Promoting Rija Nagar ritual in theatrical form

Recently, in some activities at the special national relic of Po Nagar Tower, people and tourists have watched an art performance simulating the Rija Nagar ritual - an important festival of the Cham Bani and Cham Brahman people. Through the form of dramatization, the audience can partly visualize the unique cultural features in the spiritual life of the Cham community.

During the opening night of the Po Nagar Tower Festival in 2025; the program "Moon reflects on the shape of the Tower" on the 15th night of the lunar calendar every month; the ceremony to announce and receive the certificate of ranking Po Nagar Tower as a special national monument and the national intangible cultural heritage of Khanh Hoa Agarwood Exploitation and Processing Knowledge..., the audience will watch an art performance simulating the Rija Nagar ritual. According to Mr. Quang Dai Hung - Secretary of the Council of Cham Brahmin dignitaries, the Rija Nagar ritual is an important festival of the Cham Brahmin and Cham Bani people, usually taking place at the beginning of the new year according to the Cham calendar (April of the solar calendar). Every time the Rija Nagar festival comes, the Cham people eagerly celebrate with activities to organize environmental sanitation in the village, temple space, houses... In particular, the Cham people often prepare offerings made from local products to offer to gods and ancestors to express gratitude and demonstrate the morality of "When drinking water, remember the source".

The Rija Nagar ritual simulation was performed at the ceremony to honor the special national relic of Po Nagar Tower and the intangible cultural heritage of Khanh Hoa agarwood.

In the form of dramatization, the audience can watch the art performance performed by Cham artists. There are musicians playing the ghinang drum, blowing the saranai trumpet, beating the paranung drum, young girls with graceful dance movements... When the drums sound, the saranai trumpets sound clearly, the ceremony begins with the leisurely dance of Mr. Ka-ing, combined with the performance of the master Maduen with the paranung drum in his hand, beating and singing hymns about the merits of the gods and inviting the gods to attend the ceremony. Mr. Ka-ing plays the role of a dancer offering the ceremony. When dancing, Mr. Ka-ing also dresses up, plays a role and carries different props to describe the characteristics and demeanor of the gods. When he transforms into a god, the band plays music dedicated to each god. Sometimes he transforms into a goddess dancing and offering fruits, sometimes he holds a whip and rides a horse, sometimes he rows a boat...

The image of Mr. Ka-ing sublimates in the whip dance.

Although it only lasted about 10 minutes, the performance simulating the Rija Nagar ceremony brought new impressions and experiences to the audience when they learned about an important ritual of the Cham people in a theatrical form. More importantly, this performance was a synthesis of traditional art forms of the Cham people, conveying the unique cultural meanings in it. “I really enjoyed watching this performance because I could hear the sounds of instruments and trumpets combined with unique singing and dancing. Under the performance of Cham artists, the performance became more authentic”, said Mr. Phan Thanh Phuc (a tourist from Da Nang City).

According to Mr. Le Van Hoa - Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Khanh Hoa province currently preserves strong Cham cultural values, so promoting and introducing tangible and intangible cultural values of the Cham people is an important task. In the context of the province's tourism activities being strongly developed, building performances that dramatize the rituals and ceremonies of the Cham people is necessary, creating more cultural products for tourism.

FAMILY

Source: https://baokhanhhoa.vn/van-hoa/202507/quang-ba-nghi-le-rija-nagar-duoi-hinh-thuc-san-khau-hoa-efc50c6/