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Once upon a time, a king, whose name has been lost to
time, built his capital on the top of a mountain of the Dangrek
range on what is now the border of Thailand.
He had two wives, each with one son.
His first wife, Queen Peov Devi had borne him a boy called Cham-pongs
Kumar. His second wife, Montear Devi had a son named Chong-raks
Kumar.
But the greedy prince regent Moha Oup-raj lusted
for power. Eventually, he began an affair with the king's second
wife and together they plotted to overthrow the old king. They
enlisted the help of an ambitious and corrupt court astrologer, and
bided their time.
One day, rainy season storms turned wild and
whirlwinds and torrential rains lashed the kingdom for days,
damaging temples and ruining crops. But when the king's most sacred
devaroub (divine statue) was damaged, the king began to worry that
this was supernatural.
The prince and his mistress persuaded him to
consult with their cohort, the royal astrologer.
"This is a sign of divine warning," the astrologer told the king.
"It is a warning to you that Queen Peov Devi has become evil and
unlucky, and prophesizes that her son will grow up to be your
murderer.
"However, if you banish them both, you can save
the kingdom."
Frightened, the king had the mother and son arrested and set adrift
on a raft in open water.
But the gods were kind to the pair because of
merits they had achieved in previous lives.
As they drifted, the churning waves calmed. Divine white crocodiles
appeared and guided the raft until it ran ashore on a floating speck
of land.
The crocodiles found food for the couple, and they
stayed safe on the little islet for seven days and nights.
On the seventh night, the desperate deposed queen,
now called Srei Peov Devi, prayed to the full moon.
"I humbly request all deities and powerful spirits
guarding the sea to protect and save my son and I. We are honest
people," she cried.
Immediately, the little speck of land transformed
and the pumice, shells and flotsam and jetsam in the water all
around joined to form a big, beautiful island paradise.
Time passed, and the crocodiles eventually died. Their corpses
became huge crocodile-shaped rocks that can still be seen today.
One day, a mandarin called Okha Kralahorm Pich stumbled on Srei
Peov's island.
He had once commanded a naval division for Srei
Peov's former husband the king, but retired in dismay because he
understood the evil intentions of the prince and his mistress.
He met the former queen and the young prince and all three sobbed
together as they related their sad experiences. |
Pich confirmed that after the queen and her son had
been banished, the prince regent, Moha Ouparaj, had imprisoned the
old ruler and proclaimed himself as the new king. Pich began to
build an army to overthrow the usurper and reclaim Srei Peov's
rightful place for her and her son. When the
time was right, Pich and the young prince led 100 boats and 10,000
soldiers to the gates of the evil prince's capital. That night, Moha
Ouparaj was carousing at a wild party.
The young prince and his men waited, and in the
morning, when their enemy was drunk and exhausted, launched their
attack. It was a brilliant victory for the young prince.
Moha Ouparaj and his evil accomplice Montea Devi
were killed and the victorious young prince released his imprisoned
father, who had been forced to live in a cave sealed from the light
by rocks for many years.
The young prince Cham-pongs Kumar became a new
king, but he did not hold the sins of his young half-brother's
mother against him and appointed him as the new Moha Ouparaj.
The island that had been created by Srei Peov's
prayers became known as Phnom Boss-Srei Peov, because it was created
during Boss (the second month of the lunar calendar) at the request
of Srei Peov (Srei is a word meaning young lady).
Over time, the sea receded, leaving a mountain,
which today is very close to Phnom Santuk, and still bears the name
Phnom Boss-Srei Peov.
The capital took on the new king's name to become
Phnom Cham-pongs Kiri (in Khmer kiri means mountain).
Over time, the young king died, his half brother
took the throne, and the name changed to Cham-chong Kiri to memorize
a very dear brotherhood between the two princes.
As time passes, things change, and the mountain
was renamed for the fourth time as Phnom Thom (huge mountain) and
then Phnom A'sann Tuk (Mountain of Emergency and Suffering).
That name was shortened by the people and became
Phnom Santuk, and it remains called that to this day.
The young prince grew to be very tall, with an
amazingly supple body.
For this reason, another nearby mountain was named
Phnom Preah Bat Penn Chum (a mountain where a king sits
cross-legged) and this was shortened over time to Phnom Penn Chum (a
mountain where a person sitting cross-leg), as it still known today.
After his death, people started to come to the
area to pay tribute to a neakta, or spirit, called Neakta Phnom Penn
Chum the spirit of the young prince who became king.
For this reason, visitors to Phnom Santuk in
Kampong Thom province can see a hut with a huge stone statue of a
man sitting cross-legged, and it is still worshipped to this day.
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