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Khmer New Year 2554
In Cambodia, Khmer New Year is the greatest traditional festival, and also it is the greatest national holiday because it is three days of festival and sometimes can be four days. Khmer New Year begins on April 14th depending on the "MohaSangkran," which is the ancient horoscope.
 In fact, Khmer New Year originally began on the first day of the first month in lunar calendar, which can be in November or the beginning of December.
In the Angkor Era, the 13th Century, the Khmer King, either “Suriyavaraman II” or “Jayavaraman VII”, was the one who changed the New Year to the fifth month of the lunar calendar, in April by the solar calendar. 95% of Khmer population is farmer, and the period from November through March is the busiest season for Khmer farmers to reap or harvest the crops from the rice fields.
Khmer people can find free time in April because there is no rain, and it is very hot, so Khmer farmers have the time to take vacation after they have worked very hard to gather the rice crops from their rice fields to get their income.
Therefore, April is the right time for Khmer in Cambodia to celebrate New Year. The Khmer New Year festival originated from “Bramhmanism”, a part of Hinduism, which was a religion that Khmer believed in before Buddhism. Later on Buddhism became associated with the festival and then took all the important roles in the festivity.
 Usually, Khmer New Year is celebrated for three days:
 The first day of New Year (Year 2554 of the Buddhist calendar) is called as “Moha Sangkran”, and it can be described simply as the inauguration of the New Angels who come to take care the world for a one-year period.
 This year is the year of Mouse, and “Moha Sangkran” of the New Year will begin on April 14th at 12: 48 PM. The leader of Angels is named “MahaotraDevy”.
People need to clean and decorate the house and also prepare fruits and drinks for the New Year inauguration and to welcome the New Angels at every single home.
 Cambodian families would traditionally prepare a table garnished with varieties of flowers (The lotus flower is a special favourite), different kinds of fruits and other sacred objects to welcome the new "Tevada" (Guarding Angel) who replaces the previous.
At every of the more than 3, 100 pagodas across the country, the sound of ancient drums usher in the New Year at the precise moment to signal the beginning of this solemn occasion. The drumbeats prompted Buddhists to light joss sticks and candles giving thanks and to welcome the new "Tevada". While the children were snuggled in their beds, adult Cambodians were busy praying and going about the whole ushering process.
Actually, in the morning at the first day of New Year, most Khmer people prepare food to offer the monks at Khmer temple to get blessed. Elderly people like to meditate or pray the Dharma at that time because they believe that any angel who comes to their houses at that time will stay with them and take care of their family for the whole year.
For their parts, State leaders read New Year messages to welcome the New Year and extended good wishes to their countrymen wishing each and everyone a Very Happy and Prosperous Year of the Dog. It is the day when the sun enters a new sign of the zodiac.
 There were many interesting moments during the Khmer New Year celebrations. People would pray to their ancestors and ceremoniously wash statues or figurines of the Buddha to receive blessings of happiness and good health. This is also believed to gain merits for curing skin diseases and to ensure beauty in the next reincarnation.
In the afternoon, people gathered around five small mounts of rice grains neatly staked in the center and each took turn to throw a handful of rice grains to the base of the five small mountains of rice grains.
The mountains of rice grains symbolize the footprints that the Buddha left in five different locations. The first grains of rice are offered that same morning to monks who would traditionally plant a series of bamboo sticks draped with sacredly decorated paper, light joss sticks and spray sanctified perfume over the rice mounts. This ceremony is believed to be necessary if one wishes to have a happy life.
 Unlike the folks in the capital city, local inhabitants in the regions of the Siem Reap, Battambang and Pursat provinces followed a different tradition. There, people performed a particular dance known as "
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