Cambodia's Pchum Ben Festival

These flowers are sold for offerings at the Pagodas (or sold to me to look pretty in my apartment). They cost about 8 pence each and the seller hand folds the petals on each flower.

Here in Cambodia it is the time of an annual event called Pchum Ben. This 'festival' seems to be unique to Cambodia.  
I write 'festival' like this, as it is such a spooky and spiritually dark event that to me it doesn't seem very festive. More like a grown-up creepy version of halloween. Cambodia is a predominately Buddhist country, but the Buddhist way of life tends to be pic'n'mixed with bits of other religions/traditions all around the world so can look very different from country to country.


The Pchum Ben festival is when many Cambodians pay their respects to their dead ancestors. This is what I have been able to find out about it: Monks chant mantras all night for a number of days running up to the 15th day, as they believe the 'gates of Hell' open on the 15th day of the 10th month in the Khmer calendar (this year that is Wednesday September 28th on our calendar). 

Monks chanting before eating food left at the pagoda (some also gets given to the poor)

It is believed that when the 'gates of Hell' open the spirits, or ghosts of those who went to hell come to earth for 1 day and roam around looking for food. Cambodian people head to the pagoda's at sunrise and leave food there for their ancestors spirits to eat (someone told me they leave very small sticky rice, as some of the spirits are thought to have very small mouths as a punishment for something they did which was bad). As it isn't clear which pagoda the ancestors' spirits may arrive at, they go to various pagodas near where their ancestors lived to leave food. 
I don't understand how the ancestors have ended up in Hell??? And I dont get this: Buddhists believe in reincarnation of the spirit after death, this seems to be a contradiction to the idea of spirits being stuck in Hell, but no-one seems to be able to explain why they are in hell and have not been re-incarnated?

Cambodian's eat rice 3 times a day, so of course lots of rice will be taken to the pagoda's

Today I saw ladies selling flowers, incense and birds in cages (I think the birds are for offerings also? maybe they were just hoping someone wanted a pet bird-but i think this is unlikely!), where there was a big crowd of people queuing up to enter a pagoda. 

Ill fated birds?? (note the day time Pyjama bottoms -all the rage the wear PJ's in the day here)

Away from the Pagoda's Phnom Penh is really quiet today (Monday), with most shops and cafe's closed Monday-Wednesday. Many people have returned to their families in the province they are from. The positives of this event (besides a much appreciated week off work, for catching up on rest) seem to be that the Cambodian people spend time together as families. I have been hearing/reading some pretty distressing stuff about the break down of families in this nation: parents/husbands selling their daughters and wives into the sex trade;  mothers selling their babies to traffickers;  child abuse;  wife beating... 

I hope and pray that this Pchum Ben is a time of Fathers loving their families, that God will turn the hearts of Cambodian family members towards each other, and that they will love the members of their family who are still alive, and that something positive will come out of this dark unfestive festival. 

Thankful that I don't have to worry about my life after death involving being in hell with a very small mouth, only getting to eat rice once a year (I'm totally over rice already b.t.w). 

Life after death: I will be in Heaven with Jesus-Hooray to that!!! 

For this week however I will be mainly by the pool, or sleeping ;-)