Stung Treng – An ancient temple standing alone in the middle of a community. The story of this ancient temple was less well-known compared to the magnificent city of ancient temples in Siem Reap province.

Here surrounded by a community, locals often visit Preah Ko Temple by praying, worshiping as they believe which will make good fortune and blessing, this social norm is continuing and part of Cambodian society for a millennium until the present day.

Preah Ko or “the sacred bull” is a mount of Shiva, one of the most important Hindu-Buddhist religious gods (God of destruction), which was influenced by Indianization. According to scholars and archaeologists, during the pre-Angkorian period (300-500 CE), Thala Borivat was once the capital of the ancient Khmer or Chenla period before the transition into the Khmer Empire period. This region was also an important trade route as the Mekong River is a river that defined Cambodia. Preah Ko temple is linked to the Bhavavarman I’s family inscription, the king of Chenla.

As far away and less known by domestic and international tourists, this temple couldn’t attract much attention or visitors which could generate additional income for the locals. However, for archaeologists and researchers, this temple could serve as the starting point to understand and research the pre-Angkorian period of our history, also the reason why the ancestors of Khmer used this place as their capital.

Before going back, we saw a few children playing inside a hall that covered the Preah Ko statue. Their free time after school is here, they play as they wait for the tourists or visitors to come so that they could help with kindness for the tourists and visitors which is common in Cambodia’s society.

This sacred bull statue was made from stone and carved in a style that differs from another statue at Preah Ko temple located in Roluos, Siem Reap province, which was built by King Indravarman I, around the 9th century.

The finest of architecture in that period was defined through the skills and well-built of the temple. For a millennium, the temple remained for the current and future generations to know about the history of their own community. Thala Borivat was once the capital and the trade route of our ancient kingdom, for the present moment, people in Stung Treng are facing new challenges due to the upper Mekong River activities, especially the building of Mekong River Dam in China and Laos. The impact of those activities is quietly polluting and decreasing the species population in Mekong Delta which affected the livelihood of fishermen, in addition the decrease of river dolphin or Irrawaddy Dolphins number in Stung Treng and Kratie.

Text by Lyhour Sreang