Tradition

Cambodian New Year

បុណ្យចូលឆ្នាំខ្មែរ


Cambodian New Year (បុណ្យចូលឆ្នាំខ្មែរ) is the Khmer solar new year, a three-day festival that usually begins on April 13 or 14.[1] It comes at the end of the harvest and before the rains, when families reunite, go to the wat and honor their elders and ancestors.[1][2]

Names

In Khmer the festival is called Choul Chnam Thmey (ចូលឆ្នាំថ្មី), "entering the new year."[2][3] Its official name is បុណ្យចូលឆ្នាំថ្មី ប្រពៃណីជាតិ, "New Year Festival, the National Tradition."[1] It is also known as Khmer New Year, Moha Sangkran and Sangkran. Moha Sangkran means "great sankranti," from the Sanskrit saṅkrānti, a passing from one state to the next, and it marks the sun's move into a new sign of the zodiac.[1][4] The traditional greeting is Soursdey Chnam Thmey![3]

Practice

Before the new year, families clean their homes, a way of clearing out bad energy and making room for fresh blessings.[2] They decorate the household altar and the spirit house, a small shrine on a pedestal in front of the home, with flowers, food, fruit and drinks. Many Cambodians believe the spirit house stands for the family's protecting spirit.[5] Homes are hung with stars and streamers, and sugar cane is pressed for sweet juice.[6]

Moha Sangkran, the first day

The first day, Moha Sangkran, marks the end of the old year and the arrival of the new. On this day a new angel, the tevoda, is believed to come down to watch over the world for the coming year.[1][7] Families set out fruit, drinks and flowers to welcome the angel, and at the hour set for its arrival they light candles and incense and pray for happiness and prosperity.[5][8] People wear new clothes, go to the pagoda in the morning to offer food to monks and receive blessings, and invite monks to preach in the evening.[4][8]

At the shrine, families bow, kneel and prostrate three times before the Buddha image in thanks for the Buddha's teachings. For good luck, people wash their faces with holy water in the morning, their chests at noon and their feet in the evening.[1] Elders meditate or recite the Dharma, believing the visiting angel will protect the family through the year.[7]

Veareak Vanabat, the second day

The second day, Veareak Vanabat, is given to generosity. People give gifts to their parents, grandparents and elders and to their employees, and they give money, clothes and food to the poor.[9][7] Families gather at the monastery to dedicate offerings to their ancestors.[1][5] In the afternoon or evening they heap sand into mounds at the pagoda, called phnom khsach, and pray while monks bless the spirits of departed relatives.[8][3] The mounds are decorated with flowers, candles and flags.[3]

Veareak Laeung Sak, the third day

The third day, Veareak Laeung Sak, marks the official start of the new year.[2] In the morning people return to the pagoda for the sand-mound ceremony and its blessings.[7][8] In the evening comes Pithi Srang Preah, the bathing of the Buddha, when people gently pour perfumed water over Buddha images, monks, elders and parents.[8][1] Children wash their parents and grandparents and receive their good wishes and advice for the year.[1] The water left over is poured on friends for good luck.[10] The last day closes with fireworks and street parties across Cambodia.[5]

Games and dance

Traditional games belong to the New Year, and children, adults and elders all take part.[5] They are played to make the days memorable and to keep mind and body nimble.[1]

In Chol Chhoung, played on the first evening, lines of young men and women stand 8 to 10 meters (26 to 33 feet) apart and throw a knotted krama ball back and forth while singing. A player who misses the chhoung must perform a comic act.[4][1] Chap Kon Kleng imitates a hen guarding her chicks from a crow, who tries to catch the chicks hiding behind her.[1] In Leak Kanseng, children sit in a circle while one player walks around singing and secretly drops a twisted krama behind someone, who must pick it up and strike or tag the next person.[1][4] Bos Angkunh is played by throwing hard angkunh seeds at target seeds, and the winning team ends the game by striking the losers' knees with them.[1][2] Teanh Proat is a tug-of-war between teams of boys and girls.[4] Bay Khom is a strategy game for two, like mancala, played with 42 beads, stones or seeds in ten holes. Klah Klok is a dice game in which players bet on the pictures that show on three dice: a stag or tiger, a gourd water bottle, a rooster, a fish, a crab and a prawn.[1][2] Other games include Lout Bav, Pong Raot Koun Kromom and Veay K'aom.[5] EthnoMed states that New Year was traditionally the only time boys and girls were allowed to socialize together, at temples, in fields and on village playgrounds.[7]

People dance and sing classical Khmer songs at pagodas and across the country, often in a circle around a table or a vase of flowers.[5][4] The Trot dance is performed at New Year and is believed to drive away bad luck.[11]

Food and dress

Families cook special dishes during the three days, both for the living and to honor their ancestors.[5] Kralan is a New Year cake of sticky rice, beans or peas, grated coconut and coconut milk, packed into bamboo and slowly roasted.[1][4] Nom Ansom is a sticky-rice cake wrapped in banana leaves. It is often sweet, filled with banana, and can also be savory, filled with pork or bacon, nuts and salted egg.[2][4][5] Cambodia set a world record in Siem Reap for the largest Nom Ansom, which weighed about 4,040 kilograms (8,906 pounds 10 ounces).[5]

Other dishes of the season include Khmer curry, fish amok and the hot pot ya hon, along with the jelly dessert cha houy teuk, samlor kako, lap Khmer, bai sach chrouk and tuk a loc.[5][2]

Traditional dress is worn for the festival. The sampot, or sarong, is a cloth wrapped around the lower body and worn by men and women, and women may add the Chang Pong, a cloth of any color worn over the shoulder.[4][10]

Meaning and significance

The New Year stands for renewal: leaving the past behind and welcoming happiness and good fortune. Family reunions, gratitude toward elders and shared meals are at its heart.[2] Temple visits, feeding monks and helping people in need earn merit, and families may dedicate that merit to their ancestors.[2]

The central sand mound represents the Valuka Chaitya, the stupa in the Tavatimsa heaven where the Buddha's hair and diadem are buried. The four smaller mounds around it stand for the stupas of the Buddha's disciples Sariputta, Moggallana, Ananda and Maha Kassapa.[1] The mound is also called the Chulamni Stupa, and it is regarded as Mount Meru, with each grain of sand an act of purification for the new year.[9][3]

Bathing Buddha images washes away the bad actions of the past year, and it is believed to bring the rain needed for the year ahead.[1][4] Bathing elders expresses apology for past mistakes and asks for their forgiveness and blessing, and it is believed to bring long life, luck, happiness and prosperity.[8][1] Water cleanses and blesses, while powder and perfume stand for blessing and purification.[2][3]

The New Year angels

In the best-known legend, the god-king Kabil Moha Prum tested a clever youth, Dhammabal Koma, with three riddles. He lost the contest and cut off his own head, as he had promised. His seven daughters take turns carrying his head in the yearly New Year ceremony, and each serves in turn as a New Year angel.[2]

There is one angel for each day of the week, and the angel of the year depends on the day and hour the new year begins.[5][4] In 2026 the angel was Reakyasa, the third daughter of Kabil Moha Prum, who by tradition arrives riding a horse, wears black and takes blood, given as red offerings. Her arrival on April 14 was broadcast live on state media.[8] The angel of 2021 was Mondea Devy, the fourth daughter.[12]

History

Cambodian New Year has been celebrated for hundreds of years.[2] It began in Brahmanism, a part of Hinduism, and Buddhism later took on the central roles in its rites.[7] The new year was first held in the first lunar month, in November or December. In the thirteenth century, in the Angkor era, a Khmer king moved it to the fifth lunar month, April, because November to March was the busiest harvest season. In April, after the rice harvest, the fields are dry and hot and farmers have time to rest.[5][7][13] The fifth month is called Chet.[12] The Khmer calendar adds extra days and months at set intervals, which keeps the New Year in the same farming season instead of drifting through the year.[13]

The start is set each year by the traditional Khmer calendar and horoscope. It usually falls on April 13 or 14, and Cambodgemag gives April 13, 14 or 15.[2][4] The festival is a three-day public holiday, and in some years the holiday runs longer; in 2024 it lasted four days from April 13.[1][2][9] In 2021 the Buddhist year 2564 ended at 4 a.m. on April 14 and 2565, the Year of the Ox, began, with the change made official on Visak Bochea Day.[12]

Paying tribute to the dead became a larger part of the New Year after the Khmer Rouge years.[5]

In 2021, during COVID-19, the festival was held under the slogan "New Year at Home." People were asked to welcome the new angel at home and avoid large gatherings, religious and other ceremonies were not recommended, and travel between provinces was banned.[12] In 2026 the Cambodian government asked people not to throw water or talcum powder, and gambling, water-throwing, smearing charcoal and fireworks were banned at official celebrations.[3][14]

Variations

Cambodian New Year falls at the same time as the solar new years of parts of India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Laos and Thailand. It shares its calendar and many customs with Songkran in Thailand, Pi Mai in Laos and Thingyan in Myanmar.[1][3]

Many families return to their home villages for the festival, and city workers travel back to the countryside.[4][3] Celebrations take place in homes, pagodas, streets and large public events, and towns and cities add concerts, parades, performances and markets.[2] Water blessings have grown into water fights among the young, with water pistols, balloons and buckets, and white talcum powder or flour as a sign of cleanliness. Siem Reap is known for these celebrations.[4]

Siem Reap also hosts Angkor Sangkrant, organized by the Union of Youth Federations of Cambodia from April 14 to 16.[1] The Siem Reap Sangkranta Festival, held in the city center near the Royal Residence, features Cambodian artwork, costumes and martial arts, along with yearly Guinness World Record attempts.[10] In 2026 Phnom Penh hosted Nokor Sankranta, also organized by the Union of Youth Federations, from April 14 to 19.[14]

Community

Khmer people celebrate the New Year in Cambodia and wherever they live abroad. Families, children, elders, monks and whole neighborhoods take part.[1][11] Outside Cambodia the celebration often moves to the nearest weekend, and temples and community centers hold New Year events on a Saturday or Sunday near the traditional dates.[1][2] Cambodian communities in Long Beach, California, and in Paris hold large celebrations each April, with traditional music, dance, food stalls and games.[2]

References

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 Wikipedia, Cambodian New Year
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 CU Independent, Cambodian New Year: history, food and games (2025)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 Cambodianess, The joyful reset: celebrating Khmer New Year in Cambodia
  4. ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 Cambodgemag, Cambodia and tradition: ten things to know about the Khmer New Year (2025)
  5. ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13 IntoCambodia.org, Khmer New Year
  6. ↑ The Lens of Jen, Cambodian New Year in Cambodia
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 EthnoMed, Khmer New Year
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 Cambodianess, Khmer New Year: traditions and meaning behind Cambodia's biggest festival (2026)
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Cambodianess, Khmer New Year: things to know about Cambodia's largest festival
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Rainforest Cruises, Khmer New Year: Cambodia's Choul Chnam Thmey
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Khmer Times, Welcoming Khmer New Year (2019)
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Khmer Times, Khmer traditional New Year starts today (2021)
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Cambodianess, Introduction to the Khmer calendar
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Cambodianess, Khmer New Year invites visitors to experience Cambodia beyond the temples (2026)


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This page was last edited on 2 October 2026, at 01:35.