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Tuesday, June 2, 2009

My World Tuesday-Gawai Dayak Festival.

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Gawai P3210173

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Gawai Dayak is a festival celebrate only in Sarawak on 1 and 2 June every year and it a public holiday for Sarawakians. It celebrates the end of the rice harvest and is traditionally a time for the community to come together after the hard work is over.

During the celebrtion Ngajat dance is perform to welcome the guests.

An excerpt from the Wikipedia: Gawai Day or Gawai Dayak is a festival celebrated in Sarawak on 1 June every year. It is both a religious and social occasion. The word Gawai means a ritual or festival whereas Dayak is a collective name for the native ethnic groups of Sarawak: Iban, Bidayuh, Kayan, Kenyah, Kelabit, and Lun Bawang among others. Thus, Gawai Dayak literally means "Dayak Festival". Dayak would visit their friends and relatives on this day. Such visit is more commonly known as "ngabang" in the Iban language. Those too far away to visit would receive greeting cards. The mode of celebration varies from place to place. Preparation starts early. Tuak (rice wine) is brewed (at least one month before the celebration) and traditional delicacies like penganan (cakes from rice flour, sugar and coconut milk) are prepared. As the big day approaches, everyone will be busy with general cleaning and preparing food and cakes. Christian Dayaks normally attend a church mass service to thank God for the good harvest.

6 comments:

Wolynski said...

Beautiful photos of a colorful festival - lovely work

erin said...

enjoyed the lovely captures of the festival. and a question, is the rice wine something that is a beverage or is it used on the cakes?
have a wonderful wednesday.

Pierre said...

Congratulations on some fine captures and thank you for an interesting, informative blog. Its been a pleasure browsing!

Arija said...

Great festivities with the traditional dancing.

escape said...

those are the cultures that i want to see. beyond beautiful places, it's really the culture that im also very interested in.

Leif Hagen said...

GREAT dancer pictures! People photos! Super! Enjoyed looking through your blog snaps. Kind regards from EAGAN daily photo in Minnesota, USA