Merit-Making on Valentine’s Day in Cambodia (#3.128)

#3.128 - Merit-Making in Burma
#3.128 - back

It is Meak Bochea Day today in Cambodia, or the full moon of Magna in the Burmese Tabottwal calendar. I don’t really know what it celebrates, but Wikipedia tells me it’s an occasion for Theravada Buddhists in the region to go to temple and participate in some merit-making activities.
Where I am, you can hear something playing from the xylophone family, from the wat across the street/on the other side of the wall. Before that it was drums, and before that there was singing/chanting (solos). For a moment, it reminded me of being in Istanbul, in the middle of several mosques on a windy day, with calls to prayer echoing in multiple directions. It’s not windy here at all. It makes for an interesting annual experience, combined with the voices of French and Scandinavian-speaking tourists hanging out with me poolside. Happy Merit-making, on Valentine’s Day, or knowing the postal service, Labour Day?
 
– Jess

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