|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| By
: Ly Vanna, Picture by : Nathan Dexter. |
|
|
Khmer New Year brings
with it its own culture of fun and frivolity. That
includes traditional games that have been played
at this time of year for centuries. Here is Leisure
Cambodia's guide to the four most popular games.
|
|
| |
 |
|
The Angkunh - popular during
the Khmer New Year. Although most would use them
as toys, some boil them for medicinal purpose.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| To play this
game, two teams are needed-a team of girls on one
side and boys on the other. A krama is tied into
knots until it becomes like a large cloth ball with
loose edges to grip and throw it. There are two
distinct types of chhoung. The first is chhoung
rorm chreang (singing and dancing chhoung), when
the boy's team throw the chhoung into the girl's
team. If the girls cannot catch it, they must pick
it up off the ground and throw it back. The boy
who gets the chhoung next can try to hit the girl
he likes with it. If he gets her, she must sing
and dance for him. If not, it is the girl's team's
turn to try and hit a boy to make him sing and dance.
The most popular song goes: "I can catch this
chhoung and break it into four parts. Oh my darling,
please get this chhoung". For the other variety,
chhoung loh kangom, the rules are the same, except
if a boy is hit, he must go to the girl's side,
and vice versa.
|
|
|
|
|
Angkunh is the large,
dark brown nut of a vine. To play this game, two
groups of players get together a boy's team and
a girl's team. The teams take the Angkunh, which
are now called kuoy for the purpose of the game,
and place three to five on the ground. These are
called the "planting kuoy". Each team
then takes more of the nuts and throws these "hitting
kuoy" at the planting kuoy, trying to hit them.The
team that hits the least planting kuoys loses, and
the other team then gets to hit them on the knee
with kuoys.
There are two ways of doing this. Bai trachheak
(cold rice) means the winner puts one kuoy on the
opponent's knee and hits with another one. Bai gadao
means they put two kuoys together as before but
harder so it makes a cracking sound. If no sound
is created, the person being hit is allowed to do
the same back to the person who has failed to produce
the sound.
|
|
|
|
|
| Proart is a leather rope
or line. Teanh means to pull. Much the same as tug'o'war.
Girls and boys form two teams. A boy and a girl
are chosen to stand at each end of the rope. A referee
shouts "yak-or" and the players reply
"ho-verr" three times to ensure everyone
is ready, then the referee rings a bell as each
player pulls until he sees which one has been pulled
over the line drawn in the dirt by the opponent.
That player is the loser.
|
|
|
|
|
| This is played
throughout Cambodia. About 10 people sit in a circle.
They are not allowed to turn around or look behind
them. One person takes a krama tied the same way
as the chhoung and runs around the circle behind
the players. He or she drops the krama behind one
of the circle. If that person does not then hit
the player next to them in the direction the runners
is going in, or the person who should have been
hit will pick up the krama and hit the unfortunate
person whom it was dropped behind with it instead.
They then become the runner until they can trick
someone else, and so on. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Previous
Article |
Next Article
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Suite
B8, Regency Square, InterContinental Hotel, 294 Mao Tse Toung
Boulevard,
Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia.
Tel: (855) 23 213 133 Fax: (855) 23 213 033
E-mail:
editor@leisurecambodia.com |
|
|
|
Read
Leisure By :
