In the Buddhist community has many special days. The most important day for the Cambodian is the Buddha day. We called Vesak or Visakah Puja (Buddha's Birthday Celebrations).
The Visakah Puja festival celebrates three major events of the life of Buddha and his birth, his enlightenment and his death.
For the Cambodian association in the Netherlands has started to celebrate the Buddha's birthday last Saturday on 20th of January 2018 in Breda city in the Netherlands.
The celebration was in the hall, because there are not many Cambodians people living in the Netherlands and there is no Cambodian Buddhist temple yet in Holland. Everyone had to get up very early in the morning to prepared the place and many difference kind of food for the monks and for the ceremony.
People started to pray with lighted candles and in sin sticks for the Buddha and for ancestors.
At 10 am they started to do Bun Rob Baat (to creates rice for the monks and ancestors), before they do that first they had to think and repeat the name of their ancestors. They believe if they do not do that, the ancestors will not get what the families offering to them.
The monk started to get lunch at 11 am and after all the people that came to the celebration, they started to enjoy the Cambodian big families lunch together. The communities brought all the food to put on one long big table, then everyone could share their food together.
At 1 pm the monk started to say, to tell a story of the buddha and the life living people. It is a kind of education to learn about our own life. After a long day praying from the morning until the afternoon, in the evening they had also many programs.
From 7:00 until 8:45 pm is the Karaoke time. Most of Cambodian people like singing. There are many Karaoke bars in Cambodia, after a few beers make them sing better.
At 9:00 pm, The Kohn khmer apsara performed, they did Khmer traditional. If we look to those kids, they are very cute with nice colorful dresses and they had really amazing show.
In the end was a time to dance with the Cambodian Band called Sinssismuth new generation. Everyone started to get lose on the dance floor. The first music was a tradition one, that every was dancing in a circle. I am one of a sing in the band. I sang many songs in that night and was so happy to see everybody enjoy them self.
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