The Ordained Dragons

Bom bous neak, the ordination of young men as monks, at Wat Theb Dei, a village west of Siem Reap, June 2025. A man about to be ordained is called neak: a naga, or dragon. In the story behind the name, a naga took human form to become a monk. When he was found out, the Buddha ruled that every man seeking ordination should be called neak in his memory. The neak are dressed as princes in gold crowns, as the young Siddhartha was before he left his palace, and led on horses or carried on shoulders under golden parasols. Monks, families and the whole village follow, with sound systems stacked high on tractors. Ordinations are held especially in the weeks before Buddhist Lent, when monks begin their rainy-season retreat. Wat Theb Dei appears to stand on the site of an ancient temple.

editorial

Hands Together

Wat Theb Dei, west of Siem Reap

Speakers stacked high, flying the Buddhist and Cambodian flags.
Sound systems ride on two-wheeled tractors, with half the village on board.
A neak, dressed as a prince, rides under a golden parasol.
The neak is dressed as a prince, as the young Siddhartha was before he left his palace.
Monks crossing the rice fields.
A neak waits in his pavilion, hands pressed together.
Carried on shoulders under a golden parasol.
The horses are dressed as finely as the neak.
Monks at Wat Theb Dei.