Pilgrimage from midnight to the homeland

On the morning of April 28 (March 10th of the lunar calendar), millions of people gathered at the gates leading to the Hung Temple relic site (Phu Tho) waiting for the leaders to finish offering incense, then they could light incense.

After 8 o'clock, the barrier opened, the first people ran as fast as they could to the temple to avoid the crowd that was rushing towards them. The children were carried on their father's neck to ease their breathing. The elderly were carefully led by their relatives. Small and large offerings were carried on the heads of the tourists to join the crowd going to the Lower Temple. Many tourists could not stand the crowd and had to return to the foot of the temple.

It is estimated that more than 2 million people attended the ceremony.Hung Temple on the morning of the 10th day of the 3rd lunar month. Although crowded, there was no jostling or trampling. Photo: Quynh Trang.

According to the organizers' estimates, on the main day of the Hung Kings' Commemoration Day - Hung Temple Festival, there were about 2 million pilgrims. To avoid congestion, security forces set up a barrier to separate the crowd into groups and constantly reminded people to be aware.

"It's too crowded, but that's what is called going to a festival. People jostle a bit but it's still very civilized, no pushing or shoving each other," the man with sweat on his forehead said with a smile as he carried his granddaughter on his back amid the crowd inching up to the Ha temple.

Present at Hung Temple since 5am, Ms. Van (Hanoi) said that at 3am, her whole family of 11 members went to the temple. The oldest person in her family is 60 years old, the youngest is only 5 years old. "Every year we go to Hung Temple to pray for peace and luck for the whole family. Every year, we went late and saw that it was too crowded, so this year the whole family decided to make the pilgrimage early to avoid traffic jams. Unexpectedly, we had to wait until 8-9am to enter, making it even more crowded," Ms. Van said. Renting 2 mats for 20,000 VND each, Ms. Van's whole family took advantage of the opportunity to sleep and rest on the hill of trees in front of the temple gate.

Children are carried high up by their families to avoid suffocation in the crowded festival crowd. Photo: Quynh Trang.

6 members of Mr. Binh's family in Hoai Duc (Hanoi), 4 siblings of Ms. Huong (Hoa Binh) also went to the temple at 3am. This year, the organizing committee did not allow people to perform the ceremony at night to ensure security for the high-ranking leaders who came to offer incense at 7am, so many families had to wait in front of the entrance to the Ha temple. This morning the weather was cool so everyone happily waited.

With the hope of burning incense at all the altars in the relic site, Nguyen Thi Thao's family (Thach That, Hanoi) arrived at the festival at 7 p.m. yesterday, April 27. The motels around the temple were full, so 10 members of Thao's family spread out their sleeping clothes to spend the night in an octagonal house in the parking lot. "It's very cold. This is the first time I've been to Hung Temple," said Quynh Anh (15 years old), Thao's daughter.

Ms. Luu Thi Loc (77 years old, Viet Tri, Phu Tho) brought her 3 grandchildren aged 12-15 years old on a pilgrimage to remind them of their roots. For her, Hung Temple is a sacred and familiar place and the pride of her homeland: "There are many temples in the country, but nowhere are there as many tourists coming to worship as here. The President also came to burn incense respectfully," Ms. Loc said.

Due to her old age and weak legs, Mrs. Loc planned to only climb to Gieng Temple to burn incense. However, her three granddaughters were very excited to "carry her around Hung Temple."

Many people took advantage of the opportunity to sleep outside on the tree-lined hill or in the octagonal house in front of the entrance to the Ha Temple while waiting to offer incense. Photo: Quynh Trang.

The crowd of people flocking to the main festival was so large that in just two hours on the morning of March 10, dozens of children who had lost their relatives were taken by security forces to the contact support center. Some cases reported lost belongings.

After March 10, the Hung Temple Festival will end after 6 days. The organizers estimate that about 7-8 million people will attend the festival.

According to VNE