Keo Festival Announced as National Intangible Cultural Heritage

Attending the event were Nong Quoc Thanh, Deputy Director of the Department of Cultural Heritage, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism; Member of the Standing Committee of the City Party Committee, Chairman of the Inspection Committee of the Hanoi City Party Committee Hoang Trong Quyet.

Central and City leaders and people of Kim Son commune, Gia Lam district attended the ceremony.

Highlights of Keo village festival

At the ceremony, Vice Chairman of Gia Lam District People's Committee Truong Van Hoc - Head of the Organizing Committee said that, implementing the Resolution of the 17th City Party Congress, Resolution of the 22nd Gia Lam District Party Congress, term 2020 - 2025, in recent years, Gia Lam district has always paid attention to investing in restoration, preservation and promotion of cultural heritage values ​​in the area, in which special attention is paid to preserving the system of existing historical relics and the system of intangible cultural heritages that make up the soul of the heritage, creating a unique mark on Gia Lam land.

Keo village festival, Giao Tat hamlet, Kim Son commune is held annually from the 6th to the 8th of the 4th lunar month, with practice space at the relics in the area: Keo communal house, Dan communal house, Bang communal house and Keo pagoda.

The traditional festival of Keo village was born very early, associated with the worship of Thanh Hoang god, the patron god of Keo village community, General Dao Phuc and Princess Tien Anh, who had the merit of working with the great general Ly Thuong Kiet to establish a defense line on Nhu Nguyet river, defeating the invading Song army; helping the king defeat the invading Champa army.

Deputy Director of the Department of Cultural Heritage, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nong Quoc Thanh presented the National Intangible Cultural Heritage certificate to officials and people of Kim Son commune.

In addition to worshipping Thanh Hoang, Giao Tat people are also deeply influenced by the cultural layers of Buddhism. Keo village has Keo pagoda with the word name Bao An Trung Nghiem Tu, worshiping Phap Van Buddha also known as Ba Keo. Keo village's traditional festival is a harmony of beliefs and religions. Through many generations, Keo villagers still preserve the precious traditional cultural values ​​of their ancestors. This is the most important cultural and spiritual event of the year for local people.

Keo village festival is respected by the community, passed down and preserved through generations, expressed in each content of the festival, not "scripted" but smooth in every detail, connecting to create a unique, distinctive and distinctive cultural feature. From the selection of characters participating in the festival such as: the chief celebrant, the palanquin bearer, the flag bearer, the gong bearer... to the names of the palanquins: the First palanquin (to carry the Buddha), the Second palanquin (to carry the Saint), the Long Ma palanquin and especially the unique rituals of the festival: "putting on the Buddha's robe", winning the palanquin, "the ritual of the Gods welcoming the Buddha"... and the parallel activities taking place with the rituals: running the palanquin, worshiping ancestors (the Buddha palanquin turns its head towards the Luy Lau Pagoda (Phuc Nghiem Tu Pagoda) in Man Xa village, Ha Man commune, Thuan Thanh district, Bac Ninh province - the place to worship Buddha Mother Man Nuong, the mother who gave birth to the Four Great Buddha Dharmas of Luy Lau land), crawling under the palanquin (people and tourists from all over jostle to get through the Buddha palanquin once) and the traditional horse race taking place on the 8th day of the 4th lunar month.

With the unique and typical cultural values ​​of the festival, after the process of Kim Son Commune People's Committee and Gia Lam District People's Committee completing the proposal dossier, organizing scientific seminars, collecting opinions on the examination and appraisal of relevant levels and sectors, Keo village festival, Kim Son commune was certified by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage in Decision No. 370/QD - BVHTTDL dated February 21, 2024.

Premises for developing Kim Son commune into a ward

Along with preserving and promoting the values ​​of historical and cultural relics; implementing the Party and State's policies on building new rural areas (NR) and advanced NTM, immediately after Gia Lam district completed NTM construction in 2018, the Standing Committee of the District Party Committee identified the work of building advanced NTM and model NTM as an important key political task that needs to be focused on and directed resolutely and has achieved important results. Up to now, in Gia Lam district, 20/20 communes have met advanced NTM standards, of which 5 communes have met model NTM standards, exceeding the target set by the Resolution of the 22nd District Party Congress.

Chairman of the Hanoi Party Committee's Inspection Committee Hoang Trong Quyet awarded the Certificate of recognition of the title of commune meeting advanced NTM standards to Kim Son commune, Gia Lam district.

In the overall achievements of the district, there is an important contribution of Kim Son commune. Determining the goal of building advanced new rural areas is to improve the living standards and enjoyment of the people, the Party Committee, government and people of Kim Son commune have seriously grasped and deeply understood the major policies of the Party and State, mobilizing the total strength of the entire political system from communes, villages to the people with high determination to build advanced new rural areas in the period of 2021-2025. After 7 years of implementation, from the time when only 10/19 criteria were achieved, 5 basic criteria were achieved, 4 criteria were not achieved in 2016, by 2023, Kim Son commune has completed, basically completed 19/19 criteria of advanced new rural areas.

Accordingly, up to now, the average income per capita of people in the commune has reached over 71.5 million VND/person/year; the commune has no poor households; 100% of main roads and inter-village roads are hardened, concreted, and paved with asphalt; 100% of alleys over 2m wide have lighting; 100% of 3-level schools meet national standards; Commune health stations have met the standards prescribed by the Ministry of Health; 100% of villages have cultural houses serving community cultural activities, achieving the title of "cultural" village; over 95% of people participate in health insurance; 100% of rural households use clean water that meets standards. The appearance of the countryside is increasingly spacious and clean. Currently, in the commune, there is 1 product that has achieved 3-star OCOP, which is Minh Tri peanut candy, recognized in 2022...

The Vice Chairman of Gia Lam District People's Committee said that this is an honor and pride for the Party Committee, government and people of Kim Son commune in particular and Gia Lam district in general; it is also a premise to contribute to completing the criteria for Kim Son commune and Phu Thi commune to become wards in the coming time.

At the ceremony, Deputy Director of the Department of Cultural Heritage, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nong Quoc Thanh awarded the National Intangible Cultural Heritage certificate to the government and people of Kim Son commune.

Chairman of the Hanoi Party Committee's Inspection Committee Hoang Trong Quyet awarded the Certificate of recognition of the title of commune meeting advanced NTM standards in 2023 to Kim Son commune, Gia Lam district.

Source: https://kinhtedothi.vn/cong-bo-le-hoi-keo-la-di-san-van-hoa-phi-vat-the-quoc-gia.html