On the morning of May 9, the People's Committee of Nga My commune, Nghe An province organized a ceremony to receive the Certificate of Registration of the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List for the "Celebration of the Thunder of the O Du people", and also celebrated the 20th anniversary of the establishment of Vang Mon village.
Attending the ceremony were Mr. Nguyen Dinh Hung - Member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, Standing Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Nghe An province; Mr. Vi Van Son - Director of the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions of Nghe An province, along with representatives of departments, branches, local authorities and a large number of people.
The "Celebration of the Thunder" is a unique traditional cultural feature of the O Du people. According to the native O Du language, the festival is called "Cham Phung", associated with the custom of worshiping the Thunder God - the god considered supreme, protecting life, crops and the village community.
The O Du people believe that the first thunder in the year is a signal to start the new year. Therefore, the thunder welcoming ceremony is considered the biggest Tet holiday of the O Du people, usually lasting from 3 to 5 days with many unique community cultural activities.
Within the framework of the ceremony, many traditional rituals took place such as the ritual of "washing away bad luck" at the stream to welcome the new year; the procession of the palanquin of Uncle Ho's image and the Certificate of Heritage into the Community House; the ritual of worshiping villages, worshiping the thunder god, tying fingernails to pray for peace and naming members of the community.
At the program, representatives of functional agencies announced the Decision of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on listing the "Celebration of the Thunder of the O Du people" in the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List and awarded Certificates to localities.
The festival part took place sôi nổi with folk cultural exchange activities such as khắc luống, sap dancing, còn throwing and the Great Unity meal with ethnic minorities.
In particular, people perform the ritual of using bamboo tubes to knock on the ground to create sounds like thunder, symbolizing the aspiration for a bumper crop, a prosperous and peaceful life.
The fact that "E Do people's thunder welcoming ceremony" is listed as a national intangible cultural heritage is of great significance in the work of preserving, maintaining and promoting the unique traditional cultural values of ethnic minorities in Nghe An.
