Cambodian New Year

About Khmer New Year:

Khmer New Year generally falls on the 13th or 14th of April, every year, as per the ancient Khmer horoscope reading. It goes on for three consecutive days, and it marks the official end of the harvest season in Cambodia and the commencement of the rainy season. Like other local celebrations in Cambodia, the Khmer New Year is also all about practising the best of rituals and traditions. Each of these three days of celebration has its name along with a particular associated traditional concept.

Three Days Of Khmer Celebrations:

Day 1 - Moha Songkran - The Day of Blessings:

Moha Songkran is the first day of the New Year celebrations and the inauguration of the Khmer New Year.

Customs:

On this day, each member of the family has to work hard in cleaning and decorating the house in the best possible way, along with arranging foods & drinks on a table for welcoming the angels. The Buddhist followers usually prepare some meals and offer to the monks for seeking blessings.

Beliefs:

According to the Khmer traditions, the world is created by God, and His angels take care of all of us.

Day 2 - Virak Vanabat - The Donating Day:

The second day of the Khmer New Year signifies a day of donating gifts to the elders of the family, which includes parents and the grandparents. Most Cambodian natives offer charity by offering money, food and clothes to the less privileged as well.

Customs:

In the evening, everybody in the house, including the elders as well as the younger ones, goes out to visit the religious temples and perform a traditional ceremony of erecting sandy mounds on its ground.

Beliefs:

As per the Khmer culture, this ritual is believed to bring prosperity and longevity in the lives of the Cambodian people.

Day 3 - Vearak Leung Sak - Officially Welcoming the New Year:

The third, and the final, day of the Khmer New Year is about bidding farewell to the year gone by and welcoming the New Year, with new hopes.

Customs:

As per the local customs, people celebrate this day by performing ‘Pithi Srang Preah’, a ritualistic ceremony of washing and cleaning the Lord Buddha statues with scented water.

Beliefs:

The ritual of Pithi Srang Preah symbolises the washing away of everything evil and gaining blessings from the Almighty. Many locals also wash the hands and feet of their parents or elders as a way of gratification and also to apologise to them for their past mistakes.

During Khmer New Year in Cambodia, make yourself feel like a local by getting involved in the celebrations. If you have been planning a trip to Cambodia all this while, make it all the more special in the upcoming Khmer New Year.