Each year in late January or early February, the village community around Wat Athvear assembles inside the main hall of the 12th-century prasat for the Leung Neak Ta ceremony — raising up the ancestors. One of the most continuous ceremonial practices in the Angkor region, documented by anthropologist Ang Choulean as showing direct descent from Angkorian tradition, the ceremony blends Theravada Buddhist prayer with pre-Buddhist neak ta spirit veneration. Photographed 21 January 2026.
editorialTwo women ride toward Wat Athvear at dawn, baskets loaded with offerings for the Leung Neak Ta — the annual ceremony in which villagers propitiate the temple's guardian spirit with food, candles and prayer.
Wat Athvear, Siem Reap, Cambodia
A woman walks her bicycle past the 12th-century sandstone façade of Prasat Wat Athvear. Built under Suryavarman II, the same king who raised Angkor Wat, the temple has hosted the annual Leung Neak Ta ceremony continuously since the Angkorian period.
Wat Athvear, Siem Reap, Cambodia
A woman pauses at the temple entrance with her offering basket. Pork, bananas, cakes, candles and incense are the standard provisions for a neak ta ceremony — the same combination documented here by anthropologist Ang Choulean as unchanged from Angkorian practice.
Wat Athvear, Siem Reap, Cambodia
A boy stands in the doorway during the Leung Neak Ta ceremony at Wat Athvear. The ceremony — its Khmer name translates as 'raising up the ancestors' — is held across the Angkor region each year in late February or early March.
Wat Athvear, Siem Reap, Cambodia
Pork knuckles, bananas and candles on the altar stone at Wat Athvear. Pork is the compulsory offering in Cambodian neak ta ceremonies — the guardian spirits are held to favour it. The candles mark the five directions under the spirit's protection: the four cardinal points and the zenith.
Wat Athvear, Siem Reap, Cambodia
Villagers gather inside the main hall of Prasat Wat Athvear as the Leung Neak Ta assembles. Anthropologist Ang Choulean identified this hall as a site where Angkorian ceremonial practice has survived unbroken — the paper appliqué placed on the altar here is unchanged in form from the 12th century.
Wat Athvear, Siem Reap, Cambodia
A lay elder raises his hand in blessing as the afternoon ceremony begins. The Leung Neak Ta runs in two phases: monks recite prayers in the morning; lay elders lead the neak ta offerings and communal blessings in the afternoon.
Wat Athvear, Siem Reap, Cambodia
A woman receives a blessing at the altar, smiling as an elder performs the rite. The Leung Neak Ta is as much a community event as a religious one — alongside propitiating the guardian spirit, the ceremony functions to renew the bonds between village households for the year ahead.
Wat Athvear, Siem Reap, Cambodia
An elder stands in the corridor at Wat Athvear, krama draped over his shoulder, younger generations at rest around him. The krama — Cambodia's traditional woven cotton cloth — serves as everyday garment, sun shade and ceremonial accessory; at neak ta ceremonies it marks seniority and belonging.
Wat Athvear, Siem Reap, Cambodia
A teenage girl sits on a stone threshold at Wat Athvear, watching the ceremony inside. The threshold carries weight in Cambodian ceremonial life: crossing it marks the passage from the everyday world into the domain of the neak ta.
Wat Athvear, Siem Reap, Cambodia
A man helps an elderly woman in white robes to her feet inside Wat Athvear. The white-robed women at the ceremony are don chi — Cambodian lay Buddhist women who observe the Eight Precepts and dress in white as a mark of their vows.
Wat Athvear, Siem Reap, Cambodia
An elderly don chi looks directly at the camera inside Wat Athvear. Don chi — lay Buddhist women who have taken the Eight Precepts — wear white as a sign of religious dedication. Their presence at the Leung Neak Ta is a reminder that this is not a monks' ceremony: it belongs to the lay community.
Wat Athvear, Siem Reap, Cambodia
A man bows in prayer against the sandstone of Wat Athvear — stone cut in the 12th century under Suryavarman II. The neak ta being addressed may be older still: Cambodia's guardian spirit beliefs pre-date Hindu and Buddhist influence, rooted in animist traditions that reach back before Angkor itself.
Wat Athvear, Siem Reap, Cambodia
An elder in white robes bows toward two candles, seen through the sandstone columns of the prasat. In neak ta rites, candles mark the territory under the guardian's protection — traditionally five, for the four cardinal directions and the zenith, though pairs are also lit as votive offerings at the altar.
Wat Athvear, Siem Reap, Cambodia
Incense smoke rises around an elder in prayer at Wat Athvear. Smoke carries intention in Cambodian ceremonial practice — incense is lit to open communication with the neak ta, whose world is believed to overlap with the visible world at ancient sites like this.
Wat Athvear, Siem Reap, Cambodia
Eyes closed, an elderly don chi holds burning incense and a candle at Wat Athvear. The Leung Neak Ta here is one of the Angkor region's most continuous ceremonial practices — observed by the village community on the same site, in largely the same form, for eight centuries.
Wat Athvear, Siem Reap, Cambodia
An elderly don chi in deep prayer, incense and candlelight illuminating her face inside Prasat Wat Athvear. Anthropologist Ang Choulean documented the ceremony here as evidence of 'direct descent from Angkorian tradition' — the paper appliqué placed on the altar unchanged in form since the 12th century.
Wat Athvear, Siem Reap, Cambodia