Travelling in Cambodia over the weekend? You may notice a number of shops closed and the street uncharacteristically quiet thanks to the annual holiday of Pchum Ben — a celebration for those whose souls who have passed on.
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Pchum Ben, known as All Souls or Ancestors’ Day, is a national holiday that offers the cosmic opportunity to pay one’s respects to deceased family members. During the three day Khmer holiday — one that marks the ending of an 15-day religious festival — food is taken to pagodas as an offering to ancestors who are believed to have the ability to temporarily leave their station in the afterlife.
The souls of the dead who are receiving punishment for their sins — souls whose eternity are condemned to hell — are thought to be able to temporarily leave their torment in order to receive the offering of their and with it short-term relief.
There are some who believe that spirits will go on to bless those families who leave food and curse those that don’t.
Unique to Cambodia, the holiday is marked in the real world by monks chanting prayers overnight as they close the door on what links the spiritual with the corporal.
After offerings are made to their ancestors, families use the remaining time off to spend time with those loved ones still present. For visitors to Cambodia, this presents the opportunity to take in one of the countries most hallowed traditions.