Kate Festival: When people bow to heaven and earth and smile to each other

From the arid hills, the wind carries the scent of salt, the smell of new rice and the echo of Ginang drums calling people back.

It is Kate - the most sacred festival season of the Cham people following Brahmanism, when memory, faith and gratitude converge on the red brick towers shining brightly under the scorching sun.

Cham dignitaries participate in the procession of costumes to Po Klong Garai tower.

Kate - When humans talk to gods

For the Cham people, Kate is not just a festival, but a journey back to the origin of the universe and oneself.

On the towers of Po Klong Garai, Po Rome, Po Inư Nưgar… the sound of Ginăng drums blends with Saranai trumpets, bringing people into the space of the gods.

Brahmin dignitaries (Acar, Po Adhia) performed ancient rituals: bathing the statue of the god, changing clothes, reciting prayers in Cham and Sanskrit. Incense smoke mixed with the sea breeze. Each drop of water was offered to the statue of the god Siva, the symbol of creation, destruction and rebirth, as if humans were thanking heaven and earth.

There, faith is not on high, but is infused into every hand and every step of the celebrant. Because for the Cham people, the gods are not far away, they are in the land, in the water, in the breath of each person.

Cham people flock to Kate festival at Po Klong Garai tower.

When religion and life shine together

After the solemn ceremony comes the bustling festival.

Cham girls in colorful ao dai twirl in the fluid Apsara dance. The sound of drums and trumpets mingles with children's laughter, tourists' voices and clasped hands.

At that time, religion was in harmony with life, the sacred was in harmony with the mundane.

Belief is no longer a distance between man and god, but becomes a connecting thread between people.

Kate, in its deepest sense, is a day for people to remind each other to live more kindly, to be more grateful, and to work together to preserve the harmony of life. Worshiping gods is not just about burning incense, but also about burning gratitude.

Fan dance performance of Cham people.

When culture is a flow, not a static heritage

On the ancient towers, Kate has been held every year for hundreds of years. But the festival is not old. It changes with the people, blends with the new rhythm of life, and becomes a cultural and tourist festival of the whole region.

Kinh, Raglai and Chinese people join in the fun.

Traditional craft villages such as Bau Truc (pottery) or My Nghiep (brocade weaving) are revived, when tourists come not only to see, but also to understand, to touch the living culture.

Kate teaches that: “Preserving culture is not to show off, but to live with it every day. Development is not about leaving the past behind, but about going with the past so that the past can bloom in the present.”

When festivals are lessons in sustainable development

Kate is not only a religious belief, but also a philosophy of sustainable development of the Cham people.

In the modern world , when many values are being distorted, Kate reminds us that a community can only grow when it maintains harmony between humans - nature - the divine .

If viewed through the eyes of a policy maker, Kate is a “model lesson” in human-centered development:

• Each citizen is the subject of preserving culture.

• Each ceremony is a community bonding activity.

• Every spiritual value can become an economic force, tourism and pride.

When people know how to live with gratitude, the whole society will develop in humanity.

Cham people's philosophy of life: Gratitude - Contentment - Harmony

Those three small words - Gratitude, Contentment, and Harmony - are the hidden soul of the Kate festival, and also the quintessence of life of the Cham people for hundreds of years.

Gratitude - Gratitude is the root of the human heart

Gratitude is not just thanking, but understanding gratitude.

The Cham people are grateful to the gods, but also to the land, water and people. They offer gifts not to ask for anything, but to remember: to remember the merits of heaven and earth, to remember the merits of their ancestors, to remember their own labor. When we are grateful, we will feel smaller, but our hearts will expand.

Contentment - Know enough to live peacefully

Cham people do not pray for wealth, but pray for enough to live well and happily.

Amidst the dry sand, they still keep smiling. Amidst the deprivation, they still have Kate - the season of reunion and contentment.

A person who knows enough will never be poor. A person who does not know enough, no matter how much he has, will still lack.

Tri hoa - Know how to live in harmony with people, with life, with nature

Understanding is learning to listen.

In the Kate ritual, in daily life, the Cham people seek balance between tradition and modernity, between people and people, between people and all things.

The Cham people believe that: peace does not mean weakness, but knowing how to keep your heart calm amidst the storms of life. If gratitude helps us bow our heads, contentment helps us stand firm, then peace helps us hold hands and continue.

When Kate is not only a festival of the Cham people

Late afternoon, the red sun fell on Po Klong Garai tower.

The drumbeats gradually stopped, the incense smoke dissipated into the sea breeze. Cham people, Kinh people, and tourists from far away all walked down the tower, their hearts light.

The Kate fire ended, but did not die out. It became a smoldering flame in people's hearts, reminding us that:

• Development must have roots.

• Modernity must have identity.

• And people, no matter where they are, no matter what religion they follow, need to know how to bow before heaven and earth and smile at each other.

Small message

Kate Festival is not only a thanksgiving ceremony for the gods, but also a gratitude for life.

Because when people are grateful to heaven and earth, know enough about what they have, and know how to get along with people around them, that is happiness.

LE MINH HOAN *

(*) Member of the Party Central Committee, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly.

Source: https://baokhanhhoa.vn/van-hoa/202510/le-hoi-katekhi-con-nguoi-biet-cui-dau-truoc-troi-dat-va-mim-cuoi-voi-nhau-92c7ac3/