Nine-Chamber Temple Festival - A Newly Recognized National Intangible Cultural Heritage

(Baonghean.vn) - The Nine-Compartment Temple Festival is one of two cultural heritage sites of Nghe An province recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage. During the 2017 festival, the Que Phong district government widely announced...to inform the public about this special local event.

Attending the Nine-Compartment Temple Festival were Mr. Nong Quoc Thanh - Deputy Director of the Department of Cultural Heritage, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and Mr. Ho Mau Thanh - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Director of the Department of Culture and Sports of Nghe An province.

Mr. Nong Quoc Thanh - Deputy Director of the Department of Cultural Heritage, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, presents the certificate recognizing the Nine-Room Temple as an intangible cultural heritage to the representative of the Que Phong district government. Photo: Huu Vi.

Previously, in Decision No. 2067 QD-BVHTTDL dated June 13, 2016, the Nine-Compartment Temple Festival in Que Phong District, Nghe An Province, was included in the list of "National Intangible Cultural Heritage". The decision also announced that the Corn Temple Festival (Hoang Mai Town) also belongs to this list.

The ritual of bathing buffaloes at Ta Tao wharf at the foot of Phu Cho Nhang mountain. Photo: Ho Phuong.

The Nine-Chamber Temple Festival is a traditional cultural activity of the Thai community in the former Quy Chau district. The festival takes place in a temple with nine chambers, believed to have been built in the 14th century.

Each chamber served as a worship space for the nine Thai ethnic minority communities belonging to the present-day districts of Que Phong, Quy Chau, and Quy Hop.

The Nine-Room Temple is a place of worship for Pha (heaven) and those who contributed to the founding and preservation of the village, a land famous for its tradition of resisting foreign invaders by the Lam Son rebels in the 15th century and the Can Vuong movement with the name of General Lang Van Thiet in the 19th century.

The temple was restored in 1927 and renovated again by the local authorities in 2004.

The symbolic buffalo slaughtering ritual at the Nine-Room Temple Festival in 2017. Photo: Ho Phuong.

The Nine-Compartment Temple Festival used to take place every three years in the eighth lunar month, with temple worship rituals, most notably the buffalo sacrifice... In the past, each village had to sacrifice a buffalo during the festival. Traditional folk games such as tug-of-war, furrow carving, bamboo pole dancing, cockfighting... were indispensable activities in the festival.

This year, the organizing committee of the Nine-Compartment Temple Festival did not hold the sacrificial buffalo slaughtering ceremony as in previous years. This shows that the Nine-Compartment Temple Festival has said no to offensive rituals.

Cultural performances at the Nine-Room Temple Festival in 2017. Photo: Ho Phuong.

In 2006, the festival was revived on a larger scale. Since then, it has been held regularly from the 14th to the 16th of February in the lunar calendar. The festival takes place at the Nine-Room Temple on Phu Cho Nhang mountain in Chau Kim commune, Que Phong district (Nghe An province). This is not only a cultural and spiritual event for the nine villages but also attracts a large number of visitors from far and wide.

Although the festival activities were not held, this year's buffalo sacrifice ceremony still attracted a large number of local people to watch. Photo: Huu Vi.

At the announcement ceremony held on March 12, 2017, the Que Phong district government also launched an action program with the motto "to let people see themselves as both protectors and beneficiaries" of cultural heritage. In addition, the restoration of traditional rituals and folk games was also included as a goal of this action program.

Ho Phuong - Huu Vi