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By
: Prak Chan Thul, Picture by : Touch Sinath.
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The monk pouring water over
the heads of those seeking to be blessed.
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Since
ancient times, Khmer people have believed that Buddhist
monks can avert danger from people, heal their sickness
and change their luck. Even on ordinary days, people
would go to the temple to receive cleansing from monks
to improve their luck.
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Ms. San Kimngin, who sells
sundry products at Phnom Penh's Psar Thmei market would
readily agree that a person's luck can be changed.
"I have come here to the Samrong Andet temple to
ask the monk to perform the Ramdoh Krouh ritual to improve
my luck," Ms. Kimngin said. "I think it is effective,
because my sales have increased greatly since the last
time I performed this ritual," she added.
Since ancient times, Khmer people have believed that Buddhist
monks can avert danger from people, heal their sickness
and change their luck. |
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In Cambodia, many
people like Ms. San Kimngin will vouch that bad luck can
be transformed and changed into good blessings once monks
perform the Ramdoh Krouh ritual, which can destroy illnesses,
change bad fate and grandeur people can afford for their
ritual ceremony.
"Buddhism is Cambodia's national religion - most
Khmer people are Buddhist," said Keo Mony, a monk
at Samrong Andet pagoda in Phnom Penh. Buddhism entered
Cambodia from India, and the Romdoh Kruoh ceremony combines
Buddhist and Brahmin religion. Buddhism does not refer
to demons or spirits, but Hinduism and Brahmanism do.
Over centuries, Buddhist, Hindu and Brahmin beliefs have
become mixed in Cambodia, producing a religion that includes
spirits, ghosts, demons and rituals. We can see the influence
of Brahmanism in the reliefs of the Bayon temple in Siem
Reap's Angkor complex. |
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Keo Mony added
that "There is a good mix of Buddhism and Brahmanism
in the rituals: the Buddhist tradition of praying is combined
with the Brahmanist tradition of making offerings."
The benefits of the Pithy Romdoh Krouh ceremony "cannot
be scientifically proven," warned Keo Mony. “Modern
people find it hard to believe," he continued, "but
when confronted with real problems such as a strange sickness
or a spell of bad luck, most people would still turn to
a monk or the Achah."
Most Khmer people go by the saying, 'You'll never know
if you never try'. After all, it doesn't cost that much
to give it a shot.
"The relief from harm and danger by an Achah or senior
monk can be effective if we really put our mind and hearts
in it and have faith," Monk Keo Mony assured.
Here are some of the things that you'll need to perform
the ritual to rid a person of bad luck:
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Devotees crowd a Buddhist shrine at
the Samrong Andet Pagoda.
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First Stage - (believed
to be Buddhist-influenced):
- A couple of Baay Say (sections of banana tree trunk)
- A couple of Slaa Thoa (a whole banana tree with leaves
or a bunch of green bananas on a stand decorated with
betel leaves, areca nuts and flowers)
- Two bottles of perfume
- Five yellow candles
- Five popped grains of rice (similar to popcorn)
- Five flowers (usually Lotus flowers)
Second Stage - Offering to the Spirits (believed to be
Brahmin-influenced):
- Eight portions of Slaa Thoa
- Eight bottles of perfume (placed around the person being
blessed)
- One Pem Chous (a small bed that is made from a banana
stem; its length is measured by the distance from elbow
to the wrist of the person being blessed, and its width
is the person's body width). On it is placed food and
a human figure molded out of flour. This figure represents
the person being blessed, and is burned to release danger.
- One white cloth (the length should be 4 times the length
of the bed)
- Uncooked rice measured in small proportions (usually
a small bowl) according to the age of the person being
blessed.
- One large copper or silver bowl, which perfume is dripped
into, again according to the age of the person being blessed.
- Sand, to make a small sacred hill after the ceremony. |
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A monk sprinkles water on a group
of devotees and blesses them by drawing on their foreheads.
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All the above items
are prepared and arranged in front of the holy men. Often
people invite a monk and an Achar together to perform
the ritual. The two men will say prayers and burn the
human figure, to repel and destroy all kind of demons
from the individual.
Strange as it may seem, after the ritual most people feel
recharged and genuinely believe that their luck has changed
for the better, that their body is relieved of any earlier
illnesses and that they are happier.
Although the true origins of the Pithy Romdoh Kruoh ritual
have never been really verified, it looks like the ceremony
is definitely here to stay. |
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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 |
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