Each country has their own way of holding funerals, and funerals in Cambodia also have specific traditions as well. There are many things to know about a country when it comes to culture and tradition. People also have different beliefs in funerals because the ceremony helps the deceased to peacefully reach another world. As for Cambodia, some details of funerals will be all below.
Types of Death & Their Funerals
Funerals in Cambodia also depend on how the person dies, and there are different ways to hold the funerals. More than that, some villages or districts also have their own methods to deal with different deaths. All of these are just to ensure that the ghosts will not come back to haunt people. However, such a thing is inevitable due to people’s carelessness during the funerals or the ghost’s unfinished business.
Natural Death
The natural death or auspicious death is usually expected when a person is of old age or has chronic diseases. In this case, acha (archbishop) is invited to sit by the dying person’s death bed. Once he confirms that the person will not live any longer, he will write Pali words on small white garments. The words go, “ចក្ខុសម្ជស្ស សោតសម្ជស្ស ឃានសម្ជស្ស ជីវ្ហាសម្ជស្ស កាយសម្ជស្ស មនោសម្ជស្ស” on 6 pieces of garment the size of an adult palm. He then places the garments on the person’s head for later use when the person draws their last breath. A candle and incense will also be prepared for the person to hold between their hands when they die. He also prepares a soul pennon for the person as well.
After that, he will call the family members and relatives to gather with the dying person. These people will ask for forgiveness from the dying person in case they have done anything wrong. They will say just the good things to the person so that the person will depart with just the good things in their mind. The acha will then say, “Everyone please be kind and nice, don’t hold anger or grudge against anyone. We are all going to die, and keep an open mind to things around you. Do not hold on to your wife, children, or wealth anymore. Focus on the Buddha, Dharma, and Monk, your parents, and the people you are grateful for. I prepared the candle and incense for you to offer Culamani Cetiya at Tavatimsa when you passed away. Should there be any karma blocking your way, your soul pennon will protect you.”
When The Person Is Dying & Dead
The acha then takes the garments to cover 6 doors on a person’s body. ចក្ខុសម្ជស្សទ្វារ (on the forehead), សោតសម្ជស្សទ្វារ (under the head), ឃានសម្ជស្សទ្វារ (upper lip), ជីវ្ហាសម្ជស្សទ្វារ (lower chin), កាយសម្ជស្សទ្វារ (on the praying hands), មនោសម្ជស្សទ្វារ (on the chest).
Once the person is gasping for air, he will light the candle and incense and begin praying. Once the person passes, their face will be covered but the body will not be touched. When the time comes, acha will remove the pieces of garments he placed before the person dies. There will be some more sermon recitation before the bathing begins. After bathing, the children and/or relatives will apply powder and perfume on the body before dressing the body in white garments. Then the body’s hands will be put in a praying form with candles and incense in the hands. Depending on the family’s wealth, some put a regular coin some others put a golden coin inside the person’s mouth. There will be the preparation for the funeral while acha shaves the eldest son or grandson’s head.
The family members and close relatives will wear all white, and the sermon recitation and traditional funeral music will begin. Other relatives and friends who attend the funeral must wear white tops and black bottoms, traditionally.
Unnatural Death
If someone dies because of bad spirits or a sudden death without reason, their body is allowed to be bathed (ចំអាស). However, if the person dies during childbirth or after childbirth, this is called death because of preay. Preay travels in the form of orbs but can also take a woman form who looks extremely scary. Death by preay requires an immediate burial with the corpse’s head facing north, and soul pennon is not allowed either.
Funeral Traditions In Cambodia
What you have read above are not the details of our funerals because many cultural terms are challenging to find in English. However, there are certain rituals that we practice in funerals in Cambodia. Below are the stories behind those rituals, let’s have a look.
Candle, Flowers, and Incense Placement In The Deceased’s Hands
There was a tale about a monk whose father was a hunter who slaughtered countless animals. On his deathbed, the hunter hallucinated and saw all of the animals he had killed. He was screaming for his son to help. The son said, “You have a lot of sins which is why you were seeing those animals.” He asked people to find candles, flowers, and incense then placed the items in his father’s hands. And he said, “Focus on the candle, flowers, and incense that are the items of offerings to Preah Ratanatray”. The father followed his son’s instruction, and went to heaven after he passed. This is why people began to do this by clearing their minds and focusing on Preah Ratanatray.
Why Do We Place A Coin In A Deceased Person’s Mouth?
A long time ago, there was a couple who was working very hard and they had 1 Bart of gold left. (That was currency at the time for gold, so let’s say 1 Bart then is $100 now for easy understanding). They did not have any children, and they were getting older and older. The couple said to each other, “The gold will be placed in the mouth of whoever dies first.”. A few years later, the husband died, the wife kept their promises and she placed the gold in the husband’s mouth. After the cremation, the gold remained in a lesser amount as it melted in the fire. So let’s say only $30 was left after the cremation and the wife kept it.
The king during that time was very greedy, and he ordered the villages to pay a tax of 1 Bart of gold per house. Knowing that, the old lady brought the remaining gold and offered it to the king. She said, “Your majesty, this gold was 1 Bart but I placed it in my husband’s mouth when my husband passed away. This is all I have left, please have mercy and accept this because I cannot find any more gold.” The king was shocked after hearing that, and he no longer ordered the tax collection. Because of this, the people at the time could see that the gold placed in a deceased person’s mouth was heart-touching. Even the king gave in to that.
However, some say doing so is to show people that no one can bring anything with them to the afterlife. So we shouldn’t be greedy and focusing so much on money and materials. Either way, this is one of the traditions that we are still practicing to this day.
Other Things
- When a person passes away, their body is not to be dissected and organs are not removed. We believe that doing so will affect the appearance or organs of the person in their next life. There is no body embalmment either.
- Before, the family kept the body in the house for seven days or even longer before cremation. Today, it is only three days due to the people’s busier lifestyle, high expenses, and some hassles. Around a decade ago, people usually held the funeral twice, the seventh-day ceremony and the one-hundredth-day ceremony. It is not so common now, and people often hold both ceremonies on the seventh day.
- Another thing I remembered from my grandmother’s funeral was the final goodbye. The children and grandchildren of the deceased were allowed one final look at the body before the cremation. I remember my mother was crying so much, and the acha told her not to let her tears drop on my grandmother or inside the coffin. After that, I asked him why and he said, “The tears will make the soul not leave peacefully.”
Related Post: Pennons In Funerals In Cambodia