Phnom
Kulen is widely regarded as the birthplace of the ancient Khmer
empire and is some forty eight kilometers from Siem Reap. This hilltop
site has the country's largest reclining Buddha and it was here that
the King Jayavarma II proclaimed independence from Java in 802 A.D. It
has only just returned to government hands after the fall of the
Khmer Rouge and is currently fairly inaccessible due to the poor state
of the roads especially in the rainy season. Cutting through the area
is the River of 1000 Lingas. Just five cm under the water's surface
over 1000 small carvings are etched into the sandstone riverbed while
further downstream larger blocks of stone are carved with Apsaras,
Vishnu, and other figures. All the sandstone used in the construction
of Angkor was quarried here.
