Cham people in Ninh Thuan busy for Kate festival

This year’s Kate festival of Cham ethnic people fell on the first day of the 7^th month of the Cham calendar which is October 11th of the solar calendar.

Thousands of Cham people and domestic and foreign visitors gathered at Po Ro Me towers in Phuoc Huu in Ninh Phuoc district to attend a procession of the costumes of the gods to Po Klong Girai Tower in Phan Rang City and join other rituals of the Kate Festival.

The procession of the costumes of Goddess Poh Nu Canh. (Photo: vietnamtourism.com)

The 2015 Kate Festival, began on the 30^th day of the sixth month of the Cham calendar with a procession of the costumes of the goddess Poh Nu Canh from the mountain hamlet of Phuoc Ha to Cham Huu Duc village.

The procession involved Raglai and Cham people who together carried the goddess’ costumes to the Po Klong Garai Tower in Do Vinh ward for a ritual to express their gratitude to the heaven, earth, and ancestors and pray for a year of favorable weather and bumper crops.

The festive atmosphere spread across the Cham villages where all family members gathered and prepared traditional food offerings to worship the ancestors and the mother goddess Poh Nu Canh.

On the first festival day, the first day of the seventh month, the official ceremony of the Kate festival in Ninh Thuan took place simultaneously at three temple towers: Poh Nu Canh, Poh Romeo, and Po Klong Girai.

Chief Monk Ba Van Dung in charge of the ceremony of Cham Huu Dung village said, “the festival is held once a year, offering an opportunity for us, the descendants, to express gratitude to ancestors who created canals, rice fields, and gardens.”

The temple towers are a venue where local villagers honor the gods and King Po Klong Girai who is credited with teaching Cham people how to irrigate their rice fields, the start of the construction of the Nha Trinh – Lam Cam irrigation system.

Mai Thi My Nhung of Phuoc Hau village said, “at every Kate festival I go to Po Klong Girai Tower to worship and pray for good luck, good health, and prosperity for all my family members. I want to join participate in th efestival activities.”

The Kate Festival always attracts lots of tourists who are curious about the local culture.

Russian sightseer Iana Lukashevskaia shared, “this is the third time I’ve attended this festival. I’m very impressed by their music, dances, traditional costumes, and the time-honored culture of Cham ethnic people.”

When the Kate festival ends at the towers, the festive atmosphere can still be felt in the Cham villages, where people of Cham, Kinh, and other ethnic groups in the region spend time visiting each other to show villager solidarity.

While a Kate festival is full of ritual, in the village it’s simpler, but plays a more important role. Here folk games, folk arts, and sporting events are gleefully enjoyed.

Charming Cham girls balance water jars on their heads and race to the finish line, while Cham men compete in ball games. This is very typical of the Cham Kate festival. The most interesting event is a show in which Cham girls and boys vie with each other in folk songs.

Han Thi Le, a Phuoc Huu villager, noted, “Kate is our biggest festival. All female villagers buy new clothes to go out and participating in dancing performances at the festival. The Kate festival is a very cheerful event.”

Charming young Cham girls with the traditional costumes. (Photo: vietnam-online.org)

For traditional craft villages in Ninh Thuan, Kate is an opportunity to sell their handicraft products and improve their lives.

Thuan Thi Trao, a brocade weaver who lives in My Nghiep village in Ninh Phuoc district, stressed, “the products we launched during this year’s festival are newly-patterned items. We’ve carefully prepared for the 2015 event because a growing number of visitors are interested in My Nghiep village.”

In the past a Kate festival lasted a month. Today it’s usually about a week. On this occasion, family members get together to make offerings to the ancestors and pray for prosperity and good luck. This is a chance for elders to teach the younger generation to show gratitude and respect to the ancestors.