Udong

Introducing Udong

Udong (the Victorious) served as the capital of Cambodia under several sovereigns between 1618 and 1866, suggesting ‘victorious’ was an optimistic epithet, as Cambodia was in terminal decline at this time. A number of kings, including King Norodom, were crowned here. The main attractions today are the two small humps of Phnom Udong, which have several stupas on them. Both ends of the ridge have good views of the Cambodian countryside dotted with innumerable sugar palm trees. Udong is not a leading attraction, but for those with the time it’s worth the visit.

The smaller ridge has two structures and several stupas on top. Ta San Mosque faces westward towards Mecca. Across the plains to the south of the mosque you can see Phnom Vihear Leu, a small hill on which a vihara stands between two white poles. To the right of the vihara is a building used as a prison under Pol Pot’s rule. To the left of the vihara and below it is a pagoda known as Arey Ka Sap.

The larger ridge, Phnom Preah Reach Throap (Hill of the Royal Fortune), is so named because a 16th-century Khmer king is said to have hidden the national treasury here during a war with the Thais. The most impressive structure on Phnom Preah Reach Throap is Vihear Preah Ath Roes. The vihara and the statue of Buddha, dedicated in 1911 by King Sisowath, were blown up by the Khmer Rouge in 1977; only sections of the walls, the bases of eight enormous columns and the right arm and part of the right side of the original Buddha statue remain. The Buddha has been reconstructed and the roof is currently being rebuilt.

About 120m northwest of Vihear Preah Ath Roes is a line of small viharas. The first is Vihear Preah Ko, a brick-roofed structure that contains a statue of Preah Ko, the sacred bull; the original statue was carried away by the Thais long ago. The second structure, which has a seated Buddha inside, is Vihear Preah Keo. The third is Vihear Prak Neak, its cracked walls topped with a thatched roof. Inside this vihara is a seated Buddha who is guarded by a naga. (Prak neak means ‘protected by a naga’.)

At the northwestern extremity of the ridge stand four large stupas. The first is the cement Chet Dey Mak Proum, the final resting place of King Monivong (r 1927–41). Decorated with garudas (mythical half-man, half-bird creatures), floral designs and elephants, it has four faces on top. The middle stupa, Tray Troeng, is decorated with coloured tiles; it was built in 1891 by King Norodom to house the ashes of his father, King Ang Duong (r 1845–59). But some say King Ang Duong was in fact buried next to the Silver Pagoda in Phnom Penh. The third stupa, Damrei Sam Poan, was built by King Chey Chetha II (r 1618–26) for the ashes of his predecessor, King Soriyopor. The fourth stupa was relocated in 2002 from in front of Phnom Penh railway station and contains a relic of the Buddha, believed to be an eyebrow hair.

An east-facing staircase leads down the hillside from the stupa of King Monivong. Just north of its base is a pavilion decorated with graphic murals depicting Khmer Rouge atrocities.

At the base of the ridge, close to the road, is a memorial to the victims of Pol Pot that contains the bones of some of the people who were buried in approximately 100 mass graves, each containing about a dozen bodies. Instruments of torture were unearthed along with the bones when a number of the pits were disinterred in 1981 and 1982.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009