"One of Phnom Penh's founding pagodas, where the Pali canon was kept and free meditation survived the Khmer Rouge"
Wat Langka
Khan Boeng Keng Kang, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Wat Langka is one of the five original pagodas established when King Ponhea Yat founded Phnom Penh in 1442. Named for Sri Lanka in honor of the monks who traveled from that island to exchange Pali texts with their Cambodian counterparts, it served as the repository for the Tripitaka, the complete Buddhist canon. The pagoda's monks were killed during the Khmer Rouge era and the compound used as a warehouse. Today, a restored monastic community offers free Vipassana meditation sessions to anyone who walks through the gates.
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Quick Facts
Location
Khan Boeng Keng Kang, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Coordinates
11.5555, 104.9274
Last Updated
Mar 29, 2026
Learn More
Founded in 1442 as one of Phnom Penh's five original pagodas, Wat Langka served as the repository of the Pali canon and a bridge between Cambodian and Sri Lankan Buddhism.
Origin Story
When King Ponhea Yat moved the Khmer capital from Angkor to Phnom Penh in 1442, the Angkor era was ending and a new chapter of Cambodian history was beginning. To sanctify the new capital and establish its spiritual foundation, the king consecrated five pagodas at strategic locations throughout the city. Wat Langka was among them, designated specifically as the repository for the Tripitaka, ensuring that the complete body of the Buddha's teachings would be preserved at the heart of the new capital.
The name Langka commemorates the Sri Lankan monks who visited the pagoda to exchange Pali texts with their Cambodian counterparts. This exchange was not merely scholarly. It strengthened the bonds of the Theravada Buddhist world, connecting Cambodia to the wider network of Buddhist kingdoms stretching from Sri Lanka through Myanmar and Thailand. The pagoda's name thus encoded its role as a bridge: between traditions, between nations, between past and present.
Key Figures
King Ponhea Yat
founder
The Khmer king who established Phnom Penh as the capital after the decline of Angkor, consecrating the new city with five pagodas of which Wat Langka was one. His founding of these pagodas established the spiritual infrastructure of the capital that continues to function nearly six centuries later.
Spiritual Lineage
Wat Langka belongs to the Theravada Buddhist tradition that has been the dominant religious practice in Cambodia since the thirteenth century. Its connection to Sri Lanka places it within the broader transnational Theravada network. The pagoda's role as a Tripitaka repository links it to the Buddhist tradition of text preservation that has been central to the religion's survival and transmission across cultures and centuries.
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