Home » Travel & Places » South Asia Countries » Cambodia

The Royal Ploughing Ceremony in Cambodia

Ranked #2,603 in Travel & Places, #87,944 overall | Donates to Friends of the Park

The Ploughing Ceremony in Cambodia or Preah Reach Pithi Chrot Preah Neangkol

Observed not only in Cambodia but also in Thailand, this ancient royal ritual of the ploughing ceremony has been practiced to mark the start of the growing season. People gather around their king and together they implore the gods for blessing and know what the gods have in store for the crop year. Cambodians call this ritual, Preah Reach Pithi Chrot Preah Neangkol and the Thais refer to it as Phuetchamongkhon.

Often celebrated in May in both countries but the date changes according to the Khmer astrology or Hora. On the day of the celebration here in Cambodia, May 21, 2011, people flock to the Veal Preahmein Square in Phnom Penh. Last year, the celebration was held in Siem Reap, where the Angkor temples were the fitting background. Preparations had been on the way for the big ceremony with oxens trained weeks before for the ceremony.

The Royal Ploughing Ceremony shows the destiny of Cambodia for the next year ahead and jiggering the results of the oxen's choices is not just done.

May 21, 2011

The Procession in the May 2011 Royal Ploughing Ceremony

The royal entourage in the ploughing ceremony.

The royal cow at the 2011 Ploughing Ceremony in Cambodia

The royal procession at the 2011 royal ploughing ceremony

The obeisance to the King at the 2011 Royal Ploughing Ceremony

Plan your trip to Cambodia now

Depending on the auspicious date chosen for the ceremony based on the old traditional manuals, the ceremony could be within the first two weeks of May so plan a two week holiday in Cambodia and visit the other places here. But attending a festival when you travel gives you more fun and a better understanding of the country's culture.

Countdown to Ploughing Ceremony

Ploughing Ceremony: May 12, 2012

The Cambodian Royal Ploughing Ceremony

The annual farm predictor

Cambodian designs

Angkor is often at the center

Understanding Cambodian History and Culture

Read these books

The Procession

The royal oxens on parade

The ceremony starts with a procession which starts from the royal palace. The lead in this procession are the day's appointed King and Queen and the members of the court in all their splendid costumes. The Brahmin priests are in full attendance directing the ceremony. The King presides the ceremony.

The highlight of the ploughing ceremony is when the royal oxens go around with their nicely decorated plows doing the motions of plowing. Behind them, the Brahmin priests sow seeds. Then, these royal oxens are relieved of their harnesses and led to seven golden trays containing rice, water, corn, fresh greens, sesame, fresh cut grass and rice wine. And depending on what the oxens eat, the court Brahmins, remnants of Cambodia's Brahmanism beliefs in the past, make the prediction for the crop year. If the oxens eat corn, then the farmers plant more corn as they think corn will be bountiful. If the oxens ignore the water, there would be no floods. If the oxens eat rice, everyone is happy as rice is the crop most farmers plant and it is at the center of every Cambodian meal.

Bring water with you

You need to rehydrate

You need to do this as the ceremony is long. Anywhere you go in Cambodia, ceremony or none, have always water with you.

Farmers still believe strongly

So do many Cambodians

The farmers await eagerly the oxens' choices as they still have strong belief and faith in this ceremony. In fact, many Cambodians still consult traditional beliefs when deciding marriage and other important events. So, depending on what the oxens eat, the farmers decide their farm strategy.

Cambodians strongly believe the ensuing predictions based on what the oxens eat. We still have to hear one Cambodian denying this.

The Royal Ploughing Ceremony in Cambodia

The Ploughing Ceremony in Cambodia or Preah Reach Pithi Chrot Preah Neangkol

Contents at a Glance

Contents at a Glance

The Royal Ploughing Ceremony in Pictures

May 21, 2011

Plan your trip to Cambodia now

Countdown to Ploughing Ceremony

The Cambodian Royal Ploughing Ceremony

The annual farm predictor

Cambodian designs

Angkor is often at the center

Understanding Cambodian History and Culture

Read these books

The Procession

The royal oxens on parade

Bring water with you

You need to rehydrate

Farmers still believe strongly

So do many Cambodians

More videos of the Ploughing Ceremony

2010 Ceremony was in Siem Reap

Links on the Cambodian ploughing ceremony

Check these ones out

1

2

3

Please pick your widget size and display. Then click "Make the Widget" to get the code that's just right for you.

Voila! Just copy and paste this code into your own site. Have fun!

Oopsey! Please login to Squidoo in order to add this module to your lens.

Protect your self from the sun

The ceremony can take long

Ploughing Ceremony Moved Back to Phnom Penh

This year, 2011, the ploughing ceremony is back in Phnom Penh

This is the back drop of the 2010 Ploughing Ceremony in Siem Reap

Angkor Thom

Angkor Designs

For gifts

Here is a lens on Siem Reap

More videos of the ploughing ceremony

Watch this celebration

The Festivals of Cambodia

Have you attended any?

Thanks for voting! Now invite your friends to vote.

More Cambodia designs

To give as gifts

Lenses on other Cambodian ceremonies

Worth visiting

In attending the ploughing ceremony, protect yourself from the sun

The ceremony takes long

News on Cambodia

Update yourself

Make sure you have your sun glasses

Read on Angkor Wat

And the other Temples of Angkor

Angel wings fluttered over this lens on the royal ploughing

And made it special

Here's the angel who blessed this lens

Thank you so much

You are welcome to leave some comments

Love this lens?

Know anyone who will enjoy this lens?

Pllease share

Let's hear some tweets on royal ploughing

Do you twitter?

Join us

Bring with you a very good camera

Take good pictures of the ceremony

1

2

Please pick your widget size and display. Then click "Make the Widget" to get the code that's just right for you.

Voila! Just copy and paste this code into your own site. Have fun!

Oopsey! Please login to Squidoo in order to add this module to your lens.

Make sure you have enough memory

Get extra ones

1

2

3

4

5