Category: Custom and culture

The Royal Ploughing Day is an ancient royal rite to welcome the beginning of the growing season and determining the destiny of the harvest this year.

The ceremony takes place in the park in front of National Museum in the morning time and is led by the King or another high official and two sacred oxes. First the oxes plough a furrow of the park then they are led to seven trays containing rice, corn, beans, sesame, grass, water and alcohol. Depending on what the oxes choose to eat the chief astrologer will determine the fate of the harvest this year.

The Cambodians has a deep connection with the earth and farming, and a strong astrological belief and thousands of people will gather around the park to watch the sacred oxes and the royal astrologers.

This royal ceremony is celebrated to give blessings to the farming and to pray for a sufficient rainfall, which is essential to spurring the agricultural sector. The Royal Ploughing Day takes place every year in the beginning of May when the farmers start preparing their agricultural activities such as ploughing fields and sowing seeds.

Read more about the Cambodian Holidays here.

Cambodia has a long history of dance and theatre. Performances of ‘the Reamker’ date back to the 13^th century. The Reamker is a Khmer version of the classic Indian Ramayan. It is an epic poem, exploring themes of good and evil, through encounters with monkeys, giants, princes and mermaids.

Mask making and the theatre are intrinsically linked in Cambodia. The masks transform the performers into their characters. In the past it was common for artists to make their masks and perform. The finished theatre masks are sacred and are treated with respect.

Mask making requires technical skill and patience. Most contemporary mask makers have studied at the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh. Finished theatre masks are considered as works of art.

En Sokha is a Phnom Penh based mask maker. He’s part of Sovanna Phum art association, a network of 120 artists. En Sokha works predominantly with the theatre, making traditional masks such as monkeys and giants. He tells me that he doesn’t come from a family of mask makers. En Sokha was a creative child and went on to study fine art at university, he finds his work very satisfying. En Sokha uses clay moulds to make his papier mache masks.  It takes between 5-7 days to complete a mask.

The best place to see these impressive masks, is at the theatre. Sovanna Phum host performances every Friday and Saturday. There’s a performance fusing modern and traditional drumming on 9^th and 10^th of March.  Entrance is $5 for foreigners, and $3 for Cambodians.

 

Last week, I had the privilege of photographing an Oscars party in Phnom Penh. Actors and directors from the Sixties, the ‘golden age’ of Cambodian cinema, attended the event. In the Sixties, even King Sihanouk was a renowned film maker. The Cambodian film industry, like the arts in general, was severely set back by the Khmer Rouge. The Cambodian film industry still hasn’t recovered its former glory.

At the Oscars party, there was a flurry of excitement when Dy Saveth arrived.  Dy Saveth starred in several films throughout the Sixties and was the first Miss Cambodia. She moved to France when the Khmer Rouge came to power. Dy Saveth returned to Cambodia in 1993. She still stars in Cambodian films. 

Photographing the event got me thinking about the Cambodian film industry. I spoke to Reaksmey, who works for the Cambodian Oscar Selection Committee. Reaksmey would like to see Cambodia putting forward films for the foreign language category at the Oscars. The problem is at the moment, the majority of films are low budget ghost/love stories, which are popular with teenagers. Reaksmey would like to see Cambodian actors receive better training, in order to improve the quality of films. He mentions Lost Loves (about the Khmer Rouge) and 25 Year-Old Girl (about a woman with amnesia) as standout Cambodian films.

Cambodian-made documentaries have received more investment and attention than feature films. Meta House regularly shows Cambodian-made documentaries. Several documentaries are being shown throughout March. Bophana also hosts weekly documentary screenings, many of which are Cambodian-made. Visitors can also search through Bophana’s extensive film archives. There’s fascinating footage from the twenties to the present day. You can even watch films directed by King Sihanouk himself. An understanding of Khmer or French is helpful when viewing the archives. The videos are fascinating, whether or not you can follow what people are saying.

The most popular time of the year for weddings is from November to March, when the weather is dry and sunny. So do not get surprised if you get invited to a wedding during this time. A traditional Cambodian wedding lasts for three days but today most Cambodians only celebrate for one and a half day. You will probably be invited to the last part of the wedding which is the reception but let’s start from the beginning.

The wedding usually starts in the afternoon of the first day with Pithi Sout Mon, Monk Blessing. The monks are invited to pray and give blessing to the bridal couple. It is believed that the prayers will send a message to the soul of dead relatives that the couple is now celebrating their wedding and becoming husband and wife.

Next day starts early in the morning around 6-7am with the Hae Chamnoun ceremony, this is when the groom and his family go to the bride’s home with gifts. They wait outside the house until the bride comes out. When the bride comes out the groom offers the wedding flowers to her and they enter the house together. The groom’s parents offer fruit to the bride’s parents and a traditional Khmer singer will perform the “Fruit song”.

The whole day is filled with different ceremonies and for every new ceremony the bridal couple will change clothes. The first ceremony is the Ring exchange ceremony followed by Hair cutting ceremony, when the guests symbolically pretend to cut the couple’s hair and wishes them happiness and prosperity.  After that comes the Feet cleaning ceremony when the wife cleans her husband’s feet. The Cambodians with Chinese descent will then have a Tea ceremony when the couple drinks tea with their parents.

The day continues with the Bangvel Po (Seven Rotation), the couples are asked to sit around the bride and groom. Three candles are lit and handed over seven times around the bridal couple. Each participant passes his or her right hand over it in a sweeping motion towards the couple, a silent blessing to them. Only married couples are asked to join, as it is believed that they will pass along the special essence which will preserve the union.

The Pairing ceremony is normally one of the last ceremonies during the day before the evening party. In this ceremony family members and friends will tie the bride’s and groom’s left and right wrists with blessing strings and whishes the couple a lot of happiness, good health, success, prosperity, and a long-lasting love.

Last but not least is the reception and this is normally the part you get invited to. When you get your invitation make sure not to lose it because the tradition is to give back the envelope with money in it. The envelope will have your name on it, and at the reception there will be some relatives sitting by a special table collecting the gifts from the guest and writing down how much every guest gave. The more money you give the bigger blessing, as an expat going to a wedding in Phnom Penh you should probably give around 15-25 USD per person.

On the invitation it will probably say that the reception starts around 4pm but most guests do not arrive until after 6 pm. When you arrive to the party the parents of the bride and the groom will be standing outside and greet you.

Inside, it is usually free seating but custom is to fill up the tables where people are already sitting. When one table is filled with guest the food will be served. After most guests have finished their food the bridal couple will arrive. The guests will stand up and throw small flowers at the bridal couple as they walk in and up to podium where their parents will be waiting for them. They stop beneath their parents who also throw small flowers at them and give them a blessing in front of all the guests.

After the couple has got their parents blessing they will dance around a fruit table that is placed in front of the stage. When they have finished their dance all guests are invited to join the dance and it is party time!

How long time the party is going on is up to the couple who is getting married but many of the receptions in Phnom Penh finish already around 10 pm.