Pchum Ben is the second most significant public holiday in Cambodia after Khmer New Year. The pronunciation of Ben here is somewhere between the name ‘Ben’ and the word ‘Bun’, phonetically ‘B\u0115n’ is most accurate. Pchum means ‘to come together’ and Ben means ‘ball of food’, usually a rice or meat ball used as a food offering. So the literal meaning of Pchum Ben is something like ‘to come together to offer food’. Pchum Ben is based on a lunar calendar, so it’s exact date shifts from year to year, but generally falls in September or October. It comes at the end of the three month Buddhist monastic retreat of Vassa. During Pchum Ben, Cambodians travel to pagodas across the country to pay homage to their ancestors up to the seventh generation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pchum Ben involves 15 days of religious practice which culminates in a 3 day long public holiday. Because Pchum Ben involves significant travel across the country – visiting the stupas of seven generations of ancestors – many workplaces offer additional days off and Cambodians often take additional days off during this time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n