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| By
: Moul Jetr, Source : The Culture and Fine Arts magazine, Issue
No.5 December 2000. |
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Once upon a time,
a king, whose name has been lost to time, built his capital
on the top of a mountain of the Dangrek range on what
is now the border of Thailand.
He had two wives, each with one son.
His first wife, Queen Peov Devi had borne him a boy called
Cham-pongs Kumar. His second wife, Montear Devi had a
son named Chong-raks Kumar.
But the greedy prince regent Moha Oup-raj lusted for power.
Eventually, he began an affair with the king's second
wife and together they plotted to overthrow the old king.
They enlisted the help of an ambitious and corrupt court
astrologer, and bided their time.
One day, rainy season storms turned wild and whirlwinds
and torrential rains lashed the kingdom for days, damaging
temples and ruining crops. But when the king's most sacred
devaroub (divine statue) was damaged, the king began to
worry that this was supernatural.
The prince and his mistress persuaded him to consult with
their cohort, the royal astrologer.
"This is a sign of divine warning," the astrologer
told the king. "It is a warning to you that Queen
Peov Devi has become evil and unlucky, and prophesizes
that her son will grow up to be your murderer.
"However, if you banish them both, you can save the
kingdom."
Frightened, the king had the mother and son arrested and
set adrift on a raft in open water.
But the gods were kind to the pair because of merits they
had achieved in previous lives.
As they drifted, the churning waves calmed. Divine white
crocodiles appeared and guided the raft until it ran ashore
on a floating speck of land.
The crocodiles found food for the couple, and they stayed
safe on the little islet for seven days and nights.
On the seventh night, the desperate deposed queen, now
called Srei Peov Devi, prayed to the full moon.
"I humbly request all deities and powerful spirits
guarding the sea to protect and save my son and I. We
are honest people," she cried.
Immediately, the little speck of land transformed and
the pumice, shells and flotsam and jetsam in the water
all around joined to form a big, beautiful island paradise.
Time passed, and the crocodiles eventually died. Their
corpses became huge crocodile-shaped rocks that can still
be seen today.
One day, a mandarin called Okha Kralahorm Pich stumbled
on Srei Peov's island.
He had once commanded a naval division for Srei Peov's
former husband the king, but retired in dismay because
he understood the evil intentions of the prince and his
mistress.
He met the former queen and the young prince and all three
sobbed together as they related their sad experiences.
Pich confirmed that after the queen and her son had been
banished, the prince regent, Moha Ouparaj, had imprisoned
the old ruler and proclaimed himself as the new king.
Pich began to build an army to overthrow the usurper and
reclaim Srei Peov's rightful place for her and her son.
When the time was right, Pich and the young prince led
100 boats and 10,000 soldiers to the gates of the evil
prince's capital.
That night, Moha Ouparaj was carousing at a wild party.
The young prince and his men waited, and in the morning,
when their enemy was drunk and exhausted, launched their
attack. It was a brilliant victory for the young prince.
Moha Ouparaj and his evil accomplice Montea Devi were
killed and the victorious young prince released his imprisoned
father, who had been forced to live in a cave sealed from
the light by rocks for many years.
The young prince Cham-pongs Kumar became a new king, but
he did not hold the sins of his young half-brother's mother
against him and appointed him as the new Moha Ouparaj.
The island that had been created by Srei Peov's prayers
became known as Phnom Boss-Srei Peov, because it was created
during Boss (the second month of the lunar calendar) at
the request of Srei Peov (Srei is a word meaning young
lady).
Over time, the sea receded, leaving a mountain, which
today is very close to Phnom Santuk, and still bears the
name Phnom Boss-Srei Peov.
The capital took on the new king's name to become Phnom
Cham-pongs Kiri (in Khmer kiri means mountain).
Over time, the young king died, his half brother took
the throne, and the name changed to Cham-chong Kiri to
memorize a very dear brotherhood between the two princes.
As time passes, things change, and the mountain was renamed
for the fourth time as Phnom Thom (huge mountain) and
then Phnom A'sann Tuk (Mountain of Emergency and Suffering).
That name was shortened by the people and became Phnom
Santuk, and it remains called that to this day.
The young prince grew to be very tall, with an amazingly
supple body.
For this reason, another nearby mountain was named Phnom
Preah Bat Penn Chum (a mountain where a king sits cross-legged)
and this was shortened over time to Phnom Penn Chum (a
mountain where a person sitting cross-leg), as it still
known today.
After his death, people started to come to the area to
pay tribute to a neakta, or spirit, called Neakta Phnom
Penn Chum the spirit of the young prince who became king.
For this reason, visitors to Phnom Santuk in Kampong Thom
province can see a hut with a huge stone statue of a man
sitting cross-legged, and it is still worshipped to this
day.
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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
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