Village elders prepare for the Water Drop Offering Ritual. Photo: VNA
In the Central Highlands this season, the coffee flowers bloom white and fragrantly, spreading throughout the Jrai and Bahnar villages, blending with the unique cultural festivals. Following the call of the solemn gong sounds, we returned to the Water Drop Offering Ceremony of Bo village, Ia Yok commune, Ia Grai district (Gia Lai province) when the sun was just setting on the bamboo tops of the village.
To prepare for the restoration ceremony, the Party cell committee, the People's Committee, the Front Work Committee, the village's mass organizations and the village elders of Bo village held a meeting to discuss and assign tasks to each family and group of households. Therefore, from early morning, the villagers of Bo village gathered at the sacred water drop of the village to prepare for the ceremony.
For the Jrai people, to hold the water drop worship ceremony, offerings to the gods include a grilled chicken, raw chicken liver, raw chicken blood, a jar of wine, a branch of leaves...
Village elders prepare for the Water Drop Offering Ritual. Photo: VNA
Mr. Ro Cham Po, Secretary of the Bo village Party Cell, Ia Yok commune, Ia Grai district, said that to organize the water drop worship ceremony, each member of the village is a nucleus of strength. The tasks are divided among the village members, such as women are responsible for cleaning the village roads, alleys, and cleaning the water drop path area; young people go into the forest to cut bamboo and reeds to weave them into decorative arches and erect a pole in the worship area. The elderly prepare traditional costumes and sacrificial texts for the water god worship ceremony.
The offerings were prepared, the village elder and two prestigious people of Bo village began to perform the rituals of the ceremony. The village elder read the prayer to Yang Dak, wishing for the villagers to be healthy, have favorable weather, no epidemics, and have water flowing all year round... When the prayer ended, from the village elder to the villagers of Bo village, one by one, they went down to the water to wash their faces, wash their feet, and splash water on each other to pray for all good things.
The water drop offering ceremony is held annually by the government and people of Ia Yok commune, Ia Grai district in March or April. Photo: VNA
Mr. Ro Cham Van - Bo village, Ia Yok commune, Ia Grai district shared that every year, when the bees go looking for sweet honey, the villagers organize a ceremony to worship the village's water drops. For generations, the village's water drops have always brought luck, health and peace, so the villagers always remember.
For the Jrai ethnic group in the Central Highlands in general and the Jrai people in Bo village, Ia Yok commune in particular, the water drop is a unique cultural symbol, associated with the spiritual and cultural life. Because for the Jrai people, when establishing a village, they will choose a place with fertile land, a beautiful location and close to a water source. Therefore, the Water Drop Worship Ceremony is one of the important rituals of the Jrai people. The restoration of the festival aims to restore, preserve and promote the value of one of the important traditional rituals of the Jrai people here.
After the ceremony, villagers poured water to perform rituals to pray for good luck. Photo: VNA
Mr. Le Truong Son, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Ia Yok Commune, Ia Grai District, said that recreating traditional worship ceremonies of the ethnic people not only arouses the love and traditional identity of the Jrai people but also educates the younger generation, continues to inherit and develop this festival into an identity in the commune to attract tourists.
When the sun is at its zenith, the ceremony begins. Villagers gather around the pole erected near the water drop, getting drunk on rice wine, harmonizing with the deep sounds of gongs and gongs, and the mysterious xoang dance until the sun sets behind the communal house of Bo village.
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