"Wat Phnom" Stulpa CNY celebration 2020

Wat Phnom is probably the most famous Stupa in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh.

Built on an artificial hill 27 meters high with a diameter of 300 meters, it is the highest religious building in the city. The sanctuary is accessible via stairs and ramps.

According to legend, the construction was initiated by the wealthy widow Daun Chi Penh in 1372 after she found five Buddha statues, four of them made of bronze and one of stone, in a Koki tree trunk on the banks of the Mekong River, which was washed downstream by a large tidal wave. She had the hill northeast of her house heaped up and built the temple that was to house the statues from the washed up tree trunks. She gave the temple the name Wat Phnom Daun Penh. Phnom means "hill" in Khmer and this formed the nucleus for the city whose name literally means "hill Penh". By the way Wat means "temple".

In the course of the centuries the building was completely renewed or renovated several times (last time in 1926) and was supplemented by further shrines and other buildings, the original building from the 14th century is not existing anymore. The stupa houses the ashes of King Ponhea Yat and is the centre of the celebrations of the Cambodian New Year in Phnom Penh.

A generously dimensioned roundabout leads around the hill.

The video recordings are from yesterday, when the chinese new year was celebrated in Wat Phnom.