Ky Yen Festival at Lac Tanh communal house

Ky Yen Festival at Lac Tanh communal house (Binh Thuan) As is customary, every year on the full moon day of the second lunar month, Lac Tanh village communal house holds the Ky Yen festival. The ceremony takes place during the spring season, so it is also called the spring sacrifice ceremony. The communal house is located in a large area of ​​land right in the center of Lac Tanh town on DT 720 road facing Southeast. The communal house of Lac Tanh village, dating from 1940, is made of precious wood in a four-pillar style with two overlapping roofs, the upper floor worships the four royal colors, the lower floor worships Tutelary God Bon Canh and his predecessors, and is also the working place of the village's Ngu Huong Committee. By 1950, the communal house burned down completely and was not rebuilt until 1967. For 17 years (from 1950 to 1967), although there was no longer a real communal house, the sacrificial rituals on the full moon day of February every year still took place regularly. This is also the reason why Lac Tanh communal house is considered to be recognized as a historical and cultural relic because of its intangible cultural values. Lac Tanh communal house does not have unique architectural features like ancient Vietnamese communal houses, but its spiritual value is great. People around the area always look to the communal house as a spiritual fulcrum. According to folk beliefs, the Tutelary God Bon Canh always blesses the residents here to do business in peace and avoid wild animals. The name Tanh Linh originates from the word Play T'nao Linh which means "sacred water basin", the whole area is located in a basin, surrounded by mountains, so it is likened to that. Legend has it that in the past, when Tanh Linh land was still desolate, dense forests surrounded the villages but the population was sparse, tigers and leopards roamed around the area and occasionally came to catch pigs. The tiger has always been a mascot in the folk consciousness and is known as the lord of the forest, so the villagers only avoid it and do not try to catch or kill it. Since then, the tiger has been friendly with people and after the village communal house was built, this "tiger man" returned to live in the village communal house during quiet times.  Nowadays, the old people in Lac Tanh still tell many anecdotes about the Tanh Linh tiger. Perhaps the ritual of offering sacrifices at the village communal house in the middle of the night also originates from there. For Lac Tanh communal house, the custom of killing pigs to worship gods is the most typical and strangest ritual compared to the rituals of other village communal houses. The villagers who attend also look forward to that important moment. The intangible cultural value of Lac Tanh village communal house is clearly demonstrated through the maintenance and organization of traditional folk cultural festivals in accordance with ancient customs and rituals. For a long time, when the village communal house was no longer present, the customs were still maintained, which shows the importance of sacrifices to the spiritual life of local people. The festival of Lac Tanh village communal house is not only a festival of the Kinh people here but also a common festival of the local Cham, K'ho, Raglai ethnic groups or from neighboring areas. This is a unique feature rarely seen in other communal houses. Participating in common festivals of ethnic groups shows solidarity as well as cultural acculturation and exchange between ethnic groups. Ky Yen means praying for peace, and is the biggest and most solemnly held festival of the year at the village communal house. From the afternoon of the full moon day of the second lunar month, the festival officially takes place with the ritual of welcoming the god, then the posthumous ceremony, the sacrifice of the god and the ritual of worshiping the spirits every few hours in succession from midnight to morning. The next day (the 16th day of the lunar calendar) the ceremony to pray for peace and prosperity of the country takes place - this is the main spring offering ceremony - Ky Yen. The ritual includes offering incense, offering wine, offering tea, and reading a funeral speech... The end of the ceremony to pray for national peace and prosperity is also the end of the Ky Yen festival of Lac Tanh village communal house. After the rituals and sacrifices were brought down with voluntary contributions from the villagers, a party took place right at the communal house grounds. Everyone attending the festival, regardless of whether they are guests or hosts, gather together to eat, drink and chat happily, raise glasses of wine to celebrate the success of the festival, wish each other good health and in their minds they always believe that the Tutelary God of the land will protect and protect the country, the people, and the people, lush crops, and healthy and happy people.