The Peace Prayer Ceremony and the Lantern Festival on Luc Dau River are typical and sacred rituals of the Con Son - Kiep Bac Autumn Festival, attracting a large number of people and tourists from all over.
Pray for calm seas and full boats...
The Peace Prayer Ceremony and the Lantern Festival are special rituals because of their profound humanity, praying for the best for a world of great unity. The ritual also demonstrates the spirit of peace and humanity of the Vietnamese dynasties, “Putting down guns and swords, the gentleness remains as before.”
Ms. Nguyen Thi Lien from Thanh Quang (Nam Sach) and her family came to Kiep Bac early to perform the ceremony at the temple. Every year, when the autumn festival comes, if her health allows, Ms. Lien comes to the festival. "The ceremony of praying for peace and releasing flower lanterns at Kiep Bac temple has a special, profound and humane meaning, praying for peace in the country, for storms and floods to end soon, for the people to be safe and warm, and for successful crops. Here, we also pray for the souls of the enemies to be liberated and return home. That is the humanity of the Vietnamese people", Ms. Lien said.
The land of Van Kiep bears the glorious historical footprints, associated with the contributions of the kings, soldiers and people of Dai Viet in the struggle and defense of the Fatherland. In front of the temple, at the end of the sacred road, is the gentle Luc Dau river, embracing Van Kiep. But under those gentle waves, in the 13th century, the Van Kiep river witnessed classic naval battles in the history of feudal warfare, not only for Dai Viet, but also made world history surprised and admired.
The ancients considered Luc Dau River as the confluence of four great streams of virtue in the universe, bringing peace, stability and prosperity to the people. By water, from Van Kiep, crossing Luc Dau River to Thang Long, going upstream, downstream, and out to sea is easy. Therefore, this is a strategic location, a "decisive battle point" that both the army and people of Dai Viet as well as the Northern invaders need to occupy. Throughout the history of fighting against foreign invaders, Luc Dau River has always been the central location of the Van Kiep base, where many historical events and resounding victories of the army and people of Dai Viet took place.
According to legend, at the Luc Dau River, Tran Hung Dao dropped his sword, which later formed a long alluvial bank that looked very similar to a sword, and was popularly called Con Kiem. The alluvial bank still exists today on the Luc Dau River in front of Kiep Bac Temple. The legend of Tran Hung Dao's divine sword bank, wanted to use the waves of Luc Dau or more surreally, use the bright virtues of Heaven, Sun, Moon to wash away the war to maintain peace: the philosophy of war - peace thinking. It is an ancient model from the time of legend - myth with the symbol of fire - water (metal: sword; water: face, water enemy) to pray for a stoppage, prevent floods or pray for rain of ancient agricultural residents.
Bridge of Immortal Souls
Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy Lien, Head of the Con Son - Kiep Bac Relic Management Board, said that the Peace Prayer Ceremony and the Lantern Festival are rituals to commemorate and express gratitude for the merits of the holy kings, army and people of Dai Viet in the cause of protecting the country against foreign invaders.
The Peace Prayer Ceremony and the Lantern Festival also pray for the souls of fallen heroes and soldiers from past dynasties. The Peace Prayer Ceremony also prays for the souls to be liberated, and for Buddha and Saints to bless the nation with peace and prosperity, favorable weather, calm seas, good crops, full boats of fish and shrimp, the Vietnamese people to be healthy and prosperous, and the country to be forever at peace.
This year's ceremony continued to be held on the Luc Dau River embankment, Van Kiep wharf. The 9-storey tower symbolizes the connecting axis, the intersection of heaven - earth, yin - yang. The 9-storey patterns of Buddhism - Taoism - Confucianism intertwine to create a splendid multi-colored picture, expressing the harmony of the three religions. Under the river, the sparkling lanterns lit up the whole sky of Van Kiep. There were 6,000 lanterns passed around by the people and released down the Luc Dau river. The brilliant petals carried the heavy affection of today's generation to the distant world, serving as a bridge between today's peaceful country and the immortal souls of previous generations who did not hesitate to sacrifice their blood and bones to protect the country. Thousands of lanterns gathered around Con Kiem to form a fiery sword. That was the response and liberation of the souls. In the sky, the fireworks suddenly lit up, brilliant in color, filled with a sacred, magical atmosphere. A feeling of lightness, excitement and overwhelming. Remaining in each person's heart is gratitude, pride, national pride and self-respect!
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