TL;DR: Ramưwan is the traditional New Year of the Cham people following the Bàni Islamic faith, lasting one month with three main rituals: grave visiting, ancestral offerings, and fasting. The festival embodies the ethic of remembering one's roots, honors ancestors, and serves as an occasion for community reunion and prayers for peace.
What is the Ramưwan Festival?
Ramưwan, also known as Ramadan or the month of fasting and remembrance, is one of the most important and sacred festivals of the Chăm people who follow Bàni Islam in Vietnam. More than a mere religious ritual, Ramưwan has become a distinctive cultural beauty, likened to the traditional Tết, rich with the unique identity of the Chăm community in Khánh Hòa province (before July 2025, this was Ninh Thuận and Bình Thuận). This article explores the origins, the characteristic rituals, and the profound humanistic meaning of this festival.
According to figures from the former Ninh Thuận province (before July 2025), the locality was home to more than 74,000 Chăm people living in 22 villages. Of these, those following Bàni Islam and Islam numbered over 31,500, including more than 27,000 Bàni Muslims and more than 4,300 Muslims.
Origins and timing
The Ramưwan Festival is bound to the religious life of the Chăm Bàni people, a faith that represents a unique blend of traditional Chăm folk belief and Islam. According to researchers, Bàni Islam entered the land of Champa around the 15th to 16th centuries and was gradually localized, creating its own religious character distinct from orthodox Islam. For this reason, although Ramưwan originates from the Ramadan month of Muslims, it has been adapted by the Chăm Bàni to suit local culture and customs.
The festival usually takes place on the first day of the ninth month of the Bàni Islamic calendar and lasts throughout a month. Because of the separate calendar system, the timing of the festival is not fixed in the solar year, usually falling between February and June each year. Determining the start date of Ramưwan depends on the moon observation of the dignitaries in the community.
What are the three main parts of Ramưwan?
The Ramưwan Festival consists of three basic ritual parts, running throughout and closely linked to one another, forming a complete cultural whole: the grave-visiting ceremony, the ancestor-worship ceremony, and the purification fast (fasting and remembrance).
According to Sư cả (Head Master) Châu Minh Hương, Chairman of the Council of Sư cả of Bàni Islam (former Ninh Thuận province, now part of Khánh Hòa), the festival has three parts: grave visiting, ancestor worship, and the purification fast at the Bàni Islamic temple and the Islamic mosque.
Grave-visiting ceremony: The opening and most important ritual
The grave-visiting ceremony is considered the opening part and also the most important, carrying the most sacred meaning of the entire festival. According to the beliefs of the Chăm Bàni, this is the ritual to invite the deceased grandparents and ancestors home to celebrate Tết with their descendants. Before the main ceremony, the atmosphere of preparation in the Chăm Bàni villages becomes bustling. Village roads and alleys are decorated with bright flags and flowers, and families busily clean their homes, wrap cakes, and press cốm (flattened young rice) to prepare offerings.
This ritual is usually carried out over three days. On the first day, people visit graves in places far from home. On the second and third days, they continue to visit graves in closer areas. Visiting distant graves first is explained as giving the ancestors buried far away enough time to travel home, arriving together with those buried nearby, so that all may reunite with their descendants.
During the grave-visiting ceremony, families wear traditional clothing and bring offerings including betel and areca that have been prepared, tobacco, water, and cakes and fruit to the cemeteries of their clans. There, under the presiding of the Thầy Char (the person who specializes in performing religious rituals), they sit reverently in a circle around the graves by clan. The Thầy Char performs the ritual of reciting the Koran in Arabic. Meanwhile, the assistant priests sprinkle holy water on each gravestone, with the meaning of purification, helping the deceased to be cooler and more pure. Afterwards, they recite prayers, make offerings, and perform the ritual of welcoming the ancestors home to celebrate Tết.
A distinctive feature easily seen at Chăm Bàni cemeteries is that graves are marked by two round stones, placed in a North-South orientation, with the North being the head position and the South being the foot position. The graves are only covered with sand, not built solidly. Some graves bury multiple people of the same clan, called common graves. Graves are usually buried by clan, arranged in long, even rows. The grave-visiting ceremony is not only an occasion to remember loved ones but also a time for generations of descendants to show their filial respect, and to be taught the moral principle of remembering the source when drinking water.
Ancestor-worship ceremony: Connecting the family
After completing the grave-visiting ritual at the cemetery, families return home to perform the ancestor-worship ceremony. During these days, descendants in the family, even those who have gone far away to make a living, try to return for the reunion. They prepare offerings according to traditional customs to present, inviting grandparents and ancestors to share joy with their descendants.
What is special is that the Chăm Bàni set up an ancestor altar at home for only two days. After that, they perform the ritual of welcoming the grandparents and ancestors to the temple (the Bàni Islamic temple) until the end of the Ramưwan season. This is a distinctive cultural feature, showing the close relationship between family space and religious space in the life of the Chăm Bàni. After the worship, families hold feasts to entertain relatives and friends, and sons-in-law who have married away also bring offerings home to worship on this occasion.
Purification fast (fasting and remembrance): Toward purity
After the first two ritual parts, the dignitaries and followers of Bàni Islam enter the month of fasting and remembrance, lasting one month at the Bàni Islamic temples and the Islamic mosque. This is considered the peak period of spiritual life, expressing abstinence and the pursuit of goodness.
For the Chăm Bàni, throughout the fasting month, dignitaries and followers fast from food and drink from sunrise to sunset, lasting 5 days. However, this rule is relaxed for certain special cases such as pregnant women, children, the elderly and infirm, or those who are ill. For the rest of the month, they spend much time praying, reflecting on moral principles, and doing good deeds.
Meanwhile, the Chăm community following Islam performs the fasting ritual at the mosque throughout the entire month. Although there are differences in timing and some rituals, both communities share the same noble purpose.
What is the humanistic meaning and cultural value of Ramưwan?
The Chăm Bàni believe that the month of fasting and remembrance is a time to purify the body and spirit, to restrain the base desires of oneself, and thereby move toward a life of truth, goodness, and beauty. Fasting is not only a form of asceticism but also a way for each person to understand the hardships of the poor, thereby nurturing compassion and the spirit of mutual love and solidarity in the community.
Beyond its religious meaning, Ramưwan is also an occasion to express the moral principle of remembering the source when drinking water, turning toward family and ancestors. The festival upholds filial piety and is a bridge connecting generations within the family and clan. This is also the time for those who have gone far from their homeland to return to the village, to join in the joyful atmosphere of the festival, and to strengthen community bonds.
Not limited to religious rituals, during Ramưwan, Chăm villages also organize many vibrant cultural, artistic, and sports activities at stadiums or community halls. Hundreds of people gather here to wish each other the best wishes for the new year, and to sing and dance the distinctive traditional dances of their people. This is an occasion for the youth of Chăm villages to interact, show their spirit of solidarity, and develop together.
How do the Ramưwan of the Chăm Bàni and the Ramadan of the Chăm Islam differ?
Although both originate from Islam and are both held in Ninh Thuận, the Ramưwan Tết of the Chăm Bàni and the Chăm Islam have their own distinctive features, showing the diversity within Chăm culture.
| Criterion | Ramưwan (Chăm Bàni) | Ramadan (Chăm Islam) |
|---|---|---|
| Nature | Traditional Tết, blending Chăm folk belief and Islam | The fasting month festival of orthodox Islam |
| Fasting duration | 5 days within the month | The whole month (29-30 days) |
| Place of worship | Bàni Islamic temple (often with curved roof architecture) | Islamic mosque |
| Rituals | Includes full grave visiting, ancestor worship, welcoming ancestors | Focuses mainly on prayer and fasting |
This difference shows the flexible cultural blending of the Chăm Bàni, as they have absorbed the new religion while still preserving the traditional values of the ancient Champa Kingdom, creating a cultural identity that is extremely unique and rich in value.
The Ramưwan Festival in modern life
In recent years, along with the attention of the Party and the State in investing in infrastructure and improving the material and spiritual life of ethnic minorities, the appearance of Chăm rural areas has become increasingly prosperous. This creates favorable conditions for traditional festivals such as Ramưwan to be organized on an increasingly larger and more methodical scale.
The Ramưwan Festival is no longer only a religious and spiritual event of the Chăm community alone, but has become an attractive cultural tourism product, drawing a large number of visitors from everywhere to attend and learn about it. The distinctive character of the ethnic element is always closely intertwined with the religious element, along with the customary laws and rituals rich in folk belief, creating an irresistible appeal, contributing to promoting the image and culture of the Chăm people to friends at home and abroad.
The Ramưwan Festival is a vivid testament to the endurance of Chăm culture within the diverse and identity-rich flow of Vietnamese culture.
Why do the Chăm Bàni visit distant graves first and nearby ones later?
According to the beliefs of the Chăm Bàni, grave visiting is to invite the ancestors home to celebrate Tết, so they visit distant graves first so that the grandparents buried far away have time to return home in time with the grandparents buried nearby. This is the arrangement followed over the three days of grave visiting: the first day for distant places, the following days for closer places. This shows thoughtfulness toward the deceased, so that all ancestors can reunite with their descendants during the traditional Tết.
Topic overview article: What Festivals and Tet Occasions Are There in Vietnam Throughout the Year?
