A Research Project to Restore Cham Cultural Property and Communities after Conflict

20 April 2017

Neou Vannarin

School Children listen to an English program presented by Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam) staff members at O-Trav Mosque, Preah Sihanouk Ville. O-Trav village is about a three-hour drive from Phnom Penh and 40 minutes drive from Sihanouk Ville.(Courtesy photo of DC-Cam)

Cham Muslim children in Svay Khleang village listen to the Tuon and Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam) staff members during a Democratic Kampuchea history text book distribution in a village surav. (Courtesy photo of DC-Cam)

Front view of the old house in Svay Khleang viilage, which is more than one hundred years old. The house was built by a wealthy Cham named Haji Osman Paung who was once given a position of royal counsel to King Monivong. (Courtesy photo of DC-Cam)

Inside view of the old house belonging to a royal representative for the Cham throughout the country named Haji Osman Paugn, which is more than one hundred years old. (Courtesy photo of DC-Cam)

Minaret Tower commonly known as a Seun or Medara in a Cham Muslim village in Svay Khleang. Built in approximately 1843, the Seun stands on the bank of Mekong River in Svay Khleang village. (Courtesy photo of DC-Cam)

Mostly the cakes are carried to the surav by the women assisted by the children. The cakes are elaborately designed with money and flowers.(Courtesy photo of DC-Cam)

An Imam Sann woman arranges cakes. The cake is elaborately designed and it takes skilled bakers to make it into the shapes of a dragon and a peacock. There is usually a boiled egg in the middle which represent fertility.(Courtesy photo of DC-Cam)

A close-up image of an Imam Sann religious script read during the Mawlid ceremony, 2010. (Courtesy photo of DC-Cam)

Imam Sann men recite an Imam Sann religious script as they gather in the village surav during the Mawlid ceremony, 2010. The women bring cake to the surav.(Courtesy photo of DC-Cam)

Men of Chan Kiek village play drums at the head of a parade to the village surav in Chan Kiek village during the Mawlid ceremony, 2010.(Courtesy photo of DC-Cam)