Nguyen Thi Thanh Lich, Vice Chairwoman of the Gia Lai provincial People’s Committee and head of the organizing panel for the Gong Festival - Wild Sunflower Week - Chu Dang Ya Volcano event, attended the ceremony.
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Nguyen Thi Thanh Lich, Vice Chairwoman of the Gia Lai provincial People’s Committee, presents Ia Gri village with a painting depicting President Ho Chi Minh and ethnic groups of the Central Highlands by artist Xu Man. |
In the cultural and spiritual life of the Jrai people, the Rong communal house serves as a symbol of community solidarity, a venue for communal activities and a place where traditional customs are preserved and passed down through generations. When a new Rong house is completed, villagers hold a worship ceremony to express gratitude to the Yang (deities) and pray for peace and prosperity.
According to tradition, villagers prepare offerings for the ceremony, including a buffalo, a goat, a pig, jars of traditional rice wine, and a large neu (ritual bamboo) pole.
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Ia Gri villagers perform rituals to celebrate their new Rong communal house. |
On the night before the main ceremony, villagers perform the traditional buffalo-crying ritual to express their affection for the animal to be sacrificed. During the main ceremony, the village elder solemnly invokes the Yang in the courtyard of the Rong house, praying for the building to remain sturdy, harmony and mutual support among villagers, good health for the elderly, safety for children, bountiful harvests, full granaries and thriving livestock.
The villagers then reenacted the traditional buffalo-sacrifice ritual to pray for prosperity, favorable weather and peace, accompanied by gong performances and the traditional xoang dance to celebrate the new Rong house.
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Ia Gri villagers play gongs and perform the traditional xoang dance to celebrate their new Rong communal house. |
The Ia Gri village Rong house was built with financial support from the Gia Lai provincial People’s Committee and contributions from local residents. Its completion brought joy to the villagers while helping preserve a distinctive cultural space of the Jrai people.
Following the rituals, the new Rong house officially became a venue for the village’s cultural and spiritual activities, strengthening community bonds and solidarity.
Speaking at the ceremony, Vice Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Thanh Lich emphasized that Gia Lai possesses an invaluable cultural heritage enriched over generations by the diverse ethnic communities living in the province.
She noted that the Jrai culture, with its Rong communal houses, gong performances, traditional rituals, epics, handicrafts and indigenous knowledge, forms an important part of the distinctive cultural identity of the Central Highlands.
The provincial leader expressed her hope that Ia Gri village would build on this cultural space to develop sustainable community-based tourism, creating more opportunities for local women to introduce traditional handicrafts and cuisine, and enabling young people to build their careers in their hometown.
She also underscored the goal of enabling every resident to become both a guardian of their cultural heritage and a storyteller sharing the traditions and identity of their ethnic community with the world.
Translated by Minh Anh