Preserving Cham culture associated with Kate Festival

Unique national heritage

Khanh Hoa is a province with a large population of Cham people living with a unique and diverse cultural heritage system, many architectural works of temples, towers, festivals, traditional customs and practices, folk art forms of singing, dancing, music... In addition, there is a system of folk knowledge created, preserved and passed down through many generations by the Cham people. Among them, the Kate Festival is listed as a national intangible cultural heritage. This is the largest traditional festival of the Cham people following Brahmanism.

Cham dignitaries participate in the Kate Festival. Photo: SON NGOC

Kate Festival is periodically held on the last day of June and the beginning of July according to the Cham calendar (around September or October of the solar calendar) and includes the ceremony and the festival. The ceremony consists of spiritual rituals taking place at Cham temples and towers (the procession of costumes; the opening ceremony of temples and towers; the bathing ceremony of the god statue; the ceremony of dressing the god; the grand ceremony); the worshiping ceremony of the god in Cham villages; the worshiping ceremony in families and clans. As for the festival, there are cultural performances, arts, sports , folk games, pottery and brocade weaving competitions, exchange activities, and mutual visits... Thereby, creating a joyful and exciting atmosphere in the Cham community following Brahmanism, as well as attracting a large number of people and tourists to participate in experiencing and learning about the festival.

To exploit the potential and value of the Kate Festival, the province has implemented the Project "Preserving and promoting the value of the Kate Festival of the Cham people, period 2025 - 2030". This is not only a solution to build the Kate Festival worthy of being a national intangible cultural heritage but also to honor the typical festival of the Cham community, as well as attract tourists. On the other hand, through the project, departments, branches and localities can coordinate to preserve, maintain and promote the value of the Kate Festival to better serve the religious and belief activities of the Cham people.

Festival with new features

The Kate Festival is identified as the Cham community following Brahmanism. In particular, the Provincial Council of Cham Brahman Clergy is the organization representing the community in practicing rituals related to religion and beliefs. Venerable Han Do - Chairman of the Provincial Council of Cham Brahman Clergy said: To prepare for the Kate Festival in 2025, the Standing Committee of the Council has issued a specific announcement on the time and location of the rituals in the area of 3 temples and towers of Po Klong Garai, Po Rome, Po Inư Nugar. In particular, October 21 is the opening day of the temples and towers. In addition, there are many activities within the scope of the festival taking place in Cham villages following Brahmanism.

According to Mr. Nguyen Tan An - Deputy Head of the Department of Culture and Family Management (Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism ), on October 10, the department issued a plan to organize activities to celebrate the Kate Festival in 2025. This is the first year the province has implemented the Project "Preserving and promoting the value of the Kate Festival of the Cham people, period 2025 - 2030". Therefore, the province will have many activities to support the Cham people in practicing their traditional rituals and beliefs. In addition, there will be a number of activities organized for the first time such as: Cham writing contest with the theme "Bright handwriting - Preserving the Cham soul" for students and teenagers; competitions in folk games such as tug of war, sack jumping, water jar carrying to overcome obstacles; special art program to celebrate the festival performed by the Khanh Hoa Provincial Traditional Arts Theater; Organize exhibition spaces on Cham culture, introduce artifacts, images, traditional crafts and customs of Cham people in the area of Cham temples and towers... All aim to preserve traditional cultural values, while aiming to promote them into unique festival tourism products of Khanh Hoa province.

With a total budget of more than 10.3 billion VND for the 5-year project, it will make an important contribution to investing in infrastructure at the locations where the Kate Festival takes place; supporting facilities, cultural and artistic activities during the festival; promoting and advertising the Kate Festival in association with tourism development... Hopefully, by implementing the Project "Preserving and promoting the values of the Kate Festival of the Cham people, period 2025 - 2030" will ignite the festival atmosphere in Cham villages.

FAMILY

Source: https://baokhanhhoa.vn/van-hoa/202510/bao-ton-van-hoa-dong-bao-cham-gan-voi-le-hoi-kate-6ed5f35/