Pchum Ben

Three days before I was to move away from my training site I woke up at the three in the morning to meet up with some of my friends and language instructors. We met up and biked our way in the dark to the watt (buddhist temple) and participated in the Cambodian holiday, Pchum Ben. Pchum Ben is a religious Cambodian festival that lasts for fifteen days. The last three days are probably the most exciting. Family comes in from out of town and spend time with their loved ones, eat food allllllllllllllllllll day, go to the watt and pray, and take time off from work. Pchum Ben also reminds of Dias De Los Muertos because it's a holiday  where Cambodians pay their respects to their relatives who have passed away. Cambodians offer food and prayers to their deceased relatives and during Pchum Ben it is believed that the gates of hell open up and the souls of relatives are able to find their way back home to benefit from the the food offerings and prayers.   

Plates of fruit and rice are made for the ceremony and for the monks at the watt.

After the plates of food are placed on the ground for the monks and spirits the monks and everyone else begin to chant for the next fifteen minutes.

Then after wards we walked outside of the watt and began throwing balls of sticky rice at small temples that are placed around the watt. Throwing the balls of sticky rice signifies the food offering for the Cambodian's ghost relatives.

I wanted to capture the moon at four in the morning.

Even though I had to wake very up early in the morning it was a small sacrafice to make in order to be apart of Pchum Ben. I'm glad I was able to participate it with my friends and language instructors. It was a great way to end my time at my training village with my wonderful host family. They welcomed me into their home with a great big open heart. The least I could do was to show them the love and respect I have for them, their culture and their religion. <3