Another traditional festival of the Khmer people becomes a national intangible cultural heritage

Tra Vinh currently has 7 national intangible cultural heritages; of which 4 are traditional arts and festivals of the Khmer people.

Representative of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism presented the Decision to recognize the Dom Long Neak Ta Festival as a national intangible cultural heritage. (Source: VNA)

On April 11, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Tra Vinh province held a ceremony to announce the Decision of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to include the Dom Long Neak Ta Festival of the Khmer people in Tra Vinh province in the list of national intangible cultural heritage.

Thus, Tra Vinh currently has 7 national intangible cultural heritages; of which 4 are traditional arts and festivals of the Khmer people including Cham Rieng Cha Pay art, Ro Bam art, Ok Om Bok festival, Dom Long Neak Ta festival.

The three remaining national intangible heritages are the Vu Lan Thang Hoi festival of the Chinese ethnic group in Cau Ke district, the My Long sea worship festival (My Long town, Cau Ngang district) and the art of Southern amateur music.

Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Tra Vinh province, Thach Boi, said that according to the beliefs of the Khmer people, the Dom Long Neak Ta festival (also known as Ong Ta festival) is a traditional festival, taking place throughout Tra Vinh province; the cultural subject is the Khmer ethnic community.

The Dom Long Neak Ta Festival of the Khmer people of Tra Vinh is held annually by the community of residents of the villages and hamlets at the Neak Ta Temple (Ong Ta Temple).

Each place chooses its own festival day, but most are held in the third, fourth, and fifth lunar months.

This is the time when the weather is gradually changing from the dry season to the rainy season, farmers are moving from the idle season to the planting season. This ritual is performed by monks, praying for favorable rain and wind, and for the people in the village and hamlet to be safe and healthy. Therefore, some people call this ritual a festival of praying for peace.

There are many similarities with the Ky Yen-Ha Dien festival in the communal houses of the Kinh people. The Dom Long Neak Ta festival of the Khmer people in Tra Vinh used to last for many days, but now it is mostly held in two days.

Before the festival, the responsible people in the village or hamlet inform the families of the date and time so that people can gather. Early in the morning of the first day of the festival, people gather at Neak Ta temple to clean, decorate, and set up the tent to prepare for the festival.

The stones symbolizing Néak Tà were cleaned by the people and covered with new red cloth. People also prepared offerings from the community and their own families.

During the Dom Long Neak Ta festival, depending on the location, there will be many cultural activities, art performances, and traditional sports such as: Pentatonic music, Ro bam, Du ke, Chhay dam drum, pot smashing, tug of war, pole climbing, sack jumping, and boat racing.

People carry palanquins during the ship-sending ceremony of the Dom Long Neak Ta festival. (Photo: VNA)

In Tra Vinh province, all districts, towns and cities have Neak Ta temples with a total of 242 temples. Of these, Tra Cu district has the most with 64 temples.

Néak Tà in Tra Vinh province has many forms such as Néak Tà Som Rôn (trôm tree), Néak Tà Đồm Prìnl (trâm tree), Néak Tà Đồm Chrey (banyan tree), Néak Tà Kô Ki (sao tree), Néak Tà Kom Pong Riênl (Bến Củ Chi), Néak Tà Bần Nai (duoi tree)... and quite a few Néak Tà Méchas Srok (Néak Tà chủ Xom) such as: Tà Miês in Trà Cuôn, Tà Ot Kim Câu, Tà Năng in Năng Nơn (Kim Hòa commune, Cầu Ngang district)... The Néak Tà Wat are worshiped in the premises of some Khmer Theravada Buddhist pagodas in the province.

To preserve and promote the value of cultural heritage, since 2011, Tra Vinh province has been carrying out the work of collecting and systematizing related artifacts, building a unified scenario for the most basic contents of the Dom Long Neak Ta festival to deploy to the Management Boards of Neak Ta Temples in the area.

(according to Vietnam+ )

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/tra-vinh-them-mot-le-hoi-truyen-thong-cua-dong-bao-khmer-tro-thanh-di-san-van-hoa-phi-vat-the-quoc-gia-267638.html