In Pictures: “Lok Ta Pring Ka-ek” to Chase Away Evil Spirits and Invoke Rain

Each year in Cambodia, the Lok Ta Pring Ka-ek festival takes place in the village of Boeung, near Phnom Penh. It is a traditional celebration intended to exorcise evil spirits and call for rain.

Lok Ta Pring Ka-ek to Chase Away Evil Spirits and Invoke Rain

With body and face paint or wearing traditional costumes, villagers parade through the streets and also organize horse races.

Pring Ka-ek was originally a religious ceremony. A villager explains that it began with the intention of driving evil spirits out of the village, which would be frightened by the intentionally terrifying costumes and makeup...

The parade remains a popular highlight of the day, but it now competes with the horse race, which has become the main attraction.

However, horse races are not entirely out of place at this traditional event. The village and the ceremony are said to have been named after a cavalry commander who died centuries ago, and whose spirit villagers believe still remains in the village.

Photographs by El Vattanac - AKP