Ceremony to worship the water of Jrai people

Water is an indispensable element in human life. Like other ethnic groups in the Central Highlands, the Jrai, when choosing land to establish a village, the first thing people have to look for water to ensure the lives of the villagers. Water is the first condition for choosing a land to set up a village. That's why Jrai people cherish water very much.
Prepare worship for the god of water
With the concept of "all things spiritual" Jrai people think that there is a god who created the water, which is the water god (Yang Ia). When finding a water source, the first job before setting up the village was to worship the water wharves with a gift: a black pig, a black chicken and a tea. After establishing the village, every year the people maintain the worship of the water wharf to thank the god for giving people abundant water to make everyone healthy. Ceremony of water troughs is usually held once a year in March after pruning rice or December after the harvest is completed.

Jrai people have two types of water sources for living. In areas near the delta, they chose the land to set up villages along the river and then choose a fixed place to be a water wharf for daily life. For mountainous areas, the Jrai choose a place where the water flows from the mountains. People install a bamboo gutter (called "Ia Nang") for easy use by the people. The water wharf is not only a place to get water for daily activities but also a place to meet everyday to share the necessary information of the villagers. Waking up early in the morning, women often collect water and tell each other what happened in the family and surrounding places, then they bring the stories back to tell other family members. yourself.

Every year, when the first rains (Hojan lĕ rah) rains, the village mobilizes the villagers to organize a worship of the wharf (ngang yang pen ia). This is also an opportunity for people to be responsible for cleaning the wharf, repairing the road to get water for convenience. Initially, people focused on repairing old or new water troughs, reinforcing the system of water trough support to bring water to the village. Villagers split up to find fish, pick vegetables, set traps to catch animals, prepare delicious wine jars to enjoy together on the festival days.

Flamboyant offering ceremony for the water of the Jrai people
Early in the morning, the village elder called each family to participate in the preparations for the festival. People carry hoes and machetes to clear the road from the village to the wharves, digging and embanking the roads into steps to easily get up and down to get water. Those who are skillful are assigned to cut down the giant tree to make trees to decorate for the solemn ceremony. Water wharves will be cleaned, old bamboo gutters will be replaced with new bamboo troughs. After the preparation, two villagers in the village were assigned to bring a black pig and a black chicken into the water. The village patriarch sent a pig and chicken butcher, then assigned to the young people in the village a fire of pigs and chickens. After the pigs and chickens are cooked, the elder puts the wine under the water trough, takes the liver of the pig and the live chicken into the wine ear and reads the prayer:

“O God of bamboo trees and mountains, come here with us, and drink wine of the pig liver and chicken liver. O god of Chan stream cross the forest, the god of Ai stream along the edge of the field, the god of the Kleng stream will go east, the god of Tong Tong Bră along the ravine, the god of the Pok spring come to the drop of our village. Today, we make offerings to the gods of chicken liver, pig liver and wine ... The aromatic wine is watered on the water wharf, may the god bless the villagers for a good life, always healthy, baby Our nephews are always healthy, don't get sick. Give us a clear, full stream of water ”.

After finishing the vows, the village elder took pig livers, chicken livers mixed with some wine and brought them up to water on the head of the water drop. Later the village elder drank wine and ate a few pieces of cooked meat (raw meat was meant for yang, cooked meat was for people). After drinking, the village elders invited the elderly in the village to drink first, guests and young people to drink later. When the ceremony was over, everyone would drink and chat until the bland wine came home. The women came down to collect water in dry pots to go home for family use.