Bau Truc craft village celebrates the death anniversary of Cham pottery founder

On October 18, Bau Truc Quarter (Ninh Phuoc) excitedly held the Cham pottery ancestor's death anniversary at Po Klong Can Temple. The pottery ancestor's death anniversary was held on the occasion of the Ka Te festival to commemorate the ancestor who taught people how to make pottery, ensuring a prosperous family life.

Bau Truc neighborhood currently has 669 households with 3,325 Cham people, about 60% of which are involved in pottery making. Thanks to the income from pottery making combined with farming, Bau Truc people's lives are increasingly prosperous, and the neighborhood looks spacious and modern. According to local residents, Mr. Po Klong Can and his wife, Mrs. Nai Lank Muh, taught women how to make pottery from ancient times, which has been preserved and developed sustainably to this day. The raw material for making pottery is clay taken from Bau Truc fields, brought back to crush, dug into a hole and left overnight with a moderate amount of water. Cham women mold pottery entirely by hand, without using a turntable like other places. They walk around the pottery platform to create unique, bright red terracotta products. Bau Truc pottery village artisans can make hundreds of types of pottery products according to market demand, from fine art pottery such as Apsara goddess statues, Cham towers, interior decoration reliefs, feng shui water bottles to ceramic items necessary for the daily life of Southern residents such as clay pots, cake molds, pancakes, water jars, clay pots, charcoal stoves. Bau Truc pottery village attracts a large number of domestic and foreign tourists to visit and buy products as souvenirs.

The ritual of dancing and carrying the pottery founder's costume.

From early morning, villagers dressed in beautiful costumes excitedly brought offerings including cakes, fruits, betel and areca nuts to the Po Klong Can ancestor temple on the mound known as Xom Cu, about 2 kilometers northwest of Bau Truc today. The state supported and local people contributed over 1 billion VND to build a new, spacious temple to better serve the needs of worshiping the Cham pottery ancestor. The custom of worshiping the pottery ancestor was undertaken by Mr. Ka Thanh, the shaman, and the temple keeper, witnessed by Brahmin dignitaries. The shaman and the temple keeper were in charge of bathing the statue and dressing the statue. Mr. Ka Thanh played the Kanhi and sang to praise the merits of the pottery ancestor and prayed for peace, luck, and prosperity for the village. Villagers displayed offerings and prayed for the sustainable development of the pottery profession and for family happiness...

Mr. Nguy Ngoc Do, Head of Bau Truc Village Customs Committee, excitedly said that this year, the villagers held a warm and joyful pottery ancestor's death anniversary, remembering the great contributions of their ancestors who taught the villagers how to make pottery. In particular, the Cham pottery art was recognized by UNESCO as "Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding", attracting more and more tourists to visit and buy Bau Truc pottery products. The Customs Committee encouraged the villagers to unite and compete to make many beautiful, durable and good products to meet the market demand. Developing a prosperous pottery village, actively contributing to building a rich and beautiful homeland.

Son Ngoc

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