Sunday morning is when the official ceremony starts. The multitude begins to move towards the lake and the tree, following a group of gray-haired ladies who clasp a handful of fresh cut grass in one hand and a long, thin ceremonial cane in the other. They sing together with a smooth and sweet sound--“Oh mareo mareo”--in a repeating chorus, (meaning, “we have come back again after a year”). They kneel down by the side of the water and touch the water with the grass in their hands, then sprinkle it on thei...
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