Let the Ceremony & Fun Begin
First, a Thanksgiving Prayer for the bountiful harvest that the Bambarayon (Spiritual Guardian of the Paddy field) has bestowed upon this blessed land that we call “The Land Below the Wind”.
A Thanksgiving Prayer Ceremony
Bobohizan, native priestesses, will usually preside over this spiritual ceremony before the proper fun and merrymaking begin. “This focuses on the restoration of Bambarayon as well as offering food to Bambarayon. In the olden days, this ritual is performed in the padi field on the night of the first full moon after the harvest. Nowadays, this ritual is carried out in the house of the owner of the field.”
Bobohizan in Prayer Chants
Harvest Festival, Pesta Kaamatan (No, it doesn’t mean “Pester Me!”), is actually a celebration of the Kadazandusun community in Sabah. It is also worth noting that majority of Kadazandusuns are now of the Christian denomination. And thus the thanksgiving ritual is slowly dying out. It is now mostly put on as a tourist attraction. Hopefully, with the new cultural re-awakening within the community, the customs and traditions can be kept alive and passed on to future generations. Culture is what makes a community what they are.
With These Stalks I Bless Thy
* Ignore the above caption. I don’t thimk the Bobohizan actually uttered those few words. Can’t think of a good caption to put there.
Tapai and the Unduk Ngadau
It's Party Time!
With that bit of cultural information over with, let the fun proper begin. Today (30 May) and tomorrow (31 May) are declared the official Harvest Festival and it’s a long weekend holiday.
Celebration Dance
All the celebrations will be at the KDCA centre near Dongonggon, where the natives will be out in full force adorning their traditional colourful costumes in the merrymaking celebratory mood. Traditional dances & sports are there for you feast on and participate in. And tapai, local rice wine, can be sampled at your leisure time- well, at least, I hope so.
The celebration culminates with a beauty pageant, Unduk Ngadau, on May 31st, when you will see droves of men clamouring for the frontside seats.
Pseudo Beauty Pageant Event
As for me, as usual, I will be pushed to the back of the auditorium. So, probably no Unduk Ngadau photos again. Try and search on the web under Unduk Ngadau, you will probably find it’s saturated with all the photos of local beauties.
Have a good day(s) out and good hunting. Don’t let the headhunters catch you, you hear?
