Sacred Festival at King Mai Temple
In the festive atmosphere of the early days of the new spring, people from all over eagerly gather at the King Mai Temple festival to commemorate the merits of King Mai Thuc Loan and his generals, and to recall the heroic spirit of the uprising that defeated the northern invaders and established the independent Van An Kingdom...
(Baonghean)In the festive atmosphere of the early days of the new spring, people from all over eagerly gather at the King Mai Temple festival to commemorate the merits of King Mai Thuc Loan and his generals, and to recall the heroic spirit of the uprising that defeated the northern invaders and established the independent Van An Kingdom...
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From Vinh City, passing through Hung Nguyen district along Highway 46 towards Nam Dan, an unusually vibrant and bustling atmosphere prevails. Red flags with yellow stars flutter in the gentle early spring sunshine on both sides of the road. The center of Nam Dan town is filled with banners and slogans proclaiming, "Welcome to the King Mai Temple Festival 2009." Sa Nam market is busier than usual, with a wider variety of goods available.
Ms. Hang Nga (a tourist from Hanoi) said: "Coming to Nghe An at the beginning of Spring means visiting Uncle Ho's birthplace and the King Mai Temple. Previously, I used to buy offerings in Vinh, but today I tried Sa Nam market and found that the goods here are cheaper, and the vendors are friendly and accommodating..." It is known that Nam Dan district's development orientation is to invest heavily in tourism services. Besides the Kim Lien historical site – Uncle Ho's birthplace – the King Mai Temple festival is one of the district's important cultural and spiritual tourism destinations.
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This year's King Mai Temple Festival takes place over three days (from the 13th to the 15th of the first lunar month). This year, the People's Committee of Nam Dan district, in coordination with the Vietnam Institute of Culture, is organizing the restoration of several festivals that are rich in traditional cultural and religious identity of the Nghe An region.
Therefore, from the morning of the 13th, the temple grounds and the tomb of King Mai were crowded with tourists visiting, offering incense, and participating in folk games such as card games, cockfighting, wrestling, and sports like table tennis and men's and women's volleyball from 24 communes and towns. This year's ceremonial announcement took place simultaneously (at 3 PM) at three historical sites (the temple of King Mai, the tomb of King Mai, and the tomb of King Mai's mother).
This is also the first year that the Nam Dan District Youth Union, in coordination with the Department of Education and Training, organized the "Understanding the Life and Career of King Mai" competition, which took place at 7 PM at King Mai's tomb, between the Youth Union of Nam Dan 1 High School and the Youth Union of Sao Nam High School.
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At the boat dock near the cemetery on the 14th day of the lunar month, a traditional boat race took place. This year, 12 teams participated, making it one of the activities that attracted a large number of people. Mr. Nguyen Van Chien (an official from the Van Dien Commune People's Committee) enthusiastically said: "Every year, our Van Dien commune enthusiastically participates in all the festival activities. We consistently win first place overall in men's and women's volleyball and wrestling."
This year, the district's ceremonial team was tasked with organizing a competition to prepare sticky rice and chicken offerings (with 10 teams from Nam Dan town participating) to revive the ancient tradition of raising chickens for worship and preparing sticky rice for the offering. The requirements included a sticky rice offering weighing 4kg, which could be white sticky rice, gac fruit sticky rice, or bean sticky rice; the sacrificial chicken had to be a free-range chicken or a local breed, weighing 1-1.5kg, bright yellow with no spurs or newly sprouted spurs, a long neck, wide wings, well-proportioned legs, and a bright red comb with many notches. Each team presented their sticky rice and chicken offering according to their own ideas, but it had to be beautiful and deeply traditional. After the 10 sticky rice and chicken offerings were completed, the organizing committee would carry them to the Temple of King Mai for a grand ceremony, demonstrating respect when offering gifts to the King.
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The highlight of this year's King Mai Temple Festival was the solemn and respectful procession on the morning of the 14th day of the lunar month. There were six processions in total: leading the way was a dragon, lion, and horse dance troupe; followed by a musical group, a palanquin carrying ceremonial objects, and nine ceremonial flags (dressed in ceremonial attire); then the palanquin, the ceremonial objects, and nine flags (dressed in palanquin robes); next was a group of elderly people with nine flags (dressed in robes and headscarves); then a group of devout men and women from various temples and pagodas with nine flags (dressed in traditional long dresses); and finally, a group of students, local people, and visitors from all over. All gathered at the King Mai Mausoleum grounds to offer incense and pay respects to the national hero Mai Thúc Loan.
This is the first year that the festival organizers have included the incense offering ceremony commemorating King Mai as a main activity of the festival, according to a script by the Vietnam Institute of Literature and Arts, with the aim of strongly exploiting spiritual culture to attract more tourists to Nam Dan and to the festival.
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At the ceremony commemorating King Mai, Mr. Tran Dinh Huong (Chairman of the People's Committee of Nam Dan District) emphasized in his speech: "Organizing the 2009 King Mai Temple Festival is to commemorate the merits of King Mai and his generals, and to recall the heroic spirit of the uprising that defeated the northern invaders and established the independent Van An Kingdom; at the same time, to educate the people, especially the younger generation, about the nation-building and national defense efforts of our ancestors, increasing pride and love for our homeland. It also promotes the patriotic emulation movement among the people, linked to the campaign 'Studying and following the moral example of Ho Chi Minh'. Through this, we promote and introduce the King Mai historical site complex to attract investors and visitors to learn about and appreciate the cultural values through the temples, shrines, and tombs of King Mai."
Immediately following the incense offering ceremony, the grand sacrificial ceremony took place at the King Mai Temple. Festival activities such as volleyball, wrestling, card games, cockfighting, and swinging continued throughout the three days. The Nghe An Folk Song Theatre performed an excerpt from "Loan - Vai's Farewell" for the people on the night of the 14th of the lunar month at the King Mai tomb grounds. On the afternoon of the 15th of the lunar month, a thanksgiving ceremony was held simultaneously at three historical sites – successfully concluding a series of activities within the framework of the 2009 King Mai Temple Festival.
Thanh Thuy - Thanh Phuc