The Silver Pagoda is located within the Phnom Penh Royal Palace grounds in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The pagoda was built between 1892 and 1902 during the rule of King Norodom in the Cambodian architectural style.

The pagoda is where the King worshiped, prayed and practiced his Buddhist faith. The pagoda is unique because it has no resident monks but monks from other pagodas were invited to attend when the King celebrated Buddhist ceremonies.

While the pagoda is part of the royal palace it is isolated by a wall surrounding the pagoda and several other monuments.

Wat Preah Keo Morakot

The main building within the walled complex is the actual pagoda known as Wat Preah Keo Morakot. This building houses all of the religious artifacts and the floor is covered in 5 tons of silver which is why the pagoda is known as the Silver Pagoda. Sorry but there is no photography allowed inside the pagoda.

Phnom Mondop

Phnom Mondop is a small hill that is covered in rain forest vegetation topped with a shrine that contains 108 images of Buddha. The hill symbolizes Mount Kailas (a sacred mountain to Hindus and Buddhists)

In addition to the religious buildings the Silver Pagoda grounds are dotted with memorials and stupas honoring former rulers and their family members. Some of these are shown below.

Stupa of Princess Kantha Bopha

Stupa of King Ang Doung

Stupa of HM King Suramarit and HM Queen Kossomak

Statue of HM King Norodom

Exterior Wall Art

The exterior wall around the Silver Pagoda complex has a covered walkway inside the complex with a painted mural of a Cambodian poem that shows the balance of good and evil in the world. Some of these paintings are shown in the following photos.

Angkor Wat Model

An unexpected monument in the grounds was a scaled stone model of Angkor Wat. After having just seen the real Angkor Wat complex it was interesting to see a bird’s eye view of the complex because it was so big in real life that it was hard to see how it all fit together

The Dust on My Shoes

The Silver Pagoda is not a large religious complex because it is really a part of the royal palace. The pagoda portion of the complex is separated from the rest of the palace and it is spacious and a place that would be a retreat from the palace environment.

Even though I have visited many religious complexes in Asia, I am still amazed by the extreme details that is put into every part of the each complex and the Silver Pagoda is no exception. I think the item that stuck out the most to me were the stone carvings on the stupas. From the base all of the way to the top was covered in carved elements, truly incredible!

Sometimes the big picture is so impressive that it is easy to miss out on the small details. Don’t overlook the small details because they can be just as beautiful as the larger picture.

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