A Riêu Car – A festival that strengthens solidarity between villages and hamlets.

(To Quoc) - The A Rieu Car festival is only held once every 20 to 30 years by the Pa Co ethnic group, so each time it takes place, the festival is meticulously prepared. This is also considered the most sacred and largest festival of the Pa Co people.

Located in the western part of Thua Thien Hue province, A Luoi is a mountainous border district with a natural area of ​​1,148.5 km2. The entire district of A Luoi has a total of over 14,000 households, with approximately 53,000 people belonging to 28 ethnic groups, of which ethnic minorities account for over 77.5%.

A Lưới is also known for preserving many typical traditional festivals, rituals, and ceremonies. Folk songs, folk music, folk dances, and culinary culture, reflecting the distinctive cultural characteristics of ethnic minority groups such as the Pa Cô, Cơ Tu, Tà Ôi, Pa Hy, and Bru Vân Kiều, have contributed to creating a diverse, unique, and rich traditional culture in this region.

A Lưới is a region rich in the distinctive cultural characteristics of the ethnic minority communities.

In recent years, in order to preserve, maintain, and promote the cultural identity of ethnic minorities in the area, A Lưới district has paid much attention to researching, restoring, and recreating many rituals and festivals. Among these, the successful recreation of the A Riêu Car festival of the Pa Cô ethnic group is particularly noteworthy.

According to the Department of Culture and Information of A Lưới District, A Riêu Car (reburial ceremony) is the most sacred and largest festival of the Pa Cô ethnic group. It is an occasion to express deep affection and loyalty, a bond of love between the living and the deceased. The festival is also organized to strengthen solidarity between sister villages, helping each other in times of hardship and providing each other with land for cultivation.

Furthermore, the A Riêu Car festival is also an opportunity to strengthen bonds of kinship, friendship, and brotherhood. It resolves conflicts and misunderstandings between villages and families. At the same time, the festival serves as a village custom and agreement outlining what children, grandchildren, and the village itself are not allowed to do.

People of the Pa Cô ethnic group in A Lưới district participate in reenacting the A Riêu Car festival.

In A Lưới district, the A Riêu Car festival of the Pa Cô ethnic group is very large in scale. It takes place only once every 20 to 30 years, so each time it is organized, the festival is meticulously prepared, from offerings to the space, time, and location. In particular, a new Piing house (tomb house) must be built for the deceased so that they can rest in peace and their souls can find peace.

The A Riêu Car festival has more than 20 different ritual steps. Among them are notable rituals such as: Ta mŏŏt vĕĕl đâng ân chaih (welcoming guests at the village entrance), Pa đoh ân đoong (signaling the festival), Veel moot (welcoming guests), Pa kloaq (showing respect and affection from the festival organizers to distinguished guests), Pa dưưn Veel (welcome dance), Pa xâr tâm mooi (receiving guests), Pa choo tâm mooi (seeing guests off)...

The central and most important part of the A Riêu Car festival is the Chật Ty riaq ritual (the buffalo sacrifice ritual). This ritual expresses gratitude to the deities for bestowing upon the villagers the gifts of rivers, streams, hills, land, and precious natural resources to build houses and structures, bringing prosperity to the people. Today, to adapt to modern life, the Pa Cô people in A Lưới district use symbolic buffaloes to perform their traditional rituals.

The final ritual of the A Riêu Car festival is the Zi zar ceremony. Zi zar signals the end of the traditional and sacred A Riêu Car festival, promising to meet again at the next A Riêu Car festival. According to the elders of the Pa Cô ethnic group, the A Riêu Car festival is also an opportunity for village elders and respected individuals to meet and reaffirm their close bond of brotherhood, sharing joys and sorrows, helping each other in times of plenty and scarcity, and respecting each other's rights and interests, as stipulated in the covenant between the brotherly ethnic groups in the Trường Sơn mountain range.

"The A Riêu Car festival is usually celebrated by the villagers for two days and two nights. On the last day, when the remains are brought to the grave, the village elder from the neighboring village invites the other village elder to perform the ritual of returning him to his village," said village elder Lê Tuấn Mõ (Hồng Thượng commune).

Recreating the A Riêu Car festival promises to be a unique tourism product for visitors when they come to visit the traditional house of the Pa Cô ethnic group located in the Ethnic Culture Village of A Lưới district.

Currently, the ritual steps of the A Riêu Car festival are reenacted by actors and artisans who are members of the Pa Cô ethnic group living in A Lưới district. These reenactments are held right in the traditional house of the Pa Cô people located in the Ethnic Culture Village of A Lưới district.

Ms. Le Thi Them, Head of the Culture and Information Department of A Luoi District, said that with the support of the community, especially the participation of artisans, performers, and people in the villages, this is a good way for the Pa Co ethnic people to work together to preserve the traditional cultural identity of their ethnic group. In addition, in the future, research could be conducted to reenact the A Rieu Car festival as a unique tourism product to serve tourists visiting and experiencing the Ethnic Culture Village in A Luoi District.

Source: https://toquoc.vn/a-rieu-car-le-hoi-that-chat-tinh-doan-ket-giua-cac-ban-lang-20241025100453817.htm