When the summer sun is at its fiercest and all around is cracked and dried, the Lo Lo ethnic minority people gather together to pray for rain.
At the crack of dawn, villagers prepares a tray of offerings that includes a pig, a rooster, a dried calabash, a bowl of water, votive papers, four cups of rice wine, and four sticks of incense representing the four cardinal points.
During the ritual, young women in traditional outfits dance to the rhythm of bronze drums and “nhi” (a bowed two-string instrument).
Following a worshipping ceremony to pray for good weather and a bumper crop, the chief celebrant burns votive papers laid out at the four corners of a table, then splashes wine in the four cardinal directions to thank the Gods.
What makes the Lo Lo ritual unique are the colourful outfits, special musical instruments, and stellar dance.
The ritual is also an opportunity for the Lo Lo ethnic minority people to exchange experience in cultivation and animal husbandry./.
