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tug-of-war
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The festival of harvest: OnamOnam is a major harvest festival celebrated in the Indian state of Kerala. The 10-day Onam festival marks the onset of the first month according to the Malayalam calendar called Chingam and generally occurs in the months of August or September every year. Due to the COVID -19, the festival saw major restrictions, however, it was celebrated with much enthusiasm between 12th August until 23rd August 2021 keeping in mind all the COVID protocols.\n\nThe origin of the festival can also be traced from various regional sources. According to the folk song ‘Maveli Naadu Vaanidum Kaalam’, Mahabali was a very kind-hearted and generous king. Under his rule, there were no theft, lies, hunger, or jealousy among his people. It is said that people were so happy under his rule that they no longer felt the need to pray or make offerings to the Gods. He was beginning to rule all three worlds which infuriated Lord Indra and gods. To take control of the situation, Lord Vishnu took his fifth avatar of a Brahmin dwarf named ‘Vamana’. As Vamana, he appeared before Mahabali and made a wish for three feet of land for penance. In his first and second steps, he covered the heavens and the hell. Mahabali, seeing this, offered his own head for the third step. Impressed by this action, Lord Vishnu appeared as himself before Mahabali to bless him. Lord Vishnu granted a boon to Mahabali that he can visit his beloved people once a year. As a result, the homecoming of king Mahabali is celebrated as Onam.\n\nOnam combines elaborate festivities that include food, dance, cultural clothing, flower decoration, etc. Each house performs such functions with sheer enthusiasm and love for our culture while supporting agricultural practices. One of the most popular components of the festival is the food. Onam Sadhya is a multi-course meal that includes 26 different food items prepared with local ingredients. Some of the dishes include Rice, Avial (a dish prepared by cooking vegetables in mango and ground coconut), Olan, Sambhar, Rasam, banana and jaggery chips, Pappadam, followed by at least 2 varieties of Payasam (a milk-based sweet prepared with rice, wheat etc). These are only a handful of items prepared in the diverse state of Kerala also known as the land of spices.\n\nThe other aspects of the festival include elaborate decorations that include the extensive use of local and colorful flowers. Pookkalam (floor designs with flowers) are made every day of the festival and various games like Vadam Vali (tug of war), Puli Kali (folk art from Kerala), Vallam Kali (Boat Race), are played during the festival.\n\nThe festival is a great reflection of the cultural heritage of Kerala. Families are seen wearing traditional attires that include Kasavu/Set Sarees for women and Mundu for men. There is a tradition of gifting new clothes called Ona Kodi to other members of the family. The festival is celebrated with great energy with the enthusiasm of beginning a new year according to the Malayalam calendar in Kerala.\n\nThe author would like to thank and acknowledge the contribution of various people from Kerala including Aravind Nair, Kavya Nair, Mariam Rauf, Sarath Ninan Mathew, Vishnu Vijayan, and others who have shared valuable information about the festival.\n\nphoto 1 : Onam Pookalam © Yugaljoshi\nphoto 2 : Onam sadya © kavya_adigaYear2021NationIndia
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AcknowledgmentFirst of all, I congratulate publishing Tugging Rituals and Games: A Common Element, Diverse Approaches through the collaborative efforts of Dangjin City and ICHCAP. Intangible Cultural heritage (ICH) is the life of the human community and an important driver and asset for sustainable devel-opment. In particular, the tug-of-war as a representative folk game expresses the characteristics and spiritual values of Korean national culture as well as a common Asian heritage wishing for harmony, unity, prosperity, and fertility of the community.\n\nThe Korean government has been initiating ICH safeguarding policy efforts since 1962, starting with the enactment of the Cultural Properties Protection Act. In 2005, Korea joined the UNESCO 2003 Convention on the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, sharing the expe-rience and knowledge of safeguarding Korean ICH and strengthening cooperation for safeguarding intangible heritage in an international context. In 2015, four Asian countries (Cambodia, Philippines, Republic of Korea, and Vietnam) jointly inscribed folk tugging rituals and games on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.Year2019NationJapan,Cambodia,South Korea,Philippines,Ukraine,Viet Nam
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Gijisi Juldarigi Museum and the Culture-Full Box of Tugging Rituals and GamesTug-of-war is a game that anyone can enjoy easily, in its simplest form requiring just a rope and some space to play, and it has been widely transmitted all over the world. In particular, in Asia, it has been widely practiced in combination with rituals for prosperity and peace within agricultural communities, and has played an important social role in fostering community cohesion and solidarity. Its significance was recognized by UNESCO in 2015, when ‘Tugging Rituals and Games’ was inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity as a multinational heritage of Cambodia, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea and Vietnam.Year2022NationSouth Korea
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Tugging rituals and games in VietnamTug of war or tugging game is one of many folk games performed in festivals of someof 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam. In addition, tug of warserves to ensure abundant harvests andstrengthen communityunity and solidarity.YearNationViet Nam
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ForewordTug-of-war is a universal game that pits two teams against each other in a test of strength. Although the sport is prac-ticed in different forms depending on the environment and culture of each country, it has promoted community solidarity and unity around the world. Dangjin has a unique folk tradition called Gijisi tug-of-war. It is believed that the tug-of-war was first held about five hundred years ago to overcome a devastating disaster by encouraging harmony and cooperation among the residents. Later, it reflected the local rope-mak-ing methods of fishing villages, and the city has supported large-scale tugging war events for the community. The local tradition has been well preserved and passed on to the present day.Year2019NationJapan,Cambodia,South Korea,Philippines,Ukraine,Viet Nam
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PrefaceThere have been various cooperative activities for safe-guarding intangible cultural heritage (ICH) at the domestic, regional, and international level since the Convention for the Safeguarding of the ICH was adopted by UNESCO’s General Conference in 2003. ICHCAP, a UNESCO Category 2 Centre in the ICH field, has been working to share information, build networks, and raise visibility of ICH in the Asia-Pacific region, which shows the cultural iden-tities of relevant communities who can be a driving force of sustainable development of the societies. \nTug-of-war has also been an ICH theme ICHCAP has worked to safe-guard and raise awareness. Among a number of diverse ICH elements, tug-of-war is a cultural phenomenon found worldwide. In Asia, espe-cially, tug-of-war has been a custom deeply embedded in rice cultivation and is therefore found largely in agricultural societies. Tug-of-war was generally performed as a prayer for rain or to predict the bounty of the upcoming harvest. It has common features worldwide based on climate and environment. However, differences arise according to the distinct characteristic and the creativity of the region, which makes tug-of-war a worthwhile research subject as an Asian joint heritage.Year2019NationJapan,Cambodia,South Korea,Philippines,Ukraine,Viet Nam
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International Cooperation through Tugging Rituals and Games and their Achievements: Activities in Post Multinational InscriptionsTug-of-war is a universal cultural phenomenon all around the world. Especially in Asia, the tug-of-war is related to rice farming and is thus commonly found in the farming cultures of Northeast and Southeast Asia. As practiced in Asia, the tug-of-war is performed either as a prayer for rain, or for a good harvest, or to foretell whether the year’s harvest will be good or bad. Tug-of-war activities have similarities that include two teams pulling at the opposite ends of a rope. They also have distinctness, individuality, and creativity interactivity with the climate or environment, making tug-of-war events worth preserving as a common element of Asian intangible cultural heritage (ICH).\n\nRecognizing the universality and distinctness of tug-of-war traditions in Asia, Cambodia, the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, and Vietnam prepared a multinational file to nominate “Tugging Rituals and Games” to the UNESCO Representative List of the ICH of Humanity through mutual communications and meetings. The Republic of Korea submitted the nomination file to the Convention Secretariat on behalf of the four countries on 31 March 2014. The nomination file was eventually recognized on 2 December 2015 during the tenth session of the Intergovernmental Committee held from 30 November to 4 December 2015 in Namibia.\n\nThe inscription of Tugging Rituals and Games to the UNESCO Representative List of the ICH of Humanity has brought about a sensation in each country. The news of the multinational inscription was covered in a slew of media outlets in each country, and in particular, Vietnam selected the multinational inscription as one of the top ten cultural news events of 2015. The Republic of Korea, which led the multinational inscription, conducted commemorative events, such as holding an exhibition and publishing books in Korean and English.Year2021NationSouth Korea
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Teanh Prot: Tug-of-War in CambodiaFor Cambodians, like many peoples in Asia, rice is indispensable and firmly attached to socio-religious life of the people. Besides being the principle daily staple, rice—either husked or unhusked, cooked or uncooked—is a necessary ritual material in every religious ceremony. Interestingly, rice is considered to be female in gender. By nurturing an individual person in the form of cooked rice, she is considered Preah Me (August Mother). In addition, rice is venerated in the form of a goddess called Neang Propei.1 She is worshipped for good harvest and prosperity. \nNeang Propei is no doubt a local adoption/adaptation of the Indian God of Wealth and Prosperity, Vaishravana. Such complex socio-religious aspects involved with rice demonstrate how important rice was and is in everyday life of rice-farming commu-nities, concerning how to obtain enough rice for each year. Besides various techniques and tools that were created, rituals and games are also performed to reassure suffi-ciency of rice. For Cambodian rice-farming communities, those rituals and games are associated with animistic beliefs or are animistic oriented. Examples of these include Loeng Neak Ta, Da Lean, and Chlong Chet.2.Year2019NationJapan,Cambodia,South Korea,Philippines,Ukraine,Viet Nam
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VARIETY AND MEANING IN JULDARIGI, KOREAN TUG-OF-WARDuring Dan-o, Daeboreum, and Chuseok, pre-modern Koreans used to hold celebrations composed of rituals to the communal deity, communal games, and various folk arts. Among the communal games, the tug-of-war was the most common. It was widely distributed around the central southern region of Korea and played simultaneously or in rotation with other communal games.Year2014NationSouth Korea
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SIGNIFICANCE OF TEANH PROT, CAMBODIAN TUG-OF-WARThe Cambodian teanh prot (“pulling the rope”), which is generally rendered in English as “tug-of-war,” is one of the most important ritual games played nationwide during certain times of year, especially around the three-day New Year holiday in mid-April. Although the game can be played at any time for entertainment, it is ritually played in the afternoon on the last day of the New Year and/or in the afternoon of chlong chet, a rice-associated ceremony observed shortly after the New Year. The event takes place in an open space of the village or Buddhist monastery.Year2014NationSouth Korea
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Chak-Ka-Yer: Traditional Tug-of-War of ThailandChak-ka-yer is a Thai word similar in meaning to tug-of-war in western countries. It is one of the oldest folk team games in Thailand. Thai people across the country know chak-ka-yer, and many may have had some direct and indirect experience with this game, either as participants or observ-ers. Chak-ka-yer benefits Thai society in several ways. People use chak-ka-yer for fun, pleasure, recreation, and relaxation from their routine work. Chak-ka-yer is played between teams, groups, or communities to test their physical strength. The game does not focus on competition, team preparation, contest regulations, and championship, but rather on unity, friendship, morale, and incentive of communities. Chak-ka-yer as a game is related to thoughts, beliefs, customs, traditions, rituals, and values of the people in different areas. Chak-ka-yer is a high-level game of development and doesn’t focus on systematic contests; it has specific agency to respond to and has the team seriously trained and practiced to win the championship. Chak-ka-yer as a sport is left unmentioned in this article since it has become an international sport.Year2019NationJapan,Cambodia,South Korea,Philippines,Ukraine,Viet Nam
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KÉO CO, VIETNAMESE TUG-OF-WARVietnam has various forms of tug-of-war (kéo co). The characteristics of each form are defined by the ethnic group practicing as well as the location in which the games are performed. While practiced throughout the country, tugging rituals and games are concentrated mostly in the northern midlands, the Red River Delta, and the north central region, the ancient land of the Viet and the cradle of the native wet rice culture and Red River civilization. In addition, the games are played widely by ethnic minorities, such as the Tay, Thai, Giay, La Ha, and H’Mong, in the northern mountains.Year2014NationSouth Korea