With the attention and direction of all levels, the community of dignitaries and Cham Brahmins in the province have joined hands to do a good job of preserving and promoting the values of the festival, contributing to building grassroots cultural life as well as creating opportunities to promote the image of Vietnam in general and Cham culture to domestic and international friends and tourists.
Kate Festival Highlights
Kate is the biggest festival of the year for the Cham people who follow Brahmanism. This year, the festival takes place from October 1 to 3, held at 3 Cham temples and towers: Po Klong Garai Tower (Phan Rang - Thap Cham City), Po Rome Tower and Po Ina Nagar Temple (Ninh Phuoc).
The annual Kate Festival attracts many visitors. Photo: Thai Huy
In particular, the ceremony will take place with activities such as: Carrying costumes to the tower, opening ceremony of the tower, bathing the statue and dressing up, grand ceremony. The festival atmosphere is decorated by folk dances mixed with the deep and high music of the Kanhi instrument; bustling and joyful with the sound of the Ghi-nang and Ba-ra-nung drums... After the main festival day, the Kate Festival continues to take place in the villages, clans and families of the Cham Brahmins. This is also an opportunity for the Cham people living far away to return to their hometown to reunite with their relatives and families. In order to create a joyful atmosphere in the festival, the Cham villages also organize a variety of cultural, artistic and recreational activities that connect the community such as: carrying water, pushing sticks, traditional dance, chanting Ariya... attracting the participation of a large number of Cham people and tourists from all over to attend. All create a Kate Festival with brilliant colors and rich Cham cultural identity.
"Fueling" cultural heritage
According to the Council of Cham Brahmin Dignitaries of Ninh Thuan province, up to now, the Kate Festival has been preserved and preserved quite intact from the time, space, order, method of practicing the rituals, participants in the worship, costumes, offerings to the rituals performed by the participating dignitaries... The above results are a "synthesis" of the joint efforts to preserve, maintain and promote from many individuals, groups and communities. In particular, in the past time, the provincial functional departments have paid attention to and implemented many solutions and tasks in the work of preserving and honoring the tangible and intangible values related to the Kate Festival in particular and Cham culture in general. Specifically, departments, branches and localities have coordinated to build, establish and submit scientific dossiers to request competent agencies to consider and recognize. For example, in 2017, the Kate Festival of the Cham people of Ninh Thuan province was recognized as a national intangible cultural heritage; Or most recently, Phuoc Thien stele and King Po Klong Garai statue were recognized as two national treasures... At the same time, the province has invested synchronously in infrastructure, connecting and organizing Kate Festival with scenic spots to attract tourists to visit and learn about the value of heritage, contributing to creating attractive tourism products.
The Cham Brahman Council discussed plans to organize the Kate Festival 2024.
In the Cham Brahman community, dignitaries, researchers, artisans, and prestigious people are also making positive contributions to the preservation and promotion of festivals with the most practical and meaningful actions. For example, Mr. Quang Van Dai, Phuoc Hau commune (Ninh Phuoc) is considered a "treasure" of the Cham people. With the desire to record and preserve many Cham cultural values, for more than 40 years, Mr. Dai has spent all his time traveling to Cham villages to record the customs and cultural practices of the Cham people and translate ancient Cham documents and books into Vietnamese, including many documents related to the rituals and ceremonies of the Kate Festival. He himself is currently preserving about 200 ancient documents and books of the Cham people, including ancient books dating back more than 100 years. Or the team of prestigious Cham people participating in mobilizing, propagating, and spreading the unique values of Kate to local people, especially the younger generation, to better understand their responsibilities and roles to continue to "fuel" the heritage in the process of international integration and expanding cultural exchange.
Monk Dong Ba, Vice Chairman of the Provincial Council of Cham Brahmin Clergy, said: In recent times, Ninh Thuan province has created favorable conditions for people to organize the Kate Festival in a solemn and large-scale manner, creating connections and solidarity within the Cham ethnic community in particular and the people of the province in general. At the same time, provincial and local leaders have paid attention to, visited and encouraged religious dignitaries, policy families and some families... This is the motivation and strength for the Cham people to continue to preserve the festival intact; make efforts and contribute to building their homeland Ninh Thuan to become more and more developed and prosperous. Thereby, contributing to building a Vietnamese culture imbued with national identity.
Le Thi
Source: http://baoninhthuan.com.vn/news/149567p1c29/bao-ton-le-hoi-kate.htm
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