Tra Vinh: Ao Ba Om relic

There are many different versions of the name Ao Ba Om. One version says that in the past, around the pond there was a lot of coriander, a type of aromatic herb used to season sour soup, also known as rau ma om, so the pond was called Ao Ma Om and gradually changed its pronunciation to Ao Ba Om. Another version says that the word Ba Om is a sound change from the noun Pơ-ra-Âng (Prah Âng), meaning Ang Pagoda. Another version says that Ba Om is the name of the couple Ong Luy and Ba Om... However, the following legend is known to many people.

In the past, in this land, every dry season, fresh water was scarce, making life difficult for residents. In addition, in Khmer society, there was a dispute between men and women about who should marry whom, so there was a pond digging competition to resolve the issue.

As per the rules, one day when the sun had just set, two groups of men and women arrived at the construction site. The women dug a pond in the east, the men dug a pond in the west, the two ponds were about 2,000m apart and were also called Ku-Bros (Male Pond), Ku-Sray (Female Pond).

According to the rules of the competition, the pond digging would end when the morning star rose. While the competition was taking place, the women under the command of Ba Om had someone cut a long bamboo stick and stick it in a high mound of land, hanging a lamp above its head to trick the men. When the men saw the lamp, they thought the morning star had risen and stopped, while the women continued digging until morning. As a result, the women's pond was wider and deeper than the men's pond and the women won. To remember the woman who contributed, people named the pond after her - Ao Ba Om.

Although the story has supernatural and legendary elements, it still bears a strong mark of Khmer culture. Through the legend, the custom of men marrying women marks a development in Khmer society, moving from matriarchy to patriarchy. The work also demonstrates the will to rise up of the working people in the past, in the struggle against nature, to improve their lives.

The characteristics of the Ao Ba Om scenic relic are not only created by nature but also by the combination of nature and human labor. The entire Ao Ba Om area has an area of ​​over 18 hectares, of which the pond surface area is 42,040 m2. Surrounding the pond are sand banks, sometimes high, sometimes low, sometimes wide, sometimes narrow; on the pond bank there are more than 500 oil trees, star trees, including ancient trees, creating their own attractive characteristics. In particular, under the influence of nature, over time many ancient trees have grown strange roots, a unique feature that attracts many people.

Every year, on the 14th and 15th of the Khmer month of Ka-dâk (December), which is around the 14th and 15th of the 10th lunar month of the Vietnamese calendar, the Ok-Om-Bok festival (flattened rice festival or moon worship festival) of the Khmer people takes place at Ao Ba Om.

The Ok-Om-Bok Festival attracts tens of thousands of people from all over to Ao Ba Om to sightsee, participate in folk games, enjoy various types of traditional art performances, view exhibitions and worship the moon.

On July 20, 1994, the Ministry of Culture and Information (now the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) issued Decision No. 921-QD/BT ranking Ao Ba Om as a national relic in the category of scenic spots.