Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1
contain a collection of royal silver and china tableware. There's also an anteroom
housing paintings on subjects ranging from Venetian canals to Chinese landscapes, and
a room glinting with gleaming medals. At the top of the stairs, the austerity of the
building is relieved by a collection of silk costumes elaborately embroidered in gold
thread; these were made by Queen Kossomak, the present king's grandmother, for the
Royal Ballet. Royal portraits upstairs include pictures of the former King Sihanouk as a
dashing young man.
Preah Tineang Phochani
The rather plain building to the east of the Napoleon pavilion is
Preah Tineang
Phochani
, a classical dance hall often used to host royal receptions and meetings.
Adjacent is the royal complex's south gate; passing through it, you cross the alleyway to
enter the courtyard of the Silver Pagoda by its north gate.
Silver Pagoda
Constructed in 1962 by former King Sihanouk to replace the wooden pagoda built by
his grandfather in 1902, the
Silver Pagoda
is so named because of its 5329 silver floor
tiles, each around 20cm square and weighing more than 1kg. It's also known as
Wat
Preah Keo Morokot
, the Pagoda of the Emerald Buddha, after the green Baccarat crystal
Buddha
within. The pagoda itself is clearly influenced by Bangkok's Wat Phra Kaeo,
also home to a precious crystal Buddha to which the one in Phnom Penh bears an
uncanny resemblance. Although more than half its contents were stolen during the
Khmer Rouge years, the pagoda itself survived pretty much unscathed, and was used to
demonstrate to the few international visitors that the regime was caring for Cambodia's
cultural history. A rich collection of artefacts and
Buddha images
remains, making the
pagoda more a museum than place of worship.
The pagoda
The vihara is approached by a stairway of specially imported Italian grey marble. On
the veranda you'll need to leave your
shoes
in the racks. The silver tiles at the entrance
are almost entirely covered with a rather tatty protective carpet, though a roped-off
section close to the entrance affords glimpses of their delicately hand-engraved leaf
motifs. Atop a five-tiered dais in the centre of the pagoda is the
Emerald Buddha
, seated
in meditation. Some sources say this is a modern reproduction, though others date it
from the seventeenth century; whatever the case, at just 50cm in height it's put in the
shade by the magnificence of the images surrounding it. One of the most dazzling is
the life-sized
solid gold Buddha
at ground level, in the centre of the dais; produced in
Phnom Penh in 1907 for King Sisowath, it weighs 90kg and is encrusted with 2086
diamonds and precious stones taken from royal jewellery. To its left, a silver seated
Buddha is perched on top of a display case, while to the right is a case containing some
delightful gold
statuettes
depicting key events from the Buddha's life. The tiny, highly
detailed representations show him taking his first steps as a child on seven lotus pads,
meditating under a bodhi tree and reclining on reaching nirvana.
Tucked away behind the dais is a serene life-sized standing Buddha from Burma, the
elegance of its aged, cream marble not diminished by the brash red of the wooden
pedestal. A haphazard, though interesting, collection of Buddhas and other artefacts
lines the back wall. The weighty gilded-wood
ceremonial litter
, over two metres long,
and complete with throne, was used to transport the king on coronation day and
required twelve men to carry it.
Display cases containing a diverse collection of objects line the pagoda walls, which
include daggers, cigarette cases, headdresses and masks used for performances of the
Reamker
by the Royal Ballet. Sadly, recent years have seen many of the most impressive
and precious exhibits replaced by a motley selection of frankly not very exciting items.
