14-day Kan Ben Festival Begins: 2022
AKP Phnom Penh, September 11, 2022 --

The two-week-long Kan Ben Festival kicks off today in the pagodas throughout Cambodia and will run until Sept. 24.

As usual, Cambodian people go to pagodas to offer foodstuff to the monks. They believe that the monks will then convey the offering to their late ancestors.

“This is a time when Buddhist followers have the opportunity to perform meritorious deeds and gather with relatives in near and far places, especially in pagodas,” wrote Prime Minister Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo HE on his official Facebook page this morning.

The Premier called on the authorities at all levels to tighten security, safety and public order and to facilitate traffic during the festival.

Kan Ben is part of “Pchum Ben” Festival or the Festival for the Dead, one of the biggest festivals in Buddhism. This religious festival, which falls on the fifteenth day of Kan Ben, is to celebrate this year on Sept. 25.
By C. Nika
(Photo : Lanh Visal)

Cambodia Public Holidays 2022

Free Passenger Train Service Offered for Four Days in Pchum Ben Festival
AKP Phnom Penh, September 20, 2022 --

The Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MPWT) has announced the launch of a free passenger train service from Sept. 23 to 26.
"On the occasion of the upcoming Pchum Ben Festival, the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, in collaboration with Royal Railways, will provide a four-day free railway service for all passagers," the ministry's recent announcement said.
Tickets for the two railway lines will be distributed two days before the departure date at the Royal Railway Station in Phnom Penh and at provincial stations from 7 am to 5 pm, it added.

According to the announcement, the first line is from Phnom Penh to Battambang province crossing Kampong Chhnang and Pursat provinces, while the second one from the capital to Preah Sihanouk province passing through Takeo and Kampot provinces.
Earlier, Phnom Penh capital administration also announced to provide free bus services to help reduce the spending of people returning to their home villages during the annual Pchum Ben Festival.
Some 175 buses have been prepared for the free of charge transport service for five days, from Sept. 23 to 27, of which 120 buses are ready to transport people from Phnom Penh to provinces and 55 buses for transporting people in Phnom Penh.

“Pchum Ben” Festival or the Festival for the Dead, the second biggest festival for the Cambodian people in the entire country after the “Chaul Chhnam Thmei” (Khmer New Year), will be celebrated this weekend, from Sept. 24 to 26.

Cambodia News (Phnom Penh): On the morning of September 23, 2022, 175 buses started their 5-day service transporting passengers free of charge to their hometowns nationwide to celebrate the Phchum Ben holidays*. The service will operate from September 23 to 27.
50 buses of the buses will operate in Phnom Penh urban area.


* Each year, Cambodians living and working in the cities traditionally return to celebrate their ancestors in their home towns and villages during the Pchum Ben religious holiday.

Festival opens 'gates of Hell' for 15 days so people can feed starving ghosts
The Cambodian festival sees four types of ghosts released from the underworld as the gates of Hell are flung open and sent to haunt living families, unless they are fed well
BySteven White
Claudia Trotman
09:41, 8 OCT 2022 Updated 10:56, 8 OCT 2022
A festival taking place in Cambodia sees the gates of Hell flung open and the ghosts of evil spirits released.

In Autumn, the Pchum Ben festival allows families to honour their long line of ancestors as well as feed any hungry spirits.

Also known as the Khmer Festival of the Ancestors, the event occurs every year between September and October during the 10th month of the Khmer Lunar calendar for 15 days.

Throughout this event, it is believed the gates of Hell are opened and hoards of hungry ghosts are free to roam among the living, reports the Mirror.

The ghosts are thought to roam graveyards and temples in search of a meal from their deceased relatives to feed their hunger, or the living will have to face the consequences.

Four specific types of ghosts are set temporarily free, including 'hungry' ones, others that consume only blood and pus and some that constantly burn and glow.

Only the Pakrakteaktopak Chivi kind are allowed to receive food offerings from monks, that have been given to by families, while the rest have to reduce their level of sins before they can eat anything.

A well-fed spirit will bring blessings upon its family but an empty-stomached one will return to Hell at the end of Pchum Ben and pass on its sufferings to the relatives.

Chef and author Rotanak Ros told Atlas Obscura : "We believe that in Hell, they’re very hungry," but if the dead cannot find who they are looking for then “we, the living people, will get cursed by them.”

The ancient custom, which is unique to Cambodia in South East Asia, sees families offer food for up to seven generations of their ancestors.

Relatives wake up in the early hours of the morning and prepare dishes before the sun has a chance to rise.

The ghosts do not like any light and if even just slither of sunlight appears then it is already too late to make the offering.

Om Sam Ol, a monk in Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh, said : "It is believed that some of the dead receive punishment for their sins and burn in hell - they suffer a lot and are tortured there.

"Hell is far from people; those souls and spirits cannot see the sun; they have no clothes to wear, no food to eat.

There is no way of knowing whether someone's dead relative is in heaven or hell and so Cambodians hope that by carrying out the offerings they will pass on good karma to the dead and ease any unearthly torments they are enduring.

The festival offerings are therefore a means to help calm any such agitated ghosts struggling in the afterlife who were taken before their time.
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world- ... 5-28185542