Traditions of Siem Reap
The gateway to Angkor, where Khmer New Year and Pchum Ben are still kept in the temple compounds.
Siem Reap is a town near the temples of Angkor, the great Khmer capital of the ninth to fifteenth centuries. Cambodians still visit the temples and the town's wats for ceremonies. Apsara dance, shadow puppetry and silk weaving are taught to a new generation here.
Khmer New Year and Pchum Ben
Khmer New Year in April lasts three days, with games, cleaning of Buddha statues and building small sand mounds as offerings. Pchum Ben, in the autumn, is a fifteen-day festival of remembrance when families bring rice balls to pagodas to feed the spirits of ancestors. People go to a different wat each day.
At the table
Amok, fish steamed in coconut and kroeung paste inside a banana leaf, is the national dish. Num banh chok, rice noodles with fish gravy and fresh herbs, is a morning meal. Desserts include sticky rice in bamboo, kralan. Palm sugar is tapped locally.
Signature traditions of Siem Reap
Also part of it, and being written: Khmer New Year (The Cambodian new year in April.), Apsara dance (The classical dance of the Khmer court.), Fish amok (The Khmer steamed fish curry.).
A trail idea for Siem Reap
- Angkor Wat at dawn See the central towers rise in the first light.
- Old Market Taste num banh chok at breakfast.
- Artisans Angkor Watch silk weavers and stone carvers at work.
Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Opening hours, markets and festival dates change; check locally before travelling. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
π¨π³ China and 5 moreShadow play
A storytelling art using flat puppets and light to cast moving silhouettes on a screen.Performance
π°π Siem Reap, CambodiaCambodian New Yearαα»αααα
αΌαααααΆαααααΈ αααααααΈααΆαα·
A three-day harvest festival marking the traditional solar new year across CambodiaSeasonal