Although Buddhism is the commanding religion in Cambodia but I would think the people can enjoy quite a free choice of religious practice, the difference is may be the numbers. Just behind the hotel I was staying is a Islamic moque of sizable scale. Virtually 95% of Cambodians are Theravada Buddhists of Khmer extraction. The Wat or Pagoda as the locals referred a temple and a Monk as Phra Song. Many of the ancient temples like those built during the Angkor period have a deep influence of Hindu temple. Some older, large Khmer temples were seemingly had their architectural symbolism built for dedicating to Indian gods of Shiva and Vishnu or Brahmanism until the influencial Buddhist king Jayavarman came to the throne in 1181. Religious values and Buddhist landmarks are often used as a source of Khmer national identity today even if the traditional value had a mix from influences of own Khmer, Indian and the colonial Nations such as Frence, Vietnamese and even the Thai. Further, the influx and mix of foreign elements over the decades such as the Chinese. Laos of similar root and others had made Cambodian today a truly unique Nation with own culture and identiry in the Aseam region. One way or another, Cambodian are proud of their root as being a Khmer and even if the country has been gone through various stages in dominance by foreign elements politically, they have their own set of values and cultural pratices. For an example, even for a brief spell of occupations under the French and even the Vietnamese, Christianity remains at bay while the viet's form of Mahayana tradition has not affect the basis of Cambodian's Theravada tradition.