For the past 7 years, Ms. Hang Bui’s family (Hanoi) has chosen to spend Tet in different regions and countries. The 13-day trip to India was the most memorable.
In recent years, instead of staying home to celebrate the traditional New Year, many families choose to travel and explore new lands during the long holiday.
VietNamNet introduces an article by Ms. Hang Bui (Hanoi) sharing a memorable journey - 13 days of exploring India during a Tet holiday.
We love and cherish our nation's traditional Tet holiday immensely. But I believe that wherever there is family, there is Tet. We do ancestor worship, visiting relatives, loved ones... all year round, not waiting for Tet.
In addition, my parents are getting older, and my two children Huy and May are growing up. I want the three-generation family to have more time together, to experience the beauty of the country, and to learn about regional cultures. My two children take advantage of the long Tet holiday to explore the world, to travel and grow up.
The most memorable Tet trip for us and our children was the journey to India during the Lunar New Year of the Cat 2023.
On the 23rd of Tet, my family set off for India. During the 13 days in this country, my husband and I took our two children along the Thar desert route: New Delhi - Mandawa - Bikaner - Jodhpur - Udaipur - Pushkar - Jaipur - Arga - Varanasi.
India is a place where you have to throw away many prejudices. On the first day, the two children saw Aram Bagh pedestrian street - full of beggars,... - an environment completely different from where they lived or the countries they had explored.
We went to Karni Mata - a Hindu temple located in Deshnoke, Rajasthan, about 30km from Bikaner. Karni Mata is famous as the Rat Temple, a paradise for rodents. There are more than 25,000 rats living here.
The rats here are fed grains, milk and coconuts in large metal bowls. The water the rats drink is considered holy, and the food they taste is sacred.
Just entering the temple, May trembled when she saw the mouse.
The tour guide gently introduced me and my children to the history of the temple, the legend of the sacred mouse of Karni Mata temple... The stories fascinated the two children.
Interestingly, despite the thousands of rats that roam freely in the temple, no cases of the plague have ever been recorded. If a rat is killed in the Karni Mata temple, it must be replaced with a golden rat of the same weight and size as the real one that died.
I encouraged my child to try touching the sacred mice and feeding them. May and I sat down, relaxed our bodies, gently held out our hands, fingers straight, not moving, calmly and quietly waiting for the mice to come.
May was still a little scared but she didn't scream, calmly feeling the movement of the little animal in her palm for a few short seconds. The initial fear gradually subsided.
While my relatives in Vietnam celebrate Tet, I am holding hands with two children and walking around Manikarnika Ghat - where hundreds of bodies are being cremated every day.
Manikarnika Ghat is one of the most ancient and sacred places in Hindu religion and mythology. It is believed that the funeral rites performed at Manikarnika Ghat help people escape from the endless cycle of reincarnation.
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For the first time in our lives, the children and I knew what it was like to be swept away by a storm of fire that could sweep away all the joys and sorrows of life. I led the children along the riverbank, around the towering stairs, through the dark, narrow alleys…
24 hours a day, 7 days a week, day or night, winter or summer, weekdays or holidays… this place never goes out.
People often take river water here for daily use. Not far away, a long stretch of river is bustling with young and old, big and small, bathing and performing baptismal rituals.
We observe, without fear or contempt. I still tell my children: "Prejudice is a net that catches you and puts you in a small basin, making you deprive yourself of the opportunity to immerse yourself in the sea of culture, where valuable things from thousands of years are waiting to be touched."
That day, we were so lucky to "touch" a sacred custom of the Indian people.
India is not only full of mysteries but also has "open-air art galleries" that keep us engrossed and unable to escape.
In Mandawa, many buildings are decorated with meticulous hand-painted paintings, bearing the meaning of legends, beliefs, religions and cultural heritage. Unfortunately, many places are abandoned and seriously degraded.
To be honest, the first few days of the journey, the two children were not too excited. They did not understand the reason why they had to follow their parents here. I did not explain, but wanted them to go, experience and feel the diversity of the world.
On the day we left India, the two children did not share much about their feelings about the trip, but they were interested when I suggested an African adventure.
Reader Hang Bui
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Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/gia-dinh-ha-noi-tron-tet-tham-an-do-ke-trai-nghiem-thot-tim-o-ngoi-den-thieng-2364551.html
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