According to legend, in 1372, a wealthy old lady named “Penh” lived on a small hill near the bank of the confluence of the four rivers. One day, when it was raining, Penh went down to the port to take a bath and saw a floating Koki tree in the river and she called the village to fish it from the water. She and the villagers took a piece of wood to scrape off the mud and in the hole of the Koki tree, there were four Buddha statues made of bronze, brass and one made of marble. Another statue was in the form of Vishnu with the hands holding a staff, a chain, a snail, and a lotus flower. Penh asked the villagers to help retrieve the Koki tree and retrieve the four treasures. Later, Penh assigned the villagers to build an artificial hill and build a small wooden temple on top of the hill to house the statues. She invited monks to bless the statues and the monks named the hermitage “Wat Phnom” which is known as to this day.