As Coronavirus Spreads in the Kingdom, Cambodians Turn to Cultural Traditions
27 March 2020
Sokummono Khan
Nem Sopheakpanha

PHNOM PENH — Ty Reaksmey took a few days off earlier this week to prepare his family for the increasing spread of the coronavirus in Cambodia. That didn’t stop him and his family from going to the Wat Kol Tor Teng, on the outskirts of the city and along the Bassac River, to take part in a nationwide blessing ceremony.

The Cambodian monks’ council last week called for all pagodas in the country to beat drums and chant prayers to bless all Cambodians, as they deal with the viral pandemic.

Reaksmey and his family attended the ceremony, diligently wearing face masks. They joined the dozens of monks to meditate and chant prayers.

“According to Dharma, we will all eventually die. I am trying to cope with the panic in me so that it doesn’t reduce my quality of work or standard of living,” Ty Reaksmey said.

Small spray bottles filled with alcohol are seen all around the pagoda, routinely used to sanitize hands. Apart from the Ty family, there no more than a dozen people participating in the ceremony.

Chief monks across the country had asked the public to not attend these blessing ceremonies because the government had banned religious gatherings.

At the wat, monks dressed in saffron robes and laymen and laywomen in pristine white garbs sit in neat rows chanting Buddhist prayers. All the while, smartphones livestream the proceedings to the believers across the country.

Outside the central hall of the pagoda, more monks and laypeople, of all ages, sit on purple squares of material on the white stone floors, again in well-distanced rows chanting along.

“Every pagoda does this to pray for happiness and to sweep away that disease, making it disappear,” said 70-year-old laywoman Saing Yoeun.

Being a relatively modest pagoda, the monotonous, punctuated sound of a small copper bell reverberates across the wat’s premises. For the next hour, all that can be heard at the pagoda is the drone of dozens of voices, chanting in unison.

Chief of Monk Venerable Phoung Sovann said the prayers and drum beating were only for inner peace and to help people deal with the pandemic spiritually.

He added it was important people follow instructions of the Ministry of Health and other global recommendations for staying safe against COVID-19, especially maintaining good hygiene.
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