India to firstly hold Buddhism and Dance Festival in Cambodia

Chhay Sophal

Phnom Penh (12 Feb, 2014): The Embassy of India along with Indian Government’s Ministry of Culture is jointly organizing two separate events — Grand Ramayana Classical Dance and Exhibition of Buddhism photos and Artifacts with chanting for the first time in Cambodia.

Speaking in a press briefing at the embassy in Phnom Penh at lunchtime on Wednesday, Ambassador Dinesh K. Patnaik said India is happy to hold the events in Cambodia at the time when the stolen Buddha relics has been found.

He said the first event is the Buddhism Festival — photos exhibition of Buddhism artifacts linked to the Buddha life – is shown along the riverside and in Wat Ounalum on Feb. 13 -18 and the festival includes butter sculptures following with Lima chanting, Lama dance, and send Mandala carried out by Himalayan Buddhist monks.

The second event is classical dance to be performed in the evenings of Feb. 14-15, 2014 at Hotel Sofitel in Siem Reap town and Feb. 17-19, 2014 at Chaktmouk Theater in Phnom Penh, he said.

The dance will be enthralling performances on different themes extracted from chapters of the great Indian Epic, Ramayana, like Jatayu Moksham, Mahapattabhisekam and Choodamani Pradanam on each day, according to a press from the embassy.

There are many people seeking to see Buddhism and Buddhist artifacts in India but they cannot go and now India brings all these to Cambodia so that they can see for fee, Ambassador Dinesh said by adding that there are 16 Buddhism pagodas run by Cambodian Buddhist monks in India.

During the Buddhism festival, many Cambodian Buddhist monks from different pagodas are also invited to join a training session at Wat Ounalum with the opening remarks by Chief of Cambodian Buddhist monk Tep Vong.

India-Cambodia relations are a product of Hindu and Buddhist religious and cultural influences, emanating out of India in the 4th-6th century AD, to various parts of South-East Asia. According to the information from the Indian embassy, the pervading influence of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Indian architecture, is borne out by the structures at Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Bayon, Baphuon, and other religious and historical sites in Cambodia. This is glorious testimony of the profound cultural and social basis of India-Cambodia historical relationship.

This is the first-ever Buddhism festival conducted by India in Cambodia and there will be more in the future, said Ambassador Dinesh.