There are three objectives of this research are 1) to study of Sandonta Rite of Buddhist in Surin province, 2) to study of Sandonta Rite of Buddhist in Banteay Meanchey province and 3) to the comparative study of the values of the Sandonta Rite of Buddhist in Surin province and Banteay Meanchey province. This research is a qualitative and field research, such as in Surin province in Thailand and Banteay Meanchey province in Cambodia. The research used various resources from relevant documents, both in Thai and Cambodia and from an in-depth interview of people whose concern to this research, and then to analyzed the content and finally, to presented the analytic descriptive.

The results of the studies were revealed as follows:

For the origin of the rituals of Sandonta in Surin province in Thailand and Banteay Meanchey province in Cambodia found that they are the same original source. Because of this ritual is related to meritorious doing for dedicated to the ancestors who were passed away. But this ritual the difference in the sources, namely the Buddhists in Surin province have the belief and following the story of the Peta (hungry ghosts) who were the relatives of King Bimbisara, but the Buddhists in Banteay Meanchey province have the belief and following the story of Upaguttathera, the story of Añathapinḍika Seṭṭhῖ and the story of the hunter as well as the story of the Peta (hungry ghosts) who were the relatives of King Bimbisara too. For the definition of the Sandonta ritual, it was found that there were differences in the term used by Buddhists, in Surin province called “Sandonta", but in Banteay Meanchey province called “Pajumpinda”, but when referring to the implication of meaning, they are not different. The merit-making ceremony was dedicated to the deceased relatives as well. The importance of the Sandonta ritual found that both Buddhists of the province were Khmer descent giving priority to the Sandonta ritual, which is no different, because this ritual is a ritual that expresses gratitude towards the previous benefactors, the elements of the Sandonta ritual found that the Buddhist Sandonta rituals in Surin province and Banteay Meanchey province have the same elements of ritual arrangements. The categories of the Sandonta ritual, it was found that the Buddhists in Surin and the Banteay Meanchey province of Cambodia were divided into two categories, namely, “Ben-Tuch”, and “Ben-Thom”, and in Surin province and Banteay Meanchey provinces are not different in the values of the principles, but are different in the minutiae only. For the comparison of values according to Buddhist morals that appeared in the Sandonta rituals. The morals or principles of Buddhism appear in the Sandonta rituals, which are the morality about the principle of honoring, the principles of gratitude, and the principle of Kamma. These three Buddhist principles are obviously the principles that appear in the Sandonta tradition. Therefore, this ritual is a ritual that expresses gratitude to the previous benefactors, and still maintains the Buddhist cultural values inherited from the ancestors to the youth as long as today. This ceremony is a norm for Buddhists in Thailand and Cambodia to live happily and peacefully.

Download