Yeay Mao

Yeay Mao, also called Lok Yeay Mao or Grandmother Mao, is one of Cambodia's best known neak ta, or ancestral guardian spirits, especially revered in the coastal provinces of Kampot, Kep and Koh Kong and in the port city of Sihanoukville. Cambodian tradition holds her as a legendary matriarch and protector of travelers, fishermen and hunters, believed to hold influence over Bokor Mountain and the coastline beneath it. Oral traditions offer differing and sometimes contradictory accounts of her life, with one popular version describing her as the wife of a powerful warrior who, after his death, led armies against Thai forces and became a celebrated figure in her own right; a large statue of Yeay Mao stands atop Bokor Mountain overlooking the sea.