Fire and the realm of dreams

The fire blazed brightly, and the rice wine was prepared according to the Yàng (the supreme deity). The "fire-seeking" ritual concluded, the sounds of gongs and drums blending with the gentle T'rumpô melody of the rơkel, a rhythmic invitation to the gods; the circle of dancers widened, the gongs echoed far and wide, urgently inviting everyone to join in. Almost every festival night in the Central Highlands is like this: when the fire blazes, the villagers gather, and the festivities begin.

Sacred Fire of the Great Forest Southern Central Highlands

Sacred Fire of the Southern Central Highlands

The French Central Highlands scholar Jacques Dournes, writing under the pseudonym Dam Bo (a name given by the K'Ho people), once explained: When the hearth in the stilt house is lit, the people of the Central Highlands live a different life. A vibrant life of folk tales, myths… a world of dreams.

This season, the sky over the Southern Central Highlands is a deep blue, the rice has been harvested, the coffee flowers are beginning to bud, the new rice harvest festival has been held… the villages are bustling with preparations for the festivities. From the Lang Biang plateau to the land beside the swirling red waters of the Dong Nai River, the sounds of gongs and drums echo endlessly to the mountaintops; the joyful laughter of the traditional dance returns to its roots… The Southern Central Highlands is in its most exciting season, the season for unrestrained revelry.

In Tran Tien's "Highland Flame" melody: "Burn brightly, sacred highland fire / The love of the highlands will forever remain within us…" , I leisurely crossed the mountains and hills to reach the K'Ho Lach village in the Lang Biang plateau as the sun was setting. Many say this is the "land" of famously delicious rice wine. In front of the traditional house, a blazing fire burned, and the villagers had gathered. The ceremonial pole was erected, the rice wine was laid out, and the sound of the horn of the elder K'Plin echoed, announcing the opening of the festival. "I invite you, O spirits / Open the rice wine, I invite you to taste it / The delicious rice wine, I invite you, O spirits, to drink it…" . As soon as the ritual of asking permission from the spirits was completed, the gongs celebrating the honored guests and the harvest festival began to play with heartfelt emotion.

Fire in the Central Highlands is sacred! The fire in this highland region possesses mystical power; it invites villages to gather, connects kinship, inaugurates village festivals, and marks the beginning of a world of dreams…

The fire blazed, the gongs resounded. In the firelight, one could see the brilliance of Tran Tien when he wrote: " Burn forever so that your shadow may appear… " (words from "The Highland Flame"). As I bent the bamboo straw for the rice wine, I asked old K'Plin about the origins of the Lach people's rice wine. He said that perhaps no one knew, but it was mentioned in the epics. Initially, people didn't know how to drink it by sucking on a straw; they only squeezed the cloudy white liquid from the forest yeast and drank it, making them feel lightheaded and euphoric. Later, the Hedgehog god showed them how to drink it through a bamboo tube. Therefore, the people of the Central Highlands have a custom of inviting Yang, the Hedgehog god, to drink first before drinking rice wine.

Making a jar of fragrant, sweet rice wine that leaves one feeling light and refreshed requires a great deal of effort. Rilin says that most women here know how to make rice wine. They can use various types of rice, glutinous rice, corn, etc. However, Lang Biang's signature rice wine has its own secret. The upland rice and the forest yeast (from certain leaves, bark, roots, and stalks) create its distinctive aroma. The elders here say that making rice wine used to be very elaborate. Before making the wine, they had to abstain from marital relations, only starting when they were healthy and clean. Strangers were not allowed into the fermentation area. Now, with technology, it's no longer as complicated.

In the Central Highlands, drinking rice wine is often accompanied by fire. In community life, where there is fire, there is usually wine. Ordinarily, fire and wine are merely means, symbols. But in the culture of these highland ethnic minorities, fire and wine are a philosophy of life, a kind of culture. When the fire blazes up, people simply "drink from the sacred mountain forest with the rice wine." It can be said that the wine of the Central Highlands ethnic minorities is more ceremonial than anything else. Wine is an offering, wine to celebrate village festivals, wine is present in wedding ceremonies and even in funeral rites. Depending on the nature of each ceremony, the amount and quality of the ceremonial wine vary.

Fire in the Central Highlands is sacred! The fire in this highland region possesses mystical power; it invites villages to gather, connects kinship, inaugurates village festivals, and marks the beginning of a world of dreams…

Therefore, fire is often present in the famous songs of Krajan Plin, Krajan Dick, or those of Tran Tien, Nguyen Cuong, etc. Examples include "Keeping the Hearth Warm," "Passionate Highlands," "Highland Flame," "Oh M'Drak," and many more.

In the past, in the longhouses of the Ma people, the fire in the main room never went out. At night, after dinner, the whole family would gather around the main fire to chat, and then there were the dry nights. Besides its function of warming the house, this fire was also a guardian spirit, witnessing the teachings of the clan and community. At the start of a new day, the fire followed the people to the fields. When the village had a festival, the fire was lit in a central location so that everyone could see it and bring offerings to share in the community's festivities. The fire continued to accompany the people to the Pơ thi festival in the west of the Yàng forest.

Elder K'Diệp of the Mạ Lộc Bắc region, Bảo Lâm district, Lâm Đồng province, explained that in traditional Mạ longhouses, each fireplace symbolizes a family. The longer the longhouse, the more fireplaces are added. In the traditional K'Ho stilt houses, the main fireplace is located to the left of the entrance, near the ceremonial pole used for rice wine. The main fireplace fire is used to warm guests and family members; it's also the gathering space for the extended family. “In the past, in the Mạ region, there were very long houses, like winding walls in the valley, enveloping the village amidst the majestic mountains. When the main fireplace blazed, the children would gather to listen to stories, learn to play gongs, play m'buốt, dindg kơrla… now it’s rare,” Elder K'Diệp mused.

Fire brings civilization to every family and community. Fire is a legendary light in the deep, dark forest. Fire helps create the fragrant, sweet-tasting sticky rice, bitter gourd with buffalo skin, and grilled meat of the Southern Central Highlands villages. Fire connects people of different ethnicities in the "tơm bau" (wedding) ceremony. In the firelight, you exchange wine, you exchange words, and the heartfelt "yal yau" verses.

Fire, rice wine, gongs, and traditional dances are harmonious elements in the cultural space of the Central Highlands. The resonant sound of the gongs amazes the deer in the forest, and the intoxicating aroma of rice wine stirs the hearts of people around the sacred fire. Indeed, when the fire blazes brightly in the village, the people of the Central Highlands live a different life, a world of dreams.

During the dry season, the Southern Central Highlands reveal its enchanting beauty. This is the time when many festivals of the ethnic groups in the region take place. The K'Ho, Churu, Ma, M'nong... people consider spring as a time for reunion, praying for a prosperous and happy life. And the sacred fire continues to illuminate the cultural source through the system of festivals and holidays of the indigenous people of this region. From the first harvest ceremony, the water dam god ceremony, the rice flowering celebration, to the ceremony of bringing the rice home to the granary… And when the rice has been stored in the granary, and the sun begins to shine golden on the hills and fields, the biggest festival of the year, the "new rice celebration," begins.

We bid farewell to the villages as the sun set behind the great mountain peaks. No more C'rao or Phi birds soared across the sky; only the flickering firelight burned with longing… Amidst the vast wilderness, the melody of Krajan Plin's "Keeping the Hearth Warm" suddenly resonated: "Look at the moon high above, look at the twinkling stars / Even if storms rage and floods roar, let us together keep the hearth warm…".

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