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Picture Culture and Fine Art Magazine.
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Phnom Da, a temple built by
Queen Ak Or to honor her protector.
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Phnom Borei
Phnom Da is located in Angkor Borei commune, Prey
Kabbas district, Takeo Province. This legend tells
why this structure and the temple above it came
to be.
Once upon a time a mighty king ruled the area of
Champassac, or Bassac, in the upper reaches of the
Mekong.
This king had a daughter, Princess Ak Or, who grew
to be the most beautiful woman in the land.
But when she fell in love, she fell for a man who
was far below her station and their union dishonored
the king and all her relatives. The king found out
and fell into a rage. He had a raft built and stocked
with unhusked rice, husked rice, corns, beans, sesames,
salt and prahok (fish cheese) and banished his daughter
Ak Or and her lover by setting them adrift on this
raft in the river. |
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The raft drifted
for a very long time down the river and across a large
sea before it ran aground against Phnom Borei, where no
one lived.
Ak Or and her husband were still in love. They were just
grateful to have been washed ashore somewhere which could
support them.
They planted their crops and built a cottage. They decided
they could find everything else they needed to survive
by foraging in the forest.
But Ak Or was unhappy. She was homesick and began to regret
ruining her reputation.
She began to burn incense sticks and candles every night
before bed and praying for hours to the spirits, guardians
of the mountains and it or forest ghosts, believed to
take care of wild animals in the forest and look after
the lakes and the hills.
She prayed to all these beings for happiness and to provide
them with enough to live on.
Because prayer is powerful and Ak Or never missed a night,
before long she fell asleep and dreamed and the image
of an honest man came into her dreams. In her dream, he
kept his face obscured, but she heard him clearly.
"Do not worry," he told her. "Don't be
frightened. I am an honest man who always keeps his promises
and I tell you that from today on I am watching over you
and will help you. You will grow famous and wealthy in
this place. But I will not reveal my face to you."
As soon as he left her dream, she woke up and told her
husband straight away, who was worried for her and filled
with pity that she was so upset.
From that day, she had her husband go into the forest
to find wood for their fire. The husband happily cut wood
from a sweet smelling tree which grew there in abundance.
He put it in neat piles to be burned.
One day, Ak Or went to see how their wood supply was going,
and was overjoyed, for she knew as soon as she saw it
that all the wood was valuable sandalwood.
But she didn't let on to her husband about her discovery,
only smilingly telling him to work harder as they must
have more wood.
Ak Or's husband loved her very much, so he tried to please
her. He went deeper into the forest, and one day there,
he saw bright rocks lying on the ground which were different
to any rocks he had ever seen before.
"These are pretty," he told himself, "I
will take three of them for my wife in order to set up
a fireplace."
The man took those rocks and put them in small shallow
basket and carried them home. When his wife saw them,
she knew immediately that they were gold, but she did
not tell her husband, saying only: "These are so
beautiful! If you see this kind of rock again, please
bring them all home."
The husband always took her advice. He began bringing
home chunks of gold along with bundles of sandalwood.
One day, the princess decided they were ready. The gold
and precious wood was piled high.
"Now I think I can place a high flag as a sign. There
may be ships sailing from other countries that will see
it and come to buy from us."
The ships came, the couple grew rich and famous, and within
a few years, other settlers came to join Ak Or and her
husband.
They themselves lived long and happily, producing many
children and grandchildren. Villages and districts developed,
and all of these people loved Princess Ak Or and her husband,
who took the throne to rule over the land with his wife
under the name Preah Bat Songkh Chak.
The royal couple constructed a huge fort out of bricks
and stones and called its ramparts Da. The word Da means
Rock. Since then the mountain has been called Phnom da
(Rock Mountain) until this day.
When they had finished their walled city, Preah Bat Songkh
Chak and Queen Ak Or ordered their subjects to build a
small but beautiful stone temple on the eastern top of
the mountain to pay tribute to the honest man who had
kept his promise and redeemed Ak Or's honor.
That temple is called Prasat Phnom Da and stands to this
day.
And that is the legend of Phnom Borei Phnom Da . |
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Suite
B8, Regency Square, InterContinental Hotel, 294 Mao Tse Toung
Boulevard,
Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia.
Tel: (855) 23 213 133 Fax: (855) 23 213 033
E-mail:
editor@leisurecambodia.com |
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