Chol Chnam Thmay Festival - Khmer Heritage in the Heart of Tay Ninh

Khmer people offer offerings to Buddha at Botum Kirirangsay Pagoda (Binh Minh Ward)

Cultural traditions preserved through many generations

Every mid-April, when the weather starts to turn sunny and the winter-spring rice fields have just been harvested, the Khmer community in Tay Ninh bustles to prepare for the traditional Chol Chnam Thmay New Year. For them, this is the most important festival of the year, also an occasion for descendants to pay homage to their ancestors, accumulate blessings at the beginning of the year and unite the community.

Buddha bathing ceremony

During the three days of the festival, people eagerly bring offerings to the pagoda - considered the "common home" of the people. Together, they practice rituals with profound spiritual meanings: bathing the Buddha to wash away bad luck; building sand mountains as an act of accumulating merit; offering rice to monks to show respect to monks, grandparents, ancestors and gods.

Khmer people perform sand mountain building ritual

In addition to the solemn ceremony, there is also a lively festival. Activities such as water splashing for luck, Chhay-dam drum performances, folk game competitions, etc. take place in a joyful atmosphere. Chol Chnam Thmay has its own unique character of a festival that is both cozy, family-friendly, and filled with the joy of the new season.

Khmer people demonstrate how to make offerings to ancestors on Chol Chnam Thmay festival

Every Chol Chnam Thmay festival, village elder Cao Van Uon (living in Binh Minh ward, Tay Ninh province) is approached by many people asking how to properly worship their ancestors. He not only helps people prepare offerings but also carefully teaches the young people each ritual, prayer, how to arrange the tray of offerings, etc. For him, each time he performs a ritual, it is an affirmation: Heritage is not in museums but in the daily life of the community.

Lam Thon dance is always present in Khmer festivals.

In addition to preserving the traditional ritual space, the Khmer community in Tay Ninh also maintains its original lifestyle amidst the modern flow. There, the Chhay-dam drumbeat and Lam Thon dance are the bridge between today's life and the memories of many previous generations. Traditional dishes cooked every Tet holiday are also the way the Khmer people preserve their culture right in the small kitchen of each family.

Ms. Cao Thi Pho La instructs young girls how to wrap palm sugar cakes.

Ms. Keo Onl - a prestigious person of the Khmer people in Hoa Hoi commune, said that in the Chol Chnam Thmay Festival, sim-lo noodles, palm tet cakes, etc. are indispensable. Dishes that preserve traditional flavors are the way the Khmer people preserve the beauty of festivals and holidays. All are associated with the flow of generations of the Khmer people, now becoming a proud cultural heritage of the nation.

“My ethnic culture is recognized as a national heritage, I feel very proud. I also often tell the people in the neighborhood to try to preserve their culture, that is the responsibility and duty of the predecessors” - Ms. Keo Onl said.

Opportunities for tourism development from heritage

After many years of preserving and promoting its values, the traditional festival, social customs and beliefs of the Chol Chnam Thmay New Year of the Khmer people in Tay Ninh were officially included in the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism according to Decision No. 2185/QD-BVHTTDL, dated June 27, 2025. This is a recognition of the unique cultural values preserved by the Khmer community through many generations.

Khmer dance performed at Ba Den mountain top for tourists

Chol Chnam Thmay is also expected to become a typical tourism product, contributing to diversifying the experience of tourists when coming to Tay Ninh. The cultural space of the Khmer people with daily life, typical dishes, traditional dances and Chhay-dam drums, etc. will be a valuable "asset" to build a chain of links to develop the province's tourism economy.

Ms. Tran Thi Huy Hoang - Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, commented: “Chol Chnam Thmay Festival is an indispensable part of the spiritual and cultural life of the Khmer people, closely associated with the life of the community for a long time. Besides the need for cultural and religious activities, the festival also plays an important role in preserving, maintaining and promoting the unique cultural values of the Khmer people. The recognition of Chol Chnam Thmay Festival as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage has great significance for tourism development”.

From this orientation, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has recently implemented a project to preserve the Chol Chnam Thmay festival as a typical cultural model in the Khmer community, combined with the widespread promotion of traditional values. In particular, the art of Chhay-dam drum dance has been introduced in Heritage magazine and the TVC system on Vietnam Airlines flights. The Khmer cultural experience model at Bau Ech hamlet (Long Hoa ward) has been built, creating a space for visitors to learn, feel and directly participate in traditional festival activities.

The Chol Chnam Thmay Festival has been recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage, opening a new journey - a journey in which the Khmer community itself becomes the subject of preserving, recounting and renewing its heritage./.

Hoa Khang - Khai Tuong

Source: https://baolongan.vn/tet-chol-chnam-thmay-di-san-khmer-giua-long-tay-ninh-a198841.html