Thanh Liet Temple Festival (Hung Nguyen)

(Baonghean.vn) - On the morning of March 14, Thanh Liet village, Hung Lam commune, took place the Thanh Liet temple festival, also known as the mussel procession festival. This is a fishing festival of Thanh Liet villagers, closely associated with the river residents in the downstream of the poetic Lam River, held annually on the 6th day of the 2nd lunar month.

Early in the morning, the Thanh Liet Temple Festival begins with a palanquin procession from the village's sacred temple onto a large boat. The procession then proceeds to a large boat of fishermen. Surrounding the boat are two rowing boats with 26 young men and women.

Two rowing boats were preparing to sail around the procession boat. The rowers were young men and women.

This is one of the traditional ceremonies including activities such as the opening ceremony, the announcement ceremony, and the thanksgiving ceremony. The ceremony takes place on the river and at the temple. The procession of mussels on the river, maintained by the people of Hung Lam from the Later Le Dynasty to the present, creates a unique mark of the river countryside. The ritual of carrying the gods on the river is held respectfully. Villagers must take the boat to the confluence of the three rivers to report to the gods, praying for a prosperous life, favorable weather, full of mussels and fish on the river, and good crops.

Thanh Liet Temple Festival is a folk festival with rich cultural identity and bearing the mark of the people of the river region. In 1997, the Temple was ranked as a national art monument. Currently, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism is preparing a dossier to submit to the Ministry of Culture to recognize Thanh Liet Temple as a national monument.

Kieu Hoa

(Hung Nguyen Radio)