Hanoi hosts Cham cultural festival

[Guest guest]

Hanoi hosts Cham cultural festival

The Cham has many clans: Cham-Ba La Mon (Brahmanism); Cham-Hroi (also called

Cham-Ba Ni) and Cham-Islam. Besides the indigenous religion, the Cham also

follow Muslim and Brahmanism.

For the first time Hanoi hosts the Cham Cultural Festival which introduces to

the local public the quintessen of the Cham culture. The festival attracts more

than 500 Cham artisans, professional and amateur artists from 12 provinces and

cities nationwide, where the Cham culture is preserved and the Cham people are

living.

 

The beauty of Cham dances.

Cham girl on a festive day.

Dancing with Baranung drum, one of the most typical dances of the Cham.

"Pounding rice", a re-production at the Farming Festival.

Making ceramic ware at Bau Truc (Ninh Thuan), a ceramic-making village of the Cham.

Making ginger cake, a typical dish in Cham gastronomy.

Weaving brocade is a Cham's long-standing tradition.

For the first time Hanoi hosts the Cham Cultural Festival which introduces to

the local public the quintessen of the Cham culture. The festival attracts more

than 500 Cham artisans, professional and amateur artists from 12 provinces and

cities nationwide, where the Cham culture is preserved and the Cham people are

living.

The Cham is one of the 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam, comprising 133,000 people

who live mainly in the Central and Southern regions of the country. The Cham

has many clans: Cham-Ba La Mon (Brahmanism); Cham-Hroi (also called Cham-Ba Ni)

and Cham-Islam. Besides the indigenous religion, the Cham also follow Muslim and

Brahmanism. They live in separate villages and preserve their diversified

customs and rituals.

At present the Cham remain deeply influenced by the matriarchy. They mainly live

on farming and traditional handicrafts, such as pottery making and weaving. Cham

pottery includes utensils like pots, pans and small jars, which were once used

by most of the families in Central and Southern Vietnam. Cham pottery is not

only famous for its quality and usefulness but also the unique production

method. All products are hand-made, without the potter's wheel. The artisan

places the clay on a table, uses her hands to skillfully shape and mould it

into a beautiful item that is then decorated with lively patterns. The Cham is

also well known for brocade weaving. Almost all Cham girls, when reaching the

marriageable age, must know how to weave cloth. Their skillfulness,

meticulousness and resourcefulness are valued through woven products, such as

shawls, handkerchiefs and cloth. The woven products are diversified in styles

and modes, meeting the

demand of costumes as well as adornments of the Cham people.

Together with the famous traditional handicrafts, the Cham created a valuable

and unique culture with shrines, towers, artistic architectural works and

sculptural works of stones and bricks. The Cham are always proud of their

ancient towers built with bricks which are combined skillfully with decorated

pieces of sandstone. The brick towers, which were built without vein of mortar,

still exist after thousands of years regardless of rain or sunshine. Especially

the Cham towers manifest the unique architectural art with diversified and

lively patterns and images, which were created for different purposes related

to religion, literature, art and life of the Cham people.

The Cham dance is also very diversified and unique. The ancient and typical

dances like doa pu (carrying a water jar on head), fan dance, ball dance,

baranung-drum dance and rowing dance are usually performed in rituals and

festivals. Among these, the ball dance is the most interesting because it

expresses the religious rituals and the beauty of the dancers. The buffer

orchestra for the ball dance consists of two baranung drums and a sa-ra-nai

pan-pine.

For the Cham, festival is one of the valuable spiritual cultural activities.

Hence, although they have many festivals, the Ka Te festival is the biggest one

in the year. It is usually held in mid lunar September to commemorate heroes of

the nation and their ancestors. It is also a chance for the Cham to go on a

pilgrimage, meet one another and worship. In the festival, rituals of offerings

and professions are usually performed solemnly. After the offering ritual, other

activities such as making ethnic food, games, brocade weaving, music and dance

are also held, attracting many people. Mentioning the Cham's festivals, it is

impossible not to talk about the Ramawan, the most typical festival in terms of

rituals of the Cham who follow Muslim. In addition, there is Thap Ba festival

commemorating Goddess Nagar (the Mother of Land) who reclaimed the land, taught

the Cham how to farm, etc., and the festival for health congratulation held in

every

household, family clan and hamlet to thank the heaven and gods who give the

health and peace to the people.

The Cham Cultural Festival helped local people and international friends

understand the value of the Cham's unique culture, which made a great

contribution to the diversity and richness of the Vietnamese multi-ethnic

culture.

!