Pchum Ben (All Souls Day) 18-20 September 2009

The Town Empties Out Because Pchum Ben is a family festival—honoring the family's deceased members and ancestors—and because most people in Phnom Penh are not from Phnom Penh, the city basically empties out during this type of holiday. It is incredible how few people are around. It's like nothing that would ever be seen in a city in the United States.
	Most people who were going to leave Phnom Penh for the holiday left early--several days ago. Our deaf students went home last weekend. But there are always some who must stay for work or other reasons. Here a pickup taxi heads out of town with a load of last-minute departures going to the provinces.
	This is a major street in the Boeung Keng Kong I area of town. It is hard to believe how few people and vehicles are on the streets during Pchum Ben. It is as if the city had been evacuated.
	The people who stay in the city are those who must stay, like these guards in front of a closed bank branch.
	Farther away from the center of town, these are small shops shuttered for the holidays. The entire Pchum Ben festival is about two weeks. In the middle are three public holidays when everything closes down.
	This is the parking area of the Boeung Keng Kong Market. Normally it would be jammed with motorcycles.
	One of the main gates into the interior of the Boeung Keng Kong Market. For these three days, the rats have full reign.
	On the street outside the market, these few determined vendors maintained a presence during the holidays. Either they had no family to go to or no money to leave town or they just decided it wasn't worth the trip and that they would stay and try to make a few riel from the others who stayed and still needed to eat.
	On another street near the market, these large bundles on the edge of the street are great sacks of used clothing. On a normal market day, they are spread out on large sheets in five-foot high piles for people to pick through.

Pchum Ben (All Souls Day) 18-20 September 2009

The Church Celebration Today, Sunday, was celebrated as All Souls Day in Cambodia. For most of the Western Church, it was the 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time, but because Cambodian culture and society honors their ancestors and deceased family members at this Pchum Ben time, the Church has given permission for All Souls Day to be moved to this festive period so that Christianity is not seen as "foreign" and at odds with the local customs and mores.
	At the rear of the Catholic Church compound is this small stupa, of traditional architecture, where the ashes of cremated persons are kept. Most people are cremated in Cambodia and for the Catholic Cambodians a sacred place to keep the ashes of their relatives is important.
	Inside the stupa—which is always open and never locked—families have placed small urns with the ashes and pieces of bone from the cremation of their loved ones. A variety of containers and arrangements are evident. Some show Chinese influence, others just more money in the family. Note the can of Coca-Cola left as an offering by one urn.
	Because two of the three Pchum Ben holidays fell on the weekend, the government granted another day off on the following Monday. So even though people have had three days off from work, the streets are still empty because most people will not return to town until Monday.
	Many small businesses in Cambodia have no formal address or even a building but are just set up along the streets. This pile of tables and goods is wrapped in a blue plastic tarp and sits next to a building waiting for the owners to come and set up their business again on Tuesday.
	Because this is such a major holiday the garbage collection by the trucks was halted so bags of trash have appeared along the streets throughout the city.

Pchum Ben (All Souls Day) 18-20 September 2009

Beginning the Celebration

Pchum Ben is one of the three major times of celebration for Cambodian people. Preceding it in the calendar is the Khmer New Year, THE biggest festival of the year, occurring in April; and following it in November is the Water Festival. Each of the three has its own special flavor, ceremonies, and migrations of people from one part of the country to another. Pchum Ben is the most spiritual of the three festivals. It is equivalent to All Souls Day in the Christian calendar of the West, a time in which deceased ancestors are remembered and their spirits honored by visits to pagodas and gifts to the monks.
	Pchum Ben is celebrated at the time of the new moon in September and actually extends a week prior to and a week beyond the new moon. These pictures are from the beginning of the remembrance period, five days before the official public holidays. These two women are dressed traditionally for a Buddhist ceremony and are making their way to a pagoda.
	Certain types of flowers are traditional on Buddhist festivals and at Pchum Ben. These fragrant sprays are sold in many of the regular markets.
	The festive spirit greets the oncomer long before reaching the main gate of the pagoda. Most pagodas are in compounds about a block square, and the front side is decorated with Buddhist and Cambodian flags along the main street.
	At the main gate, flower sellers approach everyone who hasn't stopped at a market on the way, making possible last-minutes purchases.
	Inside the pagoda, the main buildings are decorated colorfully for the occasion. This year the official public holidays for Pchum Ben are September 18-20.