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Phnom Penh / Wat Ounalom

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Wat Ounalom is the most important Wat of Phnom Penh, and the center of Cambodian Buddhism. It is north from the National Museum of Arts (two streets from the Royal Palace). Wat Ounalom was built in 1443 to keep a hair of the Buddha. Before the Khmer Rouge emptied Phnom Penh in 1975, more than 500 monks used to live at the Wat. The Khmer Rouge killed the abbot and a large number of monks and vandalized the buildings and their treasures. After the Vietnamese invasion on 1979 the Wat was restored, and today again serves as the center of Cambodian Buddhism.

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This recent trend is a consequence of various factors such as preference for sons, declining fertility, easy access to abortion, economic development as well as the increased availability of ultrasonography facilities.

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http://www.asiatour.com/cambodia/e-03phno/ec-phn24.htm
Jan Garanoz
869/116 Thanon Pemavipat,
Chiang Rai, 57000 Thailand
Last updated: February 16, 2010