Royal Ploughing Ceremony

Cambodian Royal Ploughing Ceremony

The Royal Ploughing Ceremony (or Preah Reach Pithi Chrort Preah Neang Korl in Khmer) is traditionally held every year in Pisak, 5/6th month of Khmer lunar calendar (in May) to mark the beginning of the agricultural production and rainy seasons. The exact day of the ceremony varies from year to another in accordance with Khmer lunar calendar which the ceremony is marked to be held on the 4th of waxing moon of month Pisak every year.

The ritual ceremony is held to predict a range of events related to agricultural harvest in each year, and also to pray for a good harvest. There is a deep astrological belief that royal oxen known in Khmer as Usapheak Reach, have an instrumental role in determining the fate of the agricultural harvest each year. The ceremony is rooted in Brahman’s believe of a five-day feast. On the 1st day of the waning moon, the Brahmans conduct feasting at the five decorated canopies positioned at five compass points: East, Southeast, Southwest, Northwest, and Northeast. After the five days of the Brahman feast, the King initiates the ploughing to ensure success in farming for all his people.

The King assumes a role of “Sdach Meak” and the Queen assumes a role of “Preah Mehour”. If the King and Queen are not able to attend, a representative and his wife assume roles of “Sdach Meak” and “Preah Mehour” to do the duty. As representative of the King and Queen, a couple can be selected either from royal family or within the high-ranking officials of the government. Sdech Meak sits on Preah Salieng and Preah Mehour sits on a hammock like litter followed by about 40 dignitaries. Before ploughing, Sdech Meak and Preah Mehour pay their respects at the decorated canopy located to the Southwest.

In the ceremony, Sdach Meak guides the wooden plough after the royal oxen while his wife, Preah Mehour sows the rice seeds to the ground after her husband. Two royal oxen are hitched to a wooden plough, and they plough for three rounds on the ceremonial ground. After that, the royal oxen will be released from the plough. The royal astrologers chant prayers according to the Brahmanism tradition and spread the holy water on the oxen. And then, the royal oxen are led to the prediction ground where they are offered to eat seven kinds of food: rice seed, green bean, corn, sesame, fresh-cut grass, water and rice wine arranged in the seven golden trays. The royal astrologers interpret what the oxen eat and predict a series of events including epidemics, floods, good harvests, and excessive rainfall. The prediction result depends on what the royal oxen ate and how much they ate. If they eat most of the rice seed, beans, corn or sesame, then the harvest will be bountiful in this season. If the royal oxen drink moderate of water, then this year of rainfall will be pretty enough for growing. But if they drink too much water, then this year could be flooded. If they drink rice wine, then the prediction says there would be more gangsters and robbery in the year. If they eat grass, it is believed that disease will prevail over the nation.

Thai names

In Thailand, the common name of the ceremony is Raek Na Khwan (แรกนาขวัญ) which literally means the "auspicious beginning of the rice growing season". The royal ceremony is called Phra Ratcha Phithi Charot Phra Nangkhan Raek Na Khwan (พระราชพิธีจรดพระนังคัลแรกนาขวัญ) which literally means the "royal ploughing ceremony marking the auspicious beginning of the rice growing season".

This Raek Na Khwan ceremony is of Hindu origin. Thailand also observes another Buddhist ceremony called Phuetcha Mongkhon (พืชมงคล) which literally means "prosperity for plantation". The royal ceremony is called Phra Ratcha Phithi Phuetcha Mongkhon (พระราชพิธีพืชมงคล). The official translation of Phuetcha Mongkhon is "Harvest Festival".

King Mongkut combined both the Buddhist and Hindu ceremonies into a single royal ceremony called Phra Ratcha Phithi Phuetcha Mongkhon Charot Phra Nangkhan Raek Na Khwan (พระราชพิธีพืชมงคลจรดพระนังคัลแรกนาขวัญ). The Buddhist part is conducted in the Grand Palace first and is followed by the Hindu part held at Sanam Luang, Bangkok.

At present, the day on which Phra Ratcha Phithi Phuetcha Mongkhon Charot Phra Nangkhan Raek Na Khwan is held is called Phuetcha Mongkhon Day (วันพืชมงคล Wan Phuetcha Mongkhon). It has been a public holiday since 1957.

Date

The traditional date of the Burmese royal ploughing ceremony was the beginning of the Buddhist lent in the Burmese month of Waso (June to July).

In 2009, the ceremony was held on May 11 in Thailand and on May 12 in Cambodia. The date is usually in May, but varies as it is determined by Hora (astrology) (Khmer: ហោរាសាស្រ្ត, hourasastr; Thai: โหราศาสตร์, horasat). In 2013, the ceremony and public holiday was held on Monday, 13 May. In Cambodia, the ceremony is mostly held on a Tuesday or Saturday.

In Thailand, the exact date and times for the yearly event are set annually by Brahman priests. Discontinued by the 1920s, this practice was revived beginning in 1960.

Rituals

In the ceremony, two sacred oxen are hitched to a wooden plough and they plough a furrow in some ceremonial ground, while rice seed is sown by court Brahmins. After the ploughing, the oxen are offered plates of food, including rice, corn, green beans, sesame, fresh-cut grass, water and rice whisky.

Depending on what the oxen eat, court astrologers and Brahmins make a prediction on whether the coming growing season will be bountiful or not. The ceremony is rooted in Brahman belief, and is held to ensure a good harvest. In the case of the Burmese royal ploughing ceremony, it may also have Buddhist associations. In traditional accounts of the Buddha's life, Prince Siddhartha, as an infant, performed his first miracle during a royal ploughing ceremony, by meditating underneath a rose apple tree (ဇမ္ဗုသပြေ), thus exemplifying his precocious nature.

Burmese chronicles traditionally attribute the start of this rite to the late 500s CE during the Pagan dynasty, when it was performed by the kings Htuntaik, Htunpyit and Htunchit, all of whom bear the name 'htun' or 'plow.' However, this costly ritual did not occur annually nor was it performed by every monarch. During this ritual, the king plowed a specifically designated field outside the royal palace called the ledawgyi (လယ်တော်ကြီး) with white oxen that were adorned with golden and silver, followed by princes and ministers, who took turns to ceremonially plow the fields. While the plowing was undertaken, Brahmin priests offered prayers and offerings to the 15 Hindu deities, while a group of nat votaries and votaresses (နတ်ဆရာ, နတ်အုပ်, နတ်စော) invoked the 37 chief nats (indigenous spirits). The ploughing ceremony was a ritual to propitiate the rain god, Moe Khaung Kyawzwa (မိုးခေါင်ကျော်စွာ) in order to ensure a good harvest for the kingdom, and also a way for the king to present himself as a peasant king (တောင်သူကြီးမင်း) to the commoners.

In Thailand, the rite dates back to the Sukhothai Kingdom (1238–1438). During John Crawfurd's Siam mission, he noted on 27 April 1822 (near the end of the reign of Rama II)

This was a day of some celebrity in the Siamese calendar, being that on which the kings of Siam, in former times, were wont to hold the plough, like the Emperors of China, wither as a religious ceremony, or as an example of agricultural industry to their subjects. This rite has long fallen into disuse, and given place to one which, to say the least of it, is of less dignity... A Siamese...who had often witnessed it, gave me the following description:—A person is chosen for this occasion to represent the King. This monarch of a day is known by the name of Piya-Pun-li-teb, or King of the Husbandmen. He stands in the midst of a rice-field, on one foot only, it being incumbent on him to continue in this uneasy attitude during the time that a common peasant takes in ploughing once around him in a circle. Dropping the other foot, until the circle is completed, is looked upon as a most unlucky omen; and the penalty to the "King of the Husbandmen" is said to be not only the loss of his ephemeral dignity, but also of his permanent rank, what ever that may be, with what is more serious—the confiscation of his property. The nominal authority of this person lasts from morning to night. During the whole of this day the shops are shut; nothing is allowed to be bought or sold; and whatever is disposed of, in contravention of the interdict, is forfeited, and becomes the perquisite of the King of the Husbandmen following the ploughing. Specimens of all the principal fruits of the earth are collected together in a field, and an ox is turned loose amongst them, and the particular product which he selects to feed upon, is, on the authority of this experiment, to be considered as the scarcest fruit of the ensuing season, and therefore entitled to the especial care of the husbandman.

Series 2 banknotes first issued in 1925 during the reign of Rama VI and continuing into the reign of Rama VII depicted the Royal Ploughing Ceremony on the backs of all six denominations. Rama VII discontinued the practice in the 1920s, to be revived in 1960 by Rama IX, King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

In both Cambodia and Thailand, the ceremony is typically presided over by the monarch, or an appointee. Sometimes the monarch himself has taken part in the ceremony and actually guided the plough behind the oxen.

In recent years in Thailand, Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn has presided over the ceremony, which is held at Sanam Luang in Bangkok. Rice grown on the Chitralada Palace grounds, home of King Bhumibol Adulyadej is sown in the ceremony, and afterward, onlookers swarm the field to gather the seed, which is believed to be auspicious.

In Cambodia, both King Norodom Sihamoni and Prime Minister Hun Sen have overseen the rite.

Similar rite in Japan

One of the duties of the Emperor of Japan as chief Shinto priest is the ritualistic planting of the first rice seed in a paddy on the grounds of the Tokyo Imperial Palace. He is also the one who performs the ritualistic first harvest.