(Baonghean.vn) - For the Thai ethnic people, the Lồng Tồng festival (the festival of going down to the fields) is an important festival at the beginning of the year, marking the start of a new farming season. The festival aims to thank heaven and earth for blessing the crops with a bountiful harvest, and to pray for favorable weather in the new year; for all things to flourish; for everyone to be healthy, lucky, and have a prosperous life.
Lồng Tồng Festival in Châu Bính, Quỳ Châu:
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| The rice fields of Chau Binh, Quy Chau are in the planting season. Photo: Sach Nguyen. |
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When a new planting season begins, people gather in the middle of the fields or a large area next to the fields to hold the Lồng Tồng festival to thank heaven and earth for blessing the crops with a bountiful harvest, and to pray for favorable weather in the new year, for all things to flourish, for everyone to be healthy, and for a prosperous and happy life. Photo: Lâm Mạnh. |
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| The festival begins with a ritual offering to the deities, performed by respected figures in the village. Photo: Lam Manh. |
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| The offering includes a tray of five kinds of fruit (sweets, flowers), a bottle of white wine, a boiled rooster, a plate of sticky rice, an incense bowl, two cups of wine, a pair of chopsticks, a roll of white cloth woven by Thai women, a plate of betel nuts, a pair of silver bracelets, and a bottle of wine (or a jar of homemade rice wine). Photo: Nguyen's book. |
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| The villagers organize a drinking session with rice wine and perform the bamboo pole dance before performing the ritual of going down to the fields. Photo: Lam Manh. |
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| Excited to go to the fields. Photo: Nguyen's book. |
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| Quickly transplanting rice seedlings. Photo: Sach Nguyen. |
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| Introducing mechanization into the fields. Photo: Lam Manh. |
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| The Chau Binh rice fields are as beautiful as a painting. Photo: Sach Nguyen. |
Nguyen - Lam Manh's book
