Meak Bochea is the second most important Buddhist festival. It is celebrated on the full moon day of the third lunar month, February 19th this year. On this day, beyond the periodic teachings given to 1,250 disciples who gathered spontaneously, the Buddha announced the creation of an enlightened community: the first monks came into being.

The Day of the Saints. This story takes place some 2,500 years ago when, seven years after the Buddha began his spiritual teachings, he decided to journey to the Veḷuvana grove, near Rājagaha (present-day Rajgir) in northern India. There, without prior summons, his 1,250 first disciples hastened to gather. Those he had himself ordained, his direct spiritual descendants. The Buddha then offered all a sermon establishing the framework of an ideal, exemplary, awakened community. That of the monks, whose mission would be to spread his teachings. Three principles were thus established: purity, patience, and discipline.

The Buddha chose this date, 45 years later, to announce to the monastic community that he would pass away three months hence. In Cambodia, as in Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka, the faithful gather for Meak Bochea to light candles symbolically, make offerings, and participate in processions featuring religious cortèges, chanting, and prayers.

Oudong, the Resting Place of His Sacred Relic

In Cambodia, government officials and residents of the Phnom Penh region have been celebrating Meak Bochea for the past fifteen years at Oudong, at Mount Preah Reachtroap. Here rests a relic containing the blood of the Buddha. More than 300 monks have been invited by National Assembly President Héng Samrin. Khmer faithful unable to be present at Oudong have the opportunity to visit surrounding pagodas and temples to bring food and offerings.