Sacred Festival of Ong Hoang Muoi Temple

(Baonghean) -Every year, in the 9th and 10th lunar months, people and tourists from all over the South and the North flock to the Ong Hoang Muoi Temple in Hung Thinh Commune, Hung Nguyen. This is considered the most important thanksgiving season of the year.

Mr. Hoang Muoi is a "Duc Thanh Minh" in the line of Hoang mandarins of the Dao Mau religion, admired by many people and worshiped in many localities in the country. He was assigned to manage spirituality - guarding a mountainous area along the Lam River, so the places worshiping the Four Palaces according to the Dao Mau Nghe An worship him, but only as a secondary worship. The main temple worshiping Mr. Hoang Muoi is in Hung Thinh commune - Hung Nguyen, the temple is called Xuan Am temple (after the place name of Xuan Am village) or Mo Hac Linh Tu (after the terrain of mountains and rivers according to feng shui theory).

The temple is located in a beautiful landscape with charming green mountains and blue water. In front of the temple (to the south) is the Lam Giang river like a wide green silk strip, boats bustling up and down the winding Con Moc river, embracing the temple, on both banks are immense, green rice fields. Behind, on the other side of the Con Moc river are Ky Lan mountain, Dung Quyet mountain and Phuong Hoang Trung Do with historical vestiges, lush pine and eucalyptus forests. In addition to the beautiful scenery, the temple has long been famous for its sacredness because in addition to worshiping Quan Hoang Muoi according to the Dao Mau religion, it also worships the Song Dong Ngoc Nu Vi Quoc Cong Thai Bao Phuc Quan Cong, Phu Quoc Thuong Tuong Quan Nguyen Duy Lac.

The temple was built during the Later Le Dynasty. Over time, the temple has deteriorated. In 1995, in response to the people's wishes, the temple was renovated and restored on the basis of the old house frame, including the lower hall, upper hall, left wing, right wing, Cua Trung platform, Co Chin temple and the tomb of Ong Hoang Muoi. Every year, at the temple, there is a royal edict procession festival on the 14th of March and the death anniversary of Ong Hoang Muoi on the 10th of October of the lunar calendar. This is a festival that goes beyond the scope of a village or a region, attracting many tourists from the South and the North to attend.

Tourists from all over come to attend the Ong Hoang Muoi festival (Hung Thinh commune,
Hung Nguyen). Photo: Sy Minh

The Ong Hoang Muoi Temple Festival takes place from the 8th to the 10th of the 10th lunar month, but before that, during the 9th and 10th lunar months, the temple has welcomed hundreds of visitors every day. The largest number of visitors are still from the northern provinces such as Hanoi, Cao Bang, Lang Son, Ninh Binh... Many visitors live far away and have to rent a room right in front of the temple to wait for the ceremony. Ms. Nguyen Thi Xuan Hoa - 59 years old, from Lang Son said: "Every year around the 9th and 10th lunar months, my whole family and friends invite each other to go to the Ong Hoang Muoi temple."

Mr. Nguyen Kim Khanh - Deputy Manager of Hoang Muoi Temple said: "This temple is famous for its sacredness, especially in recent years, in January, February, September, October - called Ong Hoang Muoi festival season, the temple attracts a large number of tourists and people to burn incense and perform ceremonies. The management board focuses on environmental sanitation inside and outside the temple. They have dismantled the rows of makeshift tents and stalls that spoil the beauty of the temple gate. In particular, this year, visitors to Ong Hoang Muoi Temple will no longer encounter fortune telling and palm reading as in previous years.

Like other traditional festivals, the Ong Hoang Muoi Temple Festival this year includes a ceremony and a festival. The ceremony includes the opening ceremony, the procession of the tablet and royal decree from Xuan Am village to the temple, the announcement ceremony, the great sacrifice ceremony and finally the thanksgiving ceremony. The festival includes folk games taking place on the 9th and 10th, attracting people in Hung Nguyen district to participate, such as volleyball tournaments between communes, sack jumping games, tug of war, cockfighting, cultural exchange and especially on the evening of the 9th at around 10pm, in front of the temple on the Con Moc River, there will be a flower lantern releasing ceremony. The lotus-shaped lanterns with red candles are released directly on the river by students of Pham Hong Thai Secondary School.

Along with the festivals in the province, Ong Hoang Muoi Temple Festival has a very important position in the spiritual life of the people, and is located in a beautiful landscape, both central and associated with the Lam Vien Nui Quyet tourist area, Ong Hoang Muoi Temple has been attracting more and more people inside and outside the province to come to offer incense and pray. With the admiration of the people for Quan Hoang Muoi and the unique landscape and environment, the Hoang Muoi Temple relic together with Quang Trung Temple, Quyet Mountain, Phuong Hoang Trung Do are attractive destinations in the Lam River tourism tour of Nghe An province.

Thanh Thuy