200 Cambodians held a Pchum Ben ceremony at Wat Keo Sekha Kirisvarak

Cambodian monks and Buddhist laypeople held a Buddhist ceremony at Wat Keo Sekha Kirisvarak.

Source: Radio Free Asia
Reported in English by Khmerization

Two hundred Khmer tourists and Buddhist laypeople have held a Pchum Ben ceremony at Wat Keo Sekha Kirisvarak on Saturday the 19th of September, even though the military situations in the areas are still tense.

Thai troops occupied Wat Keo Sekha Kirisvarak on 15th July 2008, a week after Unesco inscribed the temple as a world heritage site. Ten Thai troops remained at the pagoda ever since.

Ven. Chan Thero, the abbott of Wat Keo Sekha Kirisvarak pagoda, said due to tense military situations the numbers of ceremony participants have significantly dropped to less than previous years. "But the conditions now are better than before because our troops have helped the monks a lot so when we hold any ceremony we face less obstacles than before. In short, the conditions are much better than before because, before, the roads to the temple are very bad, but now the roads are much better", he said.

Wat Keo Sekha Kirisvak pagoda is situated 400 metres west of Preah Vihear temple and there are 14 Khmer Buddhist monks residing at the pagoda.

Ceremony participants said because the roads to the temple are much better many people are coming to participate in the Pchum Ben ceremony at the pagoda. They said they come to pray for peace, despite fears of troubles that would be created by the Thai yellow shirted protesters who have vowed to reclaim the 4.2 km2 on 19th September where the temple is located. "The situations not so easy and we are afraid too, but we used to live in this area for a long time so we have to continue living in the area", said Mrs. Veach Huor, a resident of the nearby Choam Ksan district.

By 4pm on Saturday 19th September, the day the Thai ultra-nationalists marched to the disputed zones, all tourists and ceremony participants have left the temple but hundreds of heavily-armed Cambodian troops still continue to monitor the activities of those Thai ultra-nationalists.


From: http://khmerization.blogspot.com