Pchum Ben, or Ancestor’s Day is a uniquely Cambodian ritual, and one of the country’s most important holidays. It’s based on the lunar calendar and is usually between late September to mid October. The holiday is 15 days long, and each year three days are official state holidays. In 2020, the national holiday is September 16-18, and the country shuts down while Cambodians return to their home provinces and visit pagoda after pagoda, making offerings for their ancestors.
Putting together the meals that will be served to the monks. Some Cambodians believe this brings them merit, others believe that the food is transferred directly to their dead ancestors.
The 15 days of Pchum Ben are a time that the line between the spirit world and the living world is thought to be especially thin. It is believed that the gates of hell open and ghosts are particularly active. Monks chant continuously at pagodas, and some believe that during this time souls released from the spirit world look to find their living relatives and repent — these can be spirits that have bad karma or those that have died a violent or unexpected death. For Cambodians, most of whom had relatives die during the Khmer Rouge era, it is important to do everything they can to ease the transitions of their ancestral spirits to the next phase of their spiritual path. One way they do this is through food. Continue reading
