By Lor Chandara of The Cambodia Daily (25 September 2000)

On the bottom of the ponds in the middle of the pagoda, human bones are scattered. On the wall of the temple, there are bullet holes and splatters of dried blood.  People are gathering from far and near now, bringing food to the monks at this pagoda during Pchum Ben, the Festival of the Dead.

But 25 years ago, when Cambodia was ruled by the Khmer Rouge, Buddhists were banned from Wat Kokos and every other pagoda in the country. Religion was all but destroyed.

Wat Kokos, located off Route 2 about 40 km sought of Phnom Penh, was used by the Khmer Rouge as one of the torture centers in Bati district. Thousands of innocent people were tortured and killed by the regime in the pagoda, according to several Buddhist monks, priests and lay people who lived nearby and survived the genocidal regime.

"The exact number of the dead here is uncountable," said the chief priest of the pagoda, Nou Kruy, 71. He was among the workers who helped clean the pagoda after the Pol Pot regime.  Nou Kruy, who removed human bones from the ponds to display in a small museum, said they found many piles of human bones, each of which contained the remains of about 40 people.

Inside the temple, prisoners had been handcuffed to iron bars stretched across the floor. A human palm-print in dried blood could be seen low on one wall; to the east, a dark hole beneath the temple had been used as an isolation chamber.

More than 8,000 human bones and skulls were recovered, some of which have been displayed in a small museum. Officials say many more remain buried. During the Vietnamese occupation, Bati district authorities used the pagoda as a site on National Hate Day.

Every year, people read speeches and wept as they described their suffering under the Khmer Rouge.  Since 1979, when pagodas were reopened for worship, survivors have come to Wat Kokos to celebrate one of the country's most important Buddhist holidays, Pchum Ben, the Festival of the Dead. During the 15-day observance, families honor their ancestors by making offerings at local pagodas.

The Wat Kokos celebration is particularly poignant in that monks and priests pray for those killed by the Khmer Rouge.  "We, all survivors of three years, eight months, and twenty days of the regime who are your children, parents, and relatives, would like to pray to you to have a brighter life than the lives you had in the past, and please come to receive the food we have brought in," prayed priest Nou Kruy last week.

Many of those visiting the pagoda this year said their relatives had been killed in the pagoda.

Hang Roeung, 65, lost her parents in Battambang province and one of her brothers to the Khmer Rouge at Wat Kokos.  "I came to this pagoda to make some offerings to monks and pray especially for my older brother. He died miserably here," she said.

Hang Roeung said her brother had been starving in the pagoda prison when he was murdered by the guards.  "I think he is so hungry, so I brought him food now."

One afternoon, he was taken from his home by horse cart. He only had time to tell his family he was being taken away to help carry salt. But instead, he was taken to Wat Kokos; he never emerged.

Many others told similar stories.

In Cambodia's Buddhist traditions, the Festival of the Dead falls on the 15th day of the celebrations called the Dak Ben.  During the Dak Ben, each village within a pagoda's jurisdiction must offer food and other gifts to the monks.

On the 15th day, all villagers come together to the pagoda with food and such special treats as sticky rice with pig fat and bean, and cake with banana wrapped inside, traditionally made for the Pchum Ben festival.

Apart from the offerings made through monks during the Dak Ben period, people must also prepare rice mixed with sesame seed.  Every morning at 4 AM, the mixture is thrown to the ground around the wat's temple to feed hungry ghosts.  On the final day of the festival families bring more offerings to the wats.

They will pray either at the wat or at home, depending on where the urns containing relatives' ashes are.  And they will light incense sticks and candles to guide the spirits of their ancestors and relatives to the offerings they have prepared.

Buddhist scholars say the Festival of the Dead stems from the three-month period when Buddha went into retreat during the rainy season.   During that time, monks were not allowed to leave the wat overnight, unless their parents were seriously ill, the abbot said.  In Buddha's time, the Festival of the Dead lasted for about one month.  In later years, it was reduced to 15 days because many families were busy with farming.

During the festival, people also build sand mountains, which represents the release of the sins they have committed during the past years, said 65-year-old Im Roeung.  She said some people also build little boats, made of plastic or banana leaves, to carry offerings to the dead.

Like many other Cambodians, Im Roeung said she can't go to seven wats, as Buddha taught, due to economic hardship and transportation problems. But, she added the "Buddha also did not require people to go to all the seven, only one is enough. But the more, the better."

Chhoen Sok, a 58-year-old Takeo farmer, said the Festival of the Dead has another purpose in addition to urging Cambodian Buddhists to bring their offerings to the monks.  He said it also marks the "reunion of family members" who come from near and faraway.

At the Wat Kokos pagoda, those reunions take a tragic turn. Many people were seen praying to the human skulls and bones they thought might belong to their loved ones.