Unique hair washing ritual of the Thai ethnic group
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(VOVWORLD) - The Thai ethnic people in the northern province of Lai Chau hold a hair washing ritual on the last day of the 12th lunar month to ward off bad luck and pray for a happy new year.
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| A sorcerer washes his hands before conducting the hair washing ceremony. |
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| He then offers incense to the ancestors, praying for good luck. |
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| The sorcerer also offers incense to earth, river and stream gods, praying for blessings for local villagers. |
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| The hair washing ceremony is of profound humanity as it expresses people’s faith in gods, wishing for good things. |
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| Two or three weeks before the ceremony, Thai women prepare their special shampoo by washing sticky rice and keeping the rice water in an earthen pot for at least one week until it turns sour. Sour rice water is believed to make the hair smooth and shiny. |
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| The ceremony is said to bring the family good luck if a young girl is selected to participate in it. Each participant prepares a bamboo tube containing sour rice water to wash their hair. |
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| The ceremony which is held by the village’s steam nearby has been passed down from generation to generation to preserve traditional customs and promote community engagement. |
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| In this ceremony, women and little girls wash their hair downstream while men and boys go upstream. |
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| Visitors and passers-by are curious about this traditional custom of local villagers. |
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| After the hair washing formality, villagers do the washing in the river to make their clothes clean to welcome the new year. |
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| According to the local custom, good luck will run out in the new year if they do not wash their hair on New Year’s Eve. |
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