The
annual event at Soc Temple is one of several festivals in the north to
honour Saint Giong, a legendary hero who is said to have defeated an
army of foreign invaders.
Participants at the Soc Temple
festivities took part in offerings to the saint, the moc duc ceremony,
symbolising a cleansing process for the temple, and the bamboo
procession, which celebrates Saint Giong's martial arts skills with a
bamboo weapon used to defeat the invaders.
According to legend,
Saint Giong was only three years old when the country was invaded by
northern troops. When the infant Giong heard an official from the royal
court calling for skilled warriors to defend the motherland, he
magically grew in stature.
Last year, the Saint Giong festival
was recognised by UNESCO as an example of the world's intangible
heritage that should be preserved. It's one of several major festivals
across the country during the onset of spring.
In other festivals
across the north, people in Ha Nam province begin celebrating the Tich
dien (ploughing the rice field) festival on Feb. 9. The three-day
festival commemorates the day King Le Dai Hanh ploughed a field to
promote farming during the 10th century.
Tens of thousands of
visitors also converged on Dong Ky Village, Tu Son town in the northern
province of Bac Ninh, on Feb. 6 in the traditional firecracker festival.
Four
respected elders from each of the four hamlets in the village were
selected to perform rituals and pray for good weather, bumper crops and
prosperity.
The festival, which is organised on the fourth day of
the first lunar month and lasts for three days, honours General Thien
Cuong, who recruited young villagers to fire on the enemy and was later
considered the tutelary god of the village.
Hundreds of tourists
and local residents witnessed an annual traditional wrestling
competition held in the Thua Thien-Hue central province on Feb. 8.
Scores
of wrestlers from Thua Thien-Hue and Quang Tri provinces took part in
the event held in Thu Le village in Quang Dien district.
The Thu
Le Wrestling Festival, begun by local residents more than 100 years ago,
was revived recently after disappearing during the war.
The
event will be followed by other festivities like the Princess Huyen Tran
Festival in Huong Thuy district on February 11, the Sinh Village
Wrestling Competition in Quang Dien district on February 12, and the
Fish Praying Festival in Phu Vang district on February 14./.
