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By
: Ly Vanna, Illustration : Sao Pagnarith.
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A nearly extinct Khmer right
of passage for girls entering womanhood
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Chol Mlobb
is a rite of passage and means to enter the shadow
(Chol means enter and Mlobb refers to the shadow).
This ceremony is only celebrated for the daughter
of the family. There are two main aims of this celebration:
to educate morality, virtue, and right behavior
and to make the daughter become a beautiful girl.
Through this event, the girl will become a perfect,
beautiful woman that young men will pay attention
to. She will also bring honor to her family.
During this period, she learns many things, such
as rules of conduct for women, housewifery, taking
care of children, weaving, recipes and how to behave
with other people. She has to wear a long sleeved
shirt and a long skirt. At nighttime, she has to
wear powder and saffron on her body.
The duration of Chol Mlobb is dependent on how
wealthy the family is and the number of members
in the family. It usually takes from between three
to six months.
In the past, girls were not allowed to go to school
because all schools were located in |
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pagodas and most
of the teachers were monks, thus the girls were not able
to attend. On the other hand, some families did not want
their daughters go to school so that they could keep an
eye on their daughters. Many people believed that the
home was the best place to educate girls at that time.
It was believed that Chol Mlobb had been extinct since
the 1930s. However Chol Mlobb is highlighted in Tomm Teav
(a famous Khmer story). Essentially this means that the
celebration has continued within Cambodia for many years.
"Nowadays, there are a few places; for example, in
Sre Ambel district in Koh Kong province and also Pea Romng
district in Prey Veng province, that are still keeping
this meaningful event alive, but they shorten the duration
to between one week and three months," said Mr. Pi
Bunnin from The Buddhist Institute.
Any girl can undertake Chol Mlobb, even if she is the
first daughter in the family and old enough to get married,
even if she lives in a middle class family with enough
people to do all housework.
Until now there was the question of when and why the Khmer
people started this ceremony. It is probably a Khmer legend
that tells the reason why the Khmer people adopted Choul
Mlobb for their daughters.
The legend describes a thief who had no wife and no children
but he had a very nice house in the jungle, far away from
the others, which he used to put away the things that
he stole. When he got older he realized that: "I
have a lot of property but I have nobody to inherit them.
When I die all my property will be wasted. If I had a
wife or children to inherit them, I would not be so worried".
So the thief walked around the village and found a group
of children playing under a big mango tree. He then saw
a pretty young girl amongst them. He separated her from
the other children and brought her to his house. He was
afraid that she would run back to her parents, so he locked
her in a room and gave her food through a very small window.
When she was old enough to get married she became sickly
and the father invited an old lady from the village to
attend to her.
One day, there came a man who had just finished his magic
lessons; he met the old lady and asked for her help in
finding the perfect girl to marry. Then the lady told
of the beauty of the thief's daughter and advised the
young man to walk along the path with watermelons growing
alongside. This was the result of the old woman throwing
watermelon seeds to mark her path while she was walking
with the thief in order to avoid losing the way.
In the morning, the man went to meet the girl as the lady
had told him and the two met and fell in love with each
other. She tried to hide her emotions for the young man
because she was afraid of her father. However, the father
observed his daughter's behavior and recognized that his
daughter had fallen in love. He was very angry with his
daughter and so he went away.
The young couple stayed in the house together for a while
and did not see the thief come back. Then they left the
house and came to thank the old lady who had told the
man about the beautiful girl. The old lady told the villagers
that this girl was so pretty because she had stayed in
the shade and when she left the shade she attracted a
husband. |
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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:
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