Attractive procession and boat racing at Thanh Liet Temple Festival

(Baonghean) - Thanh Liet Temple Festival, also known as the Mussel Procession Festival, is a long-standing cultural and religious activity of Thanh Liet village, Hung Lam commune (Hung Nguyen district).

The Thanh Liet Temple Festival usually begins early in the morning, with a procession on land from the sacred temple of the village to the alluvial ground along the Lam River. Then the procession proceeds to the water procession on a large fleet of fishing boats, which are tied together in a long row, decorated with colorful flags and flowers, along with sacrificial objects, trays of offerings, etc. Leading the procession is the boat owner, decorated with an altar for the water god. The boat carries the village elders, followed by boats carrying the palanquins of gods such as: Nguyen Bieu; Water King; Heavenly King; Sea God Hoang Ta Thon; Son Lieu Doc Cuoc; Mother Lieu Hanh... and finally, boats of people from areas such as Thanh Liet, Vung Ha, Phu Long, Phu Thach fishing villages in 2 communes of Hung Lam - Hung Nguyen district and Duc Tung commune, Duc Tho district, Ha Tinh province.

The climax of the procession on Lam River is the water god worship ceremony at the Lam River junction where Lam River (Nghe An) and La River (Ha Tinh) meet, also known as "Bai Phu", a very unique and mysterious collective spirit possession phenomenon to pray for fishermen to have a boat full of shrimp and fish, for mussels to thrive, etc. During the ceremony, around the procession are 2 dragon boats, each boat is occupied by 12 single men and 12 single women, wearing traditional costumes, swimming and singing Vi, Hat Giam, and responding to folk songs of Nghe An.

Prepare the boat procession.

The ceremony is held twice for 5 to 6 hours and ends with the procession of the god's palanquin back to the village temple and the grand ceremony. After the grand ceremony, the people enter the festival. The festival is no less attractive with folk games imbued with the colors of the river such as: swimming competition; prize-stealing competition, swimming across the Lam River, diving competition, rowing competition... The most attractive activity is still the boat racing activity, each boat has 12 rowers. Thanh Liet Temple Festival is a folk festival specialty rich in cultural identity, expressing the morality of "remembering the source when drinking water" and bearing the mark of the people of the river region. However, these cultural identities are at risk of being lost, requiring the participation of the government and the community to propagate, promote, preserve and develop...

Manh Ha

(Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism)