As long as there is farming, there is still A Pier. Photo: Pham Tuyet

Festival of faith and hope

A Pier Festival is one of the most important traditional ceremonies of the Pa Co people, usually held at the beginning of the rice planting season, when the mountains and forests begin to change to welcome the spring sunshine. According to custom, the festival is held with 6 main rituals, closely linked to the agricultural life, spirituality and long-standing beliefs of the community.

From early morning, village elder Ho Van Hanh, an excellent artisan and keeper of Pa Co culture, was present in the village yard to preside over the ceremony. In the middle of the circle of villagers, he wore brocade clothes, holding a bunch of rice seeds in his hand, walking slowly and majestically.

“Our ancestors taught that if we want a bountiful harvest, we must start with respecting the earth and sky. The A Pier ceremony is not only about offering rice, but also about solidarity and gratitude,” said old Hanh, his voice as deep as the sound of an underground stream in the middle of the forest.

The ceremony begins with a meeting of the clan leaders, which is a discussion ritual. The village elders and representatives of the clans choose an auspicious day (according to the traditional Klang and Tam Prang calendars) and assign people to prepare offerings, usually chicken, pork, sticky rice and rice wine.

Then comes the sacred field-breaking ceremony, in which the village elder chooses a symbolic piece of land as the “model field” to sow the first rice. The village elder holds a gong to winnow the seeds, and while winnowing, he prays, hoping that the rice grains will be golden and firm, just like the sound of the gong.

The official rice planting ceremony takes place right on each family’s fields. With the melodious sound of the panpipes, the Pa Co women gently drop each grain of rice into the “A Pat” hole, humming a lullaby for the fields: “Mother rice, please let me grow green and lush, let me grow long and strong, so that my fields and villages will be full.”

The rice seed awakening ceremony is one of the symbolic highlights. The Pa Co people believe that in order for the seed to “wake up”, it must be “startled”. The village elder uses a piece of bamboo to hit a rock, creating an explosive sound that echoes through the mountains and forests, like a call sent into the earth.

Next is the fence-making ceremony, this ritual is both practical and meaningful to protect the fruits of labor, sheltering the rice plants from wild animals and natural disasters.

Finally, there is the “Caria Washing” ritual. Women in the village go to the stream, wash farming tools and sing to pray for favorable weather. While singing, they scoop water to wash each basket and each hoe blade, as if to cleanse away worries and bad luck to prepare for a successful new crop.

When the ceremony ends, the villagers gather around the fire, eat sticky rice, drink rice wine, and dance traditional dances to the sound of gongs. Pa Co boys and girls join hands and dance to pray for a bountiful harvest.

Old Hanh shouted loudly: “As long as we still work in the fields, we will still have A Pier. Children and grandchildren must know how to cherish seeds, cherish fields, and cherish our fellow countrymen.”

Unique tourism products

Currently, the A Luoi district government has preserved and developed the cultural values ​​of the A Pier festival in the direction of community tourism. Ms. Tar Du Tu, Deputy Head of the Department of Culture - Science and Information of A Luoi district, shared: “We coordinate with artisans and village elders to develop a standardized scenario for the A Pier festival. On the one hand, it preserves the traditional spirit, on the other hand, it can be included in experiential tours for tourists.”

According to Ms. Tu, activities such as participating in sowing seeds, folk dancing, drinking rice wine, learning to make traditional farming tools... have been integrated into ecotourism programs in A Luoi. This place has majestic mountains, unique indigenous culture, and is very popular with domestic and international tourists.

“In the near future, we will organize seasonal reenactments of A Pier, combined with other festivals such as A Da Koonh, Âr Pục…, to create a series of cultural and tourism products typical of the Pa Cô people,” said Ms. Tu.

A Pier Festival - a festival of heaven and earth and of the Pa Co people's beliefs, still quietly spreads in every field, echoes in the village elders' prayers and comes alive in every visitor's footsteps. Those who come to the village will surely not forget the story of the harvest season told through dances, firelight and cheerful laughter of the Pa Co people in the middle of the Truong Son mountains.

Bach Chau

Source: https://huengaynay.vn/van-hoa-nghe-thuat/le-hoi-a-pier-khuc-hat-tria-lua-153870.html