Cham people in Bac Binh district happily welcome Kate

BTO-Kate is a festival to commemorate ancestors and pray for favorable weather and crops. Kate also has the meaning of fertility, praying for harmony between couples, the growth of people and all things.

When we arrived at Ms. Lu Nguyen Thi Phuong Ai's house in Phan Thanh commune, we saw everyone busy preparing for the Kate festival. Each person had a job, from the elderly, women, girls to young men, all joined hands from light to heavy work.

In the rather large yard of Ms. Ai’s house, the place with the most laughter is where the women make all kinds of cakes. During Tet, Kate cannot lack traditional cakes, such as banh tet, banh gan tay, or gingerbread… Meticulously and carefully, little by little, through skillful hands, the cakes are gradually formed.

Nearby, Mr. Van Vinh Lac's family is also preparing for their people's traditional New Year. According to Mr. Lac, the Cham people highly value blood relations, kinship, as well as the emotional life of the family. Therefore, Kate is an occasion for visiting each other among relatives and friends, similar to the atmosphere of the Lunar New Year. On this occasion, the Cham people who follow Brahmanism are also eager and excited for a new year to thank their grandparents, ancestors, and the gods for helping them have favorable weather and bountiful crops.

At Po Nit Temple, Phan Hiep Commune, one day before the main ceremony of Kate Tet took place, the atmosphere was quite bustling. Everyone seemed to have gathered here without prior arrangement to join hands in preparing for Tet at the temple. The laughter and chatter mixed with skillful hands, working steadily. Although the faces had many wrinkles, although the hands were no longer agile, there had never been a year when Mrs. Nguyen Thi Xi did not come here to enjoy the feeling of living in the atmosphere of the traditional festival of the Cham community following Brahmanism. This year, the women and aunts agreed to make all kinds of cakes to worship their ancestors, ginger cakes alone were 15 kg, tiring but very happy. So everyone was engrossed in doing one thing after another, from one cake to another.

While the adults gathered to make cakes and cook, the Cham boys and girls were busy practicing the performances for the official festival. They all wanted everything to be as thoughtful and thorough as their sincere offering to their ancestors. In the small space behind the house, all the necessary items were displayed. All the members of this family had gathered. Those who had gone far away came on this day, gathering with their families and relatives. Tet is a day of reunion. They returned on this meaningful day to rest, congratulate and be with their loved ones. They gathered together and felt the happiness that their ancestors brought. Each of them wanted to prepare the offerings carefully and thoroughly as their sincere offering to their ancestors.

The decoration for the procession of King Po-nit to the temple was decorated by the district's Cultural Information and Sports Center with colorful flags and flowers. The road leading to Po-nit Temple in Phan Hiep commune was bustling with chatter, questions and laughter. Everything was ready for the Kate Festival with the royal edict procession on the 1st day of the 7th month of the Cham calendar, which is October 14, 2023.

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