This country is still little known to the majority, and almost no one even knows what religion is currently prevalent in Cambodia. About 95 percent of the population of Cambodia are Buddhists. Theravada Buddhism is the main form of this religion in Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. The Khmer Rouge destroyed many religious buildings and tried to eradicate religion itself. Buddhism and other religions that exist in this country have not yet recovered from this period. The national minority, the Chams, are mostly Muslims. Many of the hill tribes are animists. Taoism and Confucianism are widespread among the Chinese. Cambodians have traditionally been devout Buddhists, and their beliefs included elements of animism, Hinduism, and Chinese religions, as well as beliefs in heaven, hell, ghosts, and spirits.
Religion and the Khmer Rouge
Khmer Rougetried to destroy religion in Cambodia. Religious ceremonies and prayers were banned. Buddhist monks were killed, shot or sent to the fields to work as slaves, temples were destroyed, desecrated or even used as death camps. Almost all Muslims who lived in Cambodia were killed.
Article 20 of the Constitution of Democratic Kampuchea of 1976 guaranteed freedom of religion, but it also stated that "all reactionary religions that are detrimental to Democratic Kampuchea and the Kampuchean people are strictly prohibited." Until 1975, the Khmer Rouge tolerated the activities of the community of Buddhist monks, or sangha, in the liberated areas in order to gain popular support.
The situation changed dramatically after the fall of Phnom Penh. Between 40,000 and 60,000 Buddhist monks, considered social parasites by the regime, were sent to labor brigades. Many of them were executed; temples and pagodas were destroyed or turned into storehouses or prisons. People seen in the manifestation of religious feelings were killed. Representatives of Christian and Muslim communities were also persecuted. The Roman Catholic Cathedral of Phnom Penh was completely destroyed. The Khmer Rouge forced Muslims to eat pork; those who refused were killed. Representatives of the Christian clergy and Muslim leaders were sent to be shot. After the fall of the regime, the situation with the religion of Cambodia began to change.
Theravada Buddhism
This is the official and main religion of Cambodia, practiced by 95 percentpopulation, predominantly ethnic Khmer. Buddhist monks are very disciplined and must follow 227 rules in addition to the ten basic principles of being a good Buddhist. Monks cannot take part in entertainment. They lead a simple life dedicated to faith and the temple.
Theravada Buddhism is a religion of tolerance that does not require belief in higher beings.
Before Buddhism appeared as the religion of Cambodia in this country, Hinduism was the most widespread. It was one of the official religions of the Khmer Empire. Angkor Wat is the largest Hindu temple in the world and one of the few dedicated to Brahma. While Hinduism is no longer practiced in Cambodia, it has influenced Khmer Buddhist rites such as weddings and funerals.
Religions of China and Mahayana Buddhism in Cambodia
Mahayana Buddhism is the religion of most Chinese and Vietnamese in Cambodia. Elements of other religious practices, such as the veneration of folk heroes and ancestors, Confucianism and Taoism, are mixed with Chinese and Vietnamese Buddhism.
Taoism teaches meditation and the use of magic to gain happiness, we alth, he alth and immortality. Part social philosophy and part religion, Confucianism emphasizes religious ritual and places great emphasis on honoring ancestors and great figures of the past.
Chinese Mahayana Buddhism intertwined with Taoist and Confucian beliefs. Adherents revere many buddhas, including Gautama Buddha, and believe in a paradise after death. They also believe inbodhisattvas - people who have almost reached nirvana but stay to help save others.
Animism in Cambodia
Animism as a Cambodian religion is especially alive among the hill tribes in northeastern Cambodia and to a lesser extent among ordinary Cambodians. People protect themselves from ghosts by placing pictures on doors and fences. Sometimes barking dogs and strange sounds from animals are believed to alert people to the presence of ghosts.
Animism is manifested in the belief in supernatural beings. These include spirits that inhabit mountains, forests, rivers and other natural objects; spirits - guardians of houses, animals and fields; spirits of ancestors; and evil beings, masters and demons. Some are considered beneficial, but most of them can cause illness or misfortune, especially for those who behave inappropriately.
Muslims in Cambodia
Islam is the religion of Cambodia practiced by the Chams and Malay minorities. All Cham Muslims are Sunnis of the Shafi school. Dharma divides the Muslim Chams in Cambodia into traditionalist and orthodox branches. The Chams have their own mosques. At the end of the nineteenth century, Muslims in Cambodia formed a single community under the rule of four religious dignitaries - mupti, tuk kalih, raja kalik and twan pake.
The council of nobility in the Cham villages consisted of one Hakem and several Katips, Bilals and Labi. When Cambodia became independent, the Islamic community was placed under the control of a five-member council that represented the community in officialorganizations and in dealing with other Islamic communities. Every Muslim community has a hakem who leads the community and the mosque, an imam who leads the prayers, and a bilal who calls the faithful to daily prayers.
The Chrui-Changwar Peninsula near Phnom Penh is considered the spiritual center of the Chams. Every year, some Chams go to study the Qur'an in Kelantan in Malaysia and also go on a pilgrimage to Mecca. They preserve many ancient Muslim or pre-Muslim traditions and rituals.
Orthodox Chams represent a more conformist religion in large part due to their close contact with and intermarriage with the Malay community. In fact, orthodox Chams have adopted Malay customs and family organization, and many speak the Malay language. They send pilgrims to Mecca and attend international Islamic conferences.
Christians in Cambodia
About 2 percent of Cambodians are Christians, but the number is growing and there are currently about 2,400 churches in the country. Catholics make up 0.1 percent of the population.
Christianity as a religion in Cambodia was introduced by Roman Catholic missionaries in 1660, failed to spread, at least not among Buddhists. In 1972, there were about 20,000 Christians in Cambodia, most of whom were Catholics. Before the Vietnamese repatriation in 1970 and 1971, up to 62,000 Christians lived in Cambodia.
American Protestants after the creation of the Khmer Republic tried to spread theirinfluence among some hill tribes and among the Chams. Thousands of Christian missionaries have flooded Cambodia since the early 1990s. Many of the new converts were introduced to the religion by missionaries from evangelical Protestant groups.
Some Buddhist Cambodians have complained that Christian missionary groups are too aggressive. In January 2003, the Cambodian government banned Christian groups from engaging in religious propaganda. In June 2007, government officials issued a reminder to prohibit door-to-door preaching and to offer food and other assistance only to those who had joined their churches.
