Thak Con Festival recognized as National Intangible Cultural Heritage

Flower vase made from coconut, the main offering in Thak Con festival

The Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Soc Trang province has just coordinated with the People's Committee of Chau Thanh district to organize a ceremony to receive the decision of the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism to recognize the Thak Con Festival (Coconut Offering Ceremony) of the Khmer people as a national intangible cultural heritage. The event is a worthy recognition of the great spiritual values that the Khmer community has preserved and passed down through many generations.

The Thak Con Festival, also known as the Coconut Offering Festival by the people, was formed according to legend about 300 years ago and has been maintained and preserved through many generations. According to legend and the elders, in the past, in the land of An Trach (An Hiep commune, Chau Thanh district, Soc Trang province today), a mound of earth suddenly appeared in the shape of a gong, and when people stepped on it, they heard a sound like a gong. After a while, the sound of the gong in the ground gradually faded and then disappeared. People considered it sacred, so they built a temple to worship it and every year on the 15th day of the 3rd lunar month, the villagers of An Trach held a festival to pray for peace at Mahasal Thatmon pagoda (Chau Thanh district, Soc Trang province), calling it the Thak Con festival (in Khmer, it is called Dap Cong).

Nowadays, the Thak Con festival takes place for 5 days (from March 13 to March 17) of the lunar calendar every year, in which the opening ceremony starts from March 15. The festival is considered one of the rituals of praying for peace of the Khmer people in the South. Through the historical process, this event has gradually been sanctified and become a folk belief bearing the mark of agricultural residents. The time of holding the festival is also the time to start the new crop season, with the wish to thank heaven and earth, gods, and ancestors for blessing a good and bountiful harvest.

Offerings to the gods in the Thak Con festival are usually fruits, rice, salt, lotus flowers, betel and areca nuts... Among them, an indispensable offering is a flower vase made from a coconut (called Slathodon by the Khmer people), symbolizing purity. The coconut flower vase is made from fresh coconut, with two flaps at both ends, and decorated with marigolds, chrysanthemums and green betel leaves. According to many elders, the reason for choosing coconut as an offering is because in dry years, only coconuts have fresh, sweet water. Offering coconuts to heaven, earth and gods is to pray for adequate irrigation water, favorable weather and bountiful crops. The Thak Con festival plays a very important role in the cultural and religious life of the Khmer community. Practicing the festival creates community cohesion, solidarity and cultural exchange between the Khmer community and the Kinh and Chinese people in the area and neighboring areas. In addition, the festival is also an opportunity for Soc Trang people who work far away or migrate to other lands to return and join in the festival. The cultural space of the Thak Con festival also features unique folk performing arts such as: Du ke, Chhay-dam dance, Rom Vong dance, five-tone music..., creating a joyful, exciting atmosphere but no less solemn and sacred.

Mr. Son Po, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Soc Trang province, said: The Thak Con festival is currently growing, attracting a large number of people and tourists to participate. The province is building a project to preserve and promote the value of the intangible cultural heritage of the Thak Con festival to submit to competent authorities for approval. Thereby, forming a unique tourism product associated with promoting traditional cultural identity, helping to create a source of income and stabilize the lives of local communities.

QUANG TUAN

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/le-hoi-thak-con-duoc-cong-nhan-la-di-san-van-hoa-phi-vat-the-quoc-gia-post800747.html