water from flooding, which caused drought across the region. People began to pray to the gods for help. Immediately, a beautiful angel untied her hair and came down to create a water source in the area. People were very happy and named her "Goddess Ganga". At that moment, a single strand of hair of the Ganges fell to the ground and it became the sea dragon or water-monster, Makara or Makor in Khmer, which was stronger than any other animal in the world. It also swallowed up all the creatures it encountered, whether humans, Singha as lions, or Nāga dragons. Since no one was able to subdue the monster, Shiva came down to face the Makor, promising the Ganges that if the god Shiva could catch the monster, she would marry him. "Preah Eyso" as Shiva also came down to face "Makor" for many days, still not knowing how to win or lose. "Kongkea" also told "Eyso" that if you want to subdue me, you can only lift me up and put me on the palm of your hand and the goddess "Kongkea" used her hair to drop into the water to suck out all the water and leave it alone on land. The Makor, which was an aquatic animal, turned into a Singha as a lion's foot. Shiva, with great weight, sat and pressed on the beast, unable to withstand the weight of him. "Makor" was willing to surrender to Shiva due to the ferocious power of the beast. Shiva held the animal's mouth into the elephant's trunk and the beast promised to spit it out. Since then, Shiva has used animals as vehicles. Makor transformed to Gajasimha and changed names to "Koch Jor Sey" which is related to "Reach Sey". The King Lion, protector of Kingdom of Cambodia made the symbols of the royal arms of Cambodia. The dragon boat races can be seen as a reenactment of these mythological battles. Program The Royal Water Festival, which lasts for three days, was recorded for the first time under the reign of King Norodom in 1873 and follows a precise ritual. Dragon boats from every major pagoda in Cambodia, come to Phnom Penh and compete for three days during daylight in elimination rounds until the final race on the third day. In the evening around 6:00 pm, a prayer is said for peace to Preah Mae Kongkea and a