☸️ Wat Ounalom
Cambodia
About This Sacred Site
Wat Ounalom is the most important Buddhist monastery in Cambodia and the headquarters of the Mohanikay order, the largest Buddhist monastic order in the country. Founded in 1443, the temple complex on the riverfront in Phnom Penh houses a sacred hair of the Buddha contained within its central stupa. The monastery suffered severe damage during the Khmer Rouge regime, when monks were killed and religious texts destroyed, but it has been meticulously restored and continues to serve as the center of Cambodian Buddhist scholarship and practice.
Key Facts
- •Founded in 1443, it is the headquarters of Cambodia's largest Buddhist order
- •Houses a stupa said to contain a hair of the Buddha
- •Severely damaged during the Khmer Rouge era but painstakingly restored
- •The Supreme Patriarch of Cambodian Buddhism resides here
- •Located on the Phnom Penh riverfront overlooking the confluence of the Tonle Sap and Mekong rivers
Location
Coordinates: 11.5750, 104.9319
Related Holy Sites
☸️Bodh Gaya (Mahabodhi Temple)
Where Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment and became the Buddha.
🛕Angkor Wat
The largest religious monument in the world, originally Hindu then Buddhist.
🪷Shwedagon Pagoda
Myanmar's most sacred Buddhist pagoda, gilded with 60 tons of gold.
☸️Lumbini
The birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama, who became the Buddha.
🪷Borobudur
The world's largest Buddhist temple, with 2,672 relief panels.
🏯Potala Palace
Former winter residence of the Dalai Lama, towering over Lhasa.