Ong Hoang Muoi Temple is located in the South of Nghe An province, on National Highway 1A, 2 km from Vinh city. Located on the terrain shaped like a Crane's Mine, next to the Moc River, Ong Hoang Muoi Temple is also known as "Mo Hac Linh Tu".
The temple was built in the post-Le period (17th century) in Xuan Am village (now hamlet 5, Hung Thinh commune, Hung Nguyen district) to commemorate and show gratitude for the merits of Quan Hoang Muoi. According to the Mother Goddess system, Quan Hoang Muoi was the tenth son of King Bat Hai Dong Dinh, who was a celestial official in the Imperial Court, a god in the Dao Nguyen. Currently, the temple still has Legend has it that Quan Hoang Muoi, a talented man of both literature and martial arts, had the merit of building a prosperous and stable life for the people in the surrounding area. In particular, he always cared for, was close to, and helped the poor; he was a talented general with great merit in the Lam Son Uprising. He was seriously injured, rode his horse back to his hometown and died. Before the villagers could bury him, termites had piled up earth around his body to form a tomb. The royal court and the people mourned and built a temple next to the tomb to commemorate him.
The merits of Quan Hoang Muoi were recognized by the feudal dynasties and they bestowed the titles of "Imperial Commissioner of Nghe An, Quang Nam, Thuan Hoa Dang Xu, Concurrently Commander of the Water and Marine Forces of Chu Dinh, Commander of the Military and National Affairs, Grand Marshal, and Duke of the Nation". The Temple still preserves 21 royal decrees bestowed by the feudal dynasties of Vietnam.
Through the ups and downs of time and through many restorations and embellishments, Ong Hoang Muoi Temple still retains its unique architecture, art and many rare documents and artifacts. With its great historical, cultural, scientific and artistic values, Ong Hoang Muoi Temple was ranked as a Provincial Historical - Cultural Relic by the Provincial People's Committee in 2002 and recognized as a spiritual cultural tourist destination in 2018. In 2019, the Ministry of Culture - Sports and Tourism recognized it as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage (in Decision No. 2970/QD-BVHTTDL dated August 27, 2019).
The Ong Hoang Muoi Temple Festival was formed and existed with the history of the Temple. Previously, the Ong Hoang Muoi Temple Festival was held on March 15 (lunar calendar) every year. Since 1995, after the temple was restored, the temple festival was moved to October 9 and 10 (lunar calendar) every year - the death anniversary of Quan Hoang Muoi, the occasion of the New Rice Festival/Truong Thap Festival/Ha Nguyen Festival, the holiday of those who practice the Hau Dong ritual; the day that people believe is a full, complete day, bringing many good things, while March 15 every year is only for incense burning and offerings.
The Ong Hoang Muoi Temple Festival is held according to solemn traditional rituals, including the opening ceremony, the royal edict procession, the proclamation ceremony, the great sacrifice ceremony and the thanksgiving ceremony. The unique feature of the Ong Hoang Muoi Temple Festival is the activities associated with the Mother Goddess worship, which is the performance of the spirit medium ritual, meeting the needs of practicing the belief of communicating, expressing the wishes and aspirations of visitors to the gods (the Mother Goddess worship is an intangible cultural heritage of humanity recognized by UNESCO).
Hau dong Quan Hoang Muoi has unique features that are different from the Chau Van songs praising the glorious achievements of Quan Hoang Muoi, performed by the orchestra in the style of Nghe Tinh folk songs. He appears with the typical style of a son of Nghe, representing the character and spirit of the people of Nghe: majestic, brave in battle, gallant, elegant, romantic, loving literature and poetry. Ong Hoang Muoi Temple Festival is a place to preserve the traditional customs, beliefs and rituals of the nation; meeting the spiritual and cultural needs of the people.
To continue to preserve, promote and spread the value of the National Intangible Cultural Heritage of Ong Hoang Muoi Temple Festival; according to Ms. Hoang Thi Hoai Thanh - Head of the Department of Culture and Information of Hung Nguyen district, Head of the Management Board of Ong Hoang Muoi Temple relic, Hung Nguyen district has focused on investing in expanding, building and upgrading items from the spiritual area to the service area with donations and socialized resources of more than 110 billion VND. The district also identified this as an important spiritual and cultural site of the province, thereby promoting propaganda, organizing activities and management to promote the value of the relic. Along with that, the activities of Ong Hoang Muoi Temple Festival are researched and innovated by Hung Nguyen district every year to gradually increase the scale to meet the spiritual and cultural needs of local people and tourists from all over.
This year's Ong Hoang Muoi Temple Festival is held for two days, November 21-22, 2023 (ie October 9-10 of the lunar calendar) with many unique activities; both ensuring traditional elements and expanding the scale, diversifying and enriching folk cultural activities combined with modernity. Regarding the ceremony, there is a Moc Duc ceremony, a Opening Ceremony ceremony, a Consecration ceremony, a Royal Edict procession ceremony, a Proclamation ceremony, a Great Ceremony, and a Thanksgiving ceremony. To create the attraction and expand the space of the festival, creating an environment for cultural enjoyment for local people and tourists; the Royal Edict procession ceremony is organized by both land and water on the Moc River.
The festival also promises many exciting activities. In addition to the volleyball competition with 16 teams, attracting more than 200 athletes and the folk dance performance attracting hundreds of people from hamlets in Hung Thinh commune; the highlight of the Ong Hoang Muoi Temple Festival is the boat racing activity, including 7 racing teams and the flower lantern releasing ceremony on Moc River to pray for national peace and prosperity, meeting the spiritual and cultural needs of the people and tourists. The opening night of the festival was carefully prepared by Hung Nguyen district with a drum performance and an epic welcome program..
At the festival, booths are arranged to display traditional craft products, specialty products, OCOP products, meeting the needs of shopping and enjoying local products. Within the framework of this year's festival, the Festival Organizing Committee also organized a gift-giving ceremony for poor households and households in difficult circumstances in Hung Thinh commune, including support for building 10 houses and supporting means of transport with 10 motorbikes, 100 bicycles for students to go to school; 10 scholarships, ...
The organization of the Ong Hoang Muoi Temple Festival aims to preserve and promote the traditional cultural values of the nation; to commemorate the merits of the gods, in which the main worshiped character is Ong Hoang Muoi. The festival also contributes to educating the love of homeland and country; the tradition of "remembering the source when drinking water" for all classes of people; at the same time, promoting the image of the homeland and people of Nghe An, rich in historical, cultural and revolutionary traditions, and Hung Nguyen district in particular. The organization of the festival also contributes to promoting spiritual cultural tourism activities and other economic sectors of the locality to develop according to Resolution No. 08-NQ/TW of the Politburo on Developing tourism into a spearhead economy./.
