Cambodian Culture Gets A Boost Through Cambodian Living Arts.
The drum of truth in Mak Therng
Plae Pakaa, a program consisting of three rotating shows of Cambodian dance, theater and music will be presented year-round in the gardens of the National Museum of Phnom Penh. In April, NGO Cambodian Living Arts (CLA), which is leading this project, invested $9000 in building a roof and preparing the venue to accommodate audiences during the rainy season, thus allowing the creation of a long-term self-sustaining performing arts space in the heart of Phnom Penh’s heritage museum. Plae Pakaa now offers visitors the opportunity to see a regular cultural attraction in Phnom Penh, while also creating long-term work opportunities for emerging and established arts professionals. During the past dry season, the program was able to employ over 120 artists and other arts professionals, offering them a springboard toward future career opportunities in arts production.
The program will stage the dance show Children of Bassac on Fridays and the theater and music shows Mak Therng and Passage of Life on alternate Saturdays until October when the program will be back to six nights a week again. From November 2012 through the end of March 2013, Plae Pakaa welcomed approximately 6000 visitors to the shows six nights a week. This compared to only 1000 visitors during the same period in the previous year. Following the very positive feedback received by the audience, CLA saw the opportunity to create a sustainable model for the performing arts in Cambodia. Plae Pakaa, which translates literally as “coming to fruition”, symbolizes the emerging artists who are sharing the fruits of their hard work with us, with 65 of the 90 performers having been trained by CLA, including Nhok Sinat, music ensemble leader in the theater and music play, Passage of Life, who says “Plae Pakaa gives us a great opportunity to earn a living through art, to develop our skills, and to raise awareness about Cambodian traditions.”
CLA is a non-profit organization based in Cambodia that focuses on Cambodian arts. CLA implements a series of programs with the intention of creating a self-sustaining environment where individuals and communities can be empowered through the arts. CLA’s Community Arts program, offers Cambodians the opportunity to learn their country’s traditional arts, while in its Capacity Building program, motivated students receive education to improve their skills as arts professionals. The Creative Industries program actively seeks out and creates regular, well-paid work in the arts sector through exhibitions and performances which raise awareness about Cambodia’s traditional arts among foreigners and Cambodians. As a true springboard for emerging arts professionals, Plae Pakaa plays an integral role in this program.
Here is a quick look at one of the traditional ceremonies incorporated into Khmer New Year by many families across the country. Its known as Sraung Preah where family members and friends purify the family Buddha statues with perfumed water, in a display of Buddhist merit-making. At the same time, the family elders are bathed in water by the younger family members as a sign of respect and good fortune. In this instance, one of the younger family members gets a dousing as well.
Continuing the Khmer New Year theme. One of the time-honoured ceremonies for Khmer New Year is one called Sraung Preah. This is an opportunity for children and grandchildren to show their respect for their parents and grandparents by splashing perfumed water onto them, for what they hope will be happiness, longevity and good advice in return. At the same time the family also purify the family Buddha statues with the same water, in another display of Buddhist merit-making. This ceremony is held by families all over Cambodia during Khmer New Year, alongwith visiting the pagoda, and enjoying time with family and friends. In the photograph above, Hanuman’s Managing Director Tan Sotho (green) is showered with water by her grandson Julian.
We have a tradition at Hanuman, just before the Khmer New Year holidays each year, where the children from the Cambodian Light Children’s Association orphanage come to re-enact the New Year ceremony called Robam Trot, which originates from the northern town of Stung Treng. Dressed up in traditional costumes, they symbolize chasing away any bad spirits and bringing prosperity by re-creating the hunting of a deer. They are welcome visitors every year.
Khmer New Year, or Chaul Chnam Thmey in the Khmer language, will be celebrated on Sunday 14, Monday 15 and Tuesday 16 April this year, when the Hanuman office will be closed, and staff will spend time with their families, many returning to their home village for the occasion. The office will re-open again on Wednesday 17 April. Happy New Year to you all.
Hanuman Travel TV takes a look at the amazing temples and lifestyle of Bagan, the jewel in Myanmar’s crown.
Myanmar’s top tourism draw card is undoubtedly the 4,000 Buddhist temples of Bagan. A building frenzy in the 11-13th centuries produced a stunning array of iconic brick stupas that dot the plains as far as the eye can see. Today, the temples are as venerated as they were when they were built and though a few popular structures are crowded with visitors, many remain remote and quiet and just waiting to be explored. Temple viewing around dawn and dusk is a must as Bagan is hot, especially in the sizzling months of March to May, and cooler in the peak travel season of November to February.
Take a trip through Indochina with Hanuman Travel TV to see the sights and experiences you can all enjoy in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. We are waiting to welcome you.
A three and half minute taster of the sights, sounds, colours and vibrancy that is Cambodia, shot by the Hanuman Travel TV team. Temples, culture, wildlife, beaches, we have it all, so why not come and experience Cambodia for yourself, courtesy of Hanuman.
Hanuman’s Khmer New Year Special Tours take place next month. Our Tour of the Week is our 5-day & 4-night tour in Siem Reap beginning on 12 April.
Khmer New Year Special
Your starting point is Siem Reap, the gateway to the fabled temples of Angkor. And it’s where you get under the skin of the Khmer New Year celebrations by visiting a pagoda to see the ceremonies first-hand. Opulent resorts and sophisticated restaurants, designer bars and exclusive shops are evidence that Siem Reap is very much back on the map. The temples of Angkor are a profound experience, as few sights on earth can match the majesty of Angkor Wat, nature unleashed at Ta Prohm or the mysterious faces of the Bayon. You visit the sleeping jungle-clad ruin of Beng Mealea, a prototype for Angkor Wat and enjoy a lifestyle visit to a floating village on the Great Lake, including lunch with a local family.
Hanuman’s Andy Brouwer joined thousands of mourners in paying their respects to the late King Father.
Cambodia is in mourning for their beloved King Father, Norodom Sihanouk. The outpouring of emotion is palpable. Hundreds of thousands lined the streets of the capital on Friday as the procession of floats carrying the King Father’s casket, his wife and son, the current King, together with members of the royal family, government and many more, made its way along a 6km route from the Royal Palace before coming to rest at the park directly in front of the National Museum. On Saturday and Sunday morning, thousands more got a final opportunity to say their personal goodbyes to their late King, who oversaw the country’s independence from France in the 1950s. With a cremation site specially-constructed for the occasion, the King Father’s coffin sat inside a memorial stupa and the authorities allowed as many people as they could to pay their final respects to their former monarch.
I joined the queue on Sunday morning, with everyone dressed in white shirt and black trousers, me included. The mood was sombre but orderly, even with scores of people joining the queue wherever they could squeeze in. The security cordon surrounding the site was tight but low key, as we quickly gained admittance to the inner sanctum of the cremation park and walked slowly, hands clasped together in a traditional sompeah, towards the central stupa. The King Father’s coffin, resplendent in gold, lay ahead as the two lines of mourners walked from the southern entrance and continued around to the northern gate where the devout went to their knees in a brief moment of silent prayer. Emotions ran high as many shed tears, happy to be able to offer their final farewell at close quarters but distraught to have lost their cherished sovereign. With thousands more waiting in line, we were quickly ushered out of the park as many mourners resumed their positions of prayer in the surrounding streets.
The cremation itself will take place at 6pm on Monday. Mourners will once again be allowed into the park until lunchtime. Then official functions will take over until the formal cremation and 100-gun salute in the early evening.
The final resting place of the late King Father Norodom Sihanouk
The route of the cremation procession through Phnom Penh
Tomorrow, much of Phnom Penh will come to a standstill with the Cremation Procession of the former Cambodian King Father Norodom Sihanouk.
With immense crowds expected in Phnom Penh over the next few days, it’s been confirmed that the Royal Palace will be closed for the whole week of national mourning from 1-7 February. This was announced yesterday. Tomorrow (Saturday) the King Father’s coffin will be removed from the Royal Palace, along Sisowath Quay and paraded around Wat Phnom, south down Norodom Boulevard, around Independence Monument and then along Sothearos Boulevard, coming to rest at the purpose-built crematorium very close to the National Museum & Royal Palace, with the cremation itself taking place on Monday 4 February. Large video screens dotted around the city will beam events live including the cremation. Wat Phnom will be closed on 1 February. The National Museum is confirmed closed on 1 and 4 February but access outside those days will be restricted because of road closures and the large crowds expected in the city, so visiting the Museum may be difficult during this period of time. The same goes for restaurants in the vicinity. The Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC on the riverfront) have told us they will close their doors on 1 and 4 Feb. Friends the Restaurant and Romdeng will close between 2-4 Feb. Access to hotels in the area around the riverside will be possible only on foot. Other closures include the Cambodian Living Arts shows at the National Museum in Phnom Penh as well as Sovanna Phum. Meanwhile, the Khmer Rouge-linked sites at S-21/Tuol Sleng and Choeung Ek will remain open.
