The Story of Preah Ket Mealea

         Preah Ket Mea Lea is a dance drama that was created based on The Poem of Angkor Wat "ល្បើកអង្គរវត្ត." This dance drama was last performed in the 1960s. It was revived by Massachusetts resident Kennis Mor, a senior vocalist for the Royal Ballet of Cambodia, Yann Borin, and his successor, Seiha Oudom. This dance drama has three scenes—the Heavenly Gardens, Exiled By Indra, and The Coronation. In the Heavenly Gardens, a place of unparalleled beauty, the Queen had just woken up from a beautiful dream about bearing a great and powerful son. She soon arrived with her maids at the gardens near her quarters. They heard a noise approaching from the skies and were frightened. As they looked closer, they realized it was Indra coming from the heavens. Indra bestowed her flowers of blessings, and she was gifted Indra's Son, Preah Ket Mealea. In the next scene is Tep Soda Chan, a heavenly being from Indra's court. She came down to Earth to bathe. She saw beautiful flowers grown with precious care and picked 5 flowers to bring back to Indras Palace. Indra realized that she stole these flowers without asking the owner and was exiled from the heavens for five years and was forced to marry the owner of the flowers as well. They fell in love, a love transcending the sky, and had a son named Preah Pisnoka, who would later be Indras' architect. In the last scene, Preah Ket Mealea and Preah Pisnoka are grown adults. Preah Pisnoka helped build Preah Ket Mealea Palace, which we see now in Cambodia (Angkor Wat). During this Holy day, Preah Ket Mealea will be attending his coronation to be the great and powerful king of the land called Kampuchea (Cambodia)