Royal Ploughing Ceremony in Phnom Penh (Bon Chroat Preah Nongkoal)

            Royal Ploughing Ceremony in Phnom Penh (Bon Chroat Preah Nongkoal)

Royal Ploughing Ceremony

Plough Planting Ceremony in Phnom Penh is one the most important Khmer ceremony in Cambodia. It is always hold in May, but varies as it is determined by Hora (Khmer Astrology). In 2010, the ceremony was held on May 02 in Cambodia. The Royal Ploughing Ceremony is regarded as one of the main public holidays. It is the rice planting ceremony usually done by the royal family, and called Royal Plough Ceremony which is performed by the famous named King Meakh who plays a very important role in the event. The king plays the key role as he leads the yoke and also ploughs with a woman in tow. The seeds of the plants are sown by the Queen named Me Hour who to joins in the celebrations along with her husband who plays the most important role in the ceremony.

In the ceremony, two sacred cows are hitched to a wooden plough and thy plough a furrow in some ceremonial ground, while rice seed is sown by court Brahmins. After the ploughing, the cows are offered plates of food, including rice, corn, green beans, water, fresh-cut grass, and rice whisky. Depending on what the sacred cows eat, court soothsayers make a prediction on whether the coming growing season will be bountiful or not. The ceremony is rooted in Brahman belief, and is held to ensure a good harvest.

This ceremony is really popular as it happens to be the first among the agrarian festivals scheduled to take place in Cambodia.