The story
Phnom Chisor Temple Festival in Phnom Chisor
Phnom Chisor, an eleventh-century Angkorian hilltop temple in Takeo province reached by 412 laterite steps, combines an active Buddhist monastery with older Hindu-influenced shrine practices along the climb. No single fixed festival defines the site; instead it draws its largest crowds during Khmer New Year and Pchum Ben, when Cambodian families combine pilgrimage with a countryside day trip and panoramic views.
South of Phnom Penh in Takeo province, Phnom Chisor rises as a solitary hill barely over a hundred meters tall yet crowned with an eleventh-century Angkorian temple that has made the climb a genuine pilgrimage rather than a casual roadside stop for generations of Cambodian visitors.