Preserved and passed down through generations as a spiritual “treasure”, the A Da festival (Celebrating the new rice) is an occasion to express gratitude and pray for a bountiful harvest and prosperity of the Pa Ko ethnic group. This unique traditional festival has just been restored in a methodical and vivid manner by the Department of Culture and Information of Huong Hoa district in coordination with the People's Committee of Lia commune to better preserve it, while opening up a direction for the development of community tourism in the near future...
Offerings in the A Da festival include pigs, chickens, fish and agricultural products... - Photo: D.V
Ky Noi village, Lia commune, the weather is cold at the end of the year. When the rice crop on the fields has just been harvested, the rice has been stored in a corner of the stilt house, it is also the time when the village prepares for the annual new rice ceremony.
What is special is that this year the village was chosen by Huong Hoa district to organize the re-enactment of the A Da festival, so the atmosphere was even more solemn and exciting. The villagers also prepared the offerings and necessary rituals of the festival more thoughtfully and neatly than in previous years.
After a period of elaborate preparation, the festival was held in a spacious space at the village community house. From early morning, most of the old, young, men and women in the villages gathered in colorful costumes, immersing themselves in the traditional festival of their people.
Every household in the village prepares the best food and drinks to welcome distinguished guests. The Pa Ko people attach great importance to seasonal worship ceremonies, because they believe in mysterious gods, especially the rice god who brings happiness and prosperity to their people. The A Da festival is also an occasion for family reunions, clearly demonstrating the traditional customs of the Pa Ko people.
Any children who work far away must return home when the A Da festival comes. The Pa Ko people gather together, drink wine, chat, sing and dance. The offerings in the ceremony usually include: rice warehouses, poles, rice bins, rice wine, rice varieties, and seeds harvested from the fields.
The New Rice Festival was re-organized in Ky Noi village, Lia commune, Huong Hoa district - Photo: D.V
From ancient times to the present, rice has always been closely associated with the life of the Pa Ko ethnic group. The process of living in the mountains and forests, with difficult farming conditions, so they always wish for abundance. The birth of the "Celebrating the New Rice" festival also originated from that. To prepare for the A Da ceremony, the village elder must send someone to ask for a dream to build an A choi (rice storage), when the dream is good, the location to build an A choi will be built at the place that the villagers have discussed and agreed upon.
Before the A Da ceremony, the boys and girls in the village go to the fields to thresh rice and bring it back to fill the A choi. During the process of carrying the rice to the warehouse, those assigned to thresh the rice must be very careful. On bumpy roads and streams, they must spread each piece of straw across the water with the purpose of making it easier for the rice spirit to return to the warehouse.
The next day, rice was carefully taken from the warehouse and pounded to make offerings to the gods. From early morning, preparing for the ceremony, every member of the family was busy with a job, the son went to catch pigs, chickens, and ducks to slaughter; the daughter pounded rice, lit the fire, cooked rice, made cakes, and prepared the offering tray.
This is also the first new rice meal after the harvest, so the village elders often choose the time after the rice harvest and pounding to hold the festival. With the meaning of the first bowl of rice for heaven and earth and to thank heaven and earth for giving favorable rain and wind.
If the harvest fails or there is a natural disaster, the village also prepares a new rice ceremony to report the situation to the gods, praying for a more prosperous, abundant and productive next harvest to make up for the recent losses.
The offering to the gods along with the first offering of the season hopes that the crops will not be affected by diseases, not be destroyed by wild animals and will yield the highest yield. This is also a ritual to reassure, calm and nurture hope for the future, even if there is a crop failure, it will not discourage the spirit of rice farmers...
During the A Da festival, the village elder is the one who runs the entire festival of the village. After the offering tray is prepared, the village elders, the older and prestigious people in the village perform the offering ritual. They will pray and invite the gods, the rice god, the sky and earth god, the river god, the tree god to attend the ceremony to give thanks for a year of favorable weather. Along with the offerings including pigs, chickens, fish, squirrels, agricultural products... the indispensable offerings are scarves, shirts, skirts and some jewelry of Pa Ko women.
With the concept that the rice god is female, in this worship ceremony, the Pa Ko people also offer women's costumes, which are everyday costumes... Starting with the ritual of worshiping heaven and earth, the shaman reads the worship: "Oh gods! Gods of high mountains, green forests, deep abysses; gods of mother rivers, streams, big and small waterfalls, please come to our family to have fun, drink wine, and celebrate the new rice. We offer the gods a pig, a rooster, and wine, praying that in the coming year we will bless our family and village with a bountiful harvest, full granaries, full houses of corn, and flourishing crops...".
During the festival, a pole made from large bamboo branches is erected in the center of the village and is only removed after the festival ends. The Pa Ko believe that the village elders who perform magic can communicate with the gods and the heavens through this pole, conveying the village's prayers to the gods.
It can be said that the A Da festival is a message affirming the sacred and close bond of the Pa Ko community for many generations. At the end of the ceremony, to thank the shaman for inviting the gods to witness, the village elder invited the shaman to drink rice wine, invited the villagers and everyone to eat, drink wine, tell stories, joke, wish each other a happy new rice season... with the sound of gongs, flutes, and instruments of the boys, combined with the singing of the girls. The combination of lovemaking further accentuates the brilliance and tradition of the festival.
Hieu Giang
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