The never-ending adventures of a travel writer in Vietnam, Cambodia, New Zealand and throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
Showing posts with label Kate Festival. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kate Festival. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Cham Kate Festival, Phan Rang, Vietnam

The Photos below were taken in Phan Rang - Thap Cham, Vietnam during the Kate Festival last month. The festival is the most important holy day in the Cham calendar and includes both the Cham and the related Rag Lai minorities. I've attended the festival several times, though few other foreigners have witnessed it.

Below are photos of the procession in the first day of the festival, when Rag Lai villagers deliver the ceremonial clothing of the Cham King Po Klong Garai to the Cham people.


These Cham holy men deliver the clothing to Thap Po Klong Garai and adorn the statue of the king.


The procession ends in a pageant of traditional Cham music and dance.


In Cham culture the men usually play the musical instruments, of which there are only a few kinds.


The next day I visited both of the local ancient temple-towers where festivities take place around Phan Rang.


The Champa Kingdom was a contemporary of the ancient Angkor kingdom in Cambodia. Their towers were however made from baked red bricks, instead of laterite blocks like the Khmer.


Cham villagers climbing up to Thap Po Ro Me for the Kate Festival.


Cham leaders at the Kate Festival at Thap Po Klong Garai.


The Cham, unlike the Vietnamese, are a matriarchal society.


The Cham prepare a feast at the temples where they honor and worship the kings.


The modern Cham mostly fall within two religious traditions--the Balamon (Hindu-based) and the Bani (Muslim-based). Both actually celebrate Kate, though most observers at the temples are Balamon.


As with everything on this blog, these photo are copyright Adam Bray and may not be copied or republished anywhere else. Period.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Cham Minority Celebrates Kate Festival in Phan Rang


I drove up to Phan Rang this week to observe the Kate festival, celebrated by the Cham in Phan Rang. I've been to Phan Rang many times, although most of my time has been spent in the small villages around Phan Rang. The police have recently restricted foreigners from visiting Cham (or any other minority off the beaten track) villages without police permits. The vietnamese government is paranoid the minorities may pose a threat and rebel--spurned by foreign ideology. The Cham are an impoverished, matriarchal society, who once controlled a kingdom for nearly 2000 years, which rivaled both the Vietnamese and Angkor in Cambodia. Through 1500 years of war with the overlords and kings of Vietnam, they have been reduced to a small homeland in Binh Thuan and Ninh Thuan province, in the most arid and desolate region of Vietnam.


The Cham have two distinct societies within Vietnam--one influenced strongly by Hinduism, and the other influenced by a watered-down form of islam. They former worship the Hindu god Shiva, mixed with worship and/or reverence for ancient Cham kings and queens, who may be deified to a greater or lesser extent. Ancestor worship and forms of animism may also be practiced.


At the Kate Festival, the Raglai hill people from Tay Ninh (one of the minorities that once formed the ancient Champa kingdom) bring the cloths of the god-king idol and present it to the Cham in Phan Rang. When they arrive, parties are held in all the various villages--a different village hosts a party every day, which go on for up to a month. On the morning of the second day of the festival (this year, Monday, September 29), a ceremony is held at the Cham temple-towers to dress the idol of the god-king, hold religious ceremonies and pray.


This year's Kate festival is thought to be the largest ever--partly attributed to the return of Che Linh, the famous Cham singer who was exiled after the war for supporting the south and writing a song about yearning for the former glory of the Champa kingdom.


Che Linh was allowed to return for the first time since the war although his performances were restricted to folk songs only.



Adam Bray with Che Linh




Cham Elders