Ethnic Khmer people in Sóc Trăng are preparing for the traditional Chôl Chnăm Thmây.festival. - Photo kinhtedothi.vn

SÓC TRĂNG The Khmer people in Sóc Trăng Province are preparing to celebrate the traditional Chôl Chnăm Thmây, an important festival for the ethnic minority group in Việt Nam.

Sóc Trăng has a large number of Khmer ethnics, accounting for more than 30 per cent of its population. In mid-April every year, the Khmers here celebrate Chôl Chnăm Thmây, which falls on April 13 to April 16 this year.

In the days leading up to festival, Khmer Buddhist followers clean and decorate their houses, while monks at pagodas clean and hang banners, flags, flowers, and other decorations, and prepare rituals for the festival.

The joy of welcoming this year's Chôl Chnăm Thmây has been accentuated by successful harvests in the province.

Lâm Văn Nám said his family cultivated a 13-hectare rice field during the recent Winter-Spring season. They successfully harvested the crop, yielding nine tonnes of rice per hectare.

After deducting expenses, his family earned nearly VNĐ700 million (US$27,900) in profit, an increase of VNĐ200 million compared to the previous season.

He also said that the recent Winter-Spring season brought joy not only to his family but also to many Khmer households in the village. With successful harvests and favorable prices, the lives of the villagers have become more prosperous, enabling them to celebrate the event with greater abundance than before.

Over the years, the lives of the Khmer ethnics in Sóc Trăng have seen great improvements, thanks to the efforts of the local authorities and the State.

Hồ Thị Cẩm Đào, deputy secretary of the Provincial Communist Party Committee of Sóc Trăng, said that the number of impoverished households among the Khmer community has decreased to 3,937 households, accounting for 3.86 per cent of the total.

Local authorities have effectively implemented social security policies, ensuring timely provision of both material and spiritual support to the Khmer community.

Khmer households in the area have access to electricity, communes and towns have roads accessible by vehicles, and all hamlets have rural roads constructed with concrete.

The Chôl Chnăm Thmây, also known as the Khmer New Year, is the biggest festival of the year for over 1.3 million Khmer people in Việt Nam.

The origin of the festival is explained by a legend related to the transition of religion from Brahmanism to Buddhism, revolving around a contest of wits between the Great Brahma (Kabul Maha Prum) and Thom Ma Bal, a previous incarnation of the Buddha.

It is also celebrated in other countries such as Laos, Cambodia, Brunei and Thailand.

In Cần Thơ City local officials visited the Khmer residents on April 12 and offered best wishes, as well as giving gifts to monks.

Meanwhile, Bạc Liêu Province officials visited several pagodas, giving monks their best wishes and gifts on April 11.

These regions have been creating favourable conditions for the local Khmer people to develop, improve their livelihoods, practice their religion, as well as preserving their traditional culture. VNS