The ancient pagoda of Pothi Somrom is located next to O Mon river, Chau Van Liem ward, O Mon district and ranked by Can Tho city People’s Committee as a city level architectural and art relic in 2006.
The pagoda was constructed since 1735 and evaluated as one of the beautiful Khmer pagodas with the intact traditional architecture. In 1856, the pagoda was rebuilt out of precious wood and roofed with scaled tiles that reflected an influence from the cultures of Khmer and India. Almost 100 years later, the pagoda had degenerated badly when the monk Thach Khieng, the resident abbot at that time, went over to Phnom Penh to invite a Cambodian architect to draft a design for restoring the pagoda, one that was based on retaining its traditional architecture. Completed in 1952, the pagoda was built with stone bricks and has been maintained to this day.
It can be seen that the main chamber is the outstanding piece among the architectural arrangement of Pothi Somron Pagoda. The main chamber was built with high ceilings and has four broad corridors extending out in each direction, which, according to Hinduism, is considered an arrangement that looks out towards the four directions of the universe. The main door turns out to the east, since the Khmer believe that although Buddha abides in the Western Paradise, he always faces the east in order to deliver all sentient beings.
The roof of the main chamber is done in three overlapping layers with dragons running along the edges of the roof, their tails stretching straight up to the sky. Surrounding the corridors are rows of pillars, four of which are affixed with the divine Krud bird holding a jewel in its mouth and intertwined with Kennar heavenly damsels. Geometric patterns and water hyacinths were meticulously engraved on the walls, stairs, bases of the pillars, railings, doorframes, roofs, and partitions to create a unique temple that is steeped in the cultural character of the Khmer.
Khmer Buddhist pagodas all have pillar stūpas, which every family in the community builds to enshrine relatives’ ashes after they pass away. Nevertheless, it is rare for a pagoda to still retain a stūpa that is over 200 years old like Pothi Somron. The stūpas were built out of Lindera myrrha, laterite, and bricks. They hold the remains of many Buddhists and have preserved them over many generations. The pagoda still retains many ancient objects, such as around 100 Satra scriptures (texts written on leaves), wooden sparrow wings from the year 1856 that are engraved with images from the stories of Śākyamuni Buddha and nearly 20 wooden statues, which are also from the nineteenth-century through to the present.
In contrast to Buddhist pagodas that practice Mahāyāna Buddhism, the Khmer’s Theravādin Pothi Somron Pagoda conveys a pervasive communal character and includes a capacious space that is reserved for shared activities. The vegetarian canteen is a room which bonzes in the pagoda can utilize as a place to eat and drink, but its main function is still to allow the secular population to gather for activities or even as a place to sleep if they have come from afar. Frequently, the monastics chant sūtras in the main chamber while common folk continue to dance and sing outside in the courtyard or in the vegetarian canteen. Furthermore, the pagoda is a place for many social events such as campaigns to construct compassion homes for ethnic Khmer compatriots or to assist in the collection of valuable artefacts. Not only is the pagoda a sacred institution for the Buddha Dharma (Buddhist teachings) for local Khmer compatriots, it is also a familiar place among the people of Can Tho whenever numerous cultural and social events take place. The pagoda contributes to enriching the material and spiritual lives of the people. The resident abbot there relates that in the years of resistance against the French and Americans, the pagoda was a place that helped and sheltered many youths avoid enemy armies, as well as one that allowed them a place to stay and practice devotion for extended periods of time.
