Pchum Ben Celebrations Cambodia 15th- 29th September 2008

September 22, 2008 – 3:58 pm

This week marks the beginning of a 15 day Buddhist Celebration, Prachum Benda (“Ancestors’ Day”), more commonly known as Pchum Ben. Pchum Ben is a Cambodian religious festival, culminating in celebrations on the 15th day of the tenth month in the Khmer Calendar.

Cambodia is a country where family and elders are respected highly. Pchum Ben is a is a time when most Cambodians pay their respects to deceased relatives. In the words of Leakhena one of our Khmer staff at Symbiosis.

” We celebrate Pchum Ben for to be grateful to our ancients who have died and we hope that our prayers and food get to them.” (Leakhena Symbiosis ExpeditionPlanning)

Molika another of our staff members at Symbiosis describes Pchum Ben in this way;

“We usually consider it as perfect time for gathering of family and all of our relatives. We prepare food to the temple in the purpose to provide it to our ancestors that passed awayWe are delighted to do so because we believed it’s a communication between us and our ancestors, more importantly we also believe that they weren’t starving and always next to us even we are in different world” (Molika- Symbiosis Expedition Planning).

People cook meals for monks, bring offerings to the temple and throw rice near the temple early in the morning, believing that the ghosts of their ancestors will receive it.

Cambodia’s Buddhist traditions each village within a pagoda’s jurisdiction must offer food and other gifts to the monks. On the 15th day, all villagers come together to the pagoda with food and such special treats as sticky rice with pig fat and bean, and cake with banana wrapped inside, traditionally made for the Pchum Ben festival.

Apart from the offerings made through monks during Pchum Ben period, people must also prepare rice mixed with sesame seed.  Every morning at 4 AM, the mixture is thrown to the ground around the Wat’s temple to feed hungry ghosts.  On the final day of the festival families bring more offerings to the Wats. People either at the Wat or at home, depending on where the urns containing relatives’ ashes are.  And they will light incense sticks and candles to guide the spirits of their ancestors and relatives to the offerings they have prepared.

During the Pchum Ben Celebrations “It is important that we go to at least 2  Pagoda’s, because if our ancestors cannot find us they will bring us bad luck for the year.” (Leakhena- Symbiosis Expedition Planning).

It is often a quiet time around Phnom Penh during this religious festival as you most people go back to their home land to visit family. However, If you are in Cambodia for this festival it would be a very interesting time to visit a Wat or Pagoda to witness some of these rituals.

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