Gam Temple Festival and the formation of cultural values

(Baonghean) - During 3 days: March 24, 25, 26, the Gam Temple - Pagoda Festival took place. A large number of tourists, local residents, spring visitors, pagoda visitors, Buddhists from various monasteries gathered at the Buddha's gate, immersed in the festival activities imbued with traditional cultural values. And the special thing about the Gam Temple - Pagoda Festival is that there are no scenes of chaotic selling, rubbish, burning of votive papers and begging...

The imprint of the ideology "Three religions have the same origin"

Gam Temple - Pagoda in Xuan Thanh Commune, Yen Thanh District has long been a famous spiritual cultural cluster. Here, there is a meeting and convergence of beliefs and religions, becoming the religious center of a large residential area. According to historical records, Gam Temple worships gods who have contributed to protecting the country and protecting the people: Cao Son, Cao Cac, Sat Hai Dai Vuong Hoang Ta Thon, Tam Toa Dai Vuong, Tu Vi Thanh Nuong. Gam Temple (also known as Chi Linh Temple) has an architectural style, sculptures, patterns and motifs that are identified as Buddhist architectural works of the Truc Lam sect. Gam Temple - Pagoda exists on a land rich in the tradition of studiousness, loyalty to the king and patriotism in the spirit of Confucianism.

Thus, since ancient times, this place has had a spirit of religious harmony, which is the embodiment of the idea of ​​the Three Religions of the Same Origin - a traditional cultural identity of the Vietnamese people. And today, that identity is clearly reflected through the Gam Temple - Pagoda Festival. Over the 3 days of the festival, many different rituals and activities are organized in a harmonious way. Buddhist beliefs, Taoist beliefs, and Confucian beliefs go hand in hand, blending with the folk beliefs of the village, enriching and making the festival unique.

During the festival days, Gam Pagoda regularly prepares from 3 to 5 thousand vegetarian meals for Buddhists, tourists and local residents coming to the festival. At the peak, up to 5.5 thousand people stayed to eat vegetarian meals at the pagoda (noon on March 26, 2013, the 15th day of the second lunar month of Quy Ty). Visitors to the Gam Temple - Pagoda Festival can learn about the history of Buddhism, learn about Buddhist teachings, attend the flower lantern festival, pray for peace and salvation, and participate in Buddhist and Taoist activities. At the same time, they can participate in activities and games rich in martial spirit, patriotism, love for the homeland and people. The idea of ​​"Three religions have the same origin" is also an important factor creating the spirit of solidarity, joining hands and hearts to build a cultural life, and build a peaceful and prosperous homeland. Coming to the festival, each person can also find peace, tranquility, compassion, joy and forgiveness, and at the same time be self-reflected, reminded and advised to realize many things about virtue, dignity, personality and the meaning of life.

A corner of Gam Pagoda Photo: Ho Cac

Rich in folk colors

This year's Gam Temple - Pagoda Festival seems to have the coexistence of the past and the present, the interweaving of cultural layers from the past that are still present in today's life. The games and folk activities taking place during the 3 main festival days are always packed with people. The festival grounds are always bustling with 2 wrestling competitions: traditional wrestling and open freestyle wrestling. The wrestling arenas always resound with cheers, encouragement, tension and excitement mixed with admiration because this year there is the participation of not only wrestlers in the region but also wrestlers from Nam Dan, Dien Chau... Folk games such as: walking on monkey bridges across ponds, playing chess, tug of war, pushing sticks, swinging... attract the participation of all ages, always filled with cheers and excitement.

Visitors to the festival witnessed the drum artists performing many rich and talented pieces of music. Next was the performance of the ancient opera - an indispensable part of the festivals in Gam village. The performance of 22 Ke Gam opera artists was enthusiastically received by visitors because the actors were farmers, workers and civil servants living in Gam village. Through the ancient opera Tran Binh Trong, the "village artists" "burned themselves out" to vividly recreate the heroic spirit of Dong A, patriotism, self-reliance and national pride. After each opera, each good song was followed by cheers of appreciation, showing the exchange between the performers and the audience.

Coming to the festival, local people and visitors from all over the world can participate in the solemn and grand main ceremonies with the participation of up to tens of thousands of people such as: the procession of the national flag, the Buddha flag, Uncle Ho's picture; the procession of the Buddha, the Three Great Kings and the Four Holy Ladies, Cao Son, Cao Cac, Sat Hai Dai Vuong, the ancestors of the great clans in the village, the divine horse of Gam temple... from Gam mountain to the pagoda - Gam temple for the ceremony. Attending the flower lantern festival, lighting candles and praying for peace, the prayer ceremony presided over by Venerable Thich Truc Thong Kien - Abbot of Gam pagoda (Chi Linh Tu); attending the opening ceremony, proclamation, great sacrifice, and thanksgiving ceremony at Gam temple presided over by the ritual committee of the 9 great clans in Gam village.

Drum beating competition at Gam Temple Festival - Photo: Ho Cac

What makes this year's Gam Temple - Pagoda Festival a success that few festivals have is that there is no littering, no stalls with messy banners and posters, no beggars in the temple - pagoda area and festival grounds; no loudspeakers turned up at full volume, no donation boxes set up everywhere, no selling and burning of votive offerings, no games and stalls with the appearance of a fair in the temple area and festival area... Mr. Thai Huu Hoa, a resident of Gam village, confided: Local people do not consider this an opportunity to do business, but even consider this an opportunity to contribute merit, effort and time to participate in the village festival, to promote and introduce the village festival. The local government has mobilized and thoroughly prevented the phenomenon of taking advantage of the festival for business, and the manifestations of "commercialization" of the festival.

Teacher Van Anh, a tourist from Hung Binh Ward, Vinh City, commented: Truly, the 2013 Temple - Pagoda Gam Festival is where tourists and villagers come to enjoy the festival in the true sense. I, like many others, come to the Temple - Pagoda Gam Festival to return to our roots, to return to our spiritual needs, to find there the serenity of ourselves, and at the same time feel the connection and honor the strength of the community through community activities imbued with the cultural identity of the rice-growing agricultural region. When people return to traditional culture seriously and sincerely, that is also the time when people express and practice a civilized lifestyle in community activities voluntarily.

Venerable Thich Truc Thong Kien - abbot of Gam Pagoda, said: "This year is the third year of restoring the Temple - Gam Pagoda Festival. Through 3 times of organizing the festival, it shows that this is a very rich land. It is rich in cultural traditions, rich in beliefs, rich in kindness. It feels like in the past few days no one wants to leave the festival. People of Gam village and neighboring areas, almost every house, every person came to the festival. On the day of the procession of Buddha and the gods, tens of thousands of people from all directions poured out, joining the procession, full, crowded, stretching from Gam village, through 3 fields, up to Gam mountain, but very orderly and serious. Coming to the festival, everyone has joy, so everyone is conscious of contributing to the common success. That is the spirit of ownership, of being the true subject. During the days of the festival, all social classes participated but there was no chaos. Here, the traditional festival culture is being shaped. Traditional values ​​are aroused, New values ​​are formed. In fact, festivals are a good opportunity to shape and multiply good cultural values.

Talking to us about the success of the Gam Temple - Pagoda Festival in 2013, comrade Quynh Anh - Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism briefly said: "There are many factors contributing to the success of the Gam Temple - Pagoda Festival. But the decisive factor is the participation of the people, especially the indigenous people with a high sense of responsibility to protect and preserve traditional culture, civilized lifestyle as well as self-respect and pride in their origins and homeland. When all people participate and are educated and propagated to imbue such awareness, and the people are the subject of the festival, the festival is truly successful. In festival activities, the government should not do it for the people. The government only needs to guide, propagate, educate, manage, inspect and supervise. The Yen Thanh government has done that, and the Gam Temple - Pagoda Festival has truly been successful.

Ngo Kien