Bach Ma Temple Festival is rich in cultural identity
Bach Ma Temple (Thanh Chuong District) is one of the four most sacred temples in Nghe Tinh region: "First Con, second Qua, third Bach Ma, fourth Chieu Trung". The annual festival at the temple has become a unique spiritual and cultural activity for local people and tourists from all over. The Bach Ma Temple Festival in 2025 will be held by Thanh Chuong District on March 8 and 9 (ie February 9 and 10, At Ty).
Plum Blossom• 07/03/2025
Bach Ma Temple (Thanh Chuong District) is one of the four most sacred temples in Nghe Tinh region: "First Con, second Qua, third Bach Ma, fourth Chieu Trung". The annual festival at the temple has become a unique spiritual and cultural activity for local people and tourists from all over. The Bach Ma Temple Festival in 2025 will be held by Thanh Chuong District on March 8 and 9 (ie February 9 and 10, At Ty).
Located in the southwest of Nghe An province, Thanh Chuong district is a rural area rich in cultural, historical and revolutionary traditions. There are currently 457 relics in the area inventoried and protected by the province; of which 73 are ranked (14 national relics, 59 provincial relics; notably Bach Ma temple).
Bach Ma Temple is located in Ha Luong village, Kim Bang commune, on the road connecting Ho Chi Minh trail to President Ho Chi Minh's hometown (Kim Lien commune, Nam Dan district), about 41km from Vinh city and about 4km from Ho Chi Minh trail. Bach Ma Temple is the place to worship General Phan Da, Hoa Luong Van Dao Tuong Quan and Thiet Cuong Anh Qua.
General Phan Da was born in the early 15th century, in a fishing family along the Lam River, in Chi Linh village, Tho Du district (now Minh Tan village, Kim Bang commune, Thanh Chuong district). Phan Da was intelligent, handsome, good at martial arts and archery, so the people called him "the strange boy". When there was a foreign invasion, he gathered the insurgents to practice day and night.
In 1418, Le Loi raised the flag of uprising in Lam Son (Thanh Hoa), then returned to Nghe An to build a base against the Ming invaders. General Phan Da brought his forces to join the Lam Son insurgents and, together with local militiamen, enthusiastically participated in many battles to destroy the enemy. Phan Da was a brave and resourceful general who "charged into the battle as if charging into an empty place", making the enemy many times terrified. When going into battle, Phan Da often wore white armor and rode a white horse, so the people often called him "The White Horse God".
In a battle, suddenly ambushed, General Phan Da was seriously injured, carried back by horse, and breathed his last breath near Vo Liet in Cong Trung, Lai Thanh (now Trung Thanh village, Kim Bang commune, Thanh Chuong district). His body was buried by termites, very responsive, believed to help the people and generals in protecting the border, so the people built a temple to worship him.
In 1428, Le Loi ascended the throne, and in recognition of General Phan Da's contributions, he provided money and assigned the local people to build a majestic and splendid temple and organize annual ceremonies; at the same time, he bestowed the title "Do Thien Dai De Bach Ma Thuong Dang Phuc Than". Later feudal dynasties continued to bestow more than 100 royal decrees on the god Bach Ma and honored him as "Thuong - Thuong - Thuong Dang Toi Linh Ton Than".
Bach Ma Temple also marked many important historical events. In the 6th year of Quang Thuan (1465), King Le Thanh Tong himself visited the temple and performed a ceremony here on his way to conquer the South. In the 30th year of Canh Hung (1770), Duke Bui The Dat performed a ceremony on his way to fight the enemy and due to the response, all battles between the king and the duke were great victories.
During the revolutionary movement of 1930-1931, Bach Ma Temple was used to organize secret activities of the Vo Liet Commune Farmers' Association. In 1945, the people of Vo Liet commune gathered at the temple before going to the district office to overthrow the feudal colonial government and many important events of the Thanh Chuong people in the two resistance wars against French colonialism and American imperialism.
Comrade Dang Van Hoa - Head of the Department of Culture, Science and Information of Thanh Chuong district shared: “Bach Ma Temple is not only a place associated with the legend of General Phan Da and the generals who sacrificed for the country in the 15th century; but also a symbol of patriotism, a place to educate the tradition of "remembering the source when drinking water" for generations. This is also a tangible cultural work with many unique historical and cultural values. Every year, the government and people of Thanh Chuong always pay attention to restoring and preserving ancient and unique architecture and art and many rare documents, artifacts and sacrificial objects. It is because of the special historical, architectural and cultural values of the temple that the Ministry of Culture - Information (now the Ministry of Culture - Sports and Tourism) ranked it as a "National Historical - Cultural - Architectural Artistic Relic", in Decision No. 226/QD-BT dated February 5, 1994.
In addition to its historical and cultural value, Bach Ma Temple is a place where cultural and spiritual activities of local people and tourists take place. Ms. Nguyen Thi Xuan Mai - a native of Thanh Chuong who is currently living in Ho Chi Minh City said: "Every year when I return to my hometown, my family spends time going to Bach Ma Temple to make offerings; in the years when I cannot return, I ask my relatives to come and offer incense and offerings to the saints and gods at the temple to pray for peace for the family and for everyone's life to improve."
At Bach Ma Temple, a large-scale cultural activity takes place every year, which is the Bach Ma Temple Festival, held on the 9th and 10th of the second lunar month. The Bach Ma Temple Festival in 2025 will be held on the 8th and 9th of March (ie the 9th and 10th of February At Ty). The festival consists of two parts: the ceremony and the festival. The ceremony consists of ancient solemn rituals, including the opening ceremony at Bach Ma Temple; the incense offering ceremony at Phan Da's tomb, in Long Bien hamlet, Kim Bang commune; the incense offering ceremony at Phu Ngoai - Minh Tan hamlet, Kim Bang commune; the palanquin procession; the proclamation ceremony, the god worship ceremony and the thanksgiving ceremony at Bach Ma Temple.
As for the festival, Thanh Chuong district organized many exciting cultural and sports activities, including men's volleyball competition; women's tug of war; folk games: wrestling, pot smashing, stilt walking, throwing balls... Within the framework of the festival, there will also be a contest for elegant female students of the Bach Ma Temple Festival in 2025; organizing booths to display OCOP products and local specialties; displaying digital transformation booths...
Comrade Trinh Van Nha - Deputy Secretary of the District Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Committee of Thanh Chuong District affirmed: Through organizing festival activities, we aim to arouse the martial spirit and solidarity of all classes of people; at the same time, create a healthy and beneficial cultural space for people and tourists from all over. The activities also contribute to preserving the cultural values imbued with the identity of the nation and homeland of Thanh Chuong. The most special activity in the festival is the wrestling. This activity not only recreates the way General Phan Da recruited soldiers, but also has a profound symbolic meaning about the custom of worshiping the Sun of the rice-growing agricultural population.
According to legend, in the 15th century, Phan Da joined Le Loi's army, was assigned to govern the Tho Du region and recruited local men, strong and agile young men to fight the enemy. In order to select young men who had all the elements: strength, intelligence, courage, agility, and dexterity to join the army to fight the enemy, he came up with a relatively simple but quite effective form of recruitment, which was to organize a wrestling competition.
Previously, Bach Ma Temple Festival organized all three forms of cu gong, cu dong and cu nuoc. Now the festival only organizes cu gong wrestling; that is, at both ends of the field, each side digs a hole 50cm x 50cm deep, with a festival flag placed on top. Each match lasts about 15 minutes, each team has 7 people participating in cu gong and cu wrestling (round cu - made from banana roots). The teams try to put the cu gong into the opponent's hole without hugging or wrestling the opponent. Each cu match is truly a battle of wits, a battle of strength and a display of the ingenuity and solidarity of the two teams. With its typical value, Bach Ma Temple Festival was included in the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism under Decision No. 2969/QD-BVHTTDL dated August 27, 2019.
In the process of building and developing the country, our Party and State always attach importance to and clearly identify the value of cultural heritage as one of the factors that create the national cultural identity, a resource for building and developing the country. The organization of the Bach Ma Temple Festival in 2025 with many unique cultural activities, continues to contribute to preserving and promoting the spiritual cultural values of the nation, arousing the spirit of solidarity for the development goal of the homeland and the country".
Comrade Trinh Van Nha - Deputy Secretary of District Party Committee, Chairman of Thanh Chuong District People's Committee
