Source AKP
Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, and his spouse Samdech Kittiprittbandit Bun Rany Hun Sen as well as their family members celebrated this morning at Vaing Chas Pagoda in Oudong district, Kampong Speu province, Pchum Ben Festival or the Festival for the Dead.
On the occasion, they offered food and other necessary stuff to the Buddhist monks in dedication to the souls of their late ancestors as well as to the souls of fallen combatants who have sacrificed their lives for the nation and of the people killed during the Khmer Rouge regime (1975-1979).
Pchum Ben Festival is the second biggest festival for the Cambodian people in the entire country after the “Chaul Chhnam Thmei” (Khmer New Year).
In fact, the whole festival lasts 15 days. During the first 14 days, called Kan Ben, people or villagers take turns to offer food to monks in nearby pagodas in hope that the offerings will reach the souls of their ancestors by virtue of the Buddhist monk sermons. But the most important is the last day of the Pchum Ben on which all Cambodian Buddhist followers, the rich as well as the poor, manage to prepare food and other offerings for their visits to pagodas.
This year, Pchum Ben Festival falls from Sept. 17 to Oct. 1.
By C. Nika