Ceremony is an ancient royal rite held to welcome the beginning of rice-growing season; Farmers shall prepare for their agricultural activities such as: sowing seeds and growing rice, corn, bean, sesame etc. Beside these activities which have been shown as the symbol of farming by Sdech Meak and Preah Mehour, court soothsayers make a prediction on whether the coming growing season will be bountiful or not depending on what the Royal Oxen eat among many agricultural products.
Cambodians call this ritual, Preah Reach Pithi Chrot Preah Neangkol.
Next, the soothsayers pray for a better weather with regular seasonal rainfall, particularly that all kinds of natural disasters be away from people’s land fields as well as the whole nation. Remarkably, the ceremony has been contented by the King of Cambodia and the King allows a couple of any high ranking figures to be appointed as as Sdech Meak and Preah Mehour for the event.
During the royal ceremony, there will be an exhibition of agricultural products, agro-industrial products, forest products and byproducts, domestic animal products and byproducts, rubber output, tourism potential, and agro-tourism that will be held in three days
The Royal Ploughing Ceremony has been observed for many centuries at the initiative of an earlier Khmer, king who had paid great attention to farming conditions of the people. Traditionally, the Pithi Chrat Pheah Neang Korl is performed in the month of the Khmer calendar and marks the beginning of the rainy season in Cambodia.
