Zoom lecture "Pchum Ben: A Long Cambodian Tradition of Assisting the Dead" will be held on Sunday, August 29th.

2021.08.19

Sophia University Institute of Asian, African, and Middle Eastern Studies (IAAMES)
Research Project “Studies on Cultural Heritage” Lecture Series 2021

ABSTRACT:
Ancient Khmer epigraphy demonstrates that sraddha was performed in Cambodia at least as early as the end of the 9th century in both Brahmanical and Buddhist traditions, with an explicit indication to assist the poor and others, who presumably died without proper funeral rites. This is a significant Indo-Khmer ritual development for delivering the dead from misery and suffering while allowing the worship and propitiation of the ancestors. In this lecture, I will examine epigraphic and iconographic sources along with ethnological research in order to trace the historical development of the Indian sraddha ritual from the Angkorian to the present, which together allow us to draw a general picture of the practice and its social meaning over time.

SPEAKER‘S recently published paper:
SIYONN Sophearith 2020 "INDO-KHMER SRADDHA: Assisting the Inauspicious Dead and the Worship of the Ancestors," MIKAELIAN et al. LIBER AMICORUM. Melanges reunis en homage a Ang Choulean, Peninsule.

This lecture is co-organized by MARUI Masako and NHIM Sotheavin, Sophia University IAAMES.