Pchum Ben
In Cambodia's Buddhist traditions, the Festival of the Dead falls on the 15th day of the celebrations called the Dak Ben. During the Dak Ben, 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 the Dak 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.
They will pray 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.
Buddhist scholars say the Festival of the Dead stems from the three-month period when Buddha went into retreat during the rainy season. During that time, monks were not allowed to leave the wat overnight, unless their parents were seriously ill, the abbot said. In Buddha's time, the Festival of the Dead lasted for about one month. In later years, it was reduced to 15 days because many families were busy with farming.
During the festival, people also build sand mountains, which represents the release of the sins they have committed during the past years, said 65-year-old Im Roeung. She said some people also build little boats, made of plastic or banana leaves, to carry offerings to the dead.
Like many other Cambodians, Im Roeung said she can't go to seven wats, as Buddha taught, due to economic hardship and transportation problems. But, she added the "Buddha also did not require people to go to all the seven, only one is enough. But the more, the better."
Chhoen Sok, a 58-year-old Takeo farmer, said the Festival of the Dead has another purpose in addition to urging Cambodian Buddhists to bring their offerings to the monks. He said it also marks the "reunion of family members" who come from near and faraway.
Extracted from parish-without-borders.net