| Holiday Name: | Bon Om Touk |
| Type: | Asian festival |
| Official Name: | Central Khmer: ព្រះរាជពិធីបុណ្យអុំទូក បណ្ដែតប្រទីប អកអំបុក និងសំពះព្រះខែ (The Royal Boat Racing Festival, Lanterns Floating, Taste the Ambok and Worship the Moon) |
| Nickname: | Central Khmer: Bon Om Touk|italic=yes Cambodian Water Festival |
| Observedby: | Cambodians |
| Significance: | Marks the Cambodian Water Festival |
| Date2019: | 10–11–12 November |
| Date2020: | 30–31–01 October & November |
| Date2021: | 18–19–20 November |
| Date2022: | 7–8–9 November |
| Date2023: | 26–27–28 November |
| Date2024: | 14-15-16 November |
| Frequency: | annual |
| Duration: | 3 days |
| Relatedto: | Loy Krathong (in Thailand and Laos), Il Poya (in Sri Lanka) Tazaungdaing festival (in Myanmar), Boita Bandana (in Odisha, India) |
Bon Om Touk (Central Khmer: បុណ្យអុំទូក, Central Khmer: Bŏn Om Tuk, lit. "Boat Paddling Festival"), also known as the Cambodian Water Festival, is celebrated in late October or early November, often corresponding with the lunar Mid-Autumn Festival. It marks the end of the monsoon season. The festivities are accompanied by dragon boat races, similar to those seen in the Lao Boun Suang Huea festival.
The festival is celebrated over the span of three days and commemorates the end of the rainy season, as well as the change in flow of the Tonlé Sap River.[1] The festival attracts several million people each year.[2] [3] Some activities that take place at the festival are boat races along the Sisowath Quay riverfront, fireworks, and evening concerts.
The festival's celebrations occur over the span of three days, with the Royal Boat Race taking place on the first day. After the boat race, large lanterns are released as part of the "Bondet Bratib" ceremony at 6:00 pm as representatives from national institutions pray for peace from Preah Mae Kongkea or the Goddess Ganga. Each ministry has its lantern adorned with colorful lights and sets off fireworks to celebrate the river's rich glory.
The goddess originates from Hindu mythology surrounding the Ganges river in India. There is no Ganga river in Khmer,[4] but the goddess is viewed as the mother of seas, rivers, streams, creeks, and lakes. She protects and provides the water for human and animal husbandry as well as the flow of sediments and fish. Cambodia also has a sacred river, the Tonle Sap, and festival goers communicate their love and respect for nature to the goddess through prayers of gratitude for her compassion. Prayers give thanks for happiness and for fruitful fishing in daily life.
The second day of the festival is the day of Og Ambok and involves the worship of the Moon. It takes place at twelve minutes past midnight and involves a lantern lighting ceremony with prayers to Preah Purthisat, who invented the legend of the Moon rabbit. The Og Ambok ceremony involves playing a group game where members must make each other laugh; whoever lasts the longest wins and decides the loser. The loser must then eat Ambok with bananas until the end of the day.
On the last day, a ribbon is cut, signifying the end of the boat race and the Water and Moon Festival.
Boat racing is believed to have been celebrated in Cambodia since at least the reign of Jayavarman VII in 1181 AD. This was likely to commemorate the heroic victory of the Khmer navy, which liberated their land from the Cham troops of the Champa Kingdom in a boat battle on the Tonle Sap Lake.[5]
According to the record of Thach Pen alias "Piko (Pang Khat)" from the Khleang Province (Soc Trang), Kampuchea Krom (Southern Vietnam), in 1528 AD, King Ang Chan I ordered Ponhea Tat, the commander of the Khmer navy in the Bassac District of Kampuchea Krom, to prepare the Khmer army to defend the province of Preah Trapeang (Tra Vinh, Vietnam), which was under attack from the Đại Việt kingdom under Mạc Đăng Dung.
The naval boats were divided into three groups:
After his victory, concurrent with the crowning of King Ang Chan I in 1529 AD, he celebrated the Bondet Bratib ceremony every year with candles at night to commemorate the victory over the Đại Việt and to give thanks to the goddess Ganga (Preah Mae Kongkea in Khmer language).[7] [8] [9] [10]
As early as 1873, depictions of a Cambodian racing boat appeared in the French publication Le Magasin Pittoresque, and in 1887 the French magazine Les Colonies Françaises dedicated several pages to the meaning of the Water Festival. The festival had been celebrated occasionally after Phnom Penh became Cambodia's capital in 1866 during the French Protectorate period.
After World War II, the Water Festival was also celebrated in Phnom Penh in 1945, and then in 1953, after the Independence of Cambodia from France. In the 1960s, the scope of the festival grew with double the number of boats participating in the Phnom Penh boat racing festival compared to prior years. The festival was suspended during the Cambodian Civil War,[11] [12] [13] but has been celebrated since the 1993 General Election supervised by UNTAC, until now. However, it has frequently been suspended because of incidents, natural disasters, and most recently because of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.[14]
The art of dancing on the bow of a boat has been around for many years. Locals believe it represents a boat keeper's soul or a boat spirit, which may be the spirit of the person who took care of the boat. The tradition of having women dance on the bow of the boat continues to this day. Boat bow dancing also features a man representing the boat's coxswain shouting for his team to operate in unison to reach their destination. Racing boats are always painted with eyes, which give the impression of the boat being alive, and represent dragons floating on the water.[15]
The boat race ranking in the Royal Water and Moon Festival, and awards by the King of Cambodia.[16]
"Bratib (ប្រទីប)" refers to lanterns and lamps. In Khmer, small lamps without glass are used: light lantern frames or figurines are placed on a boat or raft. Some are illuminated floating water lanterns lined up in a row, in a frame, or vertically, shining brightly for the festival.[17] The Cambodian Lantern Festival is similar to India's "Ganga puja" or "Ganga Dussehra," which is celebrated every year to pay homage to the Goddess Ganga. The Lantern Floating Ceremony is for Cambodians to remember their gratitude to the water that is essential to sustain their lives. Floating lanterns dedicated to both Hinduism and Buddhism are launched. In the Buddhist tradition, mentioned in the Pali Khmer version of Teathavong scripture Tathagata Pali, it is stated that the four glass jaws of the Buddha Samma Samputa are in four places:
This festival consecrates Preah Chongkhoum Keo (the tooth relics of Buddha). The Khmer people conduct this festival during the full moon of November in the belief that great merit and prosperity will be provided to the country. The Khmer people believe that Bondet Bratib took place in the eighth century; the original name floating "Bay Sey" or Bondet "Bay Sey" (បាយសី) in the Chenla period, the original Khmer religion depicting the people before the Angkorian period celebrating the rituals. "Preah Mae Kongkea", the Khmer goddess or guardian deity of the water, is revered by the Cambodian people.[18]
កន្ទោង /kɑntouŋ/kantong/[19] Small container made of banana leaves (used esp. for steaming cakes or as a container for religious offerings such as food, tobacco, or betel).
Kantong is a Khmer word referring to "a container made from leaves" and widely used by Khmer people in their daily life and rituals. Kantong dates back to the Angkorian Empire. During the nights of the Water and Moon Festival, the ordinary people made their kantong from banana trees decorating with flowers, leaves, candles or/and offerings then float it on the river for wishes. The term kantong, kom toek (water lantern), and bratip (kantong with candle and light) are used exchangeable by the Khmer people.
| Og Ambok |
Og Ambok (Central Khmer: អកអំបុក, in Central Khmer pronounced as /ʔog ɑmboːk/) is a traditional flattened rice dish that forms part of the Bon Om Tuk ceremony. During the festival it is traditional to eat Ambok with coconut juice and banana.[20]
Og Ambok is made by frying rice in its natural husks, then beating it in a pestle until soft before the husks are removed and mixed in with banana and coconut juice for flavor. This mixture is eaten when the clock strikes midnight or when the incense offered at the beginning of the gathering is consumed. Og Ambok remains a popular traditional dish and it is sold widely during the Bon Om Touk festival.[21]
The Og Ambok ceremony's history dates back many years. It is believed that in the reign of King Barom Reachea III he dreamed of Indra fighting with a demon in the Longvek fortress. Rechea saw Indra throwing a ray of lightning to kill the beast. Suddenly the sound of thunder from the lightning strike awakened him. In the morning, he sent his officers to inspect the surrounding land in Banteay Longvek and found the site of a real lightning strike. The King started "Krong Peali", offering a ceremony to pray to the deities of the eight gods of directions for three days. He ordered the army to build a pagoda to worship Indra called "Indra Pagoda" in Kampong Chhnang Province and later changed its name to Wat Preah Indra Tep by building a statue of the Buddha in Kampong Chhnang. When the pagoda's construction was completed, he organized this ceremony to spread the ambok.[22] [23]
On the second day of the Royal Water Festival, there is a special commemoration to Lord Indra. The reversal of the Tonle Sap river suggests why a parallel could be drawn between the Khmer people and Lord Indra. Indra is the one who releases the water from the winter demon. This is the most common theme of the Rigveda concerning Lord Indra: he as the god with thunderbolt kills the evil serpent Vritra that held back rains and thus releases rains, nourishing rivers.[24] For example, the Rigvedic hymn 1.32 dedicated to Indra reads: