Pchum Ben Ceremony 10-12 October 2007 Pchum Ben is a most important holiday and cultural event in Cambodia. Officially it is a celebration of one's ancestors, honoring them and offering sacrifices to free their spirits. In its showing respect for the dead, it is like All Souls Day in the West, and, indeed, the Vatican has given permission for the Catholic Church in Cambodia to celebrate All Souls Day during Pchum Ben, instead of on November 2nd, so that Cambodian Catholics will feel at one with their culture.  Pchum Ben has another dimension, too.  It is expected that everyone must return to his or her home village in the various provinces to honor the ancestors. This family dimension and the need to go home is similar to the cultural imperative most Americans feel at Thanksgiving. Catholics in Phnom Penh celebrated the day with a liturgy in the morning followed by a ceremony at a stupa where cremation ashes for an honored few persons are kept on the church grounds.

Vendors congregate at the entrances to the wats to sell lotus blooms to be offered An elderly Buddhist nun making her way into the wat for prayer A monk chanting prayers in the wat, probably a private service for a wealthy family A huge portion of Phnom Penh's population went to the provinces and left the streets empty and the shops closed Only at Khmer New Year and Pchum Ben do the streets empty like this Those who stay still make sure their street is clean Street sweepers must work on the holiday Street children still scavenge for trash to sell People still need to eat breakfast bought from the street vendors. The poorest people have little or no holiday. After a mass, the Catholic people gathered for a ceremony at this stupa on the church grounds containing cremated ashes

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