How to Celebrate Pchum Ben (1)

Cambodian people have a deep respect for their parents, grandparents, and ancestors.

Each year in September there is a ceremony called Pchum Ben “បុណ$ភ&'ំបិណ$”, which

combines the Khmer words “Pchum”, which means “to gather together”, and “Ben”, a “ball

of food”. The ceremony takes 15 days and is a time when Cambodians honor their ancestors

up to seven generations back. It is one of the most important holidays in the country.

The first 14 days of Pchum Ben are called Dak Ben. During Dak Ben, people who live close

to a pagoda take turns cooking food for the monks and the many visitors from other

regions who come to the pagoda during this time. It is also believed that deceased relatives

will wait at the pagoda for food made by their families.

Vocabulary:
1. deep /diːp/ adjective េ+,, ពន់េពក, 34ង
ំ 6ស់
2. celebrate /ˈsel.ə.breɪt/ verb េធ9 :ពិធី
3. respect /rɪˈspekt/ noun េ<រព
ី ូ ន ជA
4. ancestor /ˈæn.ses.tər/ noun ជដ ី , បុព9បុរស
5. ceremony /ˈser.ɪ.mə.ni/ noun ពិធី
6. combine /kəmˈbaɪn/ verb បBCល
D <F, រ ួបរ ួម<F
7. gather /ˈɡæð.ər/ verb +បមូ លផJ'ំ
8. honor /ˈɒn.ər/ noun កិតMិយស
9. generation /ˌdʒen.əˈreɪ.ʃən/ noun ជំOន់
10. pagoda /pəˈɡəʊ.də/ noun វតM
11. visitor /ˈvɪz.ɪ.tər/ noun េភQRវឬអF កេធ9 :ទសVនកិចX
12. region /ˈriː.dʒən/ noun តំបន់
13. deceased /dɪˈsiːst/ adjective ែដលទទួ លមរណZពេហ:យ
14. relative /ˈrel.ə.tɪv/ noun \តិស6] ន ឬ^ច់\តិ
15. decease /dɪˈsiːs/ noun ^4ប់ឬមរណZព
 How to Celebrate Pchum Ben (2)
Before going to the pagoda children prepare lunch for their parents. Old people always

say, “What you have at home is more powerful than the god in the pagoda. Who are the

gods in your house? They are your parents.” Parents are precious gods for Cambodians

because they give life, take care and worry about their children. What happens when we

don’t respect our parents? That would be very rude and disrespectful. We can say that, if

we bring happiness to our parents, we have happiness in our life and our children will

respect and love us in the future also.

During Pchum Ben, Cambodian people visit at least three pagodas and the places

where their ancestors passed away. The time to bring food to Pagoda is not later than

11:00 a.m. because the monks will not eat after 12:00 p.m. After this time, the monks do

not eat and drink only soft drinks or tea until the end of the day.

Vocabulary:

1. prepare /prɪˈpeər/ verb េរ_បចំ, "ប $ងេ"ប'ប

2. powerful /ˈpaʊə.fəl/ adjective ែដល`នអំ6ច, 34ង ំ
3. god /ɡɒd/ noun +ពះ, bទិេទព
4. precious /ˈpreʃ.əs/ adjective cទី+សdញ់
5. life /laɪf/ noun ជី វ fត
6. care /keər/ noun gរែថរកi verb ែថរកi, ខ9 ល់
7. worry /ˈwʌr.i/ verb kរមl
8. happen /ˈhæp.ən/ verb េក:តេឡ:ង, +ប+ពឹតMេo
9. rude /ruːd/ adjective ឥតគួ រសម
10. disrespectful /ˌdɪs.rɪˈspekt.fəl/ adjective ែដលមិនេ<រព
11. bring /brɪŋ/ verb Oំ, យក, ប6 ] លឱ$
12. happiness /ˈhæp.i.nəs/ noun សុភមងs ល
13. at least / æt liːst/ idiom t៉ងេvច6ស់
14. pass away /pɑːs əˈweɪ / = (die) phrasal verb ^4ប់
15. soft drink /ˌsɒft ˈdrɪŋk/ noun េភសជw ៈ
 How to Celebrate Pchum Ben (3)
Early in the morning, around 4:00 a.m., people prepare food, fruit and rice. They make

small balls of food and go to the pagoda. There they throw the balls of food just outside the

temple. It is believed that some of their ancestors, those who committed sins when they

were alive, cannot enter the temples, even as ghosts. And they can only eat food that is

prepared by their descendants. So this food is for them. People believe that if these spirits

don’t see their relatives bringing food for them, they will get angry and wish their relative

bad luck.

Vocabulary:

1) early /ˈɜː.li/ adjective មុនេ`៉ង, ពី+ពលឹម

2) around /əˈraʊnd/ preposition ជុំ វ fញ, +បែហល
3) luck /lʌk/ noun សំ6ង
4) throw /θrəʊ/ verb េkះ
5) outside /ˌaʊtˈsaɪd/ adjective 3 ងេ+y
6) temple /ˈtem.pəl/ noun +k^ទ, +ពះវ fvរ
7) commit /kəˈmɪt/ verb +ប+ពឹតMិ
8) sin /sɪn / noun អំេព:kប
9) ghost /ɡəʊst/ noun េ3zច, បិ^ច
10) descendant /dɪˈsen.dənt/ noun អF កcប់ែខV+សdយ, កូ នេ{
11) spirit /ˈspɪr.ɪt/ noun +ពលឹង, វ f|}នក~ ន•
12) wish /wɪʃ/ verb ជូ នពរ
13) angry /ˈæŋ.ɡri/ adjective ខឹង
14) alive /əˈlaɪv/ adjective ែដលេ€រស់ ឬែដលេ€`នជី វ fត
15) enter /ˈen.tər/ verb ចូ ល
 How to Celebrate Pchum Ben (4)
The 15th day is the most important day of Pchum Ben and also the last day of the

ceremony. Cambodian people have three days for public holidays in October to have

chance to visit their hometowns and gather with their family. Besides going to a pagoda,

they usually have a quick visit somewhere nearby with family and have meals together.

Pchum Ben is a traditional ceremony to remind people to bring the food to the monks.

Moreover, the festival reminds people to remember their ancestors who have passed away.

They always go to the pagoda on their ancestor’s anniversary or someone’s birthday. This

is the way to showing high respect even on days that are not the Pchum Ben festival. The

festival educates younger people on how they should give respect to their relatives.

Vocabulary:

1. public /ˈpʌb.lɪk/ adjective ^•រណៈ

2. chance /tʃɑːns/ noun ឱgស
3. hometown/ˈhəʊm.taʊn/ noun +ស ‚កកំេណ:ត
4. beside /bɪˈsaɪd/ preposition េ+yពី
5. somewhere /ˈsʌm.weər/ adverb េ€កែន4 ង6មួ យ
6. meal /mɪəl/ noun bvរ
7. traditional /trəˈdɪʃ.ən.əl/ adjective Aម+បៃពណី
8. remind /rɪˈmaɪnd/ verb រ„ឮក
9. moreover /ˌmɔːˈrəʊ.vər/ adverb cងេនះេoេទ_ត, ម†ងេទ_ត
10. anniversary /ˌæn.ɪˈvɜː.sər.i/ noun ៃថ‡ ខួប
11. high /haɪ/ adjective ខˆ ស់, c34ង ំ
12. educate /ˈedʒ.u.keɪt/ verb អប់រ,„ ប‰Šត់បេ+ងRន
13. volunteer /ˌvɒl.ənˈtɪər/ verb សz ័+គចិតM noun ជនសz ័+គចិតM
14. way /weɪ/ noun វ fធី^Œស] , រេប_ប, ផ• វD
15. should /ʃʊd/ modal verb គួ រែត