Wat Ounalom, Phnom Penh

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It was founded in 1443 and comprises 44 structures. It received a battering during the Pol Pot era but today the wat is coming back to life. The head of the country's Buddhist brotherhood lives here, along with an increasing number of monks.

The admission is free and daily opening hours are between 6am and 6pm.

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This rather unexciting looking temple is located just to the north of the Royal Palace near the river and doesn't really warrant a visit except that it keeps an eyebrow hair of Buddha in a stupa to the rear. The temple itself was founded in 1443 and comprises some 44 structures that were damaged by the Khmer Rouge in the late 70's.

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As the center of Cambodian Buddhism, Wat Ounalom is the most important wat in Phnom Penh. Wat Ounalom was built in 1443 to keep a relic of the Buddha, an eyebrow hair. It is a Mahanikai Buddhist temple and the residence of the Supreme Patriarch of the sect. The Khmer Rouge killed many monks and inflicted considerable damage on this wat, smashing Buddha images and stealing precious metals. On the second floor is a brass statue of the fourth patriarch of Cambodian Buddhism, Somdech Huot Tat, who was murdered by the Khmer Rouge. The statue, made in 1971, had been thrown into the river, but it was recovered in 1979.

I will be honest that I find nothing interesting about this temple at all. I came here because I got time to burn and wanted to utilize my tour guide. Thank goodness it is free. Be sure to go the back of the main temple where you can see an eight handed statue along side with some other rather funny looking statue which I can’t make sense off. Also the stupa at the back is said to contain the eyebrow hair of Buddha which makes me wonder if that is really the case, wouldn’t it be in the national museum rather that such an uninteresting Wat?

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This temple is one of the smaller ones in Phnom Penh, but is an well entertained building, where you can go inside to have a look how the tempellive is organised. In the backyard of this tempel you will see some older buildings, where the monks are living. Dureing the week ends, in front of this tempel, there are some artisans selling baskets and other handicraft articles.

Though decimated by Pol Pot’s regime, Wat Ounalom is coming back to life as befits the home of the country’s Buddhist religion. A colorful complex full of young monks, its 44 structures date back to 1443 and it is a pleasant place to enjoy a shady respite after touring the neighboring Royal Palace. The stupa in the rear is said to contain an eyebrow hair of Buddha.

This significant temple houses an eyebrow-hair relic of the Buddha, and is the traditional headquarters of the Cambodian Buddhist patriarchate hierarchy. For this reason it was ravaged by the former Khmer Rouge government, but still displays many interesting murals and artifacts.