goto [Lakhon Khol]

Theme

This year our theme is "Revitalizing Khmer Traditional Entertainment". Many Khmer traditional entertainments are currently deemed to be extinct. There is not enough effort in Cambodia to preserve them. It is due in part that there is no demand (business) for them. The artistic performers cannot make a living on these entertainment businesses, thus discouraging young Cambodians from acquiring these types of artistic skill. Only a handful of organizations (we are one of them) are trying to keep them alive.

The traditional entertainment that we perform this year (2019) is called “Lakhon Khol”. It is a masked dances opera. The dances are about an epic story of "Khmer Reamker" based on a book written in the 15th and 16th centuries in poetry, by more than one authors. unfortunately, we do know (nobody does) their names. The story is a Cambodian version of the epic story of Ramayana.

Festival Components

Classical/Folk Dances

Classical and/or Folk Dances will be performed by various groups.

Khmer Traditional Music

The Khmer traditional music is performed by various individuals or group.

The Masked Dances Opera

“Lakhon Khol” is similar to the Khmer classical dances with one exception, and that is, historically, the main characters of the performance are male event for a female character in the story. At the time, we have seen that there some changes that allow female performers. "Khmer Reamker" story is the only story that they ever perform. So far, many groups only pick and choose some episodes to perform and they add something to them even they are not part of the original story. Even though we cannot tell everything in the story, our performance is different from other groups. Nobody does it like us before. Even we still pick and choose episodes, our performance is a story telling that contains 10 episodes or scenes. Some of the music we produce are exotic that nobody ever played since the Khmer Rouge era, according to Master Chum Ngek, who during the music production play all instruments, one at a time to a single track. There are narrations and dialogs to tell how the story goes.

We create the show from scratch. We write the script, narrations and dialogs. We produce the music according to the dance footsteps.

SCENE 1 & 2: THE BOW COMPETITION AND THE BANISHMENT OF PREAH REAM

The episode is based on the original Khmer poetry book “Reamker” Part 1 and 2.
Bow Competition

Once upon a time, there was a kingdom named Mithila, ruled by the powerful King Jonuk. He had a daughter named Neang Seda whom he rescued from a floating pot on the Yamuna river and raised her as his own. Neang Seda grew into a beautiful young lady, as if she were a celestial goddess. Her beauty surpassed that of all girls in Mithila Kingdom. One day, King Jonuk thought it was time to choose a husband for Neang Seda. By magic, he created a mighty bow and arrow and wowed that if anyone, god or a human, with his invincible might, could raise the mighty bow, he would deserve his beloved daughter’s hand in marriage. The news, as a tremor, reached all places, all ten directions, heaven and earth. Many gods, princes, and giants tried, but no one had yet been able to raise the magic bow and arrow.
In the meantime, there was another kingdom, Ayodhya, ruled by King Tusaroth who had three wives:

1. Queen Kasor kalyan: she had a son named Ream;
2. Queen Kaikesey: she had two sons, Bhirut and Leak; and
3. Queen Samotrea: she had one son named Sutrut.

When they all grew up into fine young men, King Tusaroth ordered them to go and live with a famous hermit in a jungle, so that they could learn all magic and fighting skills. When the four princes acquired all the skills they needed, the hermit sent them back home. Thereafter, Prince Bhirut and Sutrut went to live in a kingdom faraway with their grandparents.
The extraordinary beauty of Neang Seda at the Mithila Kingdom spread over the place, and it had reached the kingdom of Ayodhya. Preah Ream and his royal family set out a journey to enter the bow competition and won. King Jonuk was very pleased and happily married Neang Seda to Preah Ream.

The Banishment of Preah Ream
At the Ayodhya Kingdom, the aging King Tusaroth planned to crown Preah Ream to succeed him. Queen Kaikesey opposed the plan. She reminded King Tusaroth of a promise he made at a time when he engaged in a warfare, with her father’s help, against Atitsorya, that if he won the war, he would give the throne to Prince Bhirut, her own son. King Tusaroth explained her that according to a tradition observed by many past kings, only the eldest son is the heir to the throne. Kaikesey refused to listen and reminded him that it was a question of honor and virtue to keep a promise. She suggested that Bhirut must be crowned first, and that Ream must be banished to a jungle and live a life as a hermit learning dharma for a duration of 14 years. After he completed the banishment, he may come back and succeeded Bhirut. The argument was intense that Preah Ream decided to leave the ancient city of Ayodhya. His younger brother Leak and his wife Neang Seda also decided to follow Ream. The three set out into a deep jungle far away from the city where they practiced dharma. Prince Bhirut and Sutrut were not aware of what happening at Ayodhya, as the two princes lived far away with their grandparents.

A while later, aging King Tusaroth planned to crown Preah Ream to succeed him. Queen Kaikesey opposed the plan. She reminded King Tusaroth of a promise he made at a time when he engaged in a warfare, with her father’s help, against Atitsorya, that if he won the war, he would give the throne to Prince Bhirut, her own son. King Tusaroth explained her that according to a tradition observed by many past kings, only the eldest son is the heir to the throne. Kaikesey refused to listen and reminded him that it was a question of honor and virtue to keep a promise. She suggested that Bhirut must be crowned first, and that Ream must be banished to a jungle and live a life as a hermit learning dharma for a duration of 14 years. After he completed the banishment, he may come back and succeeded Bhirut. The argument was intense that Preah Ream decided to leave the ancient city of Ayutyea. His younger brother Leak and his wife Seda also decided to follow Ream. The three set out into a deep jungle far away from the city where they practiced dharma. Prince Bhirut and Sutrut were not aware of what happening at Ayutyea, as the two princes lived faraway with their grandparents.

SCENE 3: SURPANAKA LURES PREAH REAM AND PREAH LEAK

The episode is about the ogress Surpanaka trying to lure Preah Ream and Preah Leak. It is based on the Khmer poetry book “Reamker,” Part 3, pages 4 throug 28.

One day, Preah Ream and Preah Leak went out and meditated in a jungle. Meanwhile, there was an ogress (a female giant or monster in a fairytale), the Yeakaney Surpanaka, who was a sister of Krong Reap, a very powerful king of ogres who ruled Langka Kingdom. One day, she flew over the area where Preah Ream, Neang Seda, and Preah Leak lived. She spotted them while they meditated. Surpanaka fell in love at first sight with Preah Ream and Preah Leak. She thought to herself that if she is in the current form of a female giant, they will not fall for her. She decided to transform herself into a beautiful celestial goddess and then approached and courted Preah Ream first. Preah Ream told her that he already had a wife and it would be wrong for him to accept her. He then told her that his younger brother Preah Leak was still single and had no one to serve him. He asked her to talk to him as he might agree to take her as his lover. Surpanaka approached Preah Leak and repeated what Preah Ream had suggested to her. Preah Leak replied that, presently, his mind was occupied by only dharma and virtue, and that he had no desire for a woman. Disappointed, the Yeakaney went back to Preah Ream who encouraged her to be persistent and to try again. Surpanaka did as such while Preah Leak was in the middle of dharma meditation; this caused him to become angry and violent. He grabbed her head and cut her hair, then beat her, causing her severe pain which changed her back to an ogress. She groaned and moaned loudly in pain. Surpanaka was very upset, flew to Langka and told her brother Krong Reap what had happened to her.

SCENE 4: SURPANAKA INCITES KRONG REAP 

The episode is about Yeakaney Surpanaka who, after suffering humiliation, went to incite her brother Krong Reap in the court of Langka Kingdom. It is based on the original Khmer poetry book “Reamker,” Part 3, pages 29 through 33.
In the court of Langka Kingdom, Surpanaka told her brother Reap how humiliated she was when Preah Leak cut her hair and beat her. She told him about the killings of Krong Khor and the army chief Khon. She mentioned about the extraordinary beauty of Neang Seda and suggested that he should take her a concubine. Krong Reap agreed to avenge Preah Ream for his sister’s dignity. He was also intrigued by the description of Neang Seda’s beauty. He asked his servant, Maharik, to go with him to the Himalaya forest where Preah Ream and Neang Seda resided. There, he asked Maharik to transform himself into a golden deer roaming around Neang Seda’s home.

SCENE 5 & 6: KRONG REAP KIDNAPS PRINCESS SEDA AND PREAH REAM ASSEMBLES MONKEY TROOP

Krong Reap Kidnaps Princess Seda
The episode is about Krong Reap kidnaping Neang Seda. It is based on the original Khmer poetry book “Reamker,” Part 3, pages 33 through 45, and Part 4, pages 1 through 27.

When Neang Seda saw the golden deer running around the hermitage, she asked her husband Preah Ream to go and catch the deer so that she could have its golden skin for the hermitage decoration. With the persistent plea from his wife, Preah Ream went out to catch the deer leaving Neang Seda under his brother Preah Leak’s protection. He killed the deer that, in reality was Maharik, and the latter’s soul transformed his voice to imitate Preah Ream’s voice groaning in pain, telling Neang Seda that he was badly injured and asking Preah Leak to come and rescue him. Preah Leak knew that it was the ogre’s trick and refused to go. Even through Neang Seda’s persistent pleas, Preah Leak refused to go. Then, Neang Seda invoked a traditional rule that it was a royal command which must be obeyed. Preah Leak had no choice, and left Neang Seda to find his brother, leaving her alone inside a magical fence. Krong Reap saw this as an opportunity and transformed himself into a Brahman priest so that he could gain Neang Seda’s trust. She broke the magical fence, allowing him to get close and kidnap her to Langka. On the way, Krong Reap encountered an egret [a bird from the crane or heron family; in Khmer fairy tales, it is referred to as an eagle bird]. Its name was Jatayu. It told him to stop stealing others’ wives. This angered Krong Reap who fought and badly injured the egret--but it was still able to fly away. Neang Seda yelled for help and asked Jatayu to bring the news to her husband Preah Ream.
Preah Ream and Preah Leak were on their way back to their hermitage and did not find Neang Seda. They were sad and worried. They began to trek around in the jungle looking for her.

Preah Ream Assembles Monkey Troop
The episode is about Preah Ream assembling his monkey troops. It is based on the original Khmer poetry book “Reamker,” Part 4, pages 28 through 35, Part 5, pages 51 through 53, and Part 6, pages 1 through 14.

While trekking to look for Neang Seda, Preah Ream and Preah Leak found the egret Jatayu laid down and bloodied. Jatayu told Preah Ream about the kidnapping incident, that it tried to rescue Neang Seda but failed. A short time later, it died. Upon learning that Krong Reap kidnaped his wife, Preah Ream asked his brother to fetch a Simian king named Sugrib (whom he helped to crown in his kingdom in the past), his nephew Hanuman, and Angad. Hanuman was a mischievous monkey who transformed himself into a small baby monkey before they arrived. Preah Ream told them to assemble their monkey army, and to make them ready to fight to free Neang Seda from Krong Reap. At the same time, Preah Ream asked for a monkey volunteer who could perform a mission with two purposes in mind: to bring news to Neang Seda in Langka and to learn about the ogre army’s strategic position. The mission must be completed in one day. All the monkey officials nominated Hanuman, who would be clever, strong, and powerful enough to fly to Langka and complete the mission in one day. Preah Ream saw that Hanuman was such a small monkey that he would have to raise him for at least another 20 years before he could be useful. Being naturally mischievous, Hanuman attempted to show Preah Ream his might by transforming himself back into a big white monkey and blew a fire out of his mouth. Hanuman happily agreed to the mission, but it had one valid concern. It was afraid that Neang Seda would not believe its claim without any proof. Preah Ream then gave Hanuman his ring. He assured Hanuman that Neang Seda would surely recognize the ring.

SCENE 7: HANUMAN BRINGS A RING TO PRINCESS SEDA

The scene is about Hanuman bringing Preah Ream’s ring to Neang Seda. It is based on the Khmer poetry book “Reamker,” Part 6, pages 15 through 34.

In the ancient city of Lanka, Krong Reap kept Neang Seda in a palace at Asoka garden. There, he tried many times to lure her. He failed each time. There was a celestial power from heaven that caused Krong Reap to feel burning inside his body every time he attempted. He left her alone because he was confident that, one day, she would fall in love with him. Besides, he was afraid that the Princess would commit suicide if he rushed.
Hanuman, whose mission was to bring news to Neang Seda, arrived at the gate of the city of Langka. Krong Reap learned about the advance of Preah Ream’s army. He locked all gates and placed countless of ogre soldiers to guard the city. Hanuman then transformed himself into a small creature, undetectable by the ogres, and was able to get past them into the palace courts of the demon king. He made several unsuccessful attempts to search for Neang Seda--in the east, west, north, then south sides of the city. Then, he got into a pavilion full of court ladies and goddesses that Krong Reap had stolen from many places. He overheard two court ladies in a conversation that they had pity on Preah Ream who lost his only consort Neang Seda, compared to Krong Reap who had many. The ladies mentioned the Asoka tree garden as the place where Neang Seda was staying. Hanuman headed to the Asoka garden and saw Neang Seda. At first, Neang Seda thought that this beautiful white monkey was Krong Reap in disguise, with the intention of luring her into believing him. She told Hanuman to go away as she would never fall for another of Krong Reap’s tricks—referring to the earlier incident where Krong Reap disguised himself as a hermit and kidnapped her. After Hanuman showed her the ring from Preah Ream, she believed him. She took a splendid gold ring from one of her fingers, gave it to Hanuman, and told him to rush back to take the news to her husband.

SCENE 8: KRONG REAP BANISHES PIPHAEK

The first part of this episode is about Krong Reap banishing his own astrologer. It is based on the original Khmer poetry book “Reamker,” Part 8, pages 1 through 7.

Krong Reap was deeply worried about the advance of Preah Ream’s monkey army and Hanuman’s might. He had seen Hanuman defeat Atikay and Andrajit, two of his most powerful ogres. In addition, it had played a trick which burned the city of Langka. What would be his next move?

He summoned his younger brother, the ogre Piphaek, also his chief astrologer, to prophesy the future of Langka--whether he had a chance to defeat Preah Ream’s army. With his profound astronomy knowledge, Piphaek foretold that Rahu would swallow the moon and the sun. This was a sign that Langka would be destroyed. All would be happening because Krong Reap had been listening to the persuasion of Surpanaka, the evil ogress, to adduct Neang Seda for his own pleasure. Never before in Langka history had any former kings listened to a female ogre. Besides, Krong Reap’s action was against the law of righteousness. Therefore, Neang Seda must be freed immediately or face consequences.
Krong Reap got uncontrollably angry, scolded him, beat his head with a shoe in front of all ogre officials. He banished him and asked him to go and join Preah Ream because he dared to admire the power of, and to take side with, his enemy. Embarrassed and suffering from the lowest level of humiliation a being could ever receive, and in addition to being banished from Langka, Piphaek decided to join and serve Preah Ream as one of his astrologers. At first, Preah Ream doubted Piphaek’s story, but after hearing his explanation, he accepted Piphaek to be his astrologer, in addition to his own, Jambuban.

The second part of the episode is not part of the original 15th and 16th centuries book. It is based on the Khmer book “The Reamker, Painted by Chet Chan,” published by Reyum Publishing, 2001, pages 17 through 85.

Neang Ponyakay, Piphaek’s daughter, saw the banishment of her father. She wanted to diffuse the tension by suggesting to her uncle Krong Reap that she would disguise herself as Neang Seda’s dead body floating on the river where Preah Ream and his army were camping. Her reasoning to Krong Reap was that, since Preah Ream thought that his wife was already dead, he would not have any reason to pursue a fight to free Neang Seda, and that he would leave Langka alone. At first, Krong Reap did not believe that his niece Ponyakay could do that. But after witnessing Ponyakay’s disguise as Neang Seda as so real, he agreed.

SCENE 9: HANUMAN REBUKES THE DEATH OF PRINCESS SEDA

The episode is about Hanuman rebuking the death of Neang Seda. It is not part of the original 15th and 16th centuries book. It is based on a Khmer book “The Reamker, Painted by Chet Chan,” published by Reyum Publishing, 2001, pages 17, and page 85.

Upon learning from his monkey General that Neang Seda was dead and that her body was floating on the river near his camp, Preah Ream mourned in distress. He summoned Hanuman and asked why Hanuman reported an actual meeting with Neang Seda while in Langka, and why she was now dead. Hanuman rebuked the death of Neang Seda. He told Preah Ream that it was another trick of Krong Reap’s. He asked Preah Ream’s permission to burn the body, to see if it was truly Neang Seda’s. Preah Ream agreed. As she was being burned, Ponyakay could not endure the flames and transformed herself from Neang Seda back to the ogress Ponyakay. Piphaek, seeing his daughter in pain, begged Preah Ream for forgiveness and told him that it was Krong Reap’s latest trick. Preah Ream sent Ponyakay back to Langka with the message to Krong Reap that his monkey army was advancing to capture and destroy Langka Kingdom.

SCENE 10: THE FINAL BATTLE

The episode is about the final battle to free Neang Seda. It is from various episodes of the original Khmer poetry book “Reamker” parts 8, 9, and 10.

Krong Reap’s army became weaker and weaker. He started to feel that his defeat was becoming real as prophesized, but he pretended that he was still in control. He brought Neang Seda from the Asoka garden, put her in a carriage and attempted to show his might when, in reality, he was attempting to escape. He encountered Preah Ream’s monkey army. The ogre army fought with the monkey army. Preah Ream fought with Krong Reap but was unable to defeat him until the astrologer Piphaek told him to shoot an arrow at Krong Reap’s navel, which badly injured him. Groaning in pain, Krong Reap gathered the remaining few servants and soldiers and rode away to a world beyond the universe of Chakravala. Neang Seda was freed and was reunited with Preah Ream.

Children Activities

There will be numerous traditional games and face painting for children. 

Social Dances

Social dances will follow the performances. 

Food Vending

Foods and non-alcohol beverages are available for purchase.