Ba Phnum ( km, បាភ្នំ, ), sometime spelled as Ba Phnom, is a district located in
Prey Veng Province, in south eastern
Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand ...
. The hills surrounding the town are the highest elevation points in Prey Veng province. In Khmer, ''Ba'' means "ancestor" and ''Phnum'' means "hill." When combined, the town is known as "Hill of the Ancestors."
Ba Phnum is a relatively remote location and has been attractive to ascenti monks (loak dhutang) for centuries. It has also been an occasional center from which millennial movements have radiated throughout Khmer history.
Ba Phnum is a site of interest for Cambodian historians. According to some accounts, the area is the birthplace of the Khmer people. An inscription on Wat Jaan, the pre-Angkorian temple at the base of the mountain (ca. 629 AD), associates Ba Phnum with Shiva and refers to it as "the holy mountain."
Ba Phnum was prominently featured in many of the rural scenes in the 2016 documentary
Angkor Awakens'.
Human sacrifices were made here until 1872. Khmer Kings made pilgrimage here.
Funan's capital city
Ba Phnum has purportedly been the location of
Vyadhapura
Vyadhapura ( km, វ្យាធបុរៈ Sanskrit: व्याधपूर ''Vyādhapūra'') was an ancient city of the Funan civilization, likely in what is now Ba Phnum District in the province of Prey Veng, Cambodia. It was the capital ...
, capital of the kingdom of
Funan
Funan (; km, ហ៊្វូណន, ; vi, Phù Nam, Chữ Hán: ) was the name given by Chinese cartographers, geographers and writers to an ancient Indianized state—or, rather a loose network of states ''(Mandala)''—located in mainla ...
.
References
Districts of Prey Veng province
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