The first ritual of this festival - a ceremony to receive the costumes of the Goddess Po Nagar has been held. Legend has it that the Raglai people are a younger offshoot of the Cham ethnic people. The Raglai people preserve the Goddess Po Nagar’s costumes and hand them over to the Cham people at every Ka te Festival. On the day of the ceremony, a parade from Binh Thuan Province’s Thuan Nam District to Ninh Phuoc District is held.
Huu Duc Village in Ninh Phuoc District is colourfully decorated as it awaits the arrival of the procession. Hundreds of Chăm and Raglai villagers perform traditional dances while the costumes proceed into the village.
"I’m so excited and really look forward to it. The traditional festival promotes solidarity not only among Cham community, but also Kinh and Raglai people living in Ninh Thuan Province", Mai Huong, living in Cham Huu Duc Village, Ninh Phuoc District, Ninh Thuan Province, said.
The ceremony to receive Goddess Po Nagar’s costumes not only attracts Cham people from different regions, but also a larger number of tourists, anthropologists and ethnologists.
"The festival used to be attended by many communities living in the Central Highlands. However, it has remained most significant for the Reglai people. It represents the solidarity between Cham community and others from the Central Highlands", Assoc. Prof. Thanh Phan, Deputy Director of Centre for Vietnamese & Southeast Asian Studies, said.
It is said that Goddess Po Nagar’s costumes parade as well as the Ka tê Festival hold immense cultural value. For generations, the festival has been maintained as a symbol of the brotherhood between Cham and Raglai ethnic groups in Vietnam.
