Recently, at the Thang Long Imperial Citadel Heritage Site, an incense offering ceremony was held to commemorate the ancestors and the wise and talented people who have contributed to the country.
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| The celebrant (in red shirt) performs the incense offering ceremony in front of the Kinh Thien Palace - Thang Long Imperial Citadel Heritage Site. (Source: Dan Tri) |
On February 18 (January 9), the Thang Long - Hanoi Heritage Conservation Center coordinated with the Thang Long - Hanoi Cultural Heritage Association to organize the incense offering ceremony to open the Year of the Dragon 2024 at Kinh Thien Palace - Thang Long Imperial Citadel Heritage Site. This is a typical Tet ritual of the ancient royal court in the series of Vietnamese Tet activities welcoming the Year of the Dragon 2024 recreated by the Thang Long - Hanoi Heritage Conservation Center. The incense offering and spring opening ceremony is an annual ritual held at the Thang Long Imperial Citadel Heritage Site, with the meaning of paying homage to the ancestors, expressing gratitude to the merits of the previous emperors, wise kings, and talented people who have contributed to the country, while honoring the traditional values of Thang Long - Hanoi. The incense offering and spring opening program was solemnly organized with many rituals recreated according to the traditions of the ancient Thang Long royal court such as: incense offering ceremony, seal opening ceremony, sacrifice ceremony, procession ceremony, drum performance and Dragon dance. In turn, the male and female sacrifice teams performed a respectful ceremony to offer sacrifices to the Saint.
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| The rituals of a sacrificial team last for more than 30 minutes. (Source: Dan Tri) |
At Thang Long Imperial Citadel, there are also many folk cultural activities with the participation of the Trieu Khuc village Dragon team (Tan Trieu commune, Thanh Tri district); Ha Yen Quyet communal house drum team (Yen Hoa ward, Cau Giay district), Dong Anh communal house drum team, Hoang Mai men's worship team, Lanh Giang Vong Tu temple's worship team (Hoan Kiem), the nu dinh incense offering team, So Thuong temple (Yen So ward, Hoang Mai district) and members of the branches of the Thang Long - Hanoi Cultural Heritage Association.
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| The Dragon Dance opened the program. (Source: Dan Tri) |
The program opened with a Dragon Dance by artisans from Trieu Khuc village, recreating the image of the descendants of the Dragon and Fairy, with the wish for favorable weather, national peace and prosperity, promoting the martial spirit and the tradition of remembering the source of the nation. Next was a performance of the Thang Long festival drum by artisans from Ha Yen Quyet village, demonstrating the heroic spirit of Thang Long - Hanoi, a thousand years of civilization. This was followed by an incense offering ceremony by delegates at Kinh Thien Palace and a seal opening ceremony inside Kinh Thien Palace.
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| Thang Long festival drum performance. (Source: Dan Tri) |
The ceremony took place with a procession from Doan Mon to the Kinh Thien Palace yard, with drum performances and dragon dances, a male-level ceremony (offering incense and congratulatory messages), a female-level ceremony, and an incense offering ceremony by the groups. On this occasion, the Thang Long Imperial Citadel Heritage Site also arranged many spring flower spaces and miniature landscapes to serve visitors.
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| The incense offering and spring opening ceremony is held on the 9th of January every year at Thang Long Imperial Citadel. (Source: Dan Tri) |
It is known that in just 7 days of the Lunar New Year, the Thang Long Imperial Citadel Heritage Site welcomed 60,000 visitors. This year, the Thang Long Imperial Citadel Heritage Site strives to welcome 1 million visitors and continue to be the most attractive destination of Hanoi for domestic and foreign tourists.
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