Unique palanquin procession ceremony to Hung Temple

On April 15 (March 7 of the lunar calendar), at the Hung Temple historical relic site, Viet Tri city (Phu Tho), the Organizing Committee of the Hung Kings' Commemoration Anniversary 2024 organized a palanquin procession to Hung Temple to pay tribute to the Hung Kings and ancestors who built the country.

From early morning, palanquin processions from communes and wards in the suburbs performed palanquin processions and offered local products to the Hung Kings.

At exactly 7:30 a.m. on April 15, the palanquin procession from communal houses and temples of 7 communes and towns on the outskirts of the relic site, including Hung Lo, Kim Duc, Hy Cuong, Chu Hoa communes and Van Phu ward (Viet Tri city); Tien Kien commune, Hung Son town (Lam Thao district), took place at the Ceremony Center, Hung Temple Historical Relic Site. The palanquin procession formation was arranged in the following order: Leading the way was the lion dance team, followed by the procession carrying the national flag and festival flags, the procession carrying the small god flags; young girls carrying offerings, incense and flowers; the group of people playing gongs, drums, the octet team and the Sinh Tien dance, the procession carrying the eight treasures, the procession carrying umbrellas, the palanquin team, the celebrant and officials... The offerings included: incense, flowers, fruits, banh chung, banh giay and local products...

The procession of Van Phu ward, Viet Tri city.

According to tradition, every year on the occasion of the Hung Kings' death anniversary, villages and communes around the Hung Temple relic area, where there are relics worshiping the Hung Kings and their wives, children, and generals during the Hung Kings' time, organize rituals and performances to recreate the ancient cultural activities of the ancient Vietnamese people.

In these rituals, the procession to Hung Temple to offer offerings to the ancestors is a traditional folk ritual with profound community significance, demonstrating the morality of "When drinking water, remember its source" and respect for ancestors.

The palanquin procession to Hung Temple has become a beautiful traditional feature of the people in the communes and wards surrounding the Hung Temple historical relic site on the occasion of the Hung King's death anniversary.

At the same time, the ritual creates cohesion among all community members, strong solidarity, creating spiritual strength in preserving, maintaining and promoting the traditional cultural identity of the nation. Thereby, it aims to honor the value of Hung King worship which has been recognized by UNESCO as a representative intangible cultural heritage of humanity.

Ngoc Long

source