Ak Ambok and the Moon Salutation: The Quieter Side of the Water Festival

One festival, several ceremonies

In English, the November holiday is usually called the Water Festival, or Bon Om Touk. Its full official name is longer. As quoted in a 2025 interview published by Cambodianess, it is Preah Reach Pithi Bon Om Touk, Bandet Pratit, Sampeah Preah Khae and Ok Ambok: the royal boat racing, the floating lantern festival, the worshipping of the moon and the eating of roasted flattened rice.

In that interview, Ang Choulean, an ethnologist with the APSARA National Authority, explained that these customs did not start as a single event. Village boat celebrations were held when the monks finished their three-month rains retreat, and the ambok celebration came about a month later. The royal festival in Phnom Penh, which he dates to the reign of King Norodom, brought them together under one name.

This article is about the last two parts of that name: Sampeah Preah Khae, the salutation of the moon, and Ak Ambok (also written Ok Ambok or Ork Ambok), the offering and eating of ambok. For the races, lanterns and the Tonle Sap river, see our guide to the Water Festival (Bon Om Touk).

When it happens in 2026

The moon salutation belongs to the full moon of Kadeuk, the twelfth month of the Khmer lunar calendar. In 2026 that full moon, the 15th waxing day of Kadeuk, falls on Tuesday 24 November. The date comes from the same Khmer lunar calendar that powers our Khmer Calendar. It is the middle day of the three-day public holiday, which runs from 23 to 25 November 2026 according to the official list on our Cambodian public holidays page.

The same full moon also closes the Kathen robe-offering season, so for many pagodas it is a busy day.

Descriptions of the exact timing vary. A guide on IntoCambodia.org places the moon salutation at midnight on the second day of the festival, and the Wikipedia article on Bon Om Touk says devout Buddhists gather at a pagoda at midnight for Ak Ambok. A Cambodia Daily report on one pagoda described an evening that began around 6 p.m., with music until about 10 p.m. and then a blessing and a sermon. Families and pagodas keep their own customs, so the local pagoda is the best guide to the time.

What ambok is

Ambok is flattened rice. It is made from rice harvested young, around the time of the Kadeuk full moon, when the first paddy of the season is ready. The Cambodia Daily report noted that it is usually made from new glutinous (sticky) rice.

The traditional method is simple but hard work. As described by Cambodgemag and IntoCambodia.org, the rice is roasted in its husk and then pounded with a large wooden pestle until the grains are flat and soft. The husks are removed, and the ambok is mixed with grated coconut or coconut juice and banana for sweetness.

Some villages are known for making it. The Phnom Penh Post has reported on ambok made and sold along National Road 6 in Kampong Svay district, Kampong Thom province, and in January 2025 Cambodianess described Rokar village in Puok district, Siem Reap province, where about 30 households make ambok and now use machines for much of the work. Production there runs from about September to January, and ambok is especially popular at the Water Festival.

The hare in the moon

Behind the moon salutation is a story that many Cambodians learn as children: the rabbit, or hare, that can be seen on the face of the full moon. In Cambodia the hare is often called Pouthesat or Pothisat, a name related to bodhisattva, a being on the path to becoming a Buddha.

The story comes from the Sasa Jataka, number 316 in the collection of tales about the Buddha's former lives. In it, a wise hare lives with three friends, a monkey, a jackal and an otter, and teaches them to give alms and keep the precepts on holy days. On the eve of a holy day, Sakka, the king of the gods, comes to test them, disguised as a hungry brahmin. The other animals offer food they have gathered. The hare, who eats only grass, has nothing suitable to give, so he offers his own body and leaps into a fire that Sakka has made.

The fire does not burn him. Sakka reveals who he is and, so that the hare's virtue will be remembered, draws the image of a hare on the moon. Retellings in Cambodian sources, such as the one in the Phnom Penh Post, keep the same core: a selfless gift, and a hare who remains on the moon.

What families and pagodas do

The customs below are drawn from published descriptions. They are common, not universal, and details differ between regions, pagodas and households.

• An offering table facing the moon. Families set out fruit and food, especially things a rabbit might like. The Cambodia Daily listed bananas, sweet potatoes, yams, coconuts and pounded new rice; IntoCambodia.org also mentions rice cakes and flowers.
• Incense and prayers. Incense is lit, and people salute the moon and remember the hare's story.
• Sharing ambok. The ambok is offered first and then eaten together. According to the Wikipedia article, adults often put a handful into the mouths of younger children; the Cambodia Daily described participants lining up in pairs to feed each other.
• A wish to the moon. Wikipedia also describes children holding their noses, opening their mouths and looking up at the moon while making a wish.
• Public ceremonies. Officials sometimes mark the night too. Cambodgemag reported that in November 2024, at Wat Phnom in Phnom Penh, the governor of Phnom Penh lit 25 candles, one for each province and the capital, and the dripping wax was read as a forecast of each area's rainfall; the same evening he presided over an Ok Ambok ceremony.

A custom worth keeping

Because it happens at home and in pagodas rather than on the riverfront, the moon salutation gets less attention than the races. The Cambodia Daily report captured that worry: the chief monk of the pagoda it visited said he feared the tradition could be lost, and a Ministry of Cults and Religion official estimated that only about 60 percent of pagodas still held the ceremonies, a share he said was declining.

This year the contrast may be sharper. In July 2026, a government circular called off the main Water Festival events in Phnom Penh for the second year running, citing national priorities including border issues and aid for displaced people, as reported by The Star. The three-day public holiday was kept, and provinces were allowed to hold celebrations according to local traditions; Cambodianess reported in late October that several provinces were planning boat races and other events.

None of the reports we read said anything about the moon salutation, which is mainly a household and pagoda custom. If you want to take part, ask at your local pagoda what it plans for the night of 24 November.

Frequently asked questions

What is Ak Ambok?

Ak Ambok (also Ok Ambok or Ork Ambok) is the custom of offering and eating ambok, flattened rice made from the new harvest, on the full-moon night of the Water Festival. It goes together with Sampeah Preah Khae, the salutation of the moon.

When is the moon salutation in 2026?

The full moon of Kadeuk falls on Tuesday 24 November 2026, the second day of the 23–25 November Water Festival holiday. Pagodas and families set their own times; many sources describe gatherings in the evening or around midnight.

Why is there a rabbit on the moon?

The story comes from the Sasa Jataka, a tale of the Buddha's former lives. A hare offers his own body to a hungry visitor, who is really the god Sakka in disguise. Sakka spares him and draws the hare's image on the moon so his generosity is remembered.

How is ambok made?

Young rice is roasted in its husk, pounded with a heavy pestle until the grains are flat, then separated from the husks. It is usually eaten mixed with coconut and banana.

Sources and further reading

• Cambodianess: “Exploring the Roots of the Water Festival” (4 November 2025) — interview with ethnologist Ang Choulean; the festival's full official name and the separate origins of the boat races and Ok Ambok.
• The Cambodia Daily: “Clergy Strives to Keep Festival Traditions Alive” — a pagoda's moon-salutation evening, offerings, new glutinous rice, and concerns that the custom is fading.
• IntoCambodia.org: “Water and Moon Festival” — timing of Sampeah Preah Khae and Ak Ambok, the offering table and how ambok is made.
• Wikipedia: Bon Om Touk — overview of Ak Ambok and Sampeah Preah Khae, including feeding children ambok and making a wish to the moon.
• Ancient Buddhist Texts: Sasa Jataka (No. 316) — English text of the Jataka story of the hare, Sakka and the image on the moon.
• Cambodgemag: “The culinary richness of the Water Festival” (17 February 2025) — how ambok is roasted, pounded and mixed with coconut and banana.
• Cambodgemag: “Water Festival in pictures: prediction ceremony and Ok Ambok on the Wat Phnom site” (16 November 2024) — the candle-wax rainfall forecast and Ok Ambok ceremony at Wat Phnom.
• Cambodianess: “Ambok business gives life to Rokar villagers” (14 January 2025) — ambok production in Rokar village, Siem Reap province.
• The Phnom Penh Post: “Eating ambok: folktales and customs of the Water Festival” — ambok made in Kampong Thom province and a Cambodian retelling of the hare Pouthesat.
• The Star: “Cambodia calls off traditional water festival for second consecutive year” (1 July 2026) — the 2026 circular cancelling the main Phnom Penh events while keeping the public holiday.
• Cambodianess: “Cambodian Provinces Keep Water Festival Alive Despite Phnom Penh Cancellation” (28 October 2026) — provincial Water Festival plans for 2026.

Dates for lunar observances follow the Khmer lunar calendar and can differ by a day locally. Check with your pagoda or official announcements for exact times.