Unique Tet of cockscomb flowers of Cong people in La Cha village

Every year, in the 10th lunar month, the Cong ethnic people in La Cha village, Pa Tan commune, Nam Po district (Dien Bien province) are busy preparing to celebrate the traditional Tet of the Cong ethnic group, called Tet of cockscomb flowers.

According to the Cong people's concept, celosia is a symbol of luck and goodness, so the ancestors of the Cong people celebrate the Celosia Festival with the wish to welcome good things as bright as flowers.

During Tet, Cong women wear their most beautiful traditional costumes, pick the most beautiful cockscomb flowers together, then weave the flowers into headbands to decorate their houses and villages.

Ms. Lo Thi Phun, a resident of La Cha village, said: To prepare for the Flower Festival, women in La Cha village will go together to choose the most beautiful and brilliant flowers to decorate their houses, the road leading to the village, the cultural house and make flower wreaths for children. Many people also meticulously make bracelets and necklaces from cockscomb flowers.

Around the houses of the Cong people in La Cha village, there are often many cockscomb flowers planted.

The person who presides over the important ritual in the Tet flower worshiping ceremony of the Cong La Cha people is Mr. Lu Van Chanh - a prestigious person who is respected and trusted by the La Cha villagers. Mr. Lu Van Chanh spent a lot of effort in preparing the offering tray, choosing the products prepared by the villagers.

Talking to us, Mr. Lu Van Chanh said: Almost every family brings offerings, many of which are similar, so I have to choose a little bit of each item to represent the families and daily agricultural products that the people of La Cha village make. This shows both the sincerity and the complete wishes of everyone to their ancestors with the words of gratitude: "Thank you, ancestors, heaven and earth for blessing the people of Cong village La Cha with good health for a year; good harvest, animals grow quickly; the lives of the people of Cong village La Cha have less difficulty..."!

Each wreath is carefully woven for the women of the Cong ethnic group in La Cha village to wear during the Flower Festival.

When Mr. Lu Van Chanh finishes the ceremony, the people of La Cha village will join hands to sing traditional songs of the nation. Young people and children will participate in folk games such as: tug of war, stilts, top spinning... The singing and laughter of the elderly and children during the Flower Festival always resound throughout the mountains and forests.

The road to La Cha village these days is always full of flowers.

The Cong people are one of the six ethnic groups living in Pa Tan commune. In La Cha village, the Cong people live in a concentrated area with 82 households and more than 400 people. The spiritual life of the Cong people in La Cha village is quite rich with many rituals, of which the Flower Festival is the most unique and important ritual of the year for the Cong people.

Flower Festival is passed down from generation to generation, containing positive cultural elements associated with the society of the Cong people, vividly reflecting the life and identity of the Cong ethnic group in La Cha village in particular and the Cong people in Dien Bien province in general.

Article and photos: LE LAN

Source: https://nhandan.vn/doc-dao-tet-hoa-mao-ga-cua-nguoi-cong-ban-la-cha-post724773.html