Wat Sithor

Built upon a wide low rise, Wat Sithor is an important site in the Middle Ages history of Cambodia but also the location of an ancient site dating to the tenth century. The monastery grounds feature a collection of quite old stupas, one quite prominently on the western side of the pagoda with a smaller one nearby, and four more on the east side of the monastery grounds. In the pagoda, there is reported to be a stone-carved Buddhapada and an inscribed stele.

The wider area is also known as Basan, and notably, some speculate this was the site of the Royal Palace when in the 15th century, King Ponhea Yat moved the capital from Angkor to Srei Sanchor (now Srei Santhor) before later shifting to Chaktomuk (Phnom Penh). Others suggest that site was located much further to the north in the village of Srei Santhor.

The large stupa on the west side of the monastery is speculated by some to be the funerary stupa of a king (or his son?). Further stupas exist on the east side, a small one near the pagodas and four along the eastern wall of the monastery. The four along the eastern wall are large, ruinous, made completely of brick, and overgrown. I wonder whose remains they may actually hold? Update: on revisiting the site in 08/22, a local informed us that the stupa is believed to hold the remains of the son of King Sdech Korn who reigned from 1512 to 1525 AD which fits in with the stupa of the nearby Wat Meban.

The French explorer and researcher, Lunet de Lajonquière visited the site in the early 1900s and recounts the three pagodas of the area, Vat Sithor, Prei Bang, and Yeay Bang, all on a north-south axis, raised high on embankments emerging from immense marshes filled with lotus and caiman. He made no mention of whose remains occupy the stupa but attributed them to the tenth century in line with the inscriptions he identified. Later researchers have yet to provide any exact dating on the stupas (to my knowledge) while it’s commonly held that stupas in Cambodia were constructed between the 16-18th c (Marchal).

In the pagoda, there is a stone carved Buddhapada and a stele with an inscription registered under K. 111 and another K. 112 providing dates of 975 and 980 AD along with the story of a Buddhist teacher and traditions of the time.

Further stupas exist on the east side, a small one near the pagodas and four along the eastern wall of the monastery.

The site actually features two pagodas beside each other, while a new multi-spired building on the south-western side of the site is the monk’s residence. Sema stones of an old style surround the newer of the two pagodas while a collection of older semas are now gathered on the southern side of the old pagoda (08/22).

References

• Factors that Led to the Change of the Khmer Capitals from the 15th to 17th century – Nhim Sotheavin
• Inventaire descriptif des monuments du Cambodge – E. Lunet de La Jonquière