Cambodian Pchum Ben Days – Ancestor Day
Pchum Ben Days
Pchum Ben is a Cambodian annual religious festival. It’s celebrated from the 1st to the 15th day of the waxing moon of the 10th Lunar month, Phutrobot (ភទ្របទ). Pchum means ” gathering together” and Ben means ” offering “. Thus Pchum Ben may translated as Gathering together to make offering. For Cambodian Buddhists believe that after dead, people would involving reincarnation. But for the bad karma that people did during the living, their souls would be stored in hell to receive suffering as punishment. It’s believe that the gates of the hell are opened and the ceased may visit their relatives for 15 days. During this time, foods are offering to the monks (cham hanh) everyday in every pagoda, as it’s the way to generate merit that indirectly benefits the ceased.
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Buddhism in Cambodia
According to the stone sculpture as well as bronze objects, since ancient time, Cambodia practiced both Buddhism and Hinduism. The alternation between the two religions depend on the religious belief of the reigning monarch. For further research, we found that there were two branches of Buddhism were practiced in ancient Cambodia. They are Mahayana Buddhism and Hinayana Buddhism.
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