Royal Plowing Ceremony in Cambodia ― Date, History, and Details
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History of Royal Plowing Ceremony in Cambodia and How to Celebrate/ Observe It
The Royal Ploughing Ceremony is an annual event in Cambodia. It is a traditional Buddhist and Hindu festival which signifies the start of the rice-planting season. The ceremony is also known as “The Ceremony of the Chariot” or “The Ceremony of the End of the Rains”.
The event is held in early May, at the end of the dry season. It is usually presided over by the King of Cambodia, who ploughs a furrow in the ground with a golden plough, followed by two white oxen. This act is symbolic of the beginning of the rice-planting season. After the ploughing, seven kinds of seed are sown in the furrow. These represent the seven kinds of grain which will be harvested during the year.
A number of rituals and ceremonies are associated with the Royal Ploughing Ceremony. These include the offering of milk to the statues of the Hindu god Indra, and the sprinkling of holy water on the ground. The event is also seen as a way of predicting the future harvest, and there is a tradition of reading the entrails of a sacrificed buffalo to ascertain the amount of rain which will fall during the coming year.