Attendees of the festival playfully pose for a group picture. Not only a time for pious observance, the Cambodian New Year festival is the perfect time of year for family and friends to spend time together and reunite.
Colorful felt decorations on sticks adorn one of the sand mound fashioned on the temple grounds.Monday, April 13, 2009
By Zachary Siebert
Colombian Missourian (USA)
COLUMBIA — Easter weekend has always had a singular feel around Boone County.
Church parking lots and sanctuaries are conspicuously fuller than usual. Families and loved ones gather together dressed in their best, and children can be found running wildly, basket in hand, in search of pastel eggs. Traditions such as these help make this a joyful time of the year, but the hallowed Christian holiday wasn’t the only sacred event celebrated in Boone County this weekend.
The Wat Angkor Cambodian Buddhist Temple near Hallsville on Old Highway 63 played host to an entirely different tradition from halfway around the globe: the Cambodian New Year festival or Chol Chnam Thmey in the Khmer language.
While the temple is always an interesting place to visit in Boone County, it was an authentic and colorfully enchanting slice of Cambodia as Cambodian Buddhists from all over gathered together to commemorate the holiday.
The Cambodian New Year celebration lasts for three days beginning on New Year’s Day, usually April 13 based on the Buddhist calendar.
In Cambodia, the holiday is all-encompassing. Celebrations can be found everywhere in all aspects of daily life, but the most important rituals must take place at a holy temple. Fortunately for Cambodian Buddhists in Missouri, there is the Wat Angkor Temple in Boone County.
Occupied for the last four years by Savann Mey, the only Cambodian Buddhist monk who lives and practices in Missouri, the temple transforms into a remarkably beautiful hosting ground to Chol Chnam Thmey each year.
There are several customs that make the holiday unique, most notably the erection of sand mounds on the temple grounds representing holy burial grounds.
Participants plant incense in the mounds and leave offerings for loved ones and family who they believe have passed on to the next life while praying for their happiness and comfort.
As with all culturally significant traditions, an outsider has much to be curious about, but despite such distant origins, the Cambodian festivities share much in common with Easter celebrations elsewhere in the county.
The temple was fuller than usual. Families and loved ones were gathered together dressed in their best, and children were found running wildly around pastel-colored decorations.
Church parking lots and sanctuaries are conspicuously fuller than usual. Families and loved ones gather together dressed in their best, and children can be found running wildly, basket in hand, in search of pastel eggs. Traditions such as these help make this a joyful time of the year, but the hallowed Christian holiday wasn’t the only sacred event celebrated in Boone County this weekend.
The Wat Angkor Cambodian Buddhist Temple near Hallsville on Old Highway 63 played host to an entirely different tradition from halfway around the globe: the Cambodian New Year festival or Chol Chnam Thmey in the Khmer language.
While the temple is always an interesting place to visit in Boone County, it was an authentic and colorfully enchanting slice of Cambodia as Cambodian Buddhists from all over gathered together to commemorate the holiday.
The Cambodian New Year celebration lasts for three days beginning on New Year’s Day, usually April 13 based on the Buddhist calendar.
In Cambodia, the holiday is all-encompassing. Celebrations can be found everywhere in all aspects of daily life, but the most important rituals must take place at a holy temple. Fortunately for Cambodian Buddhists in Missouri, there is the Wat Angkor Temple in Boone County.
Occupied for the last four years by Savann Mey, the only Cambodian Buddhist monk who lives and practices in Missouri, the temple transforms into a remarkably beautiful hosting ground to Chol Chnam Thmey each year.
There are several customs that make the holiday unique, most notably the erection of sand mounds on the temple grounds representing holy burial grounds.
Participants plant incense in the mounds and leave offerings for loved ones and family who they believe have passed on to the next life while praying for their happiness and comfort.
As with all culturally significant traditions, an outsider has much to be curious about, but despite such distant origins, the Cambodian festivities share much in common with Easter celebrations elsewhere in the county.
The temple was fuller than usual. Families and loved ones were gathered together dressed in their best, and children were found running wildly around pastel-colored decorations.
2 comments:
THE CAMBODIAN NEW YEAR CELEBRATION
The Cambodian people have always performed the New Year Celebration since the ancient time. At the present, the New Year Celebration is the biggest event for the Cambodian nationality. It is a special time for the Cambodian family, as well as all individuals. The New Year Celebration is made and determined by the system horoscope of Buddhism which is called MOHA SANG KRANN that informs us the New Year celebration is on the 12th, 13th, and 14th of April for most of the year. Sometimes we celebrate it in the month of May.
We use Buddha's washed water to wash our faces, head, and the body. Using this kind of water is related to the belief of three enigmas and their solutions are being practiced by all of us to this present time:
- First, in the morning we at least wash our faces, or take a shower, because we need beauty, prosperity, charm, luck, chance, and power. The beauty is most important for us.
- Second, at noon time we use water to slap at our chests for the prosperity, and healthiness.
-Third, at the evening time before we go to bed at least we wash our feet for healthiness, good sleeping, and/or for a well dream.
According to the tradition and the custom, the New Year Celebration takes place for three days. It consists of the following:
-The first day is called the day of MOHAR CHANG-KRANN, (Wishing, Praying )
-The second day is called the day of VANNA-BATH, (Basic of a pure/noble nature)
-The third day is called the day of LOEUNG SAK, (Lucky/ Refreshing).
(In short, this three days celebration is performed to enhance our annual self-awareness).
During the New Year Celebration, people tour far, some tour at the mountains, some tour at the rivers, beach, castles, and the places of Cambodian Heroes. The Cambodian people must show friendliness and happiness. We come together to prepare food for the three days event. We clean up, and decorate our homes. We buy new clothes for the family. When the days arrive, first we prepare things to welcome a new angel. The things we prepare for the new angel are 5 candles, 5 incenses, 5 pieces of popped-rice, a bowl of perfume, fruits, cigarettes, areca palm, and soda drinks. Some people offer new angel with a pair of BAAY SAY and a pair of BAAY SAY PARCHAM. It is made from section of banana-tree trunk. It is standing with three legs. Each BAAY SAY has 5 layers of banana's leaves rolled up in the finger shapes that are attached to banana-tree trunk. It can be also used for a different ceremony.
At night, before first day of New Year and while it's about time for new angel to arrive, the children, relatives, and family members come and sit together close to the place we decorated. It is ready to welcome new angel. In Cambodia, we would hear drummed noise, or gong's noises. The sounds would be temple to temple and village to village. This is indicated that the new angel is arriving, then we light various sizes of candles, incenses to welcome the new angle and ask for peace, liberty, healthiness, happiness and so on. Some people pray to the Buddha.
THEN THE THREE DAYS OF NEW YEAR CELEBRATION BEGIN
THE FIRST DAY OF NEW YEAR
On the first day of New Year in the morning, we bring food to the temple and pray with the monks, then we build several mountain's sand (It represents the Buddha's stupa) together at the temple, and around the bodhi trees in the Pagoda. Building the mountain's sand is to indicate the Buddha about our good wishing. We believe that we will receive a lot of luck and liberty because it is used to represent and to worship the Buddha who is our teacher and the master living at the heaven. This is a great honor to the Buddha and it is splendid to show him our respects. At the afternoon time, men, women, children, boys, girls, play traditional games together. Some people travel from far. At night, we listen the Buddhist monks preach of the sermon, and we recite with the Buddhist monks our protective prayers.
THE SECOND DAY OF THE NEW YEAR
We follow the tradition of our parents and grand parents by doing good deeds. We would give them clothes, cakes, food, and money. We donate money, clothes to the servants or the poor people. At the evening ceremony, again we build the mountain's sand and we recite a protective prayer, then we invite the Buddhist monks to do the worship and pray to spirit or the souls of our parents, or our ancestors.
THE THIRD DAY OF THE NEW YEAR
In the morning, we invite monks to finish worships building the mountain's sand. At the evening time, we start to wash the Buddha's status which we call "SRUONG PRASS." The third day of the New Year Celebration at the evening time we finish the celebration. All elderly people who practice Buddhist religion would perform regularly to wash Buddha's status. This is the special ritual that we need to be performed at each temple through out the entire country.
We worship the Buddha because he provides us the shades (self-awareness). Another part is the belief of washing Buddha is to ask for rain to the farmers. We take Buddha washed water to wash our body, faces to get the prosperity, charm, luck, chance, power, and for our long life.
In the conclusion, most places before finishing this New Year Celebration on the last day at noon time, some groups play pouring the water, powder, or perfume to indicate us to have good luck for this coming new year. This game is assumed, and indicated that the New Year Celebration is going to end, and we are wishing you all with lots of loves and good luck.
Red-Ant.
Happy Khmer New Year everybody. Love from Siem Reap
http://www.renstuktuks.com
Post a Comment