Socialist Republic of Vietnam

In every Vietnamese’s mind, the Hung Kings' Temple Festival and Hung Kings’ Death Anniversary are a symbol of the nation’s spiritual and religious ethos and represent its unity.The festival not only allows visitors to participate in traditional cultural activities but is also a sacred pilgrimage back to the origins of Vietnamese culture. (video)

Hung Kings' Temple Festival - March 10th Lunar Calendar, date chosen as the Death Anniversary of the Hung Kings will be celebrated in many parts of the country. Hung Kings, according to legend,  founded Van Lang-Au Lac, the precursor to modern Vietnam.

Vietnamese from within and outside the country gather for the festival to show their respect and gratitude to their ancestors. As a local saying goes, a person drinking water must remember its source.

The official anniversary of the kings’ demise – the Vietnamese consider the kings of the dynasty as one legendary individual – kicked off Monday, the sixth day of the third lunar month, and lasts until Friday, April 7.

The main function is at the Hung Kings Temple Festival in Viet Tri, the capital of Phu Tho province near Hanoi, and its districts of Lam Thao and Phu Ninh.

The celebrations include folk games, painting shows, bronze drum beating performances, folk dances, and puppet shows.

The Hung Kings Festival 2006 will also feature troupes from the Republic of Korea, the Vietnam Opera and Ballet Theatre, and the military.

There will be an exhibition on artifacts discovered by archaeologists in Phu Tho and one on books written about the kings.

On Thursday there will be fireworks displays in Lam Thao and the Hung Kings Temple on Nghia Linh mountain, 85 km northwest of Hanoi.

Incense will be offered at 7am Friday at the Kinh Thien Palace, a sacred site in the temple complex.

The festival organizers have arranged tours, themed Returning to the Roots, to the province’s historic and cultural sites, such as Bach Hac (white crane) Temple, Hung Lo Temple, and Mother Au Co Temple, and to rural markets and traditional handicrafts villages.

In the south, Ho Chi Minh City will host this year’s Hung Kings Festival at the Suoi Tien Tourism Park Saturday

Themed Hung Kings journey back to legendary lands, the festival, featuring 36 troupes representing ethnic minorities across the country, is expected to attract 5,000 visitors.

It will also feature 10 professional kylin-lion-dragon dance troupes from the city who will stage shows based on Vietnamese legends and martial arts demonstrations.

The highlights will include a music show – Mung Hoi Non Song (Celebrating the national festival) – by artists of the Tay, Thai, H’mong, Cham, Khmer, K’ho, J’rai, E De, and Ba Na ethnic minority groups.

Since 1958 the festival has been growing to become one of the country’s largest. Last year, for the first time, the festival and death anniversary were celebrated nationwide.

Source:  Vietnam News Agency - Thanh Nien News – Compiled by Thu Thuy

Photo: Vietnam News Agency