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Phnom Kulen Pilgrimage Festival in Phnom Kulen
Phnom Kulen, revered as the birthplace of the Khmer empire where Jayavarman II proclaimed independence in 802, draws Cambodian pilgrims especially during Khmer New Year and weekends rather than on one fixed festival date. Visitors seek blessings at the River of a Thousand Lingas carvings at Kbal Spean, a giant reclining Buddha, and a sacred waterfall, blending devotion with heritage tourism inside a managed national park.
Phnom Kulen holds a symbolic weight in Khmer culture matched by few other sites: it was here, in 802, that King Jayavarman II is said to have proclaimed independence from Java and declared himself a universal monarch, an act many historians treat as the founding moment of the Angkorian empire.