Description
Part of the radical revolutionary program of the Khmer Rouge involved the destruction of Khmer Buddhism. It is said that there were only a dozen monks alive and in Cambodia by the time the Pol Pot regime fell in 1979. Wat Langka was apparently used as a storehouse by the Khmer Rouge, so it escaped total destruction. Now fully renovated, this temple has an important place in Cambodian Buddhism as it was originally designated the principle library for religious writings. The name Langka comes from fact that the monastery originally housed an order from Sri Lanka.