Con Temple Festival, imbued with maritime culture

(Baonghean) - Every year on the 20th and 21st of January (lunar calendar), Con Temple Festival is held. This is one of the oldest traditional festivals in Nghe An, attracting tens of thousands of visitors from all over the country. The festival has a unique cultural identity, reflecting the daily life and folk beliefs of the people of Quynh beach.

Con Temple is located on Diec hill, on the bank of Mai Giang, close to Lach Con seaport in Phuong Can village, Quynh Phuong ward, Hoang Mai town. According to the genealogy, royal decree and historical documents such as: Dai Viet su ky toan thu, Dai Nam nhat thong chi, Viet dien U linh tap: Con Temple was built in 1235 under the Tran dynasty, to worship the Four Holy Ladies. The Holy Ladies were the three princesses of the Southern Song Dynasty, Tu Thi Thai Hau Duong Nguyet Qua, two princesses Trieu Nguyet Khieu, Trieu Nguyet Huong and their wet nurse. In the first year of Thieu Bao (1229), the Yuan army ambushed the Song army at Nhai Son, Truong The Kiet, Luc Tu Phu, loyal ministers of the Southern Song Dynasty, took King De Binh, his family and more than 800 soldiers on a boat to escape the sea. They were quickly pursued by the Yuan army but encountered strong winds and waves. The Southern Song king and his subjects drowned in the East Sea. The bodies of the three princesses drifted to Trap gate (Can gate). The people of Can village saw the bodies of drowned women with rosy faces, noble clothes, and a special scent like orchids and cinnamon, so they were surprised, so they buried them and built a temple to worship them. After that, every time they went out to sea to pray, they found it effective. From then on, the people named their locality Huong Can, also known as Phuong Can, now part of Quynh Phuong ward.

Boat racing at Con Temple Festival.

Dai Viet Su Ky Toan Thu and Dai Nam Nhat Thong Chi clearly recorded: “In the 19th year of Hung Long (1311), King Tran Anh Tong personally led the army to attack Champa. The army's boat arrived at Can Hai gate, also known as Con gate, Phuong Can commune, Quynh Luu district, and stopped to rest. At night, the king dreamed of a goddess crying and saying: I am a concubine of the Trieu Tong dynasty, forced by the enemy, encountered storms and waves and drowned, drifted to this place. God appointed me as the Sea Goddess here for a long time, now Your Majesty is leading the army, I ask for help to make achievements. Early the next morning, remembering, Tran Anh Tong invited the elders in the area to ask and then clearly understood the story, immediately went to the temple to pay respect. Leaving, the sea and sky were calm, the king led his army straight to Cha Ban citadel and won a great victory. The following year, the king returned and built a tiled temple, worshiped all four seasons and was conferred the title of National Nam Hai Dai Can Thanh Nuong”.

Announcement Ceremony at Con Temple Festival. Photo: TC

During the Le Dynasty, the people of Phuong Can (Quynh Phuong) built an additional temple on Than Lan Mountain, close to the coast to worship the monk who had taken care of the three Queen Mother Duong and her children, King De Binh, the generals and entourage... In the first year of Hong Duc, 1470, King Le Thanh Tong led his army to pacify the South, also stopped at Xuoc port to rest, reorganize the troops and enter the temple to worship. After winning the battle, the king and his subjects planned to march straight to Thang Long, but as soon as they reached the seaport, the Northeast wind blew, and the fleet had to enter Con port at the foot of the temple to take shelter from the wind. Le Thanh Tong was surprised, so he granted more gifts, had statues carved, built several more temples and wrote royal poems.

Under the Le Dynasty, then the Nguyen Dynasty, the temple was renovated, repaired and rebuilt many times, so the architectural style, the arrangement of sacrificial objects, the carving of dragons, phoenixes... have the cultural style of the late Le Dynasty and early Nguyen Dynasty, although the temple was built during the Tran Dynasty. In September 1966, Con Temple was destroyed by American bombs, damaging the three main worshiping halls and many valuable sacrificial objects. Currently, only the main gate and the singing and dancing hall remain. The temple still preserves many old statues and sacrificial objects of historical, cultural and religious value. Con Temple is associated with sacred legendary stories passed down among the people and festivals imbued with Vietnamese cultural identity, increasingly attracting tourists from all over the world to visit, research and practice religious activities.

Previously, the Con Temple Festival was held annually by the people to pray for a year of calm weather, calm seas, good seafood catches, good fortune, and peace; it was a traditional folk cultural activity imbued with the local character of coastal villages in Quynh Luu. During the years of resistance against the US, the festival was not held and was not restored until 1999. With such great values, on January 29, 1993, the Ministry of Culture and Information issued Decision No. 68/QD - BVHTT recognizing Con Temple as a National Historical - Cultural Relic, along with that, many items of the temple were recreated and restored to be more spacious.

In 2013, Hoang Mai Town was established, Con Temple, Quynh Phuong Commune according to the Government's decision is located within the administrative boundaries of the town. Although Hoang Mai Town has just been established and experienced a historic flood with many losses and difficulties. However, with the efforts and determination of the town's leaders and people, this year's Con Temple Festival is still maintained and organized with new, unique and magnificent games. According to the policy of Hoang Mai Town: Con Temple Festival is still an agricultural festival, mainly praying for fish and with the organization of exciting activities, aiming to preserve and promote cultural values ​​as well as create important highlights for tourism development, inviting tourists to visit historical and cultural relics, and sea tourist attractions.

To prepare well for the Con Temple Festival and the opening of Hoang Mai Town tourism in 2014, this year the Town People's Committee has established an organizing committee and subcommittees to ensure discipline and solemnity. The subcommittees of content and propaganda; rituals; security, health; logistics, reception are responsible for developing a master plan, preparing content, programs, implementing propaganda and promotion work... to help the organizing committee fulfill its assigned tasks. Mr. Nguyen Van Binh, Deputy of the Festival Organizing Committee, Head of the Town's Culture and Information Department, said: "Compared to previous years, this year's Con Temple Festival is still organized with 2 main parts: The ceremony includes the opening ceremony, the announcement ceremony, the opening ceremony - the new ceremony, the fish praying ceremony, the rite ceremony, the ceremony of giving the position, the great ceremony and the thanksgiving ceremony; The festival includes a photo exhibition, an art program, a bird singing contest to welcome spring, competitions in sports such as boat racing, stick pushing, volleyball, tug of war and traditional local folk games. This year, the Con Temple Festival has new and unique features and is organized more systematically. That is, the town also restored and re-staged the custom of carrying elephants and horses that had been lost and forgotten 40-50 years ago. According to folk beliefs, elephants and horses always bring luck and peace. In the past, the Holy Mother often sat on statues and horses to travel in spring."

In addition, to ensure that people and tourists can enjoy the festival safely, economically, and ensure order in sacred places, the Organizing Committee has also increased security forces, police forces to regulate and guide vehicles in and out of designated areas. In particular, the People's Committee of Hoang Mai Town is determined to eliminate gambling, pirated books, and soliciting tourists. Begging in front of and in the area of ​​Con Temple will not be allowed to occur. This year, the Organizing Committee also held a contest to select two separate teams to write petitions and interpret cards. The members of these two teams must have experience, serve people and tourists politely, thoughtfully, and not engage in profiteering or negativity.

Lieutenant Colonel Duong Phuc Dinh, Chief of Quynh Phuong Ward Police, where the festival takes place, said: “To ensure that people and tourists can enjoy the spring festival and the Con Temple festival safely, happily and economically, we have developed a plan to present to the leaders several weeks ago. Not only have we increased our forces, but Quynh Phuong Ward Police also closely coordinate with Hoang Mai Town Police and the militia to patrol and monitor, absolutely not allowing gambling, fortune telling, begging, or soliciting tourists. With the participation of the entire political system and careful preparation, this year's Con Temple Festival will certainly be a great success.”

Trieu Duong - Thanh Chung