Cultural characteristics of Cham people in Binh Thuan

Land worship is a beautiful custom of the Cham people in Binh Thuan, showing a humble and friendly behavior towards the land for cultivation, settlement, and daily life. At the same time, it reflects a respectful attitude, giving back to those who have contributed to the land so that later people have a place to stay, do business, and develop their industry...

.jpg — One of the unique cultural features of the Cham people in Binh Thuan is that they hold a land worship ceremony when entering the new year according to the Cham calendar.

One of the typical cultural features of the Cham people in Binh Thuan is that they all hold a land worshiping ceremony when entering the new year according to the Cham calendar. The land worshiping ceremony is held within each family and is usually held on the third, fourth and seventh day of the first month of the Cham calendar. This is a ceremony in which Cham families express their respect to the land god, local gods, and deceased souls on the land where the Cham people live; praying for their ancestors and the land god to bless their family with a new year of blessings, prosperity, and bountiful harvests. Depending on the conditions of each family, there are different offerings. However, the offering tray basically includes offerings such as: boiled chicken, bananas, duck eggs, betel and areca nuts, sticky rice and sweet soup, rice soup, braised fish, grilled fish, wine, etc. After that, the family invites a shaman who specializes in local customs to perform the land worshiping ceremony. The location for the land offering is within the family's home grounds.

Before performing the ceremony, the shaman must perform a ritual of body purification. To perform the land worship rituals, the shaman sits facing east, spreads a mat, then places the offerings on the offering trays. The shaman prays in Cham language, inviting the Cham gods such as Po Inâ Nagar, Po Klaong Garai, Po Romé, Po Klaong Kasait… to attend the ceremony, and finally invites the deceased souls on the land where the homeowner lives to attend the ceremony. After the ceremony, all family members and neighbors gather to eat a meal and sip a few cups of wine and chat.

Binh Thuan is a locality with a large concentration of Cham people, with more than 40,000 people. The Cham people live in 6 districts: Tuy Phong, Bac Binh, Ham Thuan Bac, Ham Thuan Nam, Ham Tan and Tanh Linh. Over the years, the Cham community has been attached to Binh Thuan land for many centuries and together with other ethnic groups in this land, has contributed many valuable heritages to the culture of Binh Thuan province in particular and of Vietnam in general.

Preserving and promoting the cultural values of the Cham people in the process of building an advanced Vietnamese culture imbued with national identity is an important requirement, always receiving special attention from Party committees and authorities at all levels in Binh Thuan province.

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