Ba Den Mountain Festival

The Spring Festival begins on January 4 and lasts throughout January with traditional revolutionary events and festivals, along with religious activities. The Via Ba Festival is held on three days, the 4th, 5th, and 6th of the lunar year. This is considered the most important festival in Ba Mountain.

Ba Den Mountain is located in Thanh Tan commune, Hoa Thanh district, Tay Ninh city, Tay Ninh province, 11km northeast of Tay Ninh city. Ba Den Mountain has many legends and folk beliefs.

The main deity worshiped on the mountain is Ba Den, also known as Linh Son Thanh Mau. She is worshiped at Dien Ba about halfway up the mountain.

All preparations for the Via Ba ceremony are held many days in advance so that in time for the night of the 3rd or 4th day of the 5th lunar month, the ceremony will be held to bathe the Lady and change her clothes. At this time, the electric door was closed, most of the candles were extinguished, leaving only 6 middle-aged women, including 3 nuns of the pagoda, to embark on the ritual of bathing the Lady's statue. Everyone came in front of the Lady's statue to light the incense ceremony. , asked permission to bathe and change her clothes. In the middle of the pilgrimage, under the direction of an older woman in the group, everyone shook hands and took off their coats on her statue during the past year, then passed around ladles of water cooked with aromatic leaves in the forest (later on). (with added perfume) sprinkled on the Lady statue and scrubbed clean. After pouring the water one last time, everyone uses clean, dry towels to dry the statue and replace it with a new set of clothes.

After bathing and changing her clothes, the women lit incense once, lit the candles again to make it brighter, then opened the palace doors wide to welcome good men and women to light incense and pray to her.

Throughout the day of May 4th, at Ba Palace, folk festival rituals take place including: Singing shadow puppets to invite, singing shadow tapping comedy "Dia Nang", dancing to offer flowers, offering five-colored trays, and toy dancing (Dance lu, water hyacinth dance, lily dance...).

May 5 is the official Mother's Day and also the most crowded day of the Nui Ba festival. The most important rituals on the 5th day are the "Ten Offering" ceremony. During this ceremony, people offer 10 dishes to her including: incense, lamps, fruits, tea, cakes, wine... Throughout this day, monks take turns chanting continuously in front of her altar.

The 6th day of May is reserved for worshiping ghosts, deceased souls, and offering sacrifices to the people. This day of worship is attended by monks, to recite prayers of repentance for the souls of unjust souls. Guests who came to attend entered the temple to continue praying and offering incense. In the afternoon, after the midday worshiping ceremony, there is a ceremony of donating salt. At night, the monks continued to pray for salvation for the people... In the following days, tourists continued to make pilgrimages to visit Ba Mountain and perform ceremonies at Dien Ba.

Nui Ba festivals during the year are attended by many tourists from inside and outside the province, along with religious and fun activities. The rituals in the Nui Ba festival are both religious and Buddhist in nature, expressing the people's wishes for a prosperous and peaceful life.

 

Time and location of the Ba Den Mountain Spring Festival in Tay Ninh

Time: From the 4th to the 16th of the first lunar month every year.

Location: Ba Den Mountain Historical Cultural - Scenic and Tourist Site, Thanh Tan commune, Hoa Thanh district, Tay Ninh city, Tay Ninh province.