Cambodian indulgence: why do Cambodians build sand hills (3 photos)

Each country has its own customs and traditions. What is there, even within the same country, different nationalities can have very different celebrate the same holidays. Some even ignore them altogether.





So in Asian Cambodia we will not meet either a Christmas tree or Olivier habitual to us. These people have their own laws and traditions, which very different from ours. After all, even the New Year itself is not celebrated here. January 1, like ours, and in mid-April - before the rainy season, like times after harvest.

At the same time, before the holiday, you can see that many residents begin to make some strange mounds out of sand and earth, which appear randomly throughout the country. Quite small, like There would be children's Easter cakes, however, they attract a lot of attention from tourists.



Indeed, what is it? Why are Cambodians building these hills? It's all about faith. Cambodians believe that every grain of sand in their "peas" symbolizes some sin committed by them during the year. Collecting sins together and leaving them on the ground, the Cambodians, as it were, get rid of them, cleansing oneself before the New Year, where, according to tradition, it is customary come in clean.

Of course, this approach is nothing more than simple superstition. However, psychologists have repeatedly spoken about what to burn, bury or literally smashing your sins and problems is a great way to get rid of from the state that oppresses us and even work out some problems and resentment. Therefore, this method definitely works, albeit not in the same way as believing Cambodians think.



They even hold such competitions for building sandy "pagodas"

At the same time, the younger generation is slightly more progressive Cambodians often refer to this tradition with irony. It's all about that the crime rate in the country is very high: Cambodia is very poor, so this result is not surprising. Only now "digging" their sins in the old year, people repeat them in the new. It turns out the most a real indulgence that corrupts people a little. Who cares, what did you do this year if everything goes well next year?

In general, the situation is ambiguous. Many actually think that this tradition does more harm than good. What do you think?