Lanh Giang Temple Festival
Lanh Giang Temple Festival was traditionally held twice a year: in the Sixth and the Eighth lunisolar months. Traditionally, the June festival was mainly for visitors from afar, while the August festival was primarily for the local people. However, after many years of discontinuation, in 2009, the Ha Nam Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism collaborated with the Vietnam National Institute of Culture and Arts to successfully restore Lanh Giang Temple Festival, combining folk and contemporary elements. Since then, the temple only hosts one main annual festival in June.
The main festival of Lanh Giang Temple is held from the annual 1st to the 4th day of the Sixth lunisolar month . The main festival lasts for four days on the official schedule and it is not until the 25th of June when the closing ceremony takes place.
The hagiography book preserved at the temple goes that the 25th of August in the Year of the Fire Tiger is the ascension day of Pham Vinh (the deity worshiped at Lanh Giang Temple). The Hagiography written on the ancient royal decree also clearly states: “Date of birth: the 10th day of the first month of the lunar calendar, offerings: vegetarian food for the upper rituals, pork for the lower rituals. Day of ascension: the 25th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, offerings include buffalo and cow meat, sticky rice, and wine.”
The participants of Lanh Giang Temple festival are diverse, especially since its restoration in 2009 when the festival began to be organized at a larger (regional) scale and attracted widespread attention from people across the country, leading to an increased number of participants, including:
Local people: During the festival days, people of Yen Lac of all ages actively participate in the festival activities with enthusiasm and voluntarism.
Visitors: Lanh Giang Temple is a sacred site that has long attracted many visitors across the country. Since its restoration in 2009 at a larger scale, the festival has attracted even greater attention from visitors. They come to perform rituals and actively participate in the procession, in large and diverse numbers.
The executive force includes the Organizing Committee, the Festival Steering Committee, and the Management Board of the Relics. The Organizing Committee is responsible for detailed planning and assigning tasks to relevant individuals and groups. The practice of rituals is mainly carried out by respected elders of the village, elected by the people, and the incense keeper of Lanh Giang Temple.
The procession includes a wide participation of local residents and visitors from different regions. The formation of the procession is managed by Yen Lạc residents and includes: Dragon and unicorn dance teams, festival flags, thunder drums, palanquins, ritual offerings team, accompanying palanquins, a Mother Goddess palanquin, dragon pavilion palanquins, eight offerings palanquin, eight treasures team, and male ritual team. Residents from Hoan Duong, Do Quan, and Yen Ninh also participate in the offerings team. Devotees from Lanh Giang Temple join various teams, such as the female ritual team and the bronze drum team.
The ritual offerings made to the deities hold immense spiritual significance for the people of Yen Lac. These are the finest products of agricultural production, carefully selected with reverence. Besides incense, flowers, fruits, candles, tobacco, alcohol and joss paper, a special ritual offering made to the deities on the opening day of the festival (the 2nd of June) is a roasted pig. The savory offerings for the deity worship ceremony (on the 3rd of June) include a plate of sticky rice, a fried carp, a pig’s head, and a castrated rooster.
In the past, the main festival days’ offerings typically included joss paper, betel and alcohol, fruits, square and round sticky rice cake, a plate of sticky rice, a black pig’s head, truncated cone of sticky rice, black pork, goat meat, chicken with sticky rice, and vegetarian dishes. These offerings were considered luxurious and refined, presented to worship the saints and deities, aligning with the Eastern philosophy of Yin and Yang balance. The five fruits represent the five elements: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth; the square and round rice cakes symbolize heaven (Yang) and earth (Yin); white sticky rice (Yang) – black pork (Yin)… According to principle, the harmonious combination of Yin and Yang elements is key to vitality and prosperity.
Distinctive Values
Historical Values
Hagiographies and historical documents say that the figures worshiped at Lanh Giang Temple are three water gods from the era of King Hung Due Vuong, the King of Eight Seas’ father, Princess Tien Dung and Chu Dong Tu. In additional, there are the Mother Goddesses of Three Palaces, the Seventh Prince, the Tenth Prince and the Tran Clan.
Therefore, Lanh Giang Temple Festival holds its position and role in the history of the Vietnamese people. The rituals in Lanh Giang Temple Festival represent the reenactment of cultural layers, embodying the inheritance and promotion of the beliefs of the residents in the lower Red River Delta throughout the thousands of years of national history.
Research Values
Lanh Giang Temple Festival significantly contributes to the richness and diversity of Vietnam’s typical festival system. It provides valuable information on the history, nature, culture, society, and customs of the lower Red River delta region. Research on Lanh Giang Temple Festival indicates the soft power of culture and beliefs in social life. This power has created a spirit of unity in the community, arousing the community’s pride in the traditional cultural values of the nation. Furthermore, Lanh Giang historical site and festival have played a significant role in promoting local socio-economic development.
Cultural Values
Lanh Giang Temple Festival is a quintessential festival that embodies the cultural identity of the Vietnamese in the lower Red River Delta. It integrates various cultural layers from different periods of Vietnam’s historical development. Initially, it involved the worship of the water god by the residents along the Red River, followed by the worship of the deities Tien Dung and Chu Dong Tu, and the incorporation of royal and historical elements, especially highlighting the mother of Princess Tien Dung under the reign of Emperor Le Thanh Tong. By the 17th and 18th centuries, the worship of the water god was integrated into the worship of the Mother Goddess at the temple, giving rise to the figure of the Third Venerable Mandarin (the Venerable Mandarin of Lanh Temple).
The underlying meanings of festival’s rituals indicate the identity of the residents living along the Red River, as well as their process of exploring and conquering the lower delta. The festival includes the tradition of carrying water for worship, the procession of the Mother Goddess’s palanquin, and dragon boat racing, all of which honor the worshiped figures. The festival is held in the Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth lunisolar months, coinciding with the beginning, peak, and end of the Red River’s flood season, making water worship a unique aspect of the festival. Lanh Giang Temple Festival also features shamanistic elements, with ceremonial performances by priests who are serving the reflection (receiving blessings or are closing to the spirits) of the Third Venerable Mandarin.
Lanh Giang Culture and Tourism Week
Since 2020, Lanh Giang Temple Festival and Lanh Giang Cultural and Tourism Week have been organized concurrently to promote the festival's unique values, the distinctive and outstanding cultural values and tourism resources of Duy Tien to a wide range of visitors. This activity is also an effort in response to the “Vietnamese People Travel Vietnam” program, where the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism coordinated with the Duy Tien People's Committee and choose Lanh Giang Temple in Moc Nam to organize the Lanh Giang Cultural and Tourism Week 2020.
Apart from the traditional ceremonies, a series of cultural and tourism activities were organized during Lanh Giang Temple Festival and Lanh Giang Cultural and Tourism Week 2020. They include Lanh Giang 2020 Van and Chau Van Singing Performance Festival; the exhibition “Vietnamese Chau Van Rituals in Ha Nam” and display of antiques; exhibition of traditional craft products of Duy Tien; arts & literature festival, performance of the Cheo play: “Huyền tích bến Lảnh Giang” (Legend of Lanh Giang Wharf), “Lanh Giang Festival Wrestling Open Competition 2020”, inflatable volleyball competition, mobile film screenings… These activities have contributed to honoring the typical cultural values of the locality, awakening the patriotic tradition, national pride, strengthening the great national unity, promoting cultural values, creating highlights for tourism development, and attracting people in the province and visitors from other places to the sites, tours, and routes of both Duy Tien Town and Ha Nam Province. Lanh Giang Temple Festival and Lanh Giang Cultural and Tourism Week 2020 attracted a large number of local people and visitors from all over the country, with thousands of daily visitors.
