Visiting Chol Chnam Thmay Festival in An Giang to experience Khmer culture

(TITC) – Located on the southwestern border, An Giang Province has charming rivers and streams, being home to the Kinh, Khmer, Cham, and Hoa ethnic groups. In particular, the Khmer ethnic minority live in Tinh Bien town and Tri Ton district.

The Khmer people possess a unique traditional cultural treasure, bearing the strong imprint of Buddhism, clearly demonstrated through festivals such as Chol Chnam Thmay, Sen Don-ta, Ooc Om-boc, Kathina…

Khmer people follow Theravada Buddhism, most of their cultural activities are associated with the pagoda. It is not only a place that contains religious values, but also a place for community activities, education and cultural preservation.

In particular, the Khmer community in An Giang has three national intangible cultural heritage properties: the Bay Nui bull racing festival, knowledge and techniques of writing on Buong leaves, and Di Ke stage art. 

In addition, they also have many attractive folk performing arts such as pentatonic music performances, sa-dam drum dance, ro-bam dance, lam-vong dance, aday antiphonal singing, cha-rieng cha-pay…

The most important annual festival of the Khmer people is Chol Chnam Thmay, which means New Year festival, similar to the Lunar New Year of the Kinh. In Khmer language, “Chol” means “entering”, “Chnam Thmay” means “new year”. Many diverse religious, cultural, artistic, and sports activities were organized in this festival. Therefore, the provinces of the Southwest in general and An Giang in particular attract a large number of tourists during this time.

Chol Chnam Thmay is celebrated according to the traditional Khmer calendar, lasting for three days, usually falling around mid-April. In 2024, Chol Chnam Thmay will take place from April 13 to 16.

On the first day, people bring offerings to the temple to perform the Maha Sangkran ceremony. On the second day, in the morning, Buddhists come to the temple to make offerings to the monks, and in the afternoon, they perform the ritual to pray for good luck. On the third day, the temple performs the Buddha statue bathing ceremony, also known as the water-splashing ceremony.

The Khmer community in An Giang possesses many unique cultural practices, with potential to develop tourism products, creating favorable conditions for the formation and development of community tourism.

Coming here, in addition to sightseeing and experiencing Khmer culture, visitors can also enjoy specialties such as palm sugar, flattened green rice, katum cake, grilled chicken, grilled beef, beef porridge, pickled papaya, etc. In recent years, Khmer cultural tourism in An Giang has developed significantly, attracting domestic and foreign tourists.

Tourism Information Technology Center. Photo: angiang.gov.vn