17 Facts About Nil Teang

Nil Teang held that position during the reign of three consecutive kings: King Preah Ang Duong, King Norodom, King Sisowath.

Nil Teang was born on Sunday, the 7th day of the month of Ashadha, corresponding to 4 July 1824 in Po Preah Bat district, Kien Svay province, present-day Kien Svay district in Kandal Province.

Nil Teang was the eldest son of a father named Nil and a mother named Lek.

In 1831, when Teang was just eight years old, Vietnamese and Siamese troops fought in the Kien Svay area to conquer Cambodia.

The family of Nil Teang were captured by the Siamese army and taken to Siam as slaves.

Nil Teang was sent to be educated at Wat Amarinthraram.

Nil Teang was fully ordained on May 22,1844, on Thursday, in Wat Mahathat Yuwaratrangsarit, in front of the Royal Palace in Bangkok, with Somdet Phra Ariyavongsanana V known as Don presiding over the celebration.

Nil Teang was 25 years old in 1849 when he returned to Cambodia.

Nil Teang went to bid farewell to King Nangklao Rama III.

In 1849, Nil Teang was asked by King Ang Duong to settle in Oudong at Wat Prang by the Royal Palace to restore the state of Buddhism in Cambodia.

In 1892, Nil Teang began the construction of the Silver Pagoda in the Royal Palace for King Norodom.

Nil Teang contributed to the renovation of many other pagodas such at Wat Hanchey in Kampong Cham province.

Nil Teang died aged 90, on October 2,1913 at Wat Ounalom in Phnom Penh.

Nil Teang was cremated the next year in 1914 with pump and circumstance, with cohorts of monks and religious in attendance, from Thailand and Vietnam as well.

Nil Teang is the symbol of the restoration of the Cambodia intellectual tradition.

Nil Teang Tieng was considered not only to be expert in Khmer literature but to be fluent in Thai, Pali and Sanskrit.

Nil Teang was one of the earliest representatives of Cambodian nationalist monks.