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Festivals

Cambodian New Year

The Cambodian New Year is a 3-day celebration to mark the end of the harvest and the turn of the lunar year. It takes place annually around the 14th, 15th and 16th of April. People decorate homes in different colors and make various offerings to the Buddha at local shrines. People usually visit a temple at some point during the celebrations. Like its western equivalent, the Khmer New Year is a time to forget past hardships and look forward with hope. Houses are symbolically cleaned and people buy new clothes for the festival.

The first day of the festival is Moha Sangkran, the second day is Virakbornaborth, and the third day is Virak Lieng Sak. During this time people believe that the spirits of the old year explain their duties and responsibilities to the spirits of the New Year. As the New Year is born, so is the New Heaven. People prepare offerings, often in combinations of lucky numbers (5 candles, 7 cigarettes, etc). These offerings are usually presented in a Baysey; a container made from parts of the banana tree. Fruit, incense, tobacco and flowers are all accepted forms of offering.

People light candles and pray that the New Heaven will bring them joy. On Moha Sangkran, as well as making offerings, people build small mounds of sand around temples and Banyan trees. In the following days people add to these ’sand mountains’ and invite monks to come and pray over them to appease the spirits of ancestors. On the morning of Virak Lieng Sak people ritually bathe statues of the Buddha. It is also common for people to bathe their parents and grandparents as part of the cleansing ritual.

Traditional games played during Virak Lieng Sak include Teang Broaht (tug of war). The game symolises the balance of opposites in the universe. Many of the bas-relief carvings at Angkor Wat deal with the theme of opposite forces in equilibrium. The ‘Churning of the Ocean of Milk’ is a tug of war between good and evil with Vishnu at its centre. Another game played at New Year is bors-ang-kung. The game is played with the dark, hard nut found in the fruit of the Angnkun Tree. Four piles of Angnkun nuts are set in a square around a ‘King’. Teams usually consist of all men or all women, with the two genders throwing their Angnkun nut at the opposing team’s piles. It is common for a man to throw at the pile belonging to a woman he finds attractive, and vice versa. Once the outer piles of Angnkun nuts have been knocked over, the contestants concentrate on hitting the ‘King’. Losing is painful: the victors may strike their opponent’s kneecaps using two nuts to make a clacking sound. However, should the winners fail to make a sound with their nuts, the losing team members can hit back in turn with Angnkun nuts in hand. It’s a very entertaining game.

Bon Om Touk

Bon Om Touk, the Water Festival, is celebrated in November. Every town and province joins in the celebration, but the place to be for Bon Om Touk is Phnom Penh. For three days, workers from every province join with the city’s residents to celebrate by night and day. The river comes alive with fireworks and flotillas of brightly lit boats, and the moon rises over the capital. The festival coincides with the full moon, as do many of Cambodia’s major festivals. For the Khmer people, Bon Om Touk is one of their most important and traditional festivals.

For many visitors the highlight of the festival is a series of boat races that take place over three days and honor the 12th century Cambodian naval victories achieved under king Jayavarman VII. The most spectacular races take place opposite Sisowath Quay in Phnom Penh, though there are smaller events on the Siem Reap River and in other Provinces. The ‘dragon boats’ that take part closely resemble those used in the past, when the Angkorian kings would test the fighting prowess of their warriors by holding competitions. The races were a form of training and a means by which the king could choose his champions. Temple bas reliefs at the Bayon and Banteay Chmar have detailed depictions of naval battles and show just how similar modern dragon boats are to their ancient counterparts. To see more images from the Bayon bas reliefs and the Bon Om Touk Festival visit the Photo Gallery on this website.

Loy Pratit, Sampeas Preh Khe and Ork Ambok

There are three significant elements to the Bon Om Touk Festival: Loy Pratit, Sampeas Preah Khe and Ork Ambok. Loy Pratit is a kind of carnival procession on water that begins around 7.00pm with illuminated boats taking to the water. Each boat represents a government ministry or state institution. Sampeas Preah Khe is a ceremony in which salutations are made to the moon. After the ceremony, people gather at a temple at midnight for Ork Ambok, named after the rice dish which forms part of the ceremony. Rice is fried in the husk and then pounded with a giant pestle. The husks are removed and the special rice mixed with coconut and banana. This most traditional of Khmer dishes is sold throughout the festival.

Royal Ploughing Ceremony

The Royal Ploughing Ceremony, or Pithi Chrat Preah Neanng Korl in Khmer, is a prediction ceremony. During the Ploughing Ceremony, Cambodians believe they can predict a range of events including epidemics, floods, good harvests and excessive rainfall. The Royal Ploughing Ceremony is held every year in May at the Veal Preahmein Square in Phnom Penh, north of the Royal Palace, and in front of the National Museum. It is a truly Khmer ceremony, reflecting the complex beliefs and superstitions of the Cambodian people.

Bon Phchom Ben (Khmer Festival of the Ancestors)

Bon Phchom Ben is the autumnal festival dedicated to the spirits of the dead. During Bonn Dak Ben, a 15-day period following the full moon, food and money are offered to monks. On the 15th day of the festival the new moon appears. This day is Bonn Phchom Ben (the collection of the Bens, or offerings). It is believed that the souls of the dead will not leave a place in the light of the full moon so the festival ends when the night is at its darkest. It is also believed that dead relatives will return to haunt their descendents if suitable offerings are not made. Respect for ancestors and fear of ghosts (K’maoch) are both strong elements in the Khmer belief system.