The O Du people live in Nga My commune, Tuong Duong district, Nghe An with 102 households. This is one of the 5 smallest ethnic groups in Vietnam. The O Du people have a special custom, when hearing the first thunder of the year, the shaman will go around the village calling everyone to celebrate. This is a festival to celebrate the first thunder of the year.
The O Du ethnic group and the custom of worshipping the Thunder God
The O Du ethnic group is one of the five smallest ethnic groups in the community of 54 ethnic groups nationwide. The O Du people are present only in Tuong Duong district, Nghe An. In particular, the O Du people live in Vang Mon village, Nga My commune with more than 102 households.
For the O Du people, there is a big and most important festival, which is the first thunder festival of the year - the Cham Phtrong Festival associated with the worship of the Thunder God. In the minds of the O Du people, whenever there is thunder, that is the time to enter the new year.
The O Du ethnic group in Nga My commune, Tuong Duong district, Nghe An province has a special custom: after the first thunder of the year, the shaman will call the whole village to hold a festival. This is called the festival to celebrate the first thunder of the year of the O Du ethnic group. Photo: XT
The first thing to do in the O Du ethnic group's New Year's Thunder Festival is to bring household items to the stream to wash them clean. Photo: XT
The Thunder Festival at the beginning of the year is to pray for peace in the village, favorable weather, bountiful harvests, and good health for the villagers. The Thunder Festival at the beginning of the year carries a unique cultural nuance, typical of the O Du ethnic group.
After the first thunderous night of the year, the very next morning, the shaman went around the village, beating the gong to inform everyone to prepare for the festival and celebrate Tet. The villagers quickly brought their belongings to the stream to wash and scrub them clean, then washed their faces, stroked their hair, washed their feet and hands with the meaning of washing away and shaking off the bad luck and sadness of the old year.
Women wash chicken eggs with stream water to wish for growth and development. Men go to the stream to wash their feet and hands, wading upstream to wish for good health and endurance when working in the fields, on the farm, and in the forest.
Village elder and shaman Lo Van Cuong (residing in Vang Mon village, Nga My commune) said: When the O Du people were still living in the great forest, the first thunder festival of the year already existed. In the past, because there was no calendar to calculate time, the ancestors of the O Du people took the thunder as a sign to start the new year.
After hearing the first thunder of the year, the shaman goes around the village calling on the villagers to prepare for the festival. Photo: XT
The festival celebrating the first thunder sound of the year of the O Du ethnic group in Nga My commune, Tuong Duong district, Nghe An province has existed since ancient times. The festival is associated with the worship of the Thunder God of the O Du people. Photo: XT
According to village elder Lo Thanh Binh (residing in Vang Mon village, Nga My commune), whenever the village welcomes the first thunder of the year, he wakes up very early, wakes everyone in the family to go to the stream to wash their faces, hands and feet to wish for good luck in the new year. After washing their faces at the stream, everyone feels happy, excited and believes that the new year will bring them lots of luck and joy.
After the ritual of washing away the bad luck of the old year at the sacred spring, everyone moved to the location where the rituals were held to pray for good luck on the first day of the new year. On the way, everyone greeted and wished good health to those they met on the way.
Ms. Vi Thi Dung (Vang Mon village, Nga My commune) said that when the villagers organize the thunder festival at the beginning of the year, their children, siblings, relatives and clans who work far away from home all try to return home to celebrate. The thunder festival is an occasion to remember their roots, so everyone feels happy, excited and united.
What is special about the offering tray in the first thunder festival of the year of the O Du people?
Offering to the village is the first ritual in the New Year thunder festival of the O Du ethnic group. The offering tray includes: boiled chicken, sticky rice, white wine. The shaman is the master of ceremonies, reading prayers to inform and ask permission from the local gods and land spirits to allow the villagers to celebrate Tet.
Offering tray to the Thunder God of the O Du people. Offerings include: boiled chicken, sticky rice, white wine. Photo: XT
The offerings the villagers made were complete: boiled pig's head, grilled stream fish, various types of boiled meat, sticky rice, wine in bamboo tubes, moss, fish sausage, mouse skin, and taro leaves. Photo: XT
After the village worshiping ceremony, there is a worshiping ceremony for the Thunder God, ancestors and the villagers. The offerings on the two trays are traditional dishes of the O Du people, prepared from ingredients taken from the mountains and forests.
The Shaman prays to ask the Thunder God and ancestors to receive the offerings and grant the village peace, prosperity, favorable weather, good nature, solidarity among the villagers, good health, and success in work, business, and study.
The offerings from the villagers are complete: boiled pig’s head, grilled stream fish, boiled meats, sticky rice, bamboo wine, moss, fish sausage, rat’s intestines, taro leaves… displayed on two trays woven from rattan and lined with banana leaves. These are contributions from the villagers in the hope that in the new year, the Thunder God and ancestors will bless their descendants with good luck and good health.
The first thunder celebration of the year is the biggest and most important festival of the O Du ethnic group in Nga My commune, Tuong Duong district, Nghe An province. Photo: XT
Villagers have fun and sing during the first thunder worship ceremony of the year. Photo: XT
At the end of the ceremonies, the shaman and the village elders raised their cups of wine to pray for good things for the village in the new year. The villagers performed the ritual of tying black threads around each other’s wrists to pray for good health. During the first days of the thunder festival, people gathered together to spread out their circles, dance, sing and have fun.
Ms. Vi Thi Mui - Vice Chairman of Nga My Commune People's Committee said: The cultural and spiritual life of the O Du ethnic group is increasingly improving. The O Du people are also aware of preserving and promoting the cultural identity of the ethnic group. Every year, they organize the Thunder Festival at the beginning of the year. The local government is also interested in establishing clubs to maintain the cultural identity of the O Du ethnic group.
Source: https://danviet.vn/he-nghe-tieng-sam-dau-tien-trong-nam-ca-lang-nguoi-o-du-o-nghe-an-lap-tuc-lam-viec-gi-20250318172752279.htm
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