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Party time: The opening day of the Huong Pagoda Festival, one of the major festivals in Viet Nam. — VNA/VNS Photo Quoc Khanh
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The annual event at Soc Temple is one of several festivals in the north to honour of Saint Giong, a legendary hero who is said to have defeated an army of foreign invaders.
Participants at the Soc Temple festivities took part in offerings to the saint, the moc duc ceremony, symbolising a cleansing process for the temple, and the bamboo procession, which celebrates Saint Giong's martial arts skills with a bamboo weapon used to defeat the invaders.
According to legend, Saint Giong was only three years old when the country was invaded by northern troops. When the infant Giong heard an official from the royal court calling for skilled warriors to defend the motherland, he magically grew in stature.
Last year, the Saint Giong festival was recognised by UNESCO as an example of the world's intangible heritage that should be preserved. It's one of several major festivals across the country during the onset of spring.
Other major festivals include the Huong Pagoda festival, which also started yesterday and features the largest annual pilgrimage of Vietnamese Buddhists.
Pilgrims from across the country flock to the Huong Son Pagoda, in Ha Noi's My Duc District, around 60km west of the city's centre, on the 6th day of the first month of the new lunar year.
The pagoda, built at the end of 17th century, is situated in an area of several important temples dedicated to local saints and agricultural gods on a banks of the Day River.
It is estimated that about 50,000 visitors attended the opening day of this year's festival, which lasts till the end of the third month of the lunar year (end of April). Last year, the number of pilgrims reached 1.3 million.
My Duc District People's Committee chairman Le Van Sang said the local authority had planned a safer and more bustling festival this year. Shops, advertisement banners and food stalls would be strictly controlled to offer the best service to visitors.
Environmental protection would also be enhanced by the pagoda's management board, which planned to process rubbish according to guidelines issued by the Ha Noi Natural Resources and Environment Department.
In other festivals across the north, people in Ha Nam Province begin celebrating the Tich dien (ploughing the rice field) festival today. The three-day festival commemorates the day King Le Dai Hanh ploughed a field to promote farming during the 10th century.
Provincial leaders will join farmers at the plough to open the festival today. Since this year, the festival will be organised annually and upgraded into a national-level event with participation from State leaders every five years.
"The Tich dien festival was a time when leaders of the nation was closer to the people," said Tran Quoc Hung, director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
"The noble tradition should be maintained."
Tens of thousands of visitors also converged on Dong Ky Village, Tu Son Town in the northern province of Bac Ninh, on Sunday in the traditional firecracker festival.
Four respected elders from each of the four hamlets in the village were selected to perform rituals and pray for good weather, bumper crops and prosperity.
The festival, which is organised on the fourth day of the first lunar month and lasts for three days, honours General Thien Cuong, who recruited young villagers to fire on the enemy and was later considered the tutelary god of the village.
Wrestling fest revives
Hundreds of tourists and local residents witnessed an annual traditional wrestling competition held in the central Thua Thien-Hue Province yesterday.
Scores of wrestlers from Thua Thien-Hue and Quang Tri provinces took part in the event held in Thu Le Village in Quang Dien District.
The Thu Le Wrestling Festival, begun by local residents more than 100 years ago, was revived recently after disappearing during the war.
The event will be followed by other festivities like the Princess Huyen Tran Festival in Huong Thuy District on February 11, the Sinh Village Wrestling Competition in Quang Dien District ûon February 12, and the Fish Praying Festival in Phu Vang District on February 14. — VNS
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