Royal Ploughing Ceremony
| Royal Ploughing Ceremony | |
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Royal Ploughing Ceremony in Bangkok, Thailand (2009)
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| Official name |
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| Also called | The Ploughing Festival Farmer's Day |
| Observed by | Thais, Cambodians and Sri Lankans |
| Type | National in the Kingdom of Thailand and the Kingdom of Cambodia Regional festival in Sri Lanka |
| Significance | Marks the beginning of the rice growing season |
| Observances | Ploughing |
| Date | Hora determination (Thailand) 4th day of the 6th lunar month's waning moon (Cambodia) |
| 2016 date | 9 May (Thailand) 24 May (Cambodia) |
| 2017 date | 12 May (Thailand) 14 May (Cambodia) |
| 2018 date | 3 May (Cambodia) |
| 2019 date | 22 May (Cambodia) |
The Royal Ploughing Ceremony (Khmer: ព្រះរាជពិធីបុណ្យច្រត់ព្រះនង្គ័ល Preah Reach Pithi Chrot Preah Neangkol; Thai: พระราชพิธีจรดพระนังคัลแรกนาขวัญ Phra Ratcha Phithi Charot Phra Nangkhan Raek Na Khwan; Sinhalese: වප් මඟුල් Vap Magula) also known as The Ploughing Festival is an ancient royal rite held in many Asian countries to mark the traditional beginning of the rice growing season. The royal ploughing ceremony, called Lehtun Mingala (လယ်ထွန်မင်္ဂလာ , pronounced: [lɛ̀tʰʊ̀ɴ mɪ̀ɴɡəlà]) or Mingala Ledaw (မင်္ဂလာလယ်တော် ), was also practiced in pre-colonial Burma until 1885 when the monarchy was abolished.
In Thailand, the common name of the ceremony is Raek Na Khwan (แรกนาขวัญ) which literally means the "auspicious beginning of the rice growing season". The royal ceremony is called Phra Ratcha Phithi Charot Phra Nangkhan Raek Na Khwan (พระราชพิธีจรดพระนังคัลแรกนาขวัญ) which literally means the "royal ploughing ceremony marking the auspicious beginning of the rice growing season".
This Raek Na Khwan ceremony is of Hindu origin. Thailand also observes another Buddhist ceremony called Phuetcha Mongkhon (พืชมงคล) which literally means "prosperity for plantation". The royal ceremony is called Phra Ratcha Phithi Phuetcha Mongkhon (พระราชพิธีพืชมงคล). The official translation of Phuetcha Mongkhon is "Harvest Festival".
King Mongkut combined both the Buddhist and Hindu ceremonies into a single royal ceremony called Phra Ratcha Phithi Phuetcha Mongkhon Charot Phra Nangkhan Raek Na Khwan (พระราชพิธีพืชมงคลจรดพระนังคัลแรกนาขวัญ). The Buddhist part is conducted in the Grand Palace first and is followed by the Hindu part held at Sanam Luang, Bangkok.
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