PCHUM BEN

Pchum Ben is the most important religious festival in the Khmer religious calendar, which is celebrate from after the full moon in the tenth month of Phatraboth. Traditionally, It lasts for 15 days, but in the final day is the most important that is the actual day of Pchum Ben. Cambodians have faithfully observed the festival every year.

 

Regardless how busy they may be during the 15 days of Pchum Ben, Cambodian people try not to miss a visit to the pagoda every year to honor this tradition to show respect, dedicate food for their ancestors and nobody complains.

According to Buddhist belief people feel sorry for and remember their relatives who have passed away those are may be their parents, grandparents, a sister, a brother, daughter or son. Each household prepared many kinds of food, when the food has been prepared many kinds of food, when the food has been prepared they make it to the pagoda together with incense, candles and flowers give to the monks. They consecrate and dedicate food with other offerings to the dead, the monks offer prayer and dedicate to all those who have died.

During Pchum Ben are the periods when those souls and spirits are let out from the hell they coming to receive offering from their living relative perhaps gain some relief. It's believed that after we have died our spirits or minds will be born again, if those people have committed good deed when they were  living they will be born into the heaven, but if they committed harmful sins they will be born into the hell and are tortured there. Everyone goes to pagoda at least 7 different pagodas, because they don't want the spirits of dead members of their family to be difficult to seek offering at some pagodas. 

It's believed that those spirits will go to look in seven different pagodas, if they can't find their living relatives offerings in any of those, they will curse them because they can't eat food offered by other people when living relatives offer the food to the spirits, the spirits will bless them with happiness and prosperity.