Khmer New Year celebration Episode 07

Khmer New Year Festival

On which day of the month do Khmer people celebrate the New Year?

Every year, Khmer people celebrate the traditional national New Year festival on April 13 (sometimes April 14), which is the month of Chet in the lunar calendar. Because Cambodia has been influenced by Brahmanism (Hinduism), Khmer people continue to use the ancient scriptures and scriptures of Brahmanism in planning and preparing for religious activities. According to ancient Brahmanical astronomy or astrology, the sky is understood to be circular and stationary, just like the Earth. The Sun is understood to revolve around the Earth in a circular orbit, which is called the zodiac or chakra (circle of the zodiac) which corresponds to one year. Because they saw in the sky many stars (stars) close together and shaped like various figures, such as a ram or goat, a bull, a man and a woman, a crab, a lion, a maiden, a scale, a hawk, a bow, a fish (a shark or a shark), a gourd, and a fish, they named those star clusters (nakhattaruks or naktra) after those similar figures. They divided the sky into 12 parts or signs (rasis), naming each part according to the shape of the constellations, such as Pisces or Pisces, Aquarius or Aquarius, Gemini or Gemini, Capricorn or Capricorn, Leo or Leo, Virgo or Virgo, Libra or Libra, Sagittarius or Sagittarius, Capricorn or Aquarius, Aquarius Because they set Mesarasi (April) as the first zodiac sign, the Khmer people consider the month of Chet to be the first month of the new year and celebrate the New Year in Chet according to their tradition. This is because the Khmer use the solar calendar. According to the lunar calendar, the month of Mikaseer is the first month of the new year. According to the solar calendar of Brahmanism, it is believed that in April, the sun moves from Mina Rashi (a constellation of stars shaped like a fish) to Mesa Rashi (a constellation of stars shaped like a ram or male goat). The passage of the sun from one zodiac sign to another is called Sankranti. There are 12 Sankrantis in a year. Because the Brahmins designated the zodiac sign of the Goat as the first zodiac sign (first zodiac sign, head zodiac sign, major zodiac sign or Maharashi), the Sankranti in April is called Maha Sankranti, which is the passage of the sun from the zodiac sign of the old year to the zodiac sign of the new year. Today, Khmer people continue to use the lunar and solar calendars for religious purposes, but for official purposes, Khmer people have turned to the Christian calendar, like many other countries in the world, which we call the universal year or the Christian era. ​

Traditionally, Khmer people celebrate the New Year on three days: the first day is New Year's Day, the second day is Vanbat Day, and the third day is the day of the ascension. Every nation celebrates its own New Year. For us Khmer people, we organize our own traditional New Year celebrations every year because we understand that the New Year has a deep meaning. Khmer people believe that in a year of life, they often encounter misfortunes, various misfortunes, sometimes sorrows, sometimes disasters, sometimes physical illnesses, and sometimes they commit unseemly acts. When the old year is over, they celebrate, wear new clothes, and go out to have fun so that they can get rid of their worries and have good fortune, happiness, and prosperity in the new year.

In addition, for a year, they are separated from their families and relatives to earn a living in distant places. When the new year comes, they come back to gather together, greet each other, and enjoy each other's company to refresh their memories and relieve their fatigue from work. Then they continue their new life in the new year, doing business successfully and living a long life. In addition, the New Year festival is a tradition that can foster a sense of love and respect between neighboring villagers, which is a factor in creating national unity. Therefore, at that time, people not only gather with their families, but also go to the monastery to celebrate, which is a center for education in humanity and unity. Because the New Year festival has such a great meaning, the Khmer people have always considered it a national tradition.