Kan Ben in Cambodia: A First Day Filled with Contemplation and Spirituality

Each year, at the heart of the Cambodian lunar calendar, the Kan Ben festival marks the beginning of a sacred fourteen-day period dedicated to ancestors. This first day of the festival, steeped in tradition and devotion, resonates throughout the Kingdom of Cambodia with its religious rituals and community spirit, illustrating the deep attachment of Cambodians to their spiritual heritage.

Kan Ben is the first phase of the larger Buddhist event Pchum Ben, the ‘Festival of the Dead,’ which lasts for fifteen days. Photo AKP

The cycle traditionally begins on the first waning moon of the Khmer month of Putrobot, which often corresponds to late September or early October in the Western calendar. This first day marks the start of a series of visits to pagodas where Cambodian families, united by filial respect, offer food, prayers and gifts to Buddhist monks.

These gestures are intended to support the souls of their ancestors, whom they believe to be suffering in an intermediate state between heaven and hell, in order to bring them merit and eternal peace (Pchum Ben).

The ritual on the first day consists of cooking special foods, including sticky rice shaped into balls called Bay Ben, which are offered to the monks in the pagodas. A unique custom requires that some rice balls also be thrown around the temples or in the fields.

This practice symbolises the desire to feed wandering or suffering spirits who are unable to enter sacred places, thus preventing them from being left to hunger and suffering (highlighted by the chants and sermons of monks who continuously recite sacred texts to help souls progress towards the light).

The pagodas are then filled with collective devotion, vibrant with songs and incense smoke rising to the rhythm of prayers. Photo AKP

It is also a spiritual moment when the faithful light candles, engage in meditation and strengthen their ties with the dead in an atmosphere charged with emotion and respect.

According to local belief, if these offerings are not received, the souls of ancestors may return to haunt their descendants. This ritual transition during Kan Ben is therefore seen as a fragile bridge between the living and the dead, an invitation to forgiveness and cosmic reconciliation.

Beyond the ritual, Kan Ben embodies a reunion of Cambodian families, often scattered by modern life, who gather in their neighbourhood pagodas, reconnecting with their social and spiritual roots.

In short, this first day of Kan Ben is a gesture of filial love filled with hope, a silent dance between past and present orchestrated by the Buddhist faith that seals Cambodian cultural unity. It sets the stage for the following days, when offerings will intensify until the long-awaited ‘Ben Thom’, the fifteenth day, crowning the festival with a burst of colour and solemn contemplation.