The culture of Cambodia has had a rich and varied history dating back many centuries and has been heavily influenced by India. In turn, Cambodia greatly influenced Thailand, Laos and vice versa. Throughout Cambodia's long history, a major source of inspiration was from religion.
Throughout nearly two millennium, a Cambodians developed a unique Khmer belief from the syncretistic of indigenous animistic beliefs and the Indian religions of Buddhism and Hinduism. Indian culture and civilization, including its language and arts reached mainland Southeast Asia around the 1st century A.D.
Its is generally believed that seafaring merchants brought Indian customs and culture to ports along the gulf of Thailand and the Pacific while trading with China. The first state to benefit from this was Funan. At various times, Cambodia culture also absorbed elements from Javanese, Chinese, Lao, and Thai cultures.
The majority of Cambodians (nearly 90%) are of Khmer heritage, and an even greater proportion speaks Khmer the official language of Cambodia. Other languages spoken include French, Chinese, Vietnamese and English (which has become increasingly common).
Cambodia is predominantly Buddhist with 95% of the population being Theravada Buddhist, and the majority of the remaining population follow Islam, atheism, or animism.
Customary Cambodian teachings include: that if a person does not wake up before sunrise he is lazy; you have to tell your parents or elders where you are going and what time you are coming back home; close doors gently, otherwise you have a bad temper; sit with your legs straight down and not crossed (crossing your legs shows that you are an impolite person); and always let other people talk more than you.
Khmer culture is very hierarchical. The greater a person's age, the greater the level of respect that must be granted to them. Everyone in Khmer culture is given a hierarchical title before the name - in some cases names are shortened with the title added before the name is given - which varies in relation to the person.
In some cases elders are referred to by a family title even though there is no relation, out of respect to their seniority in life. Referring to someone by the improper title is a sign of disrespect and would be assumed as improper parenting or a lack of respect for elders.
Cambodians traditionally wear a checkered scarf called a "Krama". The "krama" is what distinctly separates the Khmer (Cambodians) from their neighbors the Thai, the Vietnamese, and the Laotians.
The scarf is used for many purposes including for style, protection from the sun, an aid (for your feet) when climbing trees, a hammock for infants, a towel, or as a "sarong". A "krama" can also be easily shaped into a small child's doll for play. Under the Khmer Rouge, all Khmer were forced to wear a red checkered "krama".
In Khmer culture a persons head is believed to contain the persons soul therefore making it taboo to touch or point your feet at it. It is also considered to be extremely disrespectful to point or sleep with your feet pointing at a person, as the feet are the lowest part of the body and are considered to be impure.
One traditional Khmer belief taught by monks is that there are three types of delusions or addictions which will lead to the self destruction of a man which are
women ("srey")
alcohol ("srah"), and
gambling ("la-baing").
Some Khmer men and women wear a Buddha pendant in a necklace fashion. There are different pendants for different uses; some are meant for protection from evil spirits, some are meant to bring good luck.
However, women are only allowed to wear a Buddha pendant if she remains "pure," or a virgin. It is considered a sin for non-virgin Khmer Buddhist women to wear the pendant.
When greeting people or to show respect in Cambodia people do the "sampeah" gesture, identical to the Thai wai and similar to the Indian namaste.
the legend of Preah Thaong and Neang Neak explains many Khmer wedding customs, in which the groom carries the bride's scarf, symbolizing he is from afar and is marrying into her family.
In contradiction to Indian wedding customs where the bride holds the groom's scarf, as the case for Khmer, the groom stays with the bride's family. In accordance with the Khmer wedding ritual weddings take three days.
The bride and groom wear garments decorated with jewelery and are surrounded by family and guests. The bride and groom wear garments as a sign of respect to their parents and parents in law, both of which offer their blessing to the couples. They also pray to the monks for a happy life.
Especially in the 60s and 70s, the 'big two' duet of Sinn Sisamouth and Ros Sereysothea had been a large hit in the country. However after their deaths, new music stars have tried to bring back the music. Cambodian music has undergone heavy westernization.
The Cambodian pinpeat ensemble is traditionally heard on feast days in the pagodas. It is also a court ensemble used to accompany classical dance for ritual occasions or theatrical events.
The pinpeat is primarily made up of percussion instruments: the roneat ek (high bamboo xylophone), roneat thung (low bamboo xylophone), kong vong touch and kong vong thom (small and large sets of tuned gongs), sampho (two-sided drum), skor thom (two large drums), and sralai (quadruple-reed instrument).
Khmer Traditional Wrestling
A traditional Khmer wrestling match consists of three rounds. A round may be won by forcing an opponent to his back. A wrestler wins the match by winning two of the three rounds. After each round the loser is asked if he wishes to continue with the match.
Wrestlers participate in pre-match ritual dancing before the match. The match is accompanied by the music of two drums (called Skor Ngey and Chhmol, "female drum" and "male drum").
Traditional matches are held during the Khmer New Year and other Cambodian holdiays.
Cambodian Dance can be divided into three main categories, classical dance which developed in the royal courts, folk dances which portray everyday life, and vernacular dances which are danced for social functions.
Khmer classical dance, also known as Khmer royal ballet or Khmer court dance is a form of Cambodia dance originally performed only for royalty. It is called robam preah reachea trop in the Khmer language, which means 'dances of royal wealth.'
The dances have many elements in common with Thai classical dance, most likely a result of the royal Khmer court exchanging culture with the royal Thai court throughout the post-Angkor era.
Khmer and Thai classical dance costumes once looked very similar to each other, but Khmer dance and costume have gone under slight changes and reforms brought on by the former Queen of Cambodia, Kossamak Nearireath.
During the mid-20th century, it was introduced to the public where it now remains a celebrated icon of Khmer culture, often being performed during public events, holidays, and for tourists visiting Cambodia.
Cambodian folk dance involving fishing baskets, performed as part of Northwest Folklife Festival, Seattle, Washington, U.S.Folk dances here refer to a performing art where it is performed for an audience. Khmer folk dances are fast-paced.
The movements and gestures are not as stylized as Khmer classical dance. Folk dancers wear clothes of the people they are portraying such as Chams, hill tribes, farmers, and peasants. Some folk dances are about love, or are folktales about animals.
The folk dance music is played by a mahori orchestra, which is similar to a pinpeat orchestra except that it contains many stringed and plucked instruments and a type of flute in place of the sralai (an oboe-like instrument).
In Cambodia, vernacular dances (or social dance) are dances which are danced at social gatherings. Such dances include ram vong, ram kbach, ram saravan, lam leav (literally: "Lao dance") and so on. Some of these dances have much influence from the traditional dances of Laos.
But rom kbach, for example, take heavily from the classical dance of the royal court. Rom kbach is simple dances which uses hand gesture similar to that of classical dance and rom kbach song also utilize the melodies of classical dance songs and combine them with traditional Khmer and Western instruments.
Other social dances from around the world have had an impact on Cambodian social culture include the Cha-cha, Bolero, and the Madison. Such dances are often performed at Cambodian wedding receptions and banquets.
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