Khmer Sene Dolta Festival in Saigon

In addition to offering alms to the souls, Khmer people in Ho Chi Minh City also offer alms to monks who go begging around Chantarangsay Pagoda, to pray for peace during the Sene Dolta ceremony on October 14.

According to the Khmer people's customs in the South, from August 29 to September 1 of the lunar calendar (this year, October 13-15 of the solar calendar), the Sene Dolta festival takes place. This belief has the same meaning as the Vu Lan festival of Southern Buddhists.

At noon on October 14, at Chantarangsay Pagoda, District 3, 150 monks of the pagoda went on alms round (also known as alms round) around the pagoda. Buddhists from both sides offered cakes, fruits, and money in the alms bowls to the monks.

Leading the way was Venerable Danh Lung, abbot of Chantarangsay Pagoda, who held the highest rank in the group of monks who were begging for alms. The monks came from several pagodas in Ho Chi Minh City and the Western provinces. All of them went barefoot, following the Southern Buddhist ritual.

According to the abbot of the pagoda, the alms-begging ritual is meant to sow good karma. The person making the offering will pray for good health, and dedicate it to their ancestors to help them overcome suffering, be reborn in a good realm, and to other unfortunate souls.

The monks held their bowls at their waists, and on both sides, Buddhists put in four main items: rice, cakes, fruit, and money. The monks walked slowly, circling the main hall and the temple yard.

Next to the main hall, Ms. Tuyet Minh, from Tra Vinh, respectfully offered alms to each monk. "For Khmer people, the Sene Dolta ceremony is as important as Tet. No matter how busy people are, they still try to go to the pagoda to worship their ancestors and pray for peace for their families and loved ones," said the 34-year-old woman.

Foreign father and son offer cakes and candies to monks. Depending on their sincerity, participants in the ceremony bring different offerings.

The alms-seeking activity lasted about 25 minutes. After making offerings, Buddhists clasped their hands in prayer, expressing their respect to the monks and Buddha.

Before that, many other activities in the Khmer community's Sene Dolta ceremony took place at Chantarangsay Pagoda. From 5am, Buddhists came to the pagoda to perform the ritual of scattering rice balls for ownerless souls.

The person in the lead holds a spirit-calling flag (right corner) as a guide for the hungry ghosts to know where to go with the food offerings. The group behind takes turns putting the food on trays placed around the main hall. During this time, when the sky is just getting light, the hungry ghosts can appear to receive incense and flowers from the people making the offerings.

Offerings usually include rice balls, sweet and salty foods, and fruits cut into small pieces for the spirits to eat. People usually walk around three times when performing this ritual, the first round is for ancestors, the next round is for relatives or parents, and the last round is for the spirits of the dead.

In addition, the temple also has the activity of tying red thread to pray for luck and peace. In the main hall, monks perform Dharma talks, chant prayers to the Buddhists at the ceremony and pray for the souls of the deceased.

At noon, Buddhists offer salty rice to the monks and pray below. Dishes are usually braised or stir-fried meat, vegetables, hot pot, fruit...

The Southern sect practices according to the original Buddhist precepts, whatever people offer, the monks eat. Therefore, Southern Buddhist monks do not eat purely vegetarian food but are allowed to eat meat.

Chantarangsay was built in 1946, also known as Candaransi (meaning Moonlight) and is the first Khmer temple in Saigon. The temple covers an area of ​​4,500 m2, is a place of practice for monks of the Southern sect, and a cultural place for the majority of the Khmer people in the South.

During the year, the pagoda celebrates major holidays according to Buddhist traditions and Khmer culture such as: Chol Chnam Thmay, Buddha's birthday, Ok Om Bok, Sene Dolta...

Quynh Tran

Vnexpress.net