Phnom Sempov
 
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© 2019 John Holstein
 
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Phnom Sempov, the highloight of my visit to Cambodia this time, is a steep hill which hosts a compound of interesting Buddhist and syncretic indigenous temples. It has quite a bloody history: the Khmer Rouge used it as a torture and execution site. The hill is located about 20 kilometers south of Battambang, on national Rt. 57. Get a bird's-eye view of the compound and the temple in the town at the foot of the hill in this nice video.
 
 
 
 
 
At the entrance to the compound at the top of the hill
 
 
 
There is more interesting information about the compound and its curiosities at this website. Between 95-98% (depending on your source) of Cambodia's population belong to Theraveda Buddhism (which is heavily flavored with animistic indigenous practices). You can see that blend easily on this compound. Find more interesting info at Religion in Cambodia.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I tried to discover exactly when and what the artillery on the compound was used for, but could find nothing that specifically refers to fighting in the area around Battambang that would include use of artillery. I can only surmise that it was used during the Vietnamese occupation between 1979 and 1989, in the fighting between Vietnamese and Democratic Cambodia (Kmer Rouge) forces. That was the only period in twentieth century Cambodia that there was fighting of a kind that would include use of artillery.
 
 
 
 
This shrine seems to be more animistic than Buddhist. From Wikipedia, Religion in Cambodia: "In recent years, the label 'Brahmanism' has been used (with only a vague reference to Hinduism) to indicate the rise after 1979 of a large network of spirit mediums who propose to their clients prosperity rituals grounded in folk religion, criticized by some Buddhists as heterodox and foreign to Buddhism. Others regard 'Brahmanism' and Buddhism as 'two branches of one religious system that they call "Cambodian Buddhism," and occasionally Buddhist monks attend 'Brahmanist' rituals."
 
 
 
This monk seemed to be selling something. In the next photo, you can see his assistant counting proceeds from the monk's pitch.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Cambodian tourists
 
 
 
 
This huge monastery at the foot of Phnom Sempov apparently has some relationship with the compound at the peak. I saw no residential buildings among the shrines and temples on the peak.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
In this temple on Phnom Sempov I could not see any animist features.
 
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