Cambodian Buddhist monks chant before a dead "magic cow" during a two-day religious event of Brahmanism in Damnak Sangker village, Pursat province, about 200 kilometers (124 miles) northwest of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, Aug. 21, 2009. About 90 percents of Cambodians are Buddhists, but they also respect Brahmanism. (AP photo/Heng Sinith)
By HENG SINITH
DAMNAK SANGKE, Cambodia (AP) — Villagers in this poor community in central Cambodia live hand to mouth, but many dug into their pockets to help pay for a funeral here Friday for a three-day-old calf with a dark, reptilian hide that many believed was holy.
Outh Kdep, the calf's owner, said villagers believed in the animal's divinity because there had been a drought in the area for three months, but it rained the day after it was born.
The female calf was born Tuesday and died Thursday in this remote village in Pursat province, some 140 miles (220 kilometers) northwest of capital Phnom Penh. It had thick, dark, scaly skin like a crocodile's, and legs with odd markings.
Yim Rith, 60, a community leader, said Cambodians have for centuries worshipped a Cow God believed to bring peace and prosperity. The deity disappeared from their land long ago, but the calf may have been a sign it was returning to help them, he said.
Hundreds of villagers flocked to see the animal, lighting incense to pray for its well-being and collecting its saliva, believed to cure illness. The flood of visitors panicked the cow's mother, affecting her ability to enough produce milk to feed the calf, and it died.
But the faithful were undeterred. The calf's corpse was placed on a plastic sheet, and people washed water over it in the hopes of making the liquid holy.
Srey Nak, 72, said that when some was applied to her joints and teeth, long-standing pains and aches went away.
"But I am very upset that the Cow God came to live with us for just three days and has now died," she said. "If she stayed longer, then many sick people could have been treated."
Un Dary, General Director of Religious Affairs for Cambodia's Ministry of Cults and Religions, said he did not know about the case, but that many Cambodians, who are almost all Buddhists, also subscribe to animism — a belief that spirits can inhabit all sorts of living and inanimate objects.
Whenever an odd animal makes an appearance, he said, it is cause for the superstitious to celebrate. He speculated that the freak appearance of the calf may have been due to a vitamin deficiency or virus.
Outh Kdeb, 40, grieved for her calf Friday.
Had it lived a bit longer, she said, "my family and the people in this area as well as the whole entire Cambodian nation would have achieved more peace and prosperity."
The animal was buried in a rice field near her house Friday. She said villagers pooled 150,000 riel ($35), and she contributed 200,000 riel ($50) for a ceremony with six Buddhist monks to give thanks and wishes for the soul of the God Cow. They prayed for it "to be reborn as soon as possible."
DAMNAK SANGKE, Cambodia (AP) — Villagers in this poor community in central Cambodia live hand to mouth, but many dug into their pockets to help pay for a funeral here Friday for a three-day-old calf with a dark, reptilian hide that many believed was holy.
Outh Kdep, the calf's owner, said villagers believed in the animal's divinity because there had been a drought in the area for three months, but it rained the day after it was born.
The female calf was born Tuesday and died Thursday in this remote village in Pursat province, some 140 miles (220 kilometers) northwest of capital Phnom Penh. It had thick, dark, scaly skin like a crocodile's, and legs with odd markings.
Yim Rith, 60, a community leader, said Cambodians have for centuries worshipped a Cow God believed to bring peace and prosperity. The deity disappeared from their land long ago, but the calf may have been a sign it was returning to help them, he said.
Hundreds of villagers flocked to see the animal, lighting incense to pray for its well-being and collecting its saliva, believed to cure illness. The flood of visitors panicked the cow's mother, affecting her ability to enough produce milk to feed the calf, and it died.
But the faithful were undeterred. The calf's corpse was placed on a plastic sheet, and people washed water over it in the hopes of making the liquid holy.
Srey Nak, 72, said that when some was applied to her joints and teeth, long-standing pains and aches went away.
"But I am very upset that the Cow God came to live with us for just three days and has now died," she said. "If she stayed longer, then many sick people could have been treated."
Un Dary, General Director of Religious Affairs for Cambodia's Ministry of Cults and Religions, said he did not know about the case, but that many Cambodians, who are almost all Buddhists, also subscribe to animism — a belief that spirits can inhabit all sorts of living and inanimate objects.
Whenever an odd animal makes an appearance, he said, it is cause for the superstitious to celebrate. He speculated that the freak appearance of the calf may have been due to a vitamin deficiency or virus.
Outh Kdeb, 40, grieved for her calf Friday.
Had it lived a bit longer, she said, "my family and the people in this area as well as the whole entire Cambodian nation would have achieved more peace and prosperity."
The animal was buried in a rice field near her house Friday. She said villagers pooled 150,000 riel ($35), and she contributed 200,000 riel ($50) for a ceremony with six Buddhist monks to give thanks and wishes for the soul of the God Cow. They prayed for it "to be reborn as soon as possible."
4 comments:
o, come on. do we need to do this? now??i thought buddha are alot smarter than this.there is no god or gods.especailly from a cow.yes i know srok khmer still believe in hinduism but we need to move on now. its 2553, we have learned and knew more than this. it is ok to respect it but put your heart to it is stupid(sorry, monks).
I don't believe that this is 21st century and people are so stupid to believe such a superstition that this sacred cow who bring good luck.
The cow who has reptilian skin because he/she got a disease or birth defect, that's he/she die early.
Khmer should be more smart. Please stop believing in such a superstition.
Hey who cares what other people belief as long as it help them in any shape or form, and as long as it doesn't kill anyone. Even if it is 25th century, it doesn't make such belief obsolete. I must say, a retilian cow is quite a phenomenon. There seem to be a lot of this kind of strange things happening in Cambodia, very strange indeed. NO, HUN SEN DIDN'T DO THIS, HE'S INNOCENT ON THIS CHARGE.
23 August 2009 1:16 AM, superstition in Cambodia is very dangerous. Have you ever heard of villagers killings people who were accused of being witches or sorcerers?
Reptilian-skinned cow is not a phenomenon. The cow got a disease or a birth defect that's why he/she got that skin and that's why he died early.
Don't believe in this nonsense and spend a lot of money to see it.
If you want to help the owner relieving his grief for the loss of his cow, it's OK- but don't think that that cow is a sacred cow who can bring good luck or something.
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