Cambodian villagers pour holy water on a dead "magic cow" during a two-day religious event of Brahmanism in Damnak Sangker village, Pursat province, about 200 kilometers (124 miles) northwest of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, Aug. 21, 2009. They later collected the water as they believe its "magical" medicinal work. About 90 percents of Cambodians are Buddhists, but they also respect Brahmanism. Many Cambodian people believe in the holy water and the "magic cow" in the hope for good luck, health and prosperity. (AP photo/Heng Sinith)
Cambodian Buddhist monks chant before a dead "magic cow" during a two-day religious event of Brahmanism in Damnak Sangker village, Pursat province, about 200 kilometers (124 miles) northwest of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, Aug. 21, 2009. About 90 percents of Cambodians are Buddhists, but they also respect Brahmanism. (AP photo/Heng Sinith)Friday, August 21, 2009
By HENG SINITH (AP)
DAMNAK SANGKE, Cambodia — Villagers in this poor community in central Cambodia live hand to mouth, but many dug into their pockets to help pay for a funeral here Friday for a three-day-old calf with a dark, reptilian hide that many believed was holy.
Outh Kdep, the calf's owner, said villagers believed in the animal's divinity because there had been a drought in the area for three months, but it rained the day after it was born.
The female calf was born Tuesday and died Thursday in this remote village in Pursat province, some 140 miles (220 kilometers) northwest of capital Phnom Penh. It had thick, dark, scaly skin like a crocodile's, and legs with odd markings.
Yim Rith, 60, a community leader, said Cambodians have for centuries worshipped a Cow God believed to bring peace and prosperity. The deity disappeared from their land long ago, but the calf may have been a sign it was returning to help them, he said.
Hundreds of villagers flocked to see the animal, lighting incense to pray for its well-being and collecting its saliva, believed to cure illness. The flood of visitors panicked the cow's mother, affecting her ability to enough produce milk to feed the calf, and it died.
But the faithful were undeterred. The calf's corpse was placed on a plastic sheet, and people washed water over it in the hopes of making the liquid holy.
Srey Nak, 72, said that when some was applied to her joints and teeth, long-standing pains and aches went away.
"But I am very upset that the Cow God came to live with us for just three days and has now died," she said. "If she stayed longer, then many sick people could have been treated."
Un Dary, General Director of Religious Affairs for Cambodia's Ministry of Cults and Religions, said he did not know about the case, but that many Cambodians, who are almost all Buddhists, also subscribe to animism — a belief that spirits can inhabit all sorts of living and inanimate objects.
Whenever an odd animal makes an appearance, he said, it is cause for the superstitious to celebrate. He speculated that the freak appearance of the calf may have been due to a vitamin deficiency or virus.
Outh Kdeb, 40, grieved for her calf Friday.
Had it lived a bit longer, she said, "my family and the people in this area as well as the whole entire Cambodian nation would have achieved more peace and prosperity."
The animal was buried in a rice field near her house Friday. She said villagers pooled 150,000 riel ($35), and she contributed 200,000 riel ($50) for a ceremony with six Buddhist monks to give thanks and wishes for the soul of the God Cow. They prayed for it "to be reborn as soon as possible."
Outh Kdep, the calf's owner, said villagers believed in the animal's divinity because there had been a drought in the area for three months, but it rained the day after it was born.
The female calf was born Tuesday and died Thursday in this remote village in Pursat province, some 140 miles (220 kilometers) northwest of capital Phnom Penh. It had thick, dark, scaly skin like a crocodile's, and legs with odd markings.
Yim Rith, 60, a community leader, said Cambodians have for centuries worshipped a Cow God believed to bring peace and prosperity. The deity disappeared from their land long ago, but the calf may have been a sign it was returning to help them, he said.
Hundreds of villagers flocked to see the animal, lighting incense to pray for its well-being and collecting its saliva, believed to cure illness. The flood of visitors panicked the cow's mother, affecting her ability to enough produce milk to feed the calf, and it died.
But the faithful were undeterred. The calf's corpse was placed on a plastic sheet, and people washed water over it in the hopes of making the liquid holy.
Srey Nak, 72, said that when some was applied to her joints and teeth, long-standing pains and aches went away.
"But I am very upset that the Cow God came to live with us for just three days and has now died," she said. "If she stayed longer, then many sick people could have been treated."
Un Dary, General Director of Religious Affairs for Cambodia's Ministry of Cults and Religions, said he did not know about the case, but that many Cambodians, who are almost all Buddhists, also subscribe to animism — a belief that spirits can inhabit all sorts of living and inanimate objects.
Whenever an odd animal makes an appearance, he said, it is cause for the superstitious to celebrate. He speculated that the freak appearance of the calf may have been due to a vitamin deficiency or virus.
Outh Kdeb, 40, grieved for her calf Friday.
Had it lived a bit longer, she said, "my family and the people in this area as well as the whole entire Cambodian nation would have achieved more peace and prosperity."
The animal was buried in a rice field near her house Friday. She said villagers pooled 150,000 riel ($35), and she contributed 200,000 riel ($50) for a ceremony with six Buddhist monks to give thanks and wishes for the soul of the God Cow. They prayed for it "to be reborn as soon as possible."
37 comments:
Stop do and worship stupid thing and idols and animal. You curse God and Budhha, and even your parents.
In the cursed land, people worship animal and idols. God were so angry with wicked Cambodia and leaders, so 2 million were destroyed by God using Khmer Rouge hands. God destroys in turn Khmer Rouge using Viet hands.
What will God use to draw the wicked leaders out and from Cambodia?
Cambodians? Speechless!!!
"Srey Nak, 72, said that when some was applied to her joints and teeth, long-standing pains and aches went away."
It's all in the psychological mind.
What a Buddhist country? Absolute evil practicing.
1:05 hows about i use my hand and punch your FUCKING FACE IN, YOU FUCKING FAG SIEM
3;57am.
You are real Youn who is so paranoid and trying to curse around in Khmer Blog to cause trouble. By now the whole world know that the Vietnamese are crying for helps because of China's DAMS, and China controld WATER.
Khmer people shoud stop believed in stupid nonsense thing, Khmer should wake up and start to learns new thing like: science, new computer Technology with modernize stuffs instead! Khmer never learns to change?? this is why Khmer lost so much lands in the past! because the stupid King in the past believed in bullshit craps nonsense stupidity things.....Why Thailand is better than us? because they used their fucken brains to study and learns new Techonology and get smarter!! and we still worship Arch Ko? Arch kro bei? wake up khmer people!!!!!!!
Khmer people shoud stop believed in stupid nonsense thing, Khmer should wake up and start to learns new thing like: science, new computer Technology with modernize stuffs instead! Khmer never learns to change?? this is why Khmer lost so much lands in the past! because the stupid King in the past believed in bullshit craps nonsense stupidity things.....Why Thailand is better than us? because they used their fucken brains to study and learns new Techonology and get smarter!! and we still worship Arch Ko? Arch kro bei? wake up khmer people!!!!!!!
Khmer people shoud stop believed in stupid nonsense thing, Khmer should wake up and start to learns new thing like: science, new computer Technology with modernize stuffs instead! Khmer never learns to change?? this is why Khmer lost so much lands in the past! because the stupid King in the past believed in bullshit craps nonsense stupidity things.....Why Thailand is better than us? because they used their fucken brains to study and learns new Techonology and get smarter!! and we still worship Arch Ko? Arch kro bei? wake up khmer people!!!!!!!
I agree with you man! we need to upagraded ourself with new high tech stuffs! we should stop believe in nonsense things, just look at india, china, other country they are getting smarter in High Tech.....this is the way for successful!
Khmer should stop being stupid believing...
Me too! i hated these old ancient believing stuffs! this is why cambodia fuck up so bad since the past....Neighbors country get smart, because they leans new thing, with new technique, new technology, and they are smarter!! and we are fuck up everyday stuck with the same old fucken shit!!!!!
correction = neighbor country they upgraded themself and learned new Technology, new Technique, modernize things, this is why they succeed..
Yep! khmer worship POOPs, STONE. PIECE OF WOODS, this is why country is poor ass and soon those who worship POOP will end up eating it...
These people too dull and too dumb! this is why cambodia never get better, because alot of dull and dumbass people believed in nonsense...
Another provacative by King Father Norodumb Shithanouk. Tomorow will be a golden ship( Sampov Meas) pop up on Mekong River. Casino boat that is.
LoL
oh, that cow look like his baby when he make love to the cow mother.
He'll bring all the skull from Toul Slaeng to touch the cow and those dead people come back to life?
Posters,
A miracle can still happen. In the US still many American believe in supernatural beings or prayers to heal the sick people. Scientists cannot prove why those things happen. Let the villagers practice their ancient rutuals if they believed it works.
stu of astronomy
What's a stupid nonsense believed! stop accused Viet/Siemese for taken lands, because khmer never change and updating themself! keep believed in stupidity Nonsense!, just take a look around the world, people are in modernize things everyday, High Tech, Computer Technology, this is 21st Cent. people already went to another planet? beside earth! and Khmer people still worship roads-killer? even death rat?, death cockroach? man!
Am i glad that "cambodia" my beloved country has alot of high degree students these days...? keep up borther and sisters, you are the future of our country....
khmer in poland
the way i see it is that is it an outdated, ancient belief or ancient practice of culture here. spiritually, i think it is fine, however, there is no scientific evidence or studies to show that these things do cure ailment. i theorized it's all in the mind of the local believers! again, who to say they shouldn't believe that! yes, i study anthropology and found this kind of cultural belief or culture phenomenal acceptable and interesting, indeed. if you study anthropology, you too can understand why people believe what they want to believe. just don't make it a national thing, though as it is useless; no scientific evidence to validate it. anyway...
10:45AM.
These people are being criticized by these ignorant posters because they are poor, but if they are rich or Thai royal family, or Leaders of Vietnam, etc., no one will scold them.
Freedom to believe by KI and these posters? What a hypocrite?
You are not in a position to preach to other humanss not to practice a sacred ritual that connect to physical and spiritual world, such as Hinduism which they believed for thousand years.
Every country has its own beliefs either Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, American or the rest of the world.
Don't try to blame these people' belief that they're the reasons for the Vietnamese have invaded Cambodia. Your reason is a scapegoat only.
If practicing Hinduism of ancient Khmers is going backward, for that reason, Khmers cannot become Scientists or astronauts, then why the Indians have more scientists, Engineers work for NASA than any other nationalities on earth? And recently Indian Scientists just landed their first spcecraft Chandrayan-1 on Moon.
Are these Indian scientists who worshipping the Cows blunder people?
stu of astronomy (UVa)
i told you, must respect other people rights to their ancient beleifs, etc... who are you to tell them not to belief in something that is dear and special to them! if don't believe like them, fine, but don't try to look down on them. keep in their their belief is theirs, not yours. and it has nothing to do with their occupation, etc... leave that separate. people's belief is only for spiritual well-being. after all it's been around for thousand of years already. who are we to say they cannot and should not belief what they want to belief. that kind of bad attitude is so undemocracy, to say the least! plus, they are just ordinary people; they not your president or your prime minister, etc, and they're not imposing their beliefs on you anyway. so why should you impose your own belief on them? go figure. get educated already, would you! god bless cambodia.
11:53 AM,
I am glad you understand this.
The scientists don't know everything, and many unexplained mystery things the scientists cannot prove and they cannot deny either.
Some NASA Engineers and Scientists are still searching for the answers, such communicating to the spirits through electronic voice phenomena (EVP), and they in fact keep doing more research.
stu of astronomy (UVa)
Hey let people believe or worship whatever they want.You are not in the position to tell people what to do.If you think you are smarter then why you still go to Buddhist temple and worship those lazy monks knowing that those monks when alone go online and look for porn site.
Case 1: One White boy in the Children Hospital in the US was dying with Leukema. His mother and the whole small community started to pray GOD for him, because they're Christians. A week later the Drs cannot find cancer in the boy's body. Today, Americans believe more in healing prayers.
Case 2: A Khmer Buddhist man in the US contacted a deadly disease like flesh-eating-blood on his left leg below the knee. No medecine can cure him. Dr. told him his leg must be amputated, and even ampitated his leg, there's no guarantee he will live. His son signed papers and Dr. released him home. His son contacted the relative in Cambodia and told them what happened to his Father with the pictures along with. Less than a week, a piece of an outlayer- wood arrived with one Cambodian-American family who visited Cambodia and lived near by. The son follwed the instruction and prayed then he chopped the outlayer-wood into 10 pieces and boiled them. From one galon of watrer in the pot until it became only a small glass of water, then he gave to his Father to drink. Just only a week the left leg was healed. When Dr.' appointment came he took his Father to the Hospital, then the Dr. and Nurses were shocked. They started to question him "what did you do ..or did you take?.."
He was worried that he can be subjected to crimes against FDA, he replied "I just fed my father organic food and prayed. Besides that I did nothing".
FDA is Federal Drug Administration, and in the US, no citizen can claim their objects curable, only FDA itself.
You see, there are too many things we don't know about.
But we have to be smart, we shouldn't reply only one thing, prayers and modern medecine can be all helpful, then do it.
FDA approves million medecines and many killed humans too.
About EVP that scientists or engineers at paranormal researchers used to communicate with the spirits as we normally called them ghosts or Poltergeists was conventional, today they use certain audio frequencies instead of EVP. You may want to read an article of a NASA dead scientist named George Jeffries Mueller.
These poor Khmers don't have modern equipment but they communicated with the spirits through their own psychic abilities. I'm sure the Hindu in India are smart and intelligent people who know a lot. Sooner or later these poor people will know from outsiders and things will be all happy.
whatever, just don't make it an excuse to stop development in cambodia, that's all! we accept religious diversity in cambodia. and definitely don't try to take cambodia backward into the stone age again, that's all. let's be fair to all others who maybe believing differently, though! thank you! and god bless cambodia.
4:20am
Our side (humans) and other side (energy or soul or force or entity), we should compromise to be developped countries. Because of that, taht's why the scientists tarveling to discover the universe.
Those farmers are not educated people but sooner they will learn to accept both, the same as educated people have to accept other side. We cannot live without one such as without a positive(+) and without a negative (-). These two + and - must go together.
That's why the guy said Hinduism in India where people are worhipping cow are mostly geniuses, because they balance.
4:20am
Our side (humans) and other side (energy or soul or force or entity), we should compromise to be developped countries. Because of that, that's why the scientists traveling to discover the universe.
Those farmers are not educated people but sooner they will learn to accept both, the same as educated people have to accept other side. We cannot live without one such as without a positive(+) and without a negative (-). These two + and - must go together.
That's why the guy said Hinduism in India where people are worhipping cow are mostly geniuses, because they balance.
I agree with 4:20am!
Khmer lost everything since the past! because of stupidity nonsense believed....
Khmers lost everythings because the fucking Kings each had thousand of beautiful Apsara topless girls to show on every wall.
If they built the wall surrounding the empire, we khmers may have had empire and at least develpo nation until now.
yes, i think it is ok for people to believe something that heals them or bring them spiritual well-being and so forth; however, when they try to enforce it on others who may have different believe system or when they took it too extreme and imposing on others, that we have to watch out for and avoid at all cost! agree that balance in the key. also the other concept, infusion, is also good because it incorporates local believe with other believes as well. that's good also. i guess diversity is what makes the world so beautiful!
They are caring , and love animals,
are you muslim
This is not nonsense things This is humanity
Which isnot at your place
Im agree that we should learn technology but this is humanity towards animals animal,that your parents not teach you
I respect you that you thinknlike this but we are human,
I agree LOVE ANIMALs
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