ព្រះបរមរាជវាំង

ព្រះបរមរាជវាំងចតុមុខ​មង្គល

By Ek Chandararith

Scarf -The Krama Khmer

  

     

           

       

When all travelers arrive at  the beautiful land of Cambodia often see the smiling faces of  Cambodian  people  peeping  out from under a traditional, multicolored cotton scarf called a Krama. Today, in this global­ized world, the Krama scarf represents a special identity and has become a symbol of the Cambodian people.

What is the Krama?

The Krama scarf or handkerchief is a multi­ colored   piece of cotton   cloth   of small squares handwoven by Cambodian people. The most popular designs are black and white, blue and white, red and white and there are others varying with the region.There are several standard sizes of Krama such as 0.5 m by 1.2 m, 0.7 by 1.5 m, up to the biggest size of 1.2 m by 2m., and etc.

The history of the Krama scarf is long and elusive but it is heavily identified with the Cambodian people and their culture.

How the Krama is used

Since ancient times, the Khmer people have made Krama cloth as a multi-purpose cov­ering in their daily lives such as scarves, ban­dannas, mini- Sarongs (skirt), blankets, mats, pil­lows etc. Most of the time when people go out of their homes, they cover their heads and faces to protect themselves from sun­shine, dirt, dust and wind. They can wear Krama around their necks for decoration and sometime slung around their waists and worn as Sarongs(skirt ). Sometimes the people even use Krama for carrying objects or chil­dren or using it as a hammock for their children.

 Krama is everywhere in the countryside. Rural work­ers can wear trousers and Krama as a shirt while the women wear proper clothes plus a Krama for beauty. "Normally the Cambodian people go everywhere with their Krama. It is important to them because it is multifunc­tional".

"Krama is very flexible for personal use as a convenient necessity and indeed, it can be folded, rolled, or displayed and unrolled quickly and sometimes twisted and wrapped around objects to be carried. It can be used to cover the head, face, or for bathing, carrying things, and especially for a covering when sleeping or for use as a pillow,There are many Cambodian people still use the Krama as a hammock for their children."

History Research about karma

Mr. Hab Touch, Director of the National Museum of Cambodia, said that

"We're not sure when it took root in our Khmer culture but we know it existed at least as far back as the Norkor Phnom era between 1-5th century because we found many statues of the Gods and Siva from the Angkor Borey historical site in that period wearing the Kben," .

The Kben is a kind of a large Krama, some­ times worn above the knee and sometime below the knee. When worn, they have to roll it a bit at the waist and then tie it at the back of the waist. Today, old Khmer women still wear the Kben in their daily lives out in the provinces. Many men wear the Kben at special ceremonies or on their wedding day. “Everyone knows that is used by many classical artists performing the Tep Monorom dance or as a part of Khmer Ramayana” Mr. Touch added.

“Many younger people still wear the Krama as a Kben while they climb trees or perform traditional sports such as boxing, wrestling, etc.,”Touch said.

Michael Trane, Ph.D, a Khmer culture expert, agreed with Mr.Touch’s statement. “Properly used with The Kben, the Khmer people wear the Krama on the shoulder or around the next to make a classic set with more beauty. Kben and Krama in our tradition are like brother and sister.”Dr. Trane said.

As well as its beautifying effect, an aura of the calmness is displayed by someone with Krama on his shoulders.”Dr. Trane said.

“Also, expensive Krama is often worn in the countryside as a status symbol displaying a certain bit of wealth for people who has it.”

He recalled that he found a statue made from red soil at the Angkor Borey archeology site.

The statue was a man with his head tied with the piece of cloth that resembled the Krama, "I'm sure that is Krama," Dr. Trane said. "So with these artifacts, we know that Khmer people produced and used their Krama since the earliest centuries because of the many traditional weaving materials found in various archeological gravesites such as Phume Snay."

"I  think  that the original concept  of Krama may have been influenced by the ancient states of Amaravati and Mathura in the southern part of lndia, whose peoples use a Pagadi (turban) for head coverings accord­ing to the Brahma religion," Dr. Trane said. When an Indian explorer arrived at Nokor Phnom and married our queen Souma, not only did the local Khmers copy this usage but also modified it to be the Krama of today.

Mr. Heng Sophady, representative of the archaeology team of the Memot Centre for Archaeology, in Kampong Cham province, said that according to the 2003 results from this site, we found many tools used by ancient peoples such as stone artifacts and red soil material, pottery products, ceramic products, etc. and especially the spindle worm. "We have ample evidence of this spindle worm. We found it in various sites as far back as circa 500 years BCE," he said. Spindle worms are very important components of the weaving process.

"Spindle worms were found at many of our Cambodian archaeology sites, such as Memot Centre, Phume Snay & Phume Sophi archaeology sites in Banteay Mean Chey province, and recently from Pro-hear archaeology site in Prey Veng province," Sophady said.

"With these spindle worms, we know that the ancient people living in Cambodia knew how to weave thread into clothing such as Sarongs. This cloth or Sarong as well as the traditional cloth may have evolved from the Krama over several generation right up to today," Mr. Sophady added.

Even back through the traditional roots of Khmer culture, the original concept of this scarf and its use still kept the same function and symbolism but some colors and sizes varied according to peoples' needs.

Where to buy Krama

Nowadays, there are many kinds of Krama sales in the markets throughout the Kingdom of Cambodia, especially in handicraft shops. The Toul Tumpong (Russian) market in Phnom Penh is the most popular. Some Krama were made of 100 percent cotton as per the original tradition and some were mixed with silk and even nylon.  Some were multi-colored. The most popular Krama in the markets now are made by the people of Takeo, Kampong Cham, Kandal and Prey Veng provinces.

The price of Krama  ranges from  2,000  to

5,000 riel (0.50-1.25US$). It depends on the size and the quality.  But we recommend a 100 percent cotton one as it will last longer.

Where we can see The Krama Manufacture 

Visiting a Krama manufacturing village at Koh Dach

Cambodian farmers make traditional Krama all throughout the kingdom, but for day tripping, it may convenient to visit several interesting places such as Pea Ream and Thnoat communes in Bati district, and Tang Yab, and Say Va commune in Samroung district of Ta Keo province, Or go to Prek Chang Kran commune, Sithou Kandal district of PreyVeng province, but the closest Krama makers are on Koh Dach village island.

Koh Dach village, well known as a weaving handicraft village, is on one of the largest islands located on The Upper Mekong, with a length of 12 kilometers. 

The island is in Koh Dach commune, Mukh Kampool district, about 10km from Phnom Penh.

The Koh Dach villagers have retained their traditional lifestyle based around their main traditional handicraft, traditional silk weaving such as Pha Moung, Hol, Krama and cotton clothes. Visitor walking the villagers trail around the island will the sound of looms emerging from every house. Some houses have 5-10 looms and all the family members are weavers.  From eight to eighty years of age, all the family play a role in production. As a result, much of the silk, Pha­ muong, HoL and Kramar products for sale in the Phnom Penh mar­ kets originated in the Koh Dach villages, all of it hand made and of fine quality.Beside the production of handicrafts, the residents of Koh Dach are also excellent gardeners, producing a wide variety of seasonal veg­etables and fruits. The geography of Koh Dach Island varies. Though

12 kilometres long, some areas are only 100 meters wide and 2,500 meters wide elsewhere. The land is home to thousands of Khmer tra­ditional houses and three ancient pagodas, each with a long history set in a traditional context. A visit to Koh Dach will give you a better understanding of Cambodian life than any other area surrounding the capital. You will take away lasting memories of the arts and lives of Cambodtan people, happily co-existing with nature and traditional values.

Khmer Textile Performing Arts

Khmer textile dance  performing arts is dedicated to the Khmer silk industry, from local silkworms to silk material for scarves, skirts, Sarongs, Krama and other textiles. This dance was only choreographed in an attempt to demonstrate to Khmer people that they could take raw natural materials from silkworms and create beautiful finisheproducts without support from abroad.

"silk handicraft affects Krama manufacturing because silk threads can be eas1ly used to manufacture Krama. The Khmer call this kind of Krama 'Krama Sot,' which means handkerchief silk."

"So the Khmer textile performing arts attempts to represent the Krama industry and culture and our lives in the village, because there are many textile villages around Phnom Penh city, such as in Kien Svay district and Koh Dach in Mokh Kampool district,"

Nandin Bull

Nandin bull 

By dararith May 10, 2014 0 

The Bull 

The Hindu pantheon includes a number of animal-gods who act as vehicles tor the higher gods. ln Cambodia, Nandin(‘The Happy One’) was viewed traditionally as the vehicle of the god Shiva and also worshipped as a form of that god. A kneeling figure’ of Nandin was commonly placed facing temple dedicated to Shiv . However, images of Nandin arc also seen in a variety of other forms and location, such as in bas-relief on lintels and in bronze sculpture with Shiva and his shakti , the goddess Uma , riding on his back. The intricate layering of religion in Cambodia is further revealed by a latter inscription from the reign of King Suryavarman I(1002-1050) where Shiva is described as an ancestor spirit (Nak Ta), riding a bull. Images of Nandin illustrate the close connection in Cambodia between the cult of Shiva and that of Fire (agni). The third eye on Nandin’s forehead is said to represent Fire, one of Shiva’s eight elements along with Earth, Water, Wind, Ether, the Sun, the Moon, and Soul (a tman). Nandin’s third eye also represents Siva himself whose fire permeates theuniversal cycle of creation, preservation and destru ction. This same fire is also seen as a touchstone of truth: in theReam Ker (the Khmer version of the 1ndian Ramayana epic) Rama made his wife Sita walk into the fire to show him that she was the real Sita in a test of truth and faithfulness. This seventh-century sculpture is one of the earliest known Khmer images of Nandin. However, right up to the period of King Jayavarmun VII ( 1 181 – c.J 2 J 8) the Khmer kings continued to commission Nandins in stone, gold and silver. In the 1980s, village residents in Kandal province discovered a silver sculpture of Nandin in Toul Kuhear (now housed in Silver pagoda, palace in Phnom Penh) weighing over 500 kilograms. Located at the right side of the Silver Pagoda, is a small library houses Tipitaka, the sacred Buddhist texts which we called Preah Trai Beydok in Khmer. And inside, there is a statue of Preah Ko or Nandi, a sacred bull. The statue was found in Koh Thom, Kandal province in 1983. It made of metals, which 80% silver estimated. The local visitors would wanting to touch the status, to feel how cold metals is.

Fugitive General Arrested, Placed in Prey Sar

BY VAN ROEUN AND MATT BLOMBERG | APRIL 18, 2015
Major General Thong Sarath, who has been on the run since being charged with orchestrating the assassination of tycoon Ung Meng Chue in November, has been placed in Prey Sar prison after being apprehended Thursday evening, according to officials, who gave conflicting versions of his arrest.

Eng Sorphea, chief of the Phnom Penh municipal serious crimes police bureau, said that he received Maj. Gen. Sarath at about 9 a.m. on Friday and sent him to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court at about 1 p.m.

Major General Thong Sarath is led out of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Friday after being questioned over the November murder of Ung Meng Chue. (Satoshi Takahashi)
Major General Thong Sarath is led out of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Friday after being questioned over the November murder of Ung Meng Chue. (Satoshi Takahashi)

“Thong Sarath has been sent to Prey Sar prison,” Mr. Sorphea said following the court questioning. “He was arrested by the Ministry of Interior, which executed the court’s order and handed [him] over to the municipal police.”

Ly Sokleng, the investigating judge who questioned the general, could not be reached for comment. Kea Eav, one of Maj. Gen. Sarath’s lawyers, said he was outside Phnom Penh and had no further information.

The brutal shooting of Ung Meng Chue, who was chairman of the Shimmex Group, was executed outside a fruit store in central Phnom Penh and the investigation into his murder has been followed closely by news outlets and on social media.

On December 3, the day that Maj. Gen. Sarath was named as the chief suspect in the case, his parents called a press conference at their lavish Phnom Penh villa to proclaim his innocence and announced that they had sent him into hiding.

Within days, Maj. Gen. Sarath—also a highly successful businessman—was placed on Interpol’s list of most-wanted criminals.

On Friday morning, Lim Sokha Raksmey, acting head of Cambodia’s Interpol bureau, said that Vietnamese authorities had arrested the fugitive Defense Ministry official in Vietnam late Thursday night before handing him over to Cambodian authorities.

“He was arrested in Vietnam and given to the [Interior Ministry’s] internal security department,” Mr. So­kha Raksmey said, referring further questions to National Police spokesman Kirth Chantharith, who said the arrest was made on Cambodian soil.

“[Maj. Gen. Sarath] was arrested in Svay Rieng [province] near the border with Vietnam,” Lieu­ten­ant General Chantharith said. “Svay Rieng provincial police made the arrest near Bavet City in collaboration with Cambodian National Police.”

Contacted for clarification, Mr. Sokha Raksmey said his initial statement was based on unverified information.

“I didn’t get any information from Interpol Vietnam or anyone else,” he said. “I just got [information] from the news, same as you.”

In Svay Rieng, authorities were equally clueless about where the arrest was made.

“I have just read fresh news about him and I don’t know anything about that,” deputy provincial police chief Hen Saban said of the arrest.

Bavet City governor Seng Seila said he, too, was not aware of Maj. Gen. Sarath having been apprehended in the city.

Mr. Sorphea, the municipal officer who sent the general to court Friday, said: “I heard that he was hiding in Vietnam.”

Maj. Gen. Sarath joins five of his bodyguards in prison. According to police, the bodyguards confessed to carrying out orders to murder Ung Meng Chue. However, some of the bodyguards later said that their admissions were extracted through force, including one who said his leg was broken by police.

The general’s parents, Thong Chamroeun and Keo Sary, are also in prison on charges of illegal possession of firearms following raids of the family’s Phnom Penh villas in December.

After initially denying bail to the couple, the municipal court abruptly reversed its decision in February, a decision that led to the sacking of court director Ang Mealak­tei after Prime Minister Hun Sen suggested he had accepted a multimillion-dollar bribe to release the pair.

Days after their release, Mr. Chamroeun and Ms. Sary were arrested again for breaking their bail conditions by allegedly attempting to flee the country in an ambulance headed for Vietnam.

roeun@cambodiadaily.com, blomberg@cambodiadaily.com

© 2015, The Cambodia Daily. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced in print, electronically, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without written permission.

Kep in Cambodia part III

Silver pagoda

Chinese nationals in Vietnam flee to Cambodia as anti-China riots turn fatal

Vietnamese protest against China near Formosa mill in Ha Tinh, Vietnam. A doctor told Reuters that more than 20 people died during the rioting on Wednesday night. Photograph: Str/EPA

Violent reaction in Vietnam to China's expansionist stance in disputed seas has turned deadly, with multiple reports of people being killed during rioting that began with attacks on foreign-owned factories.

Cambodia said hundreds of Chinese nationals had poured across the border from Vietnam to escape the riots.

"Yesterday more than 600 Chinese people from Vietnam crossed at Bavet international checkpoint into Cambodia," Kirt Chantharith, a police spokesman, told Reuters on Thursday. Bavet is on a highway stretching from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam's commercial centre, to Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh.

On Thursday the death toll was unclear, although some news agencies reported at least 20 people had been killed.

A top Taiwanese diplomat said rioters had stormed a large Taiwanese steel mill in Vietnam, killing at least one Chinese worker and injuring 90 more. Huang Chih-peng said the violence took place late on Wednesday and early on Thursday at the Formosa steel mill in central Vietnam.

According to the Wall Street Journal, a Chinese contractor and a Vietnamese worker died in the violence. China's state-run People's Daily tweeted that 10 Chinese nationals went missing when protesters ransacked a Chinese factory.

A doctor at a hospital in the central Vietnamese province of Ha Tinh told Reuters that five Vietnamese workers and 16 other people described as Chinese died during anti-China rioting on Wednesday night.

"There were about 100 people sent to the hospital last night. Many were Chinese. More are being sent to the hospital this morning," the doctor said.

Earlier this week mobs burned and looted scores of foreign-owned factories in southern Vietnam, believing they were Chinese-run when many were actually Taiwanese or South Korean. No deaths were reported in those initial attacks.

On Thursday, China's embassy in Vietnam urged the country's public security authorities to take "effective measures" to protect its nationals' personal safety and legal rights. The embassy made the remark in a statement published on its website, adding that China had launched an emergency mechanism to cope with the effects of anti-Chinese riots in its southern neighbour.

Anti-Chinese sentiment has been running high in Vietnam ever since Beijing deployed an oil rig into disputed waters in the South China Sea on 1 May. There have been encounters including ramming and exchanges of water cannon between Chinese vessels operating near the rig and boats from Vietnam, which wants China out of the area.

According to the English-language version of the Tuoi Tre newspaper, some 600 people have been arrested in Vietnam's southern provinces, where riots erupted on Tuesday amid reports of looting and attacks on police officers.

The government has since issued stark warnings to the Chinese that continued so-called aggression, which had to date been met with diplomacy, would probably turn ugly if it persisted.

With reports on Wednesday from the Vietnam coastguard that the Chinese had also sent two amphibious ships equipped with anti-air missiles to protect their oil rig, commander Major General Nguyen Quang Dam said it would "make no concession to China's wrongful acts" and stressed: "Their violent acts have posed serious threats to the lives of Vietnamese members of law enforcement."

An op-ed piece in the English-language daily Vietnam News was just as transparent with its words: "The Vietnamese people are angry. The nation is angry. We are telling the world that we are angry. We have every right to be angry."

"China should stop violating international law and respect Vietnam's sovereignty," it continued, adding that China's seeming aggression "smacks of a bull doing something wrong just because it can".

"Over thousands of years, we have shown that we never cease fighting aggressors," the op-ed added. "We are proud of our freedom-fighting forefathers and resistance is in our blood. We are a small country, but we are not weak. We will stand as one, united in the cause of protecting our motherland's integrity."

China's foreign minister, Wang Yi, "urged Vietnam not to attempt to further complicate and aggravate the current maritime friction", the state-run Global Times newspaper reported on Thursday.

"China's position on safeguarding its legitimate sovereign rights and interests is firm and clear and will not change," he told Indonesia's foreign affairs minister Marty Natalegawa in a phone conversation, the Global Times said.

The newspaper condemned the protests in an editorial, calling them "the most stunning attack [on] foreign businesses in East Asia in recent years".

"The turmoil is the outcome of Hanoi's years of anti-China propaganda," it said. "Without legitimate grounds and practical capability, Vietnam fabricates and hypes up its jurisdiction over the Xisha and Nansha islands [AKA the Paracel and Spratly islands]. This uncompromising stance, in an attempt to bring its people together, has actually cornered itself."

China's tourism administration has posted a note to its website urging Vietnam-bound tourists to "carefully consider" their plans.

Taiwan's ministry of foreign affairs plans to print thousands of stickers saying "I am from Taiwan" in Vietnamese and English and distribute them to local Taiwanese business owners, to help them avoid the wrath of anti-China mobs. A ministry spokesperson confirmed the plan, but added that the stickers have not yet been distributed.

In 2012 Chinese authorities permitted large-scale anti-Japan protests amid rising tensions between the two countries over competing territorial claims in the East China Sea. Protesters in cities across the country vandalised Japanese shops and smashed Japanese-made cars before authorities ordered them to disperse.

China's propaganda authorities are censoring coverage of the protests, according to a leaked circular obtained by the online magazine China Digital Times. "Absolutely do not report on any news related to 'Chinese-funded enterprises in Vietnam being attacked by Vietnamese,'" it said. "Do not republish foreign coverage."
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