Bakan ( km, ស្រុកបាកាន) is a district in
Pursat province,
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 t ...
. The district capital is at
Trapeang Chong located on
National Highway 5 around 15 kilometres north of the provincial capital at
Pursat
Pursat ( ; km, ពោធិ៍សាត់, ) is the capital of Pursat Province, Cambodia. Its name derived from a type of tree. It lies on the Pursat River. The city is famous as the place of mythical 16th century ''neak ta'' of Khleang Moeu ...
town.
According to the 1998 Census, Bakan is made up of 10 communes and 156 villages. The population of the district was 121,229 persons in 22,494 households at the time of the census. Bakan is the most populous district in Pursat province.
Location
Bakan shares a border with
Battambang province to the north and the district of
Veal Veang to the west. To the south of Bakan are
Phnum Kravanh and
Sampov Meas districts. Bakan shares its eastern border with
Kandieng district. To the northeast Bakan encompasses a portion of the
Tonle Sap lake. Three villages in this part of the district are Tonle Sap
floating villages. Their location moves depending on the water level in the lake.
Administration
The following table shows the villages of Bakan district by commune.
Characteristics
The national highway and the only north-south rail link in the country bisect the district and thus most villages have comparatively good access to goods and services. There is a district Hospital at Boeng Khnar and the provincial capital and higher level services are only a short distance away. There is an active market that spills over onto the highway at Trapeang Chong and this combined with the recent resurfacing of the highway has led to increased traffic accidents and road fatalities.
Wat Bakan
Wat Bakan
Wat Bakan ( km, វត្តបាកាន, ) is a pagoda in Trapeang chorng commune, Bakan District of Pursat Province in Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, ...
or Bakan Pagoda is one of the oldest active pagodas in the country. The Buddhist Institute of Cambodia notes that the original pagoda is over 800 years old and has been in continuous use as a temple. It is regarded as one of the holiest sites in Cambodian Buddhism. Parts of the original pagoda can still be seen around a small mound behind one of the buildings of the main temple. During the
Khmer Rouge
The Khmer Rouge (; ; km, ខ្មែរក្រហម, ; ) is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) and by extension to the regime through which the CPK ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. ...
years many stones from the old temple were taken to build an embankment and repair bridges at
Damnak Ampil nearby.
Address by Hun Sen at the Inauguration of the Bakan Pagoda, 13 March 2003
/ref>
References
{{coord, 12, 36, N, 103, 47, E, region:KH_type:adm2nd, display=title
Districts of Pursat province