Silver Pagoda, Phnom Penh

The Silver Pagoda is located on the south side of the Royal Palace in Chey Chumneas, Phnom Penh.[1] The official name is Wat Ubaosoth Ratanaram (Khmer: វត្តឧបោសថរតនារាម), also known as Wat Preah Keo Morakot (Khmer: វត្តព្រះកែវមរកត, "Temple of the Emerald-Crystal Buddha") which is commonly shortened to Wat Preah Keo (Khmer: វត្តព្រះកែវ) in Khmer.

Silver Pagoda Wat Ubaosoth Ratanaram (Wat Preah Keo Morokot) Temple of the Emerald Buddha
វត្តឧបោសថរតនារាម (វត្តព្រះកែវមរកត)
Religion
Affiliation	Theravada Buddhism
Location
Location	Phnom Penh city
Country	Cambodia
Location in Cambodia
Geographic coordinates	11°33′45″N 104°55′54″E
Architecture
Founder	King Norodom I
Completed	19th century

The vihara houses many national treasures including many golds and jeweled Buddha statues. The most significant are a small green crystal Buddha (the "Emerald Buddha" of Cambodia — some sources maintain it was made of Baccarat Crystal in the 17th century[2] but that's not possible since Baccarat Crystal didn't exist until the 18th century, and other sources indicate it was made in the 19th century by Lalique, a glass designer who lived in the 19th-20th century), and a life-sized gold Maitreya Buddha commissioned by King Sisowath, weighing 90 kg and dressed in royal regalia and set with 9584 diamonds,[3] the largest of which weighing 25 carats, created in the palace workshops during 1906 and 1907. After the Cambodian Civil War the gold Maitreya Buddha lost most of its two-thousand diamonds. During King Norodom Sihanouk's pre-Khmer Rouge reign, the Silver Pagoda was inlaid with more than 5,329 silver tiles and some of its outer facades was remodeled with Italian marble. However, only a small area of these tiles are available to be viewed by the public on entering the pagoda.

The wall that surrounds the structures is covered with murals of the Reamker painted in 1903-1904 by Cambodian artists directed by the architect of the Silver Pagoda Oknha Tep Nimit Mak.[4] The legend of Preah Ko Preah Keo is also represented by two statues.

It is a notable wat (Buddhist temple) in Phnom Penh; Its grounds being used for various national and royal ceremonies. The cremated remains of Norodom Sihanouk are interred in the stupa of Kantha Bopha located on the temple's compound.

View of the Silver Pagoda complex

Gallery

• 
  The Emerald Buddha of Cambodia 17th century.
• 
  Golden Maitreya Buddha weight 90 Kg and Dressed with 9584 diamonds 1906-1907.
• 
  The Silver Pagoda in 1904
• 
  Mural depicting stories of the Reamker
• 
  Portion of a 1903–1904 mural in Phnom Penh's Silver Pagoda
• 
  A decorative column figurine (Kinnara)
• 
  Stupa of King Norodom Suramarit
• 
  Stupa Kantha Bopha
• 
  The Silver Pagoda in 2013

References

1. Brew, Melanie (2008-12-17). "I want to move to ... Chey Chumneas, Phnom Penh". Phnom Penh Post. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
2. Julio A. Jeldres (2003). From The Royal House of Cambodia. BRILL. pp. 102–. ISBN 9789924907855.
3. Penny Edwards (2008). From The Cultivation of a Nation, 1860-1945. BRILL. pp. 392–. ISBN 9789749511398.
4. http://www.iias.nl/sites/default/files/IIAS_NL71_0607.pdf

Literature

• Lenzi, Iola (2004). Museums Of Southeast Asia. Singapore: Archipelago Press. p. 200 pages. ISBN 981-4068-96-9.