Phu Tho Hung Temple Festival

Hung Temple Festival is one of the most important cultural events of the Vietnamese people. On the day of the festival, thousands of people from all regions of the country flock to Hung Temple to participate in activities to remember and honor the Hung Kings.

Hung King's death anniversary is a traditional festival originating from the reign of King Le Thanh Tong. During the reign of King Le Kinh Tong in 1601, he chose the 11th and 12th days of the 3rd lunar month every year to commemorate his ancestors' death. Then, during the Nguyen Dynasty, the second year of Khai Dinh, the king officially chose the 10th day of the 3rd lunar month every year as the death anniversary of the Hung Kings to commemorate the contributions of the Hung Kings to building and defending the country, and at the same time remind descendants worship their ancestors. The festival is held at Hung Temple in Hy Cuong commune, Lam Thao district, Phu Tho province on the 10th day of the third lunar month. However, the festival will take place a week earlier with customs such as beating bronze drums of the Muong ethnic group, the pilgrimage to commemorate the Hung Kings of descendants across the country and ends on the 10th day of the 3rd lunar month. calendar.

Hung King's death anniversary will take place in two parts: the ceremony and the festival. The ceremony includes a palanquin procession and offering incense to the Thuong temple to commemorate the merits of the Hung kings. Our country holds major holidays in even-numbered years. The ceremony is solemnly prepared in the temples. There are two ceremonies held on that day: the buying palanquin procession and the incense offering ceremony. The palanquin procession with a variety of colors of flags, flowers, parasols, and palanquins with traditional costumes starts from the foot of the mountain, passing through temples one after another and the final destination is Thuong Temple for the incense offering ceremony. The incense offering ceremony is conducted by pilgrims from all over the country. People often come to Hung Temple for spiritual needs. Everyone who comes here sincerely lights incense sticks to show gratitude to the Hung Kings for their contributions in building the country.

After the main ceremony, the festival took place jubilantly and bustlingly. The festival has many folk games such as Xoan singing, a form of Phu Tho folk song with delicate lyrics, giving the Hung Temple festival its unique characteristics. There are also other games such as wrestling, tug of war, swimming... Today, the Hung Temple festival also has cultural exchanges between regions such as the exchange of bronze drums between the Muong people to pray for a year of good weather and peace.

Hung King's death anniversary is a beautiful custom in the spiritual life of Vietnamese people. Ancestor's death anniversary is a custom with beautiful features of great cultural and historical value that accompanies the development of the country. Therefore, for a long time, Phu Tho has been considered the holy land of the whole country, the cradle of the nation. After a long period of time with many ups and downs in the country's history, the country has always tried to organize and preserve this unique beauty to commemorate the first kings who founded the country. For Vietnamese children, the pilgrimage to their ancestral land shows their respect and desire to express their gratitude to their ancestors.

With extremely great values ​​and meanings, on December 6, 2012, Hung King's death anniversary was recognized by Unesco as a representative intangible cultural heritage of humanity by Unesco. .

Hung King's death anniversary is a major traditional festival of the festival nation. It contributes to making Vietnam's national culture more colorful and shows the love and remembrance of the Vietnamese people to those who openly founded the country.