Festival · Phan Rang-Thap Cham
Kate festival
Lễ hội Katê
Kate (Katê, also spelled Ka Tê) is the largest yearly festival of the Cham Balamon, the Brahmanist branch of the Cham people who live along the south central coast of Vietnam[1]. Its main day is the first day of the seventh month of the Cham calendar, a date that has landed in late September or in October in recent years[1][2]; the Department of Cultural Heritage describes the full observance as running on the 30th day of the sixth Cham month and the 1st to the 10th day of the seventh, a span that falls in September, October or November[9]. The principal rites take place at three Cham brick towers: Po Klong Garai on Trầu hill above Phan Rang, Po Rome near Hậu Sanh village, and the Po Ina Nagar temple at Hữu Đức village, all in the area that was Ninh Thuận province until it merged into Khánh Hòa on 1 July 2025[2][3].
The festival opens with a procession that carries the sacred robes of the gods and kings up to the towers, from the Raglai villages that have traditionally kept the robes safe[2]. Custom holds that the Raglai inherited the duty of guarding the robes; today the full welcome ceremony survives at the Po Ina Nagar site, while at Po Klong Garai and Po Rome the Raglai have handed the robes to the Cham to keep between festivals[2]. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism placed Kate on the national list of intangible cultural heritage in 2017, one of seven items recognised that year, and presented the certificate at a ceremony at Po Klong Garai tower on 19 October 2017[4][5][6].
Date and meaning
Kate commemorates deified kings, national heroes and departed ancestors of the Cham people, and asks for favourable weather and a good harvest[1]. It is observed once a year by the Cham Balamon, the community that follows the Brahmanist tradition descended from the kingdom of Champa[1]. The date follows the Cham lunar calendar rather than the Gregorian one, so the Gregorian date moves from year to year: the main day fell on 28 September in 2019 and on 21 October in 2025[7][8].
The festival divides into two parts. The ceremonial part (lễ) is held at the towers over the opening days; the festival part (hội) follows in the villages and then in each family's home, where a household elder leads prayers to the ancestors[1].
The robe procession
The most important rite is the reception and procession of the sacred robes (lễ rước y trang), carried up to each tower from the village that has kept them[2]. The robes of the goddess Po Ina Nagar travel from the mountain village of Phước Hà to the temple at Hữu Đức; the robes of King Po Klong Garai travel from Phước Đồng village up to his tower on Trầu hill in Phan Rang; and the robes of King Po Rome travel from Hậu Sanh village, in Phước Hữu commune, up to his tower[2].
Under matrilineal Raglai custom, the Raglai were responsible for keeping the robes safe between festivals[2]. That full arrangement, with a Raglai family formally handing over the robes, now survives only at the Po Ina Nagar site; at the other two towers the Raglai have handed the robes over entirely for the Cham to keep[2].
The order of rites
At each tower the sequence runs: the robe procession, the opening of the tower, the ritual bathing of the statue, the dressing of the statue in the robes, and a grand ceremony, accompanied throughout by the Gi Năng and Paranưng drums and the Saranai horn[1]. In 2019 a preparatory ceremony was held on 27 September, the main ceremony on 28 September, with celebrations continuing for three more days[7].
Once the temple rites end, in the evening of the second day, the festival moves to the villages and then, a day later, into individual homes, where family members gather under a household elder to ask for the protection of their ancestors[1].
Recognition as national heritage
In 2017 the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism added seven new items to the national list of intangible cultural heritage, among them the Kate festival of the Cham people of Ninh Thuận and, in a separate ceremony the following day, the traditional pottery craft of the Cham village of Bàu Trúc[4][6]. At the time, 221 intangible cultural heritages nationwide had been recognised by the Ministry[4].
The certificate for Kate was presented at Po Klong Garai tower on 19 October 2017, and the certificate for Bàu Trúc pottery was presented the next day, 20 October 2017, at the village itself[5][6]. No fetched source gives the number of the ministry's decision, only the year and the ceremony date[4][5][6].
Recent editions
The 2025 edition ran from 20 to 22 October, with the main ceremony on the morning of 21 October, and drew thousands of local residents and visitors[8]. It was the first Kate held after Ninh Thuận merged into Khánh Hòa, and it was reported as the first year Khánh Hòa carried out a province wide preservation plan for the festival, titled "Bảo tồn và phát huy giá trị lễ hội Katê của đồng bào Chăm giai đoạn 2025-2030", with a budget of over 10.3 billion VND[8]. That edition also restored a Raglai musicians' procession that organisers said had been interrupted for several years[8].
No fetched source gives the Gregorian dates of the editions held between 2020 and 2024[1][7][8].
Questions and answers
When is the Kate festival held?
Where was Kate recognised as national heritage?
Who keeps the sacred robes used in the festival?
By Raglai custom, Raglai families kept the robes of the gods and kings; today that survives fully only at the Po Ina Nagar site, and elsewhere the Raglai have handed the robes to the Cham[2].
Sources
Every figure in this article is cited to one of these pages, listed in order of first use, with the date it was read.
- Lễ hội Katê
- Lễ đón, rước y trang của đồng bào Chăm và Raglai Ninh Thuận
- Nghị quyết số 202/2025/QH15 của Quốc hội: Về việc sắp xếp đơn vị hành chính cấp tỉnh
- Lễ hội Katê của người Chăm, Ninh Thuận trở thành Di sản văn hóa cấp quốc gia
- Lễ hội Katê được công nhận di sản văn hóa phi vật thể cấp quốc gia
- Làng gốm Bàu Trúc và lễ hội Katê trở thành di sản quốc gia
- Đồng bào Chăm vui đón lễ hội Katê
- Hình ảnh đặc sắc vui đón lễ hội Katê từ hàng nghìn người dân, du khách
- Di tích kiến trúc nghệ thuật Tháp Pô Klong Garai
See also
- Po Klong GaraiTemple
- Po Rome TowerTemple
- Cham people in Khanh HoaEthnic group
- Raglai peopleEthnic group
- Po Nagar festivalFestival
- Bau Truc pottery villageVillage