Pchum Ben

About Pchum Ben

Pchum Ben, or "ancestors' day", is a Khmer festival in which Cambodians honour the spirits of the dead. For fifteen days of the waning moon, and especially on the last day, the gates of the afterlife are believed to open, and the spirits of up to seven generations of ancestors wander and visit temples looking for relatives. Families go to the pagoda before dawn, carrying rice balls, sweets, fruit and flowers. They offer food to monks, who chant for the dead, and scatter rice balls on the temple grounds so the hungry spirits can eat. People who live and work away from home return to their village, and many hold family reunions. Government offices close for three days.

Pchum Ben dates: 2026, 2027, 2028

This date follows the moon or a local calendar and can move by a day, so check with a local source nearer the time.

What is eaten

• num ansom
• rice balls
• fruit

Traditions of Pchum Ben

Pchum BenThe festival of the ancestors.PretaThe hungry spirits of Buddhist belief.

More marked on Pchum Ben

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