Chol Chnam Thmay is a festival to celebrate the new year according to the traditional calendar of the Khmer people. In 2023, the festival takes place from April 14-16 (on February 24, 25, and 26 of the lunar calendar).

About Chol Chnam Thmay

Chol Chnam Thmay is a festival to celebrate the new year according to the traditional calendar of the Khmer people. “Chol” means “Enter” and “Chnam Thmay” means “New Year.” The New Year of the Khmer people is taken place in the middle of April of the solar calendar.

If Thanh Minh is an occasion for Vietnamese and Chinese people to look to the past to remember their deceased ancestors and relatives, take care of and repair graves, the Khmer people celebrate Chol Chnam Thmay with a mind of both directions about the past and towards the future.

Chol Chnam Thmay takes place in the middle of April of the solar calendar

According to the opinion of the Khmer people, this time is the time when the sun and the rainy season are near, the end of the dry season, and the preparation for the rainy season. This is the time when heaven and earth harmonize, all green trees, sprouting buds, are considered by the Khmer as the beginning of a new year.

Main events of Chol Chnam Thmay

Because it means welcoming the rainy season and new crops, the New Year of the Khmer people lasted from 10-15 days. In recent decades, in the trend of simplifying the festival in general, this festival has only 3 days left (not to mention the preparation work in the previous days).

Prepare

Before the new year, Khmer people will prepare the most attractive and clean clothing for themselves, and children can buy new clothes. The house had been fixed, cleaned, and redecorated. Tet food and beverages are completely prepared. All daily labor was halted, everyone rested, and the animals were freed. 

Khmer people are all in a fluster for Tet

New Year Eve

In the Khmer notion, New Year's Eve will be centered on the moment when the fairy descended to replace the old year's deity to take care of the people in that year. To determine the hour of New Year's Eve, Achar will execute the ceremony and tell the people.

Altars are placed in the most serious places on New Year's Eve to greet gods and ancestors. Family members sit solemnly in front of the altar, praying, hoping, and believing that the new year will bring them blessings.

This year's New Year's Eve takes place at 02h12, on April 13 of the solar calendar

Chol Sangkran Thmay Day

The most important New Year's Day activity for Khmer people is Maha Sangkran. People shower, wear beautiful clothes, and go to the temple. All will be on Buddha's day, chanting happy new year.

Maha Sangkran has the same meaning as the New Year's Eve celebration in the Lunar New Year of the Kinh and many other ethnic groups, in order to send off the bad luck of the old year, to send wishes on new, lucky, and auspicious things in the new year.

The first morning is called Chol Sangkran Thmay Day

Wonbof's Day

People exhibit their devotion by bringing food and drink to the monks in the morning. In return, the monks will express gratitude to people who have grown rice, produced crops, reared cattle, and built a full and rich existence. Everyone did erect a sand hillock (Puon phnom khsach) rite directly on the temple grounds in the afternoon, guided by the Achar, to expect good things. This habit is linked to the ancient practice of praying for rain.

On the second day, there is a ceremony to offer food and build a sand mountain

Long Sak Day

On the third day, Khmer people perform the Buddha bathing and the supplication ceremony. The Buddha statue bathing ritual is often held in the afternoon. The practice is intended to offer appreciation to the Buddha, wash away the ill luck of the previous year, and welcome good fortune in the next year.

Following the Buddha statue bathing ritual, everyone and the Achar assembled at the stupa area to pray for the salvation of the souls of the departed monks and their loved ones.

The praying ceremony is the last ritual to end the Chol Chnam Thmay Festival of the Khmer people

During the three days of the Chol Chnam Thmay Festival, Vietnamese Khmer people cheerfully arrange a variety of cultural and artistic activities and folk games, in addition to Buddhist rites. If you have the opportunity to travel to Vietnam around the Khmer New Year, you can visit the southwestern region to participate in this joyous environment!