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on Mary In Cambodia (Cambodia), 05/Oct/2010 08:04, 34 days ago
Pchum BenPchum Ben is a 15 day Buddhist religious festival unique to Cambodia, and thought to be its most important. It takes place during the tenth month of the Cambodian lunar based calendar, which is either September or October. The 15th. Day of the month is the day of Pchum Ben, but for the previous 15 days we’re wakened at 4 am by the chanting of monks through loudspeakers. I joined my V.A. Joe on Saturday morning at 4, and went with him and his neighbours to fulfil the obligation of the festival. We each carried a plate of sticky rice balls, shaped like a cone and topped with cinnamon, cocoanut and sweets, a bottle of water, a small candle, and incense sticks.The ritual consisted of time spent sitting on the floor, holding our plate of rice, while the monks chanted in front of a large Buddha. Next we lit some incense sticks, and walked once around the outside of the pagoda. Then in to another large room with a huge altar to Buddha, for more chanting and praying. We lit our candles and the last lot of incense. Then twice more round the outside , this time throwing the rice balls in the air to feed the ancestors. Some were thrown inside the wall for our ancestors as we called them in our minds, and some were thrown out over the wall for the abandoned spirits who couldn’t come in because no one called them by name. This is Cambodia’s festival of the dead, whose spirits are believed to walk the earth during Pchum Ben. The candles are so that the spirits can find their way to the offerings.It took about an hour, then it was back to bed for me, but for most Cambodians it was time to begin the days work. There were hundreds of people there, young and old. I was very impressed with the sincerity and reverence of all.The 15th. Day is a day for the living as much as for the dead. Cambodians dress in their finest, and gather with family and friends at the temple to pray and celebrate, to see and be seen in a festive communal event. The ancestors are asked for blessings in return for more offerings. Money, food and new clothing are presented to the monks who are the intermediaries with the dead through meditation, chanting and prayers.Pchum Ben dates back to Angkorian days I’m told, and was thought to be a month long festival, coinciding with a time during the rainy season, when Buddha went into meditative retreat. The last 3 days are public holidays.In the Catholic Church here in Sisophon Pchum Ben will also be celebrated on Friday morning (15th. Day) with Mass for our deceased relatives. It is a fact that Cambodians who have converted to Christianity still go to the pagoda to make offerings to the ancestors. Their reasoning is that even though they are now Christian, their ancestors are Buddhist and must be honoured in the traditional way.The ancestors are all important in Buddhist life. If the living neglect them it is feared that they will bring bad luck. Even if neighbours have, bad fortune they can blame it on your neglected spirits, hence the importance of being seen to care for the loved ones. Likewise every family has a spirit house in the garden, where food and drink is placed every morning for the family spirits.