Royal Ploughing Ceremony
| Royal Ploughing Ceremony | |
|---|---|
| Khmer name | ព្រះរាជពិធីច្រត់ព្រះនង្គ័ល |
| Also known as | Preah Reach Pithi Chrot Preah Neangkol; Ploughing Festival |
| Practice type | Ceremony |
| Usual occasion | In May, at the start of the rice-planting season |
| Subjects | Celebrations & Life Passages; Religion & Spiritual Life |
| Next | May 24, 2027 (Royal Ploughing Ceremony) |
The Royal Ploughing Ceremony (ព្រះរាជពិធីច្រត់ព្រះនង្គ័ល, Preah Reach Pithi Chrot Preah Neangkol) is the royal rite that opens the rice-planting season in Cambodia and foretells the coming harvest.[1][2] It is held each May on the fourth day of the waning moon of the month of Pisak, and is a public holiday.[1][3]
History
The rite has Brahmanic and Hindu roots, and in Cambodia it is traced to the Funan period; a sixth-century statue of Balarama holding a plough, found at Angkor Borei, is taken as early evidence of it.[1] A royal ploughing appears in the Reamker, the Khmer version of the Ramayana.[1] Similar ceremonies are held in Thailand and Sri Lanka.[1]
The ceremony
The king or a representative presides, usually on sacred ground near the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, such as Veal Preah Meru, and in some years in a province.[2] Two royal oxen, decorated with flowers, pull a plough around a ceremonial field while rice seed is sown.[2][1]
The oxen are then offered seven bowls: rice, corn, beans, sesame, grass, water and rice wine.[2] Brahmin priests and royal astrologers read their choices as omens: rice or corn for a good harvest, beans or sesame for good secondary crops, water for ample rain, and wine for possible drought or hardship.[2] Smaller ceremonies are held in rural areas.[2]
See also
References