(Fatherland) - It takes 20 to 30 years for the A Rieu Car festival to be held by the Pa Co people, so each time it takes place, the festival is prepared very carefully. This is also considered the most sacred and largest festival of the Pa Co people.
Located in the west of Thua Thien Hue province, A Luoi is a mountainous border district with a natural area of 1,148.5 km2. The whole A Luoi district has a total population of more than 14,000 households, about 53,000 people with 28 ethnic groups living, of which ethnic minorities account for over 77.5%.
A Luoi is also known as a locality that still preserves many typical traditional festivals, rituals, and ceremonies. Folk songs, folk music, folk dances, and culinary culture bearing the distinctive cultural characteristics of ethnic minorities such as Pa Co, Co Tu, Ta Oi, Pa Hy, Bru Van Kieu, etc. have contributed to creating a diverse, unique, and rich traditional culture for this land.
A Luoi is a land with unique cultural features of ethnic minorities.
In recent times, in order to preserve, maintain and promote the cultural identity of ethnic minorities in the area, A Luoi district has paid much attention to the research, restoration and reproduction of many rituals and festivals. Among them, it is impossible not to mention the successful reproduction of the A Rieu Car festival of the Pa Co ethnic group.
According to the Department of Culture and Information of A Luoi district, A Rieu Car (reburial ceremony) is the most sacred and biggest festival of the Pa Co ethnic group. It is an occasion to express deep affection, complete love, and is a long-lasting bond of love between the living and the deceased. The festival is also held to strengthen solidarity between villages and communes to help each other in times of risk and hardship, and to create conditions for each other to have land for cultivation.
Besides, the A Rieu Car festival is also an opportunity to strengthen the relationship between in-laws, friends, and brothers. It resolves conflicts and difficulties between villages and families. At the same time, the festival is also the village's covenant and convention on things that children, grandchildren, villages, and hamlets must not commit.
Pa Co ethnic people in A Luoi district participate in reenacting the A Rieu Car festival.
In A Luoi district, the A Rieu Car festival of the Pa Co ethnic group is very large in scale. It takes from 20 to 30 years to take place once, so each time the festival is held, it is prepared very carefully from offerings to space, time, and location. In particular, a new Piing house (tomb house) must be built for the deceased so that the deceased can rest in peace and their souls can be liberated.
The A Rieu Car Festival has more than 20 different ritual steps. Notable rituals include: Ta mot vĕĕl đăng an chaih (welcoming guests at the village entrance), Pa đơh an đông (signaling the festival), Veel moot (welcoming guests), Pa kloaq (showing the respect and affection of the festival host for the distinguished guests attending the festival), Pa dươn Veel (welcoming dance), Pa xâr tâm mooi (receiving guests), Pa choo tâm mooi (seeing off guests)....
The central and most important part of the A Rieu Car festival is the Chat Ty riaq ritual (buffalo stabbing ritual). This ritual expresses gratitude to the gods who have bestowed upon the descendants of the village, the river, the stream, the hills, the land and the precious natural resources to build houses and structures, bringing the villagers a prosperous life. Nowadays, to suit and adapt to modern life, the Pa Co people in A Luoi district have used a symbolic fake buffalo to perform their traditional rituals.
The final ritual of the A Rieu Car festival is the Zi zar ritual. Zi zar signals that the traditional, sacred A Rieu Car festival has come to an end, and we will see everyone again at the next A Rieu Car festival. The Pa Co elders said that the A Rieu Car festival is also an occasion for village elders and prestigious people to meet and affirm their close relationship, sharing joys and sorrows, helping each other through hunger and thirst, and respecting each other's rights and interests as agreed upon between the ethnic groups on the Truong Son mountain range.
"The A Rieu Car festival is usually held by villagers for two days and two nights. On the last day, when the remains are brought to the grave, the village elder invites the other village elder to do the procedures to bring the village elder back to his village," said village elder Le Tuan Mo (Hong Thuong commune).
Reenacting the A Rieu Car festival promises to be a unique tourism product for visitors when visiting the traditional house of the Pa Co people located in the Ethnic Culture Village of A Luoi district.
Currently, the ritual steps in the A Rieu Car festival are reenacted by actors and artists who are Pa Co ethnic people living in A Luoi district. These reenactments are held right at the traditional house of the Pa Co people located in the Cultural Village of Ethnic Groups in A Luoi district.
Ms. Le Thi Them, Head of the Department of Culture and Information of A Luoi district, said that with the response of the community, especially the participation of artisans, actors, and people in the villages, this is a good way for the Pa Co people to join hands to preserve the traditional cultural identity of their people. In addition, in the future, it is also possible to research and turn the reenactment of the A Rieu Car festival into a unique tourism product to serve tourists when visiting and experiencing the A Luoi District Ethnic Culture Village.
Source: https://toquoc.vn/a-rieu-car-le-hoi-that-chat-tinh-doan-ket-giua-cac-ban-lang-20241025100453817.htm
Comment (0)