The Khmer New Year holiday is also called Chol Chnam Thmay, and the date is based on the ancient Khmer calendar. In Cambodia, so far, I have celebrated 3 New Years – this year, in 2013. There is the International New Year (the one celebrated in the West), Chinese New Year (a big deal here because of the strong Chinese influence), and the Khmer New Year, the most important in Cambodia. Held in mid-April, this year’s celebration was from April 14th through the 16th.
Khmer New Year marks the end of the harvesting season, when farmers enjoy the fruits of their labor before the rainy season begins. People visit each other, often making an exodus to their provincial homelands, wish each other good fortune, health, prosperity, and join in games.
In the days leading up to the celebration, people prepare new clothes, food, and drinks. They also repair, clean, and decorate their house.
This is the shrine and decorations built for the celebration on the porch outside my bedroom.
At the health center, all the trees got a new coat of decorative whitewash around their trunks.
We also had a lunchtime party with lots of food and beer.
My host brother Sarom did the cooking.
Each of the 3 festival days of the Khmer New Year celebration has a different name:
The first day is called Moha Songkran.
It is the ending of the year and the beginning of a new one. People dress up, light candles, and burn incense sticks at shrines paying homage and offering thanks for the Buddha’s teachings.
The second day is called Virik Wanabat.
People contribute charity to the less fortunate by helping the poor, servants, homeless, and low-income families. Families often attend a dedication ceremony to their ancestors at the monastery. I attended two of these one with my current host family, and one with my old host family at Pah’s home village about 10 Kilometers away.
Monks at our monastery passed a long line of people and received offerings of money and rice.
The third day is called Tngai Laeung Saka.
Buddhists cleanse Buddha statues and their elders with perfumed water. Bathing Buddha images symbolizes the importance of water for all plants and life. It is also thought to be a kind deed that will bring longevity, good luck, happiness, prosperity, and forgiveness for mistakes made in the previous year. I did not see any of this happen in my village, but I did get to see a traditional game played at the monastery.
In this game, a clay pot filled with baby powder is hung and blindfolded players are spun around and try to find and break the pot with a bat. If you are lucky and break the pot, you get showered in baby powder and win a prize of money.
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