There are a lot of ancient temples in
most provinces of Cambodia. Among those, Preah Vihea temple is a sacred shrined
which is located on a very high and smooth plateau along the Dang Rek Mountain
in Preah Vihea province. This shrine first built by the King Yasa Varaman in 9th
century. All forms of this temple are the basic of Khmer arts include planning,
building drafts, and other sculptures. On the sculptures, we can only see Khmer
scripts and Sanskrit. These evidences clearly verified that “ Preah Vihea”
belonging to Cambodia.
Under French colony, Preah Vihea was
controlled by Siem (Thailand). Although our country got independent from
French, Siem didn’t give it to khmer. Moreover, Siem had used all kinds of malfeasant
tricks and declared that Preah Vihea belongs to them.
In 1962, under the premiership of
King Norodom Sihanouk, the king had tried all his best in demanding by peaceful
talk. Finally, the international court at Lahe had judged in unanimity that
Preah Vihea temple belongs to Cambodia on 15th June, 1982.
These enthusiastic news had spread
across the whole country that made all Cambodian people very happy and cheerful
to congratulate in accepting this temple which was becoming as the Khmer
Heritage as before.
For this testimony of satisfaction, the chief of state, King Norodom Shihaknouk made a formal visiting to Preah Vihea to be the symbol of Khmer Heritage on 5th January, 1963.