| The New Year is always an occasion of merry | | | | well as attending memorial services for ancestors at |
| festivities and celebrations and in true spirit of the | | | | monasteries. On the day known as Tanai Lieang Saka, |
| occasion, the locals of Phnom Penh celebrate it with | | | | Buddhist followers bathe the likes of Buddha statues |
| various traditional customs and cultural events. | | | | and images as well as elders with perfumed water. |
| Falling in mid April, the Cambodian New Year coincides | | | | This tradition symbolises the need of water for life on |
| with the dry season reaching its peak. This period is | | | | earth and is considered a deed of kindness, to bring |
| also known as the Khmer New Year or ‘Chaul | | | | forth good luck, happiness, prosperity and longevity. |
| Chnam Thmey" which translates to "Enter the New | | | | Furthermore, another tradition of Cambodians are the |
| Year" in Khmer, the official language of Cambodia. | | | | sand hillocks that are erected on temple grounds, |
| The celebration of this festive holiday is said to span | | | | These are said to represent the Culamuni Cetiya, |
| over three days and is commonly referred to as | | | | which is the stupa found at Tavatimsa which serves |
| ‘The Three Days of The New Year’, which are | | | | as the resting places of the Buddha’s hair follicles |
| known as the Moha Songkran, Wanabat and Tanai | | | | and diadem. |
| Lieang Saka. | | | | Apart from the celebrations and traditions, the people |
| On Moha Songkran, the first day of the New Year, | | | | of Phnom Penh adorn their houses and streets with |
| locals adorn colourful items and gather at shrines and | | | | brightly coloured lights, flowers and red lanterns, |
| temples to light candles and burn incense sticks. | | | | following thorough spring-cleaning. Indulge in the grand |
| Cambodia being a Buddhist country, the locals pay | | | | festivities while staying a Phnom Penh hotel and |
| homage to Buddhist teachings and bow thrice before | | | | partake in the many Cambodian traditions. Make |
| an image of the Buddha. Furthermore, a tradition that is | | | | arrangements to stay at a luxury hotel in Phnom Penh |
| said to bring good luck, many locals wash with holy | | | | such as the Raffles Phnom Penh, which is located in |
| water thrice a day, that is, their faces in the morning, | | | | the heart of the city and offers guests a combination |
| their chest at noon and their feet prior to bedtime. | | | | of lavish accommodation options coupled with warm |
| On the second day of the New Year or Wanabat, | | | | hospitality. |
| Cambodians carry out good deeds and philanthropy as | | | | |