| Description |
“Ay lay” is the ritual of “working together in the village, building the village together”. This is a traditional ritual of the Dao Ho people held to pray for the gods to bless them with favorable weather and good harvests in the place where the people established the village.
Every year, the Dao Ho people in Van Ban hold the Village Prayer Ceremony 3 times on the 2nd of February, 6th of June and 12th of December, of which the 6th of June ceremony is the biggest. Because this is the mid-year ceremony, reporting to the gods and the land spirits the results the village has achieved in the first 6 months of the year and the offerings to the gods are also more complete. The offering tray includes: a bowl of rice for the incense burner, three packages of rice, three cups of wine, a bowl of mixed rice and sticky rice, for the shaman to pray for luck for the village. When praying, the shaman calls the names of 7 gods, including the Jade Emperor, the Thunder God, the Village Lord, the God of the Land, the God of Human Souls, and the God of Rice, to witness and bless the whole village. Although the village prayer ceremony is held many times a year, the content and process of the ceremony are relatively consistent.
Before the day of the village prayer ceremony, the village head chooses a good day and selects a shaman trusted by the villagers. The shaman must wear traditional costumes and bring a prayer book to perform the ceremony. The ceremony is held at the village head's house. Offerings such as chickens, pigs, white wine, rice, etc. are contributed by families, then gathered at a prestigious household in the community that has been selected in advance to prepare for the ceremonies. It is stipulated that a village prayer ceremony requires at least 3 living objects to be offered to the gods. However, families usually offer to the gods about 6 living objects, including 1 pig and 5 chickens. The offerings in the ceremony are all produced by the local people.
From early morning, the villagers gathered at the village chief's house to prepare offerings to invite the shaman to perform the ceremony. Depending on the occasion, the shaman will have a prayer in the Dao language. The prayers must express gratitude to the above and pray for the protection and blessing of the gods for the village. After the village prayer ceremony ends, the villagers together organize a feast at the village chief's house to connect with each other and strengthen community sentiment.
The Village Praying Ritual shows the attitude of the Dao people towards nature, not cutting down forests but respecting and protecting nature, so it has value in protecting nature and the environment. In 2018, the Áy lay Village Praying Ritual of the Ho Dao was recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage. |
