Cambodia Trip Report Day 19: Royal Palace, National Museum of Cambodia, Wat Ounalom, Day 20: Flight back home

 Day 19 Monday  May 5 

Royal Palace, National Museum of Cambodia, Wat Ounalom

The Royal Palace of Cambodia

The Royal Palace of Cambodia, located in Phnom Penh, is a complex of buildings that serves as the royal residence of the King of Cambodia. It is a significant cultural and historical landmark, showcasing a blend of Khmer and French colonial architectural styles. 

The palace is open to the public, with the exception of the area where the royal family resides, Khemarin Palace. 

open from 7:30 AM to 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM, but may be closed for official ceremonies. 

Visitors are expected to dress respectfully, with knees and shoulders covered. We were there at 8:30am

The Cambodian monarchs have occupied it since it was built in the 1860s, with a period of absence when the country came into turmoil during and after the reign of the Khmer Rouge.

The palace was constructed by King Norodom between 1866 and 1870; this original palace was largely demolished and rebuilt between 1912 and 1932, 

It is situated at the Western bank of the confluence of the Tonle Sap River and the Mekong River called Chaktomuk (an allusion to Brahma)

Napoleon III Pavilion

Throne hall... side

Throne Hall behind

The throne hall inside the Royal Palace complex

The Throne Hall is where the king's confidants, generals and royal officials once carried out their duties. 

It is still in use today as a place for religious and royal ceremonies (such as coronations and royal weddings) as well as a meeting place for guests of the King. 

The cross-shaped building is crowned with three spires. The central, 59-metre spire is topped with the white, four-faced head of Brahma.

 Inside the Throne Hall contains three royal thrones (one is more of western style and the other two are traditional) and golden busts of Cambodians kings and queens starting from the reign of King Ang Doung onwards. 

This Throne Hall is the second to be built on this site. The first was constructed in 1869–1870 under King Norodom. That Throne Hall was demolished in 1915. The present building was constructed in 1917 and inaugurated by King Sisowath in 1919.

 The building is 30x60 metres. As with all buildings and structure at the Palace, the Throne Hall faces east and is best photographed in the morning. 

No pics allowed of the interior, this is from the net

When visiting note the beautiful ceiling frescoes of the Reamker. 

To the north of the thrones stands the statue of His Majesty King Sisowath Monivong holding the Royal Sword. The statue is made with gold and shows him dressed in casual clothes. 

The traditional throne or The Preah Tineang Bossbok  is an ancient nine-level classical Khmer-style throne. Each Khmer King has to be seated on it on the coronation day while wearing the Royal Regalia. 

It is covered with intricate floral carvings and has two levels of small statues of Garudas lifting the upper part of the bossabok. Three of the nine levels of the throne represent the levels of hell, middle earth and the heavens. 

Surrounding the bossabok are the four gold nine-tiered umbrellas, these are called the Aphirom . 

the bossabok is topped by the white Royal Nine-tiered umbrella  that signifies the universal power the king has. In front of the bossabok is the throne. 

The table that stands next to the Royal Throne holds on it a golden tea set and the golden set of betel and areca nuts container set, which are part of the regalia and are always on the table. 

 king sits on the front bossabok,  queen  sits on the taller bossabok behind. 

Visitors can only peep from outside... windows near the throne are closed as can be seen here

Hor Samran Phirun seen from here

Royal Treasury

The Royal Treasury in Phnom Penh's Royal Palace houses the coronation regalia and other royal treasures of Cambodia. It's a tall, narrow pavilion located south of the Throne Hall. 

Ivory...

Colors for each day of the week...traditional garments

Royal swords

Royal traditional brocade for ceremonies

Costumes of the Queen and King gold thread embroidery

Silver Pagoda

Silver Pagoda is located on the South side of the palace complex. It features a royal temple officially called Preah Vihear Preah Keo Morakot but is commonly referred to as Wat Preah Keo. 

Its main building houses many national treasures such as gold and jeweled Buddha statues.

 Most notable is a small crystal Buddha (the "Emerald Buddha" of Cambodia) – undetermined whether made of Baccarat Crystal in 19th century or of other kind of crystal in 17th century – and a near-life-size, Maitreya Buddha encrusted with 9,584 diamonds dressed in royal regalia commissioned by King Sisowath. 

During King Sihanouk's pre-Khmer Rouge reign, the Silver Pagoda was inlaid with more than 5,000 silver tiles and some of its outer facade was remodelled with Italian marble.

There are 100s of beautiful artefacts, no pics allowed inside

Golden Buddha...

Crystal Buddha...

The wall that surrounds the structures is covered with murals of the Reamker [Ramayana] painted in 1903-1904 by Cambodian artists directed by the architect of the Silver Pagoda 

Royal Stupa

The cremated remains of King Norodom Sihanouk are interred in the stupa of his daughter, Princess Norodom Kantha Bopha

King Norodom statue

Huge banyon tree sending down branches as roots

Stupa

Stupa of princess who died at 4 years

Stupa of King Norodom Suramarit

Hanuman...

Stupa of Kantha Bopha

Statue of King Norodom

Nandi, the divine bull of Shiva

National Museum of Cambodia

The museum houses one of the world's largest collections of Khmer art, including sculptural, Khmer ceramics, bronzes, and ethnographic objects.

 Its collection includes over 14,000 items, from prehistoric times to periods before, during and after the Khmer Empire, which at its height stretched from Thailand, across present-day Cambodia, to southern Vietnam.

The museum buildings, inspired by Khmer temple architecture, were constructed between 1917 and 1924, the museum was officially inaugurated in 1920

The National Museum of Cambodia is located on Street 10 in central Phnom Penh, to the north of the Royal Palace

Garuda...10th century

Vishnu...[conch in hand] [so different from how Indian sculpture portray!!]

Ganesha

Shiva Linga

Ganesha

Leper King...

Vishnu..

Varuna on Hamsa

Devotee holding Buddhist scripture...

Asuras from naga balustrade..

Skanda on peacock..

Garuda and snake

Tortoise shell and mother of pearl inlay on ebony..

Wat Ounalom

 It was established in 1443 and consists of 44 structures. It was damaged during the Khmer Rouge period but has since been restored.

 The main complex houses a stupa that contains what is believed to be an eyebrow hair of The Buddha and an inscription in Pali

 Wat Ounalom commemorates one of the holiest relics in Cambodia, a hair (lom) from the whorl (unna) between the eyebrows of the Buddha.

It was closed, reviews online also say hours are unknown

these are interior pics online which we missed!

It's a beautiful monastery, such a pity we could not visit.

We returned to the apt

End of our last day in Cambodia

Day 20 Tuesday May 6 Flight back home 

We checked out after 9 am

Souvenirs

Hoi An, Vietnam...

Angkor Wat...

Reached Phnom Penh airport by 10:15

Son's flight was at 12:30, Mine at 19:30. No worries. He traveled on for 24 hours, My flight was just 4 hours and I was home long before he reached his!

What an awesome vacation it had been!

Looking forward to the next!!