Royal Ploughing Ceremony: Good Year for Farmers

Courtesy: KI Media

<< The royal ploughing ceremony in Phnom Penh. Cambodia's royal cows performed an ancient ceremony on Friday, predicting the country will have a "quite good" rice harvest this year. (AFP/Tang Chhin Sothy)

 

This ceremony takes place toward the end of the dry season in early May, when Khmer farmers prepare their fields for new crops. A special pagoda is erected in a field beside the Royal Palace, and the field is then plowed by the King's own oxen. At the end of the ceremony, the oxen are led to various grains and left to select their preference, a practice believed to predict the success of the year's harvests. Courtesans in traditional garb and often the King himself attend this colorful celebration.