Dong Sua forest worshipping opens fifth Yen Chau Mango Festival

The Dong Sua Festival was held in Kha hamlet, Sap Vat commune, Yen Chau district on June 8, opening the series of activities of the 5th Yen Chau Mango Festival 2024. This festival features folk beliefs and the cultural beauty of the Thai ethnic group in Yen Chau district.

 

The Dong Sua Festival is held in a sacred forest of Kha hamlet, Sap Vat commune.

The Dong Sua Festival (meaning worshiping the sacred forest) prays for good weather, good harvests, healthy people, and prosperous hamlets.

It starts early in the early morning when all the elders and people in the hamlet are present in the hamlet's sacred forest to clean up the forest, light fires, prepare sticky rice, slaughter pigs and chickens, and make feasts for the shaman to perform the worshiping rituals.

The hamlet’s shaman performs rituals to worship the gods.
Local people and tourists attend the festival.
Families bring cloth and shirts to the shrine to pray for good health and for their children to be protected by the gods.

This year, the festival is held in conjunction with the Yen Chau Mango Festival, contributing to promoting the cultural beauty of the Thai people.

There are two worshiping ceremonies, one for the gods and hamlet founders and one for the forest owner. Offerings include pig, chicken, wine, sticky rice, betel and areca, and sacred clothes of the forest owner. In addition, each household in the hamlet brings a pair of silver bracelets, a roll of white cloth and ‘khit’ cloth for the worshiping rituals.

The shaman performs a ritual to worship the forest owner.
 Families in the hamlet participate in the worshiping ceremony.

The festival is not only an opportunity for people to express gratitude to the gods and ancestors, but also contributes to increasing community solidarity, demonstrating the uniqueness of the spiritual culture of the Thai ethnic group in Sap Vat commune in particular and Yen Chau district in general.

 

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