New temple plans turn a historical monastic temple into a pile of rubble

Remnants of a mural in the rubble of the vihear (monastic temple) in Cambodia that was pulled down.

Amidst a pile of debris at the Entri Sam Virak pagoda, the painted, smiling faces of the Buddha and a cohort of angels peer out. The mural is on a wall that was, until two weeks ago, part of a vihear, or monastic temple, cherished by historians and visitors, in part, for its unusual paintings.

Unlike many monastic temples in Cambodia, this one built in the province of Kampong Thom survived the civil war and the Khmer Rouge’s atheistic destruction, only to be demolished on the orders of its abbot, Seang Sok, who did not ask for permission or inform local authorities.