Wat Ounalom

Also recorded as Wat Unnalom, and located in central Phnom Penh just north of the Royal Palace. It is one of the five original pagodas of the city dating back to the 15th century along with being the seat of the Mahanikaya sect of Theravada Buddhism in Cambodia.

The name Wat Unnalom refers to an ancient relic stored at the site, aka “monastery (wat) of the tuft (unna) of hair (loma)”, and keeps a piece of hair from the Buddha. Locals often refer to the site as Brah Lom, or Preah Lom literally meaning gods’ hair. It is also from this site where important Pali texts that survived the Khmer Rouge era were stored and later digitized.

The grounds of the monastery are densely packed with buildings including halls, monks’ quarters, two large contemporary Angkorian-style stupas, sculptures, and a shelter with a collection of items including Buddhapada, standing Buddha statues and an interesting stone carving of a reclining Buddha. Most interesting is perhaps the grand chedi at the rear of the site.

Hidden within the construction of the grand chedi is what is believed to be an Angkorian-era temple dated to the 12-13th century. In 2001 Olivier de Bernon filed a research paper on the site published in BEFEO, an abstract follows

The most ancient monument of Phnom Penh: a Angkorian tower inside the compound of Vatt Unnalom

Although it was noticed by French engineers as early as the middle of the nineteenth century, the ruins of an Angkorian tower to the west of the vihara of Vatt Unnälom seem to have been neglected ever since, and this evidence that the area of Phnom Penh had been developed from Angkorian times has long remained unobserved. The tower is constructed of homogenous sandstone blocks. Since it has no reused blocks, one may assume that it was built no later than the twelfth or early thirteenth century, an assumption that is corroborated by the high technical standard of the construction, which is not to be found in Khmer architecture after this period.

Nothing is known of the ancient history of this monument beyond that it had already been transformed into a cetiya in the fifteenth century; the inscription found on the monument only records events that occurred between 1867 and 1890.

Inside the chedi/cetiya, usually locked, is a carving of a reclining Buddha above the doorway of the central room which is flanked by two preceding side rooms containing seated Buddhas and other paraphernalia. The central room features a seated Buddha and two standing Bodhisattvas. All the statuary is of a post-Angkorian/Middle period style.

Related to Wat Unnalom, in BEFEO 1926 Louis Finot noted

Prah Maha Vimaladhamma (Thong), Director of the Pali College of Cambodia, died in Phnom Penh on August 1, 1927, at the age of 65. He was born in this city in 1862. At the age of seventeen, he entered the monastery of Unnalom as a samanera, where he made his religious profession four years later. His life there was spent in study and teaching. The main event was a trip he made in 1903 to Siam to form a collection of manuscripts there. At the age of 53, in 1914, he was appointed Director of the newly created Pali School. He gave himself entirely to functions, the importance of which he appreciated. His liberal and enlightened spirit manifested itself in the establishment of a program which enabled the first glimmers of European science to penetrate the Cambodian clergy. It is thanks to his support, in particular, that we were able to introduce the teaching of Sanskrit there. A member of the Royal Commission for the Khmer Dictionary, he energetically supported the cause of spelling reform, and it did not depend on him that it received official recognition. We owe him several works of a practical nature and devoted mainly to the explanation of the Vinaya: he demonstrates in them a perfect knowledge of påli and an extensive knowledge of the texts. He leaves several distinguished students who will continue his work.

L.FINOT.

Reference and further reading

• de Bernon Olivier. Le plus ancien édifice subsistant de Phnom Penh : une tour angkorienne sise dans l’enceinte du Vatt Unnālom. In: Bulletin de l’Ecole française d’Extrême-Orient. Tome 88, 2001. pp. 249-260. DOI : https://doi.org/10.3406/befeo.2001.3515 www.persee.fr/doc/befeo_0336-1519_2001_num_88_1_3515

Rodney Charles LHuillier

Living in Asia for over a decade and now residing in beautiful Siem Reap. Rodney Charles L'Huillier has spent over seven years in Cambodia and is the author of Ancient Cambodia (2024) and Essential Siem Reap (2017, 2019). Contact via [email protected] - more..