Strange 5 altars and the midnight ancestor worship custom of the Khmu people
•July 26, 2016 06:49
(Baonghean.vn)- The Khmu ethnic group in Western Nghe An have up to 5 ancestral altars, each altar is just a small kitchen,There are some production tools and daily sticky rice cookers hanging. Each altar has a different meaning.
This is the ancestral altar of the Khmu people on a normal day. On a normal day, this altar is the kitchen where only sticky rice is cooked for the whole family, not soup or any other food.
If we normally go to a Khmu house and see these two symbols, we should not be too curious to touch them, because these are the two most important ancestral altars of the homeowner. These two "altars" are the place to worship the homeowner's deceased father and the deceased father of his wife's side. If the bamboo tube above is to worship the father on the father's side, then the bamboo trough below is to worship the father on the mother's side.
To perform the ceremony at this "altar", people often smear chicken blood on it, showing respect for their deceased father.
The altar placed in the corner of the kitchen is the ancestral altar with the meaning of protecting women and blessing them with many children and grandchildren.
The altar is placed right above the entrance door, which is the ancestral altar with the meaning of protecting health and warding off evil spirits for all family members. According to the Khmu people's belief, if this altar is set up, it is mandatory to kill a buffalo to worship.
This altar is outside the house, it has meaning.like a sacred fence protecting the entire house. According to Mr. Moong Thai Nhi, head of the Culture and Information Department of Ky Son district, this altar is associated with a legend that once upon a time there was a young couple. One day, the husband went to cast a net in the stream and caught a lot of fish, so the husband kept throwing it into the living area of a fierce tiger. The husband was eaten by this tiger, which took his pants and clothes and transformed into the husband and returned home to wake the wife. The wife got up to light the fire in the kitchen, but the tiger did not let her light it because she was afraid of exposing its tail. The wife was also very quick-witted, immediately knowing that this was not her husband, she immediately called her relatives around, one used a stick to wrap the tiger's tail under the floor, another used an axe to cut off the tiger's neck. Since then, the tree that people used to wrap the tiger's tail has been highly respected by the Khmu people, and people are not even allowed to use it to build houses, fences or any other work. And since then, the Khmu people have had this additional altar.
The most meaningful offering in ancestor worship is the buffalo.
To perform this ceremony requires a long time to prepare because it is quite expensive for the homeowner. In the picture is a buffalo that has been butchered and prepared for the ceremony to offer to the ancestors.Among all the customs of the Khmu people in Ky Son, the custom of worshipping ancestors is the biggest and most important custom for the people here. However, this is not a custom that is not performed regularly, sometimes only once in a lifetime.
Wine is also important in ceremonies.
The shaman is performing a ceremony.
In particular, the ancestor worship ceremony of the Khmu people in Ky Son is performed at midnight.
Lighting a fire with a torch in the street to invite ancestors to attend the ceremony.
The ceremony is held outside the house, where there is an altar to the ancestors protecting the house.
After the ancestral worship ceremony, invite relatives to eat and drink in the main house.
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