The Khmer community in the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh is gearing
up for the Sene Dolta, one of their biggest annual festivals scheduled
for October 3-5.
It is held to commemorate their ancestors,
and to wish blessings to family members. An array of musical and
sporting events will also take place at pagodas and temples.
On the first day, each family tidies up the house and makes offerings to
their ancestors at the altar. On the second day, they will invite
ancestors’ souls to the pagoda with them to pray to Buddha.
Families prepare meals and fruit on the final day like on the first day
to worship their ancestors and say goodbye to them. When the rites
finish, the festival also ends.
On the occasion, provincial authorities visit and present gifts to families of war heroes and heroic Vietnamese mothers.
Tra Vinh now has a population of over 1 million, nearly 30 percent of
them Khmer people. Over 40,000 poor families have so far been supported
with housing and thousands of others have been given access to
vocational training and production land.
While in the southern
province of Vinh Long, the Southwestern Steering Board led by its
deputy head Duong Quoc Xuan on October 1 visited and extended greetings
to Phu Ly 1, Dai Tho, Can Thay and Hanh Phuc Trang pagodas, the
Patriotic Clergy Solidarity Association and six local Khmer
households.-VNA