Preview

Khmer New Year in Cambodia

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1584 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Khmer New Year in Cambodia
Khmer New Year in Cambodia
Khmer New Year, or ‘Bon Chol Chhnam Thmei’ in the Khmer language, is the greatest traditional festival and national holiday in Cambodia, and the celebration last for three days. Khmer New year starts on April the 13th, 14th or 15th depending on the ancient horoscope “Maha Sangkran”, 2012 it starts on the 13 of April. The majority of the Cambodians are still farmers and Khmer New Year marks the end of the harvest season when farmers enjoy the fruits of their labor and relax before the start of the rainy season.
In the villages the people engage in traditional Khmer games, they play games such as the Bas Angkunh ‘seed throwing’, Chaol Chhoung ‘twisted-scarf throwing’, Leak Kanséng ‘twisted-scarf hide’ and dance to traditional Khmer songs.
The first day of Khmer New Year is called “Maha Sangkran”, Sangkran means movement and refers to that the sun is moving into a new Zodiac sign and Maha means great. Some say that Maha Sangkran means welcome to the new spirits. In the morning the Cambodians will go to the temple and offer food to the monks and receive blessings. During this time the Cambodians clean and decorate their homes and prepare fruits and drinks on a table or in their spirit house to welcome the new spirits. Elderly people like to meditate or pray the Dharma because they believe that any spirit that comes to their home will stay with them throughout the whole year and take care of their family.
The second day is called “Wanabot” and it is the day that they offer gifts to parents, grandparents and elders. In the evening of this day many Cambodians will go to the temple and build a mountain of sand to remember their ancestors who have passed away and have the monks give them blessings of happiness and peace.
The third day is called “Leung Sakk” and this is the first day of the new year. In the morning the Cambodians go to the temple and perform a ceremony where the mountain of sand gets blessed. The last ceremony is called
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Summary Of First They Killed My Father By Loung Ung
    • 403 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Summary Of First They Killed My Father By Loung Ung

    The Critics have a good argument that tell Loung that she misrepresent Khmer culture and history. They stated from the article that “’Children are not given present during the holiday…

    • 403 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Cambodia Genocide Research Paper
    • 746 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Cambodia Genocide Research Paper

    Cambodian lives were rattled in 1975-1979 when the Khmer Rouge Regime (Red Cambodians) took over Cambodia. Pol Pot, the leader of the Khmer Rouge, attempted to turn Cambodia into a communist nation. During this time, there were one and a half to three million deaths due to execution, starvation and disease. The Khmer Rouge took many Cambodians to camps to work on farms. Killing fields were set up over the country. Killing fields were where the Khmer Rouge took Cambodians who were no longer considered useful. People were blind folded, killed and buried in a mass grave yard. This mass genocide was a very scaring event and Cambodians today are still trying to move on and rebuild their lives.…

    • 746 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Summary: Past Still Haunts Khmer Genocide
    • 465 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Summary: Past Still Haunts Khmer Genocide

    Graceffo, Antonio "Past Still Haunts Khmer Genocide Survivor." "Past Still Haunts Khmer Genocide Survivor." World & I, vol. 21, no. 4, Apr. 2006, p. 8. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ulh&AN=21413726&site=ehost-live. This source shares a history of loss, suffering, and survival for the Cambodians who experienced the trauma of the Cambodian genocide. Every single Khmer living in Cambodia was either a victim or perpetrator. The Khmer Rouge liked the country people, who they called “old people.” They hated the city people though. They called them “new people.” At the time, no one understood what was happening at the time. They just knew they had to survive. Most Cambodians didn’t think of fleeing to America before 1979, because they had never heard of it. The…

    • 465 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Buddhist Temple Experience Paper
    • 814 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Buddhist Temple Experience Paper

    In order to get a better understanding of Buddhism, I attended the Tung Lam Buddhist Temple in Wilmington, North Carolina. The Tung Lam Buddhist Temple is a Vietnamese Buddhist Temple, instead of a Chinese Buddhist Temple. When I visited the temple on Wednesday, there were no services occurring. Services are held on primarily on Sunday and held on…

    • 814 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    The Misconceptions and the Outside Influences of the Genocide in Cambodia
    • 2363 Words
    • 10 Pages

    The Misconceptions and the Outside Influences of the Genocide in Cambodia

    When the people in the outside world were living the life of their dreams, the Cambodians were left all alone with their broken hearts that’s been shattered into pieces. It was the time period between 1975 and 1979, when the Khmer Rouge organized the mission to “reconstruct Cambodia on the communist model of Mao’s China.” (Peace Pledge Union) Many intellectuals and educated people at the time were eliminated, along with their extended family and their affiliates. According to The Angry Skies, “Cambodians that are associated with the Americans were put to death because they were considered traitors of the country.” (The Angry Skies) In addition, many babies and people that had shown tears in front of the Khmer soldiers have been killed because crying was considered a crime to the government. This process has embedded an image of destruction to Cambodians, and some survivors now are still afraid that they may be killed due to their possibilities of testifying against the Khmer Rouges. The few survivors had worked as laborers with no source of income coming from the government, and because of the limited supplies of food, they had to eat whatever they can find to stay on their feet. A documentary, Among the disappeared, counted “1.7 million deaths caused by the Pol Pot, which is a one fifth of the population in Cambodia at the time.” (Among the disappeared)…

    • 2363 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Us Invasion of Cambodia
    • 1397 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Us Invasion of Cambodia

    This is Cambodia today: a thousand intertwined branches, a thousand stories woven together, a thousand currents of history swirling in different directions. To understand Cambodia in the present, it is necessary to look at Cambodia in the past.” http://www.mekong.net/cambodia/banyan1.htm…

    • 1397 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Ethnography Project: Cambodian Culture
    • 1056 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Ethnography Project: Cambodian Culture

    “A person without the knowledge of their past history, origin, and culture is like a tree without roots.” Marcus Garvey. What do you think of when you hear the word Cambodia? Do you think of the dirty water? The cows? The hard working rice pickers? The poverty? What does being Cambodian mean to you? To me, it means a lot. If I never knew that I am Cambodian, things would be a whole lot different. There’s a certain way in which we speak, believe, dress, and celebrate traditional events. With me explaining a little bit on those certain topics will make you realize how much of an impact it is upon me and other Cambodians.…

    • 1056 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Cambodian Killing Fields Research Paper
    • 1425 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Cambodian Killing Fields Research Paper

    A few days after Khmer Rouge took power, they forced 2 million people in Phnom Penh and nearby cities into the countryside to do agriculture work. Thousands of people died during this evacuation. The Khmer Rouge had plans to do away with poor people, rich people, and exploitation. Their way to accomplish this feat was to: abolish money, free markets, normal schooling, private property, foreign clothing styles, religious practices, and traditional Khmer culture. Public schools, pagodas, mosques, churches, universities, shops and government buildings were shut or turned into prisons, stables, reeducation camps and granaries. There was no public or private transportation, no private property, and no non-revolutionary entertainment. Leisure activities were severely restricted. People throughout the country, including the leaders of the Khmer Rouge, had to wear all black clothing (Khmer Rouge History). The Cambodian citizens had absolutely no power and every move they made was criticized. They were constantly watched by the new communist government and were unable to do anything without being suspected of being enemies of the…

    • 1425 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Dbq On Confucianism
    • 998 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Dbq On Confucianism

    These celebrations are twice a year. There are many different ceremonies because of cultural and historical differences among the Chinese, the Koreans, and the Japanese. The ceremonies are held in the fall and spring. The ceremonies take place on the first “ting” day in the second month of fall. The “ting” which comes under the element of fire is the fourth of Ten Stems or Cyclical signs and so the first “ting” occurs within the first third of the month. On these days the ceremonies will occur during the early morning hours. The presence of the Sun is symbolic to the ritual.…

    • 998 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Research
    • 478 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Research

    Khmer Rouge didn’t agree with many of the religions. Cambodian Muslims, Christians, Buddhists were indicted for their beliefs. Permanence was an important alibi for torture, imprisonment, and killings. (“Cambodian Genocide Facts and Timeline: A Clear Account”). The Khmer Rouge party made the attempt to “Pol Pot” just to nationalize and centralize the “peasant farming society” in Cambodia overnight: this action ending up in gradual devastation of over twenty-five percent of the population in just a few short years. Well over 750,000 civilians lost their lives because of their culture, appearance, or an action they did; during the years of 1970-1974. If you were completely unable to work you were killed on the spot(“Cambodian Genocide | World without Genocide”)…

    • 478 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Fm Rouge Research Paper
    • 939 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Fm Rouge Research Paper

    It was made official when the communist party took control over the city of Phnom Penh in April 17, 1975, declaring their victory in the Civil War. A few days later, the Khmer Rouge had forced an estimated two million residents of Phnom Penh to the countryside to take up strictly rice farming. Thousands died during the evacuation, but the nearly the total two million evacuated were killed by the end of the Khmer’s regime (Dy, 2007). Often compared to the Holocaust, the Cambodian Genocide replayed many similar factors such as ethnic cleansing, and hopes for creating a new Cambodia in general. Those ill, protestant, or handicapped were killed on the spot or imprisoned, and those deemed useless were executed (Panh, 2003). Pol Pot named this year Year Zero: a new beginning, where he would rid the country of school, hospitals, churches, and religion. He aimed to return Cambodia to an agricultural farming nation, nothing more than that. The Khmer Rouge killed more than a majority of teachers and doctors, and destroyed most of all schools in the process (Stevens, 2010). Labor camps that Cambodians were later sent to became known as the “Killing Fields” and most of the food grown there was kept for the Khamers Rouges, leaving little to none for the laborers themselves. By the end of the Rouge’s four-year terror reign, Cambodia had lost its elite class, proving to have devastating effect in…

    • 939 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    How Did The Khmer Rouge Cause A Genocide
    • 1758 Words
    • 8 Pages

    How Did The Khmer Rouge Cause A Genocide

    The Khmer Rouge era in Cambodia is seen as one of the most vicious acts of human cruelty in Southeast Asia. Not only did it cause a genocide in the nation, but its ripple effects are still felt throughout the region today. This essay will discuss the regime; it’s fall, the legacy that was left behind and finally how Cambodia is now today because of the era. The Khmer Rouge was the name given to the Communist followers and party of Kampuchea in Cambodia, which was formed in 1968. This brutal organisation is remembered throughout Cambodian history for its genocide of the Cambodian population after the enforcement of social engineering policies, which lead to the “killing fields” from 1975 – 1979.…

    • 1758 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Cambodian Genocide Essay
    • 1327 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Cambodian Genocide Essay

    In the late 70’s, nearly 2 million Cambodians died of overwork, starvation, torture, and execution in what became known as the Cambodian genocide. A group known as the Khmer Rouge took control of the country in April 1975. Over the course of four years, many innocent people were killed in the hopes that it would lead towards one large society of peasants. Things like banks, medicine, and religions were outlawed. If you were a person with something of value, you were automatically a target for the Khmer Rouge. With the entire mass death happening, one could see bodies littered on the streets and floating down rivers. People would hang themselves so that they wouldn’t feel the wrath of the Khmer Rouge. Citizens were evacuated from all major cities and sent to work in labor camps similar to those used by the Nazi regime in Germany many years prior. Everything seemed to be working in favor of the Khmer Rouge. In the year 1979, the Vietnamese fin ally drove the Khmer Rouge out of Cambodia. As part of a peace agreement, the Khmer Rouge was granted control over a zone on the border of Thailand known as Pailin.…

    • 1327 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    the balance between freedom and order
    • 815 Words
    • 3 Pages

    the balance between freedom and order

    the killing fields of Cambodia, human beings strive constantly to break through any barriers that…

    • 815 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Vietnamese new year
    • 927 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Vietnamese new year

    In my speech today, I will inform all of you how the Vietnamese New Year came into being, the tradition rituals, and how we celebrate the New Year.…

    • 927 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics