Cambodia’s Onam: Rowers celebrate the Water Festival in Phnom Penh

Participants power their boat during the annual Water Festival on the Tonle Sap river in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Monday. (Reuters)

Updated on: Nov 14, 2016 4:29 PM IST

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Participants power their boat during the annual Water Festival on the Tonle Sap river in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Monday. (Reuters)

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The three-day festival, which started on Sunday, commemorates the kingdom's ancestral naval warriors. Which Indian festival are you reminded of, looking at these Cambodian rowers? (Reuters)

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Touted as the most important holiday for Cambodians, this year the festival is being celebrated in its full glory after a gap of five long years. (Reuters)

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After the Phnom Penh stampede — that killed around 350 people injured another 750 — on the last day of the festival in 2010, it was cancelled the following three years. (Reuters)

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Though the Water Festival was organised in 2014, very few visitors attended it. (AP)

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In 2015, the festivities weren’t conducted as always because of the river’s water level being too low. However, rumours were rife that the real reason was the rising political tension between the country’s ruling and opposition parties. (Reuters)

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Over 400 boats, propelled by precision-trained oarsmen, take part in the annual boat race, the highlight of the Water Festival. (Reuters)

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Buddhist monks at the start of a boat race near the Royal Palace during the annual Water Festival on the Tonle Sap river in Phnom Penh. (Reuters)

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Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni (R) greets Prime Minister Hun Sen as they attend the annual Water Festival on the Tonle Sap river in Phnom Penh. (Reuters)

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Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen arrives with his wife Bun Rany for the Water Festival, organised in front of the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Sunday. (AP)