Gongs in Ede Culture & Festivals

The space of gong culture in the Central Highlands is recognized by UNESCO as a “masterpiece of oral tradition and intangible cultural heritage” of humanity. The Ede people consider gongs as the soul of the nation because they contain great values ​​in spiritual life and lifelong rituals. The sound of gongs is like a spiritual thread connecting people with supernatural beings, helping people express their own wishes as well as those of the community to the gods. The gongs play a leading role in rituals such as housewarming, new rice celebration, health blessing, wedding, birth ceremony, good luck prayer ceremony, funeral ceremony, and grave abandonment ceremony.