Tra Vinh (VNA) – A thrill of excitement has overwhelmed the
Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh these days as the Khmer people are
celebrating their traditional Sene Dolta festival, which falls on September
27-29 this year.
Sene Dolta is one of the largest annual festival of ethnic Khmers in the
southern region, along with Chol Chnam Thmay (New Year) and Ok Oom Bok (long
boat race).
Also called Phchum Banh, Sene Dolta means family gathering and virtue. It is
held from the last day of the eighth lunar month to the second day of the ninth
lunar month each year.
During the festival, the
Khmer people express their gratitude to ancestors, parents and relatives, and
pray for good luck. A wide range of religious rituals and several cultural
activities take place at Khmer pagodas.
Tra Vinh province has a population of 1 million people, 32 percent of whom are
ethnic Khmers. Most of the people live in rural areas and rely much on agricultural
production. In the past years, local authorities have carried out a myriad of
policies and programmes in support for the ethnic group to improve their
material and spiritual lives.
According to Ha Thanh Son, deputy head of the provincial committee for ethnic
minority affairs, hundreds of VND has been disbursed to develop infrastructure
for poor districts and areas resided by ethnic minority group, as well as help
the locals to develop production.
As of the end of 2018, Tra Vinh province had over 16,400 poor households,
declining 2.46 percent from 2017, with the number of impoverished Khmer
families falling 4.43 percent. To date, more than 93 percent of the Khmer people
get access to clean water while over 97 percent are enabled to use safe electricity.
The province has eight boarding schools, helping facilitate the study of ethnic
children, he added./.
