Cham festival parades Goddess Po Nagar costume

by PV/VTV13 October 2015 Last updated at 09:43 AM

(Photo: Vietnamonline)
(Photo: Vietnamonline)

VTV.vn - The Cham people hold the Ka Te Festival on October 11th. The Brahmanist event is used to pay respect to gods, ancestors, national heroes and kings and is currently under way in the central province of Ninh Thuan.

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.

Exhibition celebrates Cham culture in Ninh Thuan Province Exhibition celebrates Cham culture in Ninh Thuan Province

VTV.vn - An exhibition dedicated to Cham culture in the South Central Coastal province of Ninh Thuan is currently being hosted at the area’s provincial museum.

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