Ready to open Hoang Muoi Temple Festival

(Baonghean) - In early October of the lunar calendar, people in Hung Nguyen district and neighboring areas and tourists from all over the world eagerly attend the Hoang Muoi Temple Festival. This is an opportunity to express gratitude and admiration for the gods and ancestors who have protected and sheltered life, and also an opportunity for people and tourists from all over the world to exchange culture and express their spiritual wishes.

Hoang Muoi Temple was built during the Later Le Dynasty (17th century) in Xuan Am village, Hung Thinh commune; located in a prime location, in harmony with the natural landscape, behind is Dung Quyet mountain, Phuong Hoang Trung Do - where King Quang Trung chose as the Imperial capital; in front is the Moc river flowing through and then the Lam river, now there is a tourist road connecting several landscapes and relics. The temple is located on a land shaped like a giant crane's beak formed by the winding Moc and Vinh rivers, so the temple is also called "Mo Hac linh tu".

Tug of war competition at Ong Hoang Muoi Temple Festival. Photo: Thanh Thuy

Experiencing historical events, wars and natural disasters, the temple was severely damaged and was restored in the late 20th century. Currently, the temple has 3 main buildings, including the upper hall, the middle hall and the lower hall, along with other architectural works such as the ceremonial gate, the gate, the central platform, the lady's tower, the boy's tower, the left and right houses, the incense burner, and the mausoleum. In 2002, Hoang Muoi Temple was ranked as a historical and cultural relic by the People's Committee of Nghe An province. In order to continue preserving and promoting the value of the relic, on October 23, 2014, the People's Committee of Nghe An province issued a decision approving the Investment Project for the construction of the project: Preserving, embellishing and expanding the historical and cultural relic of Hoang Muoi Temple, Hung Nguyen District (phase 1). Thus, Hoang Muoi Temple will be expanded and embellished to be more spacious, worthy of the merits of the gods, meeting the spiritual needs of the people and visitors from all directions.

Boat racing at Hoang Muoi Temple Festival. Photo: Sy Minh

As is known, the main god worshiped at the temple is Hoang Muoi, according to Professor Vu Ngoc Khanh: "Hoang Muoi is a legendary figure but is close and familiar and is respected and worshiped by the people because he is very suitable for the psychology and style of Nghe An. A person worthy of respect must have a manly spirit, must be a hero, must have literary and martial talents, intelligence and courage. A person must know how to worry about the peaceful life of the people, must know how to work for the people, for life".

Therefore, when mentioning Quan Hoang Muoi, everyone from North to South admires him. Coming to Hoang Muoi Temple is first of all coming to the faith of goodness and the sacredness in spiritual life so that each of us can love our homeland more, appreciate the spiritual and cultural values ​​that have been built, preserved and promoted for generations, to always aim for the beauty of truth, goodness and beauty in our lives and in the community, thereby creating new cultural values. Currently, the temple still preserves 21 royal decrees bestowed by Vietnamese feudal dynasties.

Hoang Muoi Temple also worships the gods of fortune such as: Phuc Quan Cong Trinh Trung; Special Envoy to the Country, General Nguyen Duy Lac, a general of the Le Dynasty, from Xuan Am village, Hung Thinh commune; worships Song Dong Ngoc Nu and the system of the Four Palaces of Mother Goddess religion, whose leader is Mother Lieu Hanh.

The Hoang Muoi Temple Festival is an occasion to honor traditional cultural values, educate love for homeland, country and the morality of "When drinking water, remember its source". At the same time, this is an opportunity for visitors from all over to make a pilgrimage to Hung Nguyen, a land of outstanding people, rich in historical, cultural and revolutionary traditions; endowed by nature with mountains, airy and charming rivers, fertile fields, many famous landscapes and cultural and historical relics.

The Hoang Muoi Temple Festival takes place at the end of the year (9-10/10 lunar calendar), is a beautiful feature in the spiritual and cultural life, crystallized from good values. This year's Hoang Muoi Temple Festival is held on November 20-21 (9-10/10 lunar calendar) with traditional rituals: opening ceremony, proclamation, procession, great sacrifice and thanksgiving ceremony. The ceremony will be held solemnly and sacredly, showing respect and gratitude to the gods and praying for national peace and prosperity, favorable weather. The festival will be really exciting with a program of mass cultural exchange, sports competitions and folk games (boat racing, tug of war, cockfighting, physical games, men's volleyball).

People and tourists will enjoy the exchange program between the folk clubs with rustic but meaningful songs. The countryside space and daily life will be recreated so that everyone can feel the beauty of a peaceful countryside. Especially, the program of releasing flower lanterns on the Moc River will create a sparkling, magical atmosphere for the Hoang Muoi Temple Festival. People and tourists can release flower lanterns with their own hands, sending their wishes about life to the sacred world, which contains many good values, always guiding people to a humane life.

Mr. Ngo Phu Han - Chairman of Hung Nguyen District People's Committee said: "Hoang Muoi Temple Festival is one of the large-scale festivals in Hung Nguyen and Nghe An, even the whole country, attracting a large number of people and tourists to attend. With this year's festival, the preparation work has been completed, just waiting for the opening moment".

TUONG ANH