Pheng Kar

Phleng kar is the music performed at Cambodian traditional weddings which consist of a series of rituals over the course of one or several days. Phleng kar is performed with singers (usually one male and one female) and several instrumentalists who play a range of instruments of various timbres. Particular songs accompany certain ceremonies.

Since music is the link to the ancestors (who should witness, enjoy, and approve of the wedding), before the groom arrives, the bride’s family makes offerings of candles, incense, cigarettes, fruit, drinks, and money to the musicians. Musicians pray and play the phleng kar song, Homrong, which blesses the space and honors Preah Pisnukar (the Brahman architect of the universe who is considered to be a sacred patron of the arts).