The “leaving the tomb” ceremony of the Raglai ethnic minority people in the central coastal province of Khanh Hoa has been recognised as a national intangible cultural heritage.
A certificate to this effect was handed over to the local authorities by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism at a ceremony on April 17.
The province is home to more than 61,000 ethnic minority people, including 46,000 Raglai who live mostly in Khanh Son district.
The “leaving tomb” ceremony is one of the typical traditional rituals of the Raglai. It is reckoned to break off the spiritual relationship between the dead and the living to see off the dead to the other world.
The annual ceremony is timetabled for between March and April, following the group’s food harvest.
In addition to the worship to ancestors and Giang (Genie) and the leaving tomb ceremony, the Raglai’s rich culture is also packed with a variety of epics, mythologies and legends.