
| knotted gun at the north end of Monivong Boulevard |
That changed with the
appointment of Hyun de Vernville in 1889 to govern the protectorate. Wanting Phnom Penh to be a worthy
French administrative center, the ”Pearl of the Orient”, he sponsored a network
of roads along a wide boulevard running from Wat Phnom to the southern end of
the city. A French quarter grew up
north of Wat Phnom, characterized by opulent villas for French officials and
businessmen, while new government buildings were designed along French
architectural lines.
After World War I the pace of
development accelerated. The city
government filled in drainage canals to expand the road network, created parks
and dredged the Mekong to allow for the entry of bigger ships. River trade increased and in 1932 a
railway station opened, with a line to Battambang in the west. While certainly the French lived in a
grander style, prosperity also spread to the native Khmers.
 |
| tourists riding Sam Bo the elephant at Wat Phnom |
In World War II the Japanese
took charge in name, but allowed the French officials to continue running
affairs. Afterwards, responding to
the post-war anti-colonial sentiments in Southeast Asia, marked in Cambodia by
a radical armed insurgency that soon controlled half of the country, the French
gave ground. They permitted
elections to a National Assembly, granted partial independence in 1949 and
finally, plagued by worse problems in Vietnam, granted Cambodia full
independence in 1953.
Now a new Khmer elite governed
the city and the country, rooted in an educated middle class. Motorbikes and automobiles began using
the streets. Theaters, cinemas and
coffee culture thrived. Temples
were renovated and enlarged. It
was a calm and optimistic period, but would not long persist. There were still class divisions
between the educated elite and the masses of impoverished workers, farmers and
fishermen. And Cambodia would not
be able to stay aloof from the wars engulfing their neighbors.
 |
| old mural at Wat Lanka |
Conflict in Vietnam sent
refugees from the border areas streaming into Phnom Penh. This influx increased significantly in
the early 70s, when civil war erupted in the country. Phnom Penh was the last holdout against the Khmer Rouge, its
population many times swollen by refugees for whom it had scarcely any
resources to accommodate. The
Khmer Rouge conquered the city in April 1975 and promptly ordered the entire
population out, old residents and new refugees alike.
Until the beginning of 1979,
when the Vietnamese ousted the Khmer Rouge, Phnom Penh was like a ghost city. Former residents and new settlers now started
trickling in, taking up residence in vacated and bomb-ravaged buildings. Khmer officials took over the old
colonial administrative offices, but neither they nor the Vietnamese,
preoccupied with eradicating the Khmer Rouge in the countryside, did much to
reconstruct Phnom Penh.
 |
| museum piece--Angkor stone sculpture of dancing apsaras |
Vietnam never intended to stay
in Cambodia longer than necessary. Satisfied their Khmer clients could continue
without them, and with the Khmer Rouge all but eliminated as a major threat,
the Vietnamese withdrew in 1989.
Three years later UN troops arrived as peacekeepers and soon Phnom Penh’s
economy, though with erratic electricity and water supplies and an
infrastructure still in a state of disrepair, boomed with new hotels,
restaurants, bars and brothels catering to the well-paid UN personnel.
The city had a lawless
reputation throughout the 90s, more famous for its proliferation of guns than
its tourist attractions. Aware of
this, the government in 1999 seized all the guns it could locate, crushed them
and melted them down to make a unique sculpture of a handgun with a knotted
barrel. With the turn of the century
and some improvements in the infrastructure, the city began promoting its
tourist attractions.
 |
| National Museum of Cambodia, from inside the courtyard |
These included the temples established
in the mid-15th century by King Ponhea Yat during Phnom Penh’s first
turn as national capital. They had been rebuilt in the 20th
century and renovated after the Khmer Rouge left, but still enjoyed
considerable prestige and importance.
The concrete chedi at Wat
Ounalom supposedly contains a hair from the Buddha’s eyebrow. The grounds of Wat Botum hold many
elaborate chedis with the ashes of
important monks and politicians.
Wat Lanka, named for its original connection with Theravada Buddhist
monks from Sri Lanka, featured old wall murals depicting scenes from the
Buddha’s life and offered twice weekly meditation courses. And at Wat Phnom visitors could also
have a ride around the front courtyard at the base of the hill on a genial old
elephant named Sam Bo.
 |
| Reclining Vishnu in stone, National Museum |
To appreciate the past,
visitors explored the galleries and courtyards of the National Museum of
Cambodia. The dark red sandstone
building, designed by the French archaeologist George Groslier in traditional
Khmer style and opened in 1918, is one of the most beautiful in Phnom
Penh. Consisting of four linked
galleries in a rectangle around a shady courtyard flanked by gardens, the
museum contains relics, artifacts and sculptures from pre-historic to modern
times.
The best, naturally, are those
from the Angkor era, mostly of Hindu deities. These include stone sculptures of Yama, the Lord of Death,
Reclining Vishnu, Garuda--Vishnu’s mount, the elephant-headed Ganesh--Shiva’s
son, Indra, King of the Gods, atop a three-headed elephant and a wonderful
frieze of dancing apsaras. There are also fine bronze pieces--one
of Nandin the bull--Shiva’s mount, and a large Reclining Vishnu—and a life-size
stone sculpture of a meditating Jayavarman VII, who ruled the empire at its
peak in the late 12th century.
 |
| Psar Thmei market building |
For a look at the dark side of
Cambodia’s history one could go to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. This was formerly the Khmer Rouge’s
infamous S-21 prison and interrogation center. Here are the cells and torture chambers and instruments
used, as well as photographs of thousands of victims, most of them Khmer Rouge
cadres who fell afoul of the paranoid leadership for one reason or another.
Out of the past and into
contemporary times, visitors could enjoy the markets and the attractive
riverfronts. At the Russian Market
south of Tuol Sleng, so named because when it opened in the 80s all its goods
came from Russia, one could buy antiques and artifacts and even a fur coat if
returning to a cold climate. The
new Psar Orussey offered goods from all over Cambodia, while Psar Thmei was
worth a visit just for its unusual art-deco building.
 |
| riverside park near the Silver Pagoda |
The riverfront afforded quiet
views of various boats passing by and the most popular area, for both
foreigners and city dwellers, was just below the National Museum. Here stands the Royal Palace and next
to it the Silver Pagoda, named after its 5329 silver floor tiles, each 20 cm
square and weighing one kilogram.
It houses a 50 cm high green crystal image known as the Emerald Buddha,
surrounded by bigger Buddha images of silver, bronze and one of solid gold,
covered with 2086 diamonds and precious stones.
The riverside park in front of
these buildings is a popular and attractive place to rest, relax and watch the
sunset. And as darkness
approaches, it’s only a few blocks walk to the restaurants and bars of the
entertainment district that complete the list of things to enjoy in modern
Phnom Penh.
 |
| the Silver Pagoda |
