RELIGIONS & LANGUAGE & RELIGIONS

The Cambodian language is Khmer, which is inherited itself - and advanced in education with application of Indic languages Pali and Sangkrit from India. Also, the Khmer language is influenced by spoken and written Thai. Some technical languages are borrowed from French. However, English is commonly communicated in hotels and business compounds at present days.

Thearavada Buddhism is the official religion in Cambodia which is practiced by 95 percent of the population-- just like that of Thailand, Burma, Sri Lanka. However, Christianity and Cham Muslim are being active and popular among a large number of population as well in the capital and provinces, showing a sign of growth.

Buddhism has pervaded Cambodian life for nearly a thousand years, with one gap during the country's tragic Khmer Rouge period when religion was banned and pagodas were neglected or damaged and the scholarly monks killed. Buddhism came to Cambodia with the first spread of Indian influence that also brought Hindu gods and culture and prepared the way for the glorious Angkor period when Khmer culture and power dominated Southeast Asia. The earliest Buddhist status found in the ruins of ancient Cambodian temples date from the 2nd century. Many of the splendid stone Buddhas on view today in the Nat­ional Museum in Phnom Penh were taken from the ruins of 5th century temples. Even today the Cambodian style of praying comes from Brahamism, not Buddhism.

The religion based on the teachings of a long-ago Indian prince spread, tolerated if not embraced by the early Angkor kings, until the reign of the great Jayavarman in the 12th century. A student of Buddhism from childhood, Jayavarman IIV made it the dominant religion, building temples, roads, hospitals, and other public works to ease the suffering of the people.

 The principals of Buddhism in particular the Theravada strain of Buddhism, which has been the state religion since the 14th century are elemental in the daily life of most Cambodians, who believe that they will be born and die through 16 lives before they achieve hinayana, or nirvana, the blissful and eternal state of paradise where there is no suffering.

Cambodia's branch of Theravada Buddhism is a socially engaged Buddhism that differs from the Mahayana strain of Buddhism practiced in Nepal, Tibet, China and elsewhere. Theravada Buddhism, also practiced in Thailand, Laos and Sri Lanka, is based on the original teachings of Bud­dha. Its principles were expressed in the Pali lan­guage, not Sanskrit. It emphasizes a social work orientation in which the monks ran schools, devel­opment projects and other community programs.

 In the old days, almost all Cambodian males spent time in a monastery. King Norodom Sihanouk spent three months in a monastery after his coronation.

 Now, fewer families send their sons to the monastery, but opportunities for women have increased. In the villages, life still revolves around the pagoda, which acts as a center of education, community exchange. Buddhist holidays in the lunar  calendar are celebrated by going to the pagoda to pay respects and make contributions.