Body of Late Great Supreme Patriarch Tep Vong Cremated 

The casket carrying body of late Great Supreme Patriarch Tep Vong is moving in a procession. Photo: Moeurn Makthong

PHNOM PENH – King Norodom Sihamoni presided over the royal cremation ceremony for late Great Supreme Patriarch Tep Vong on June 3 at a park in front of Wat Botum.

The procession started from Ounalom Pagoda towards Wat Phnom then marched slowly to the Independence Monument before reaching the cremation site.

Top state leaders and representatives of Buddhists from several countries were also there.

Venerable Tep Vong died due to illness during the evening of Feb. 26 at Ounalom Pagoda in central Phnom Penh, where he was the abbot.

A member of the Mahanikaya Order, Venerable Tep Vong was among the first monks to be re-ordained after the fall of the Khmer Rouge in 1979. 

He played a significant role in reviving the country’s religious affairs after the disastrous regime forcibly defrocked monks across the country.  

In 1991, he became supreme patriarch and was granted the title of samdech. 

In 2006, he was made Great Supreme Patriarch, overseeing both sects of Cambodia’s Theravada Buddhist orders, Mahanikaya and Dhammayut. 

He is also one of the nine-member Throne Council which elects a new king.

Great Supreme Patriarch Tep Vong was 92 years old according to international standards, but 93 years old per the Supreme Sangha Council of Cambodia, which uses a counting method based on the Khmer Buddhist calendar. 

Supreme Patriarch of the Mahanikaya Order Non Ngeth, one of the first to be re-ordained, was appointed acting Great Supreme Patriarch. 

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