Binh Thuan: Cham Brahman community celebrates Kate festival
The ethnic Cham Brahman people flocked to the Po Sah Inu tower in Phan Thiet city of central Binh Thuan province to attend the Po Sah Inu Goddess costume carrying ceremony – an important ritual of the Kate Festival.
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Falling on the first day of the seventh month of the Cham calendar, Kate is biggest event in the year of the Cham followers of Brahmanism to pay respect to gods and pray for productive harvests and multiple natural and human resources.
Together with the Goddess costume carrying ceremony, the festival also features other traditional rituals and performances, including Linga-Yoni altar bathing rite, prayers for peace as well as games and competitions at temples and towers.
The Cham people have several distinctive festivals including the Ramuwan, the Rija Nugar, and the Chabun.
There are about 153,000 Cham people in Vietnam, of whom over 41,000 live in Binh Thuan province, mainly in Bac Binh, Tuy Phong and Tanh Linh districts.
The percentage of poor Cham households dropped to 4.8% in 2016 in comparison with 25% in 2004.
