The Forest Children of Cambodia
By Jason for Discover Kampot
Those small wicker shrines with little colourful houses hanging in front of Kampot shophouses: what exactly are they for?
You may have noticed in front of the local shophouses, often hanging from trees, small wicker shrines with little, colourful houses perched inside. They often include little figurines of children with a raised hand, seeming to beckon to you as you pass by.
These animistic dwellings are for a spirit called the Mering Kong Viel (រេញគង្វាល).
The Mering Kong Viel are boys who normally live in the forest and take care of the animals. It’s why some animals, like elephants, roam in herds; it’s the Mering Kong Viel who keep watch over them, just like the young boys back at the villages would watch over the buffalo. Cambodian hunters would hang small shrines from the trees and give them offerings to show their appreciation.
And while these spirits are forest-dwelling, the Cambodians have noticed they’ll occasionally venture out of the forests and into the villages. They’ll either catch glimpses of them out of the corner of their eyes or encounter them in their dreams. Or – as one person once told me – running around on the road at dusk on the way down from Bokor Hill.
Young Cambodian children will sometimes be playing with a friend the adults can’t see. Not an imaginary friend. Just a friendly Mering Kong Viel who has come to the village to play with the children who are still young enough to see them.
In the forest, these spirits are naked, which is rather inappropriate for city life, so the Cambodians will leave a small bit of red cloth, usually in a plastic bag, attached to the shrines for them to wear.
But why are they showing up all over town? There are no animals here.
Well, rather recently (possibly in the last few decades – it’s hard to know for sure) the Cambodians have learned that the Mering Kong Viel can help them in another way: if they provide them with a nice shrine hanging from a tree next to their store and offer them some candy or small toys (often toy cars; they’re boys after all) the Mering Kong Viel will repay them by herding customers into their shop.
So the next time you randomly walk into a store and happen to notice these distinctly Cambodian shrines, perhaps – just perhaps – it wasn’t so random after all.
Further reading
Who Is Lok Yeay Mao? The Spirit That Watches Over Kampot
Who is Lok Yeay Mao? Discover the guardian spirit of Kampot, her legends, shrines, and why she still watches over travellers today.
The Kinky Tail of Cambodian Cats
Have you noticed that many of the local cats have stumpy, kinked tails? You're not the first.
These shrines are a common sight in the villages around Kampot. On a Countryside Experience or Sana’s Countryside Tours, you’ll have the chance to see daily life up close and learn more about the animistic traditions that are still very much alive in rural Cambodia.