The Story of Prohm Kel Temple ( Part 1)

About Prohm Kel Temple

At Chong Kal commune, Samroang Chong kal District, Siem Preap Province, situated an ancient temple, where two pounds are nearby and whose body is 5.50 meters high and the size is approximately 15 to 16 meters four sided figure. Inside the temple, there is a stone which looks like the throne. The temple is called Prohm Kil, located about 150 meters in the north of a lake. The ancient legend of temple has been told as follows:

The Story of Prohm Kel Temple ( Part 1)

Once upon a time, a man who was looking for rattans in the wood found a black Roka tree. He used the tree to make a strong bar. The bar was so marvelous that he named it Damban Krahnung. With magic bar, the man became a very powerful person.

Realizing that the bar gives him great power, the man became greedy and seized the throne from King Chakraport, who had ruled the Kingdom of Angkor. The man gained the throne from the King and named himself King Kambong Kranhoung, following the name of his bar to remember his success.

 

King Dambong Kranhoung immediately ordered his astrologist to predict the event. The astrologist predicted that that marvelous event was a sigh to show that a majestic person would be born, and rule the Kingdom. 

Hearing this prediction, King Dambang Kranhoung was so worried. He ordered his men to kill all pregnant women and burnt down their corpses. At that time, the king’s concubines, ladies-in- waiting and other women who were all pregnant were killed and burnt down.

 

 

How marvelous it was! Since a fortune person certainly incarnated, while the King’s troops were putting on fire all the dead bodies of pregnant women , and poking the metal spit into the burning corpse of a woman, who was a concubine of king Chakraort, a baby boy dropped from her uterus to the fire, burning his limbs, but he was still alive. Then the troops hid the baby in a rattan bush.

 

In the evening, when the chief of a pagoda went out in the wood praying for the dead and meditating, the troops gave the baby boy to him for rearing. The chief of monks treated the baby until the burnt scars where healed, but the baby limbs were not a they had been and became withered.

When the baby boy grows up, he studied literature and other skills in the monk’s residence. Whenever he went somewhere, he moved on his buttock instead of a normal walk. Since then, some people always called him Prohm Kil (moving on the buttock) and some name him Ponhea Kraek, which referred to his background from the rattan ( Kraek) bush. ( Read Part 2)

Phnom Pros, Phnom Srey

About Phnom Pros Phnom Srey (Male and Female Mountains) 

Phnom Pros Phnom Srey is located in Krala Commune, Kampong Siem District, Kompong Cham Province, about 7 kilometers from Kampong Cham Provincial town or about 114 kilometers from Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Phnom Pros is a dull peak hill about 30 meters high. On the hill is a pagoda named Wat Sovankiri Rattanak Phnom Pros. It has a spot for vehicles to park at the top. The main temple is five peaks, constructed in the style of Banteay Srei temple in Siem Reap.  Another temple on Phnom Pros has two peaks and was constructed during the Samnkum Reasre Niyum regime or then-prince Norodom Hihanouk. Near the temple is 15-meter-high  stupa, which was constructed by a monk name Keo Suor, who the first head monk of the pagoda. A Kot is at the food of the hill. During 1975 to 1979, during the Khmer Rouge regime, Phnom Pros was used a prison and tortures center.

About 1000 meters north of Phnom Pro, there is another high hill with a sharp-pointed peak called Phnom Srei. There’re also several smaller hills at Phnom Srei. No monks live there, however, there is a Duan Chi (nun) who care for the site and ask visitor for donations to rebuild the temple.

The Story of Phnom Pros Phnom Srey

Once upon a time, there was a queen named Srey Ayuthea, reigning in Khmer territory. During her reign, no man dared to propose a woman to marry, so the queen asked for a good looking man he loved to marry her. By following her track, her female subordinates also ask the men to marry them. 

During that era, it was pitiful for the unattractive women who proposed the men to marry, but the man generally refused to accept their proposals. They only picked up the pretty girls to be their wives. This custom was carried out in the reign of Queen Srey Ayuthyea. In the later reigns of other kings, the women assembled together and said, “It is not appropriate for us to propose the men to marry. We will make a competition with the men. The competition is to dig up the soil and pile it up to make a hill. If the men lose the match, they must ask u to marry them. “After the discussion, they went to challenge the men to compete by pilling up the hills with strict promise and conditions. If any group could pill up the hill higher than the other, the loser must propose the winner group to marry.   

Then the woman selected group leader to collect the many members, as the men, they did the same way by mobilizing a lot of member. After meeting together, the women group lead said to the men group leader, “We all have to pile up a hill for each group from the falling of the dusk until the mooring stars rise up.” 

After the agreement, the two sides began to carry the soil by using their own techniques. Some dug up the soil, some carried it on their head, some carried it with a bar across the shoulders, and some carried with baskets. When the night came in and after the women carried the soil for many hours they came up with an idea. They played a trick to put up a small lantern on a high post at the northeast. When seeing the lantern and supposing it as a morning star, the men asked all of their members to stop working and went to sleep.  As for the women, they continued to carry the soil to pile up their hill until the morning star shone.

Once cocks crowed at dawn, the men got up and saw mooring stars shining and exclaimed, “We are all wrong. The morning star has just shone.” and then the men saw the women’s hill was higher than theirs, they felt great ashamed because they were cheated by women. Since then men request women to marry. 

The End.

 

Phnom Sampov ( The End)

(Read Part1 First)

Preah Bath Reahkol tried to pray, “May God who preserves this territory save us from this danger.”  Due to the prince virtue, Indra was exited with his invocation. Then the Indra informed Neang Romsay Sak about the prince’s danger. The princess immediately started to stroke her magic hair so that the sea became dry. Athun was stuck in the land until its scales were dry, and contorted its body convulsively before it was fatal.

When the sea became dry, Preah Bath Reachkol order his servant to take the entire gift towards Chan Borey City to marry Princess rom saysak. The place at the trunk of the crocodile became a hill which is nowadays called, “ Phnom Kropeu ( Crocodile Hill), and the place where its tail flicked and the place at its nose created to lakes call Bouen Konty Kroper ( Lake of crocodile tale hill) and Bouen Chromos Krorper ( lake of crocodile nose) respectively.  And the place at the junk also created a hill, which exactly looks like a junk has been called Phnom Sompov ( junk hill). The sail junk, falling down into the water, became a hill called Phnom Kdaung Sompov” ( the hill of sail junk). The cate of chickens and ducks, which were thrown at Athun, created a hill called Phnom Tung Morn and Trung Tea, (the hill of chicken-and- duck cages). The place where is the prince Romsaysak stroked her hair at the south of Phnom Sompov also became another hill called Phnom Rom Saysak ( Romsay Sok Hill)

After the marriage, Preah Bath Reachkol and his wife, accompanied by his servants, rode and elephant back to his palace. While traveling on half way, he saw such those hills that he became so furious with Neang sovann Maksa. Thanks to his wife for her wickedness, everything was destroyed. 

Since Sovann Maksa was always malicious to him, Preah Bath Reachkol ordered hangmen to arrest her in order to be sentenced to death, avoiding that she might make more troubles. And the place which her head had fallen became a hill call Phnom Song Kbal, but it is now called Phnom Song Kban instead. Prince and Reachkol and Princess rom saysak lived and loved each other until the end of the lives. The end

Phnom Sompov ( part1)

About Phnom Sompov

Phnom Sompoeou is a natural site located along National Road 67 in Sampeou Commune, Battamban district, Battambong Province, about 12 kilometers from the provincial town. Atop a 100 –meter-high Mountain stands a pagoda and there natural caves: Pkasla, Lakhaon and Aksopheak.  Pkasla cave is full of uprooted stones and is considerd important because it is where Phnom Sompwue residents come to celebrate after a marriage

Nest to the Phnom Sampoeou are several important mountains clusters including Phnom Kdang, Phnom Krapue, Romsay Sok. All are realted to the Khmer folktales titled Nreachkol Neng Romsay Sok.

History of Sompouv Hill

 

 

From the west of Battambong provincial town about 12 kilometers, there are a chain of hills such as Phnom Sompov, Phnom Trung Morn, Trung Tea, and Phnom Neang Romsaysak and so on. At that time , it was said that there was a king who had a son, Reachkol and settled his royal palace along Dang Reak Mountain. There was young lady, whose name was Sobann Maksa, who found an egg by chance, which was not known what kind of animal species. When it was due time, that egg hatched and came out a little crocodile. Seeing it was lovely, she loved that baby crocodile and raised it till it grew up. IT was a big, smart crocodile, which was name Athun.

 Preah Bath Reachkol was fascinated by the beauty Sovann Maks, who was a perfectly beautiful daughter of a poor family. And her crocodile was not only extremely powerful, but also brave and cleaver. Afer having close relationship with her, the prince turned out to be unsatisfied because he thought that he could not marry her as she was only the daughter of the ordinary family.

 

After thinking rationally about his marriage, the prince went to tell his parents, His parents agreed on that proposal and then ordered the royal servants to look for the beautiful lady who was born in the upper-class family to marry their son. Then, they heard there was a King in Chan Borey District who magic hair, which she could do what as her wishes. When she strokes her hair, it caused the land to flood with water or water became mainland.

The parents of Preah Bath Reachkol ordered the royal servants to take a royal message to the king of Krong Chan Borey in order to ask his daughter to marry their son according to the tradition. After reading the message, the King of krong Chan Borey consented to their request and replied in a massage which read, “If you are satisfied with my daughter, please your majesty bring the engagement gifts to my Kingdom.”

When Prince Reachkol heard that reply, he was very satisfied and then ordered his royal servants to prepare all kinds of presents to put into a junk and left for Drong Chan Borey.
 

Ehen Sovann Maksa go that news, she was frustrated so she called Athun to block and destroy the junk because she did not wish the prince to marry Neang Rom Saysak. As soon as its master gave an order, Athun crawled into the water and swam a fast as an arrow toward the junk of preah Bat Reachkol.

“Hey! Athun, it’s me,” said hreah Bath Reachkol, when he saw Athun, “Don’t do anything crazy!” “ I server anyone who gives me food,” replied Athun. Seeing this giant crocodile, the royal servants screamed with fear all over the junk. Some other tossed the cats of chickens and ducks to stop it from disturbing the prince’s voyage. ( Continue Reading Part 2, The End)