Pchum Ben Festival of Ghosts
Pchum Ben the Festival of Ghosts
Pchum Ben (Khmer: បុណ្យភ្ជុំបិណ្ឌ; "Ancestors' Day") is a 15-day Cambodian religious festival culminating in celebrations on the 15th day of the tenth month in the Khmer calendar, at the end of the Buddhist lent, Vassa. In 2013, the national holiday falls on 03, 04, 05 October in the Gregorian calendar.
The day is a time when many Cambodians pay their respects to deceased relatives Pchum Ben is considered unique to Cambodia, however having also Chinese friends I know that they have a similar festival to pay respect to the ghosts of Ancestors. The are also similar events in Sri Lanka which makes sense as a lot of the culture comes from this part of the world originally.
In Cambodia most people return home to their providences of origin making the capital a very quiet place but the road out of town a nightmare and likewise at the end of the festival.
The main idea of the holiday is to offer food to your ancestors and those that look after them in the after life in return they will look after you and be kept out of hell. For the most respectful the aim is also to visit seven different Wat's during the festival period.
A lot of the food offered is actually used to feed the underprivileged by the monks and non perishable food is used by the monks themselves and to help the needy throughout the year. Unfortunately there is still a lot of waste given there are so many people that could benefit from this if it was spread over a longer period of time.
In the more rural areas or where their are good practitioners 4 monks will come to your house and bless the remains of your ancestors. This ceremony is performed early in the morning and the monks are given food and drink. As monks only eat once a day and before 12 o'clock.
A typical Wat scene in Cambodia.
A lot of people also make personal offerings at their own house.
In Australia the ceremony is changed slightly to coincide with a weekend and condensed due to the smaller population of Khmer or Theravada Buddhists and no public holiday to coincide with the event. It is the second largest event in the Khmer calendar and is nearly an all day event starting at 8.00am with individual blessings from the monks followed by a sermon by the monks the monks then eating the food offered and then a line is formed and people can give more offerings to the monks like they would do in their homeland. The difference being that the monks would normally walk the streets each morning delivering blessings and collecting donations.
By Kalliyan
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