Kate Festival: Unique cultural beauty of the Cham people

1. What is Kate Festival?

Kate Festival: A unique feature in the culture of the Cham ethnic group (Photo source: Collected)

Kate is one of the most important and biggest folk festivals of the Cham people today. The process of localizing religious and cultural elements has formed a festival system, including the Kate Festival, which is deeply folk. Kate is a worship ceremony to commemorate the Father and Mother Gods. The Father God belongs to the "yang" and the Mother God belongs to the "yin", so Kate is held on the first moon (July 1st of the Cham calendar), and Cambun is held on the last moon (September 15th of the Cham calendar), both held in temples and towers.

Kate is the oldest and most unique festival of the Cham people, with the meaning of remembering the gods, praying for favorable weather, good crops, harmonious couples, and the growth of people and all things.

2. Time and Kate Festival

Po Sah Inư Tower - where Kate festival is held (Photo source: Collected)

The Kate Festival takes place in a large space and lasts a long time. The first day of the seventh month of the Cham calendar is called the main festival day at the temple/tower. The Kate Festival lasts for a whole month, so there is the saying "bilan Kate" (Kate month). Coming to the Kate Festival, visitors will join the procession of people carrying the costumes (of the Mother Goddess of the land Po Inư Nư gar, King Po Klong Garai, King Po Rome) preserved by the Raglai people. The main ceremonies on the day of going up the tower (the first day of the seventh month of the Cham calendar) include: the ceremony of carrying the costumes up the tower, the ceremony of opening the tower door, the ceremony of bathing the statue and dressing up in clothes, and finally the grand ceremony (the main ceremony). After the Kate Temple/tower is the Kate Village. The villages choose Wednesdays or Saturdays of the week to organize the festival, and at the same time inform the whole village and bring cakes and fruits to the village house. The Kate Village is to worship the village god and commemorate those who have contributed to the village.
After the village Kate comes the family and clan Kate. It is first held within the family.
The monk Po Adhia then came to other families.
Nowadays, Kate has become a festival with both "ceremony" and "festival" characteristics. Kate is not only a ritual or festival, but it has truly become a New Year's Day for the Cham people in general and the Cham Ahier people in particular.

3. Rituals in Kate Festival

The ceremony to welcome the goddess Po Nagar's costume from Raglai Phuoc Ha village to Cham Huu Duc village (old Ninh Thuan , present-day Khanh Hoa)

This Cham festival is a culturally rich event, taking place over 3 days with unique and meaningful rituals. The most basic rituals (may vary depending on the locality and specific conditions):

Day 1: Ceremony at the Temple Tower
The opening rituals at temples are led by the master of ceremonies, usually the priest. They begin by playing the Kanhi and singing hymns, creating a solemn atmosphere. A special ritual is the bathing of the idols, performed by Brahmin priests, as a sign of respect and purification.
The festival process takes place in specific steps: receiving clothes from Raglai, opening the tower door to invite the gods, bathing and dressing the god statue, and finally the Adaoh tama ceremony, which lasts about three hours from morning to noon.

Day 2: Ceremony at the Village
The second day is the most special day of the festival, with the Cham people carrying the god's clothes to the temple to worship that god, and bathing the god's statue, dressing the god's statue, and other traditional religious activities. On this day, the local Cham people and those from neighboring areas (without temples) all come to the temple, in their most beautiful traditional festival costumes, to prepare offerings to the gods to pray for good things. Art performances are also organized to contribute to the festival atmosphere.

Day 3: Family Ceremony
The final ritual of the Kate Festival is held at home, and the eldest member of the family presides over the ceremony. All family members gather together, sincerely praying for the blessings of their ancestors, wishing for health and success.

Through these three important days, the festival shows respect to the gods and is an opportunity to unite the community, maintain and promote traditional culture, as well as strengthen solidarity in each family.

4. The meaning of Kate festival

Kate Festival is the most unique folk festival in the cultural treasure of the Cham people. It is a mirror reflecting the life of a community, a place where cultural values and quintessence converge. Therefore, the festival is not only associated with ancient temples and towers - where the highest technical and artistic values of Cham culture are condensed, but also brings other parts of culture such as offerings, costumes, musical instruments; hymns praising the virtuous kings who have contributed to the people and the country and singing about the work of the fields, crops, and products of hundreds of flowers and fruits of hundreds of professions. The festival also presents to the public a folk art of singing, dancing and music with a unique and distinctive style.

The Kate Festival, which takes place annually, has contributed to preserving, maintaining and promoting unique cultural values. With the unique and diverse Cham culture still present in the lives of the Cham people in Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan , traditional craft villages still preserve cultural identities that only visitors can fully appreciate when witnessing them.

Source : https://www.vietravel.com/vn/am-thuc-kham-pha/le-hoi-kate-net-dep-van-hoa-doc-dao-cua-nguoi-cham-v17677.aspx