Marriage in Cambodia

The Khmer wedding, with its long history and rich symbolism, is also famous for its specific music, known as phleng kar.

The garments worn are covered with jewelry as a mark of respect to the parents of bride and groom, and all the couple's relatives and friends are present.

[4] In 1965, Venerable Nhiek Nou, a monk of the Dhammayut order, published a booklet entitled Kpuon Abah-bibah or the Treaty concerning Marriage.

A man and woman often did not have time to consummate a marriage, and sexual relations were limited by long separations.

[7] Descriptions of newlywed couples being spied on by secret soldiers on their wedding night to ensure sexual intercourse has been recorded.

[11] Members of the royal family and dignitaries of the palace and their children are entitled to this type of wedding of ancient tradition.

On the first day, 19 monks, reminiscent of the 19 souls in the Khmer tradition, were invited to celebrate the paritta before offerings were made to the spirits and the popil were rotated.

On the second day, the King would extend his blessing with Brahmanical holy water after the spouses protestrated themselves three times before his majesty.

Parts of the ceremony involve ritual hair cutting and tying cotton threads soaked in holy water around the couple's wrists.

In the traditional Khmer wedding ceremony, before the groom enters the house to meet his bride, he kneels and pays homage to the east where the sun rises.

[14] The rite in which participants in a reciprocal relationship "tie the hands" (chang dai) of the bridal couple by making a monetary gift signifies their bond to the newlyweds and their families, as a forme of exchange to promote solidarity and mutual obligation.

The original instrumentation with a leaf (sleuk), a double-reed pipe (prey prebaub, which served as a tuning standard for the ensemble), a musical bow or ksaedieu, a three-stringed fiddle or tro khmer, a long-necked lute or chapei and a vocalist.