Many ceremonies consist of processions around temples and pagodas. Crowds of people wait outside with lighted incense sticks in their hands while monks perform rituals inside. There are also symbolic events with five formed and decorated piles of sand or rice. They point to Mount Meru, the place where Buddhist gods are thought to live. The rice piles are an effect of the gifts of the believing Cambodians. Five empty bowls are available on a long table. In each of these bowls, the Cambodians put some of the rice they brought with them. At the beginning of this table, a tower of bowls with flower arrangements symbolizes the mountain Meru. There, the Khmer people fix the money they brought with them as victims. Even if they have little money, there’s something to give. For example 100 riel, which equals about 2.5 cents.
Here on the photo, you can see the five bowls for the gifts and at the very top of the picture you can see mountain Meru with fixed money.
Lee Heng and Plony at the rice ceremony in the pagoda at Phnom Krom
Most are smaller pagodas in which there are “only” these five bowls. In larger pagodas, there are many more. For example, I took part in a ceremony with 20 bowls on a long table. The amount of rice that went into the bowls there was huge.
At Pchum Ben itself, the main day of the celebrations, the Khmer people are once again donating special alms. Especially in rural areas, believers throw their rice balls into the air or onto the fields. According to their faith, the spirits can take food from the spiritual part of the food. The earthly part falls to the ground and can be eaten by the monks.
Mieh Ponn, a consultant at a Buddhist institute, says that Bay Ben (the rice) should be placed on a plate rather than thrown on the floor. Giving rice to the poor can be more deserving of the living than giving rice to ants only.