VietNamNet Bridge - Hundreds of thousands of people flocked to Nghia Linh Mountain in the midland province of Phu Tho to light incense sticks and pay homage to Vietnamese ancestors during the Hung Kings’ death anniversary on the 10th day of the third lunar month (April 12).

Party Chief and National Assembly Nguyen Phu Trong and Deputy Prime Minister

Nguyen Thien Nhat attended the incense offering ceremony.

Attending the ceremony are General Secretary of the Communist Party and Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Phu Trong, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan, representatives of the Fatherland Front, ministry, local leaders, residents and overseas Vietnamese.

The incense offering ceremony aimed to express gratitude to the nation’s founders - the Hung Kings, while participants also prayed for peace for the people and prosperity of the country.

Legend has it that the dragon Lac Long Quan met and married the fairy Au Co, who later gave birth to 100 eggs from which 100 children sprang forth.

The couple then parted because they came from such very different origins. Lac Long Quan went down to the sea with 50 of their children, while his wife went up to the mountains with the other half of the clan.

The eldest son, who followed his father, later installed himself as Vietnam’s first Hung King and is considered the ancestor of all the present-day Vietnamese people.

Vietnamese nationals consider Phu Tho as their ancestral home where the Hung Kings first established their capital and called the nation Van Lang.

Phu Tho is the site of the ancestors’ graves and contains many relics related to the Hung Kings, and the local people preserve these sites and their original cultural values.

The Hung Kings’ death anniversary is a major event that attracts people from across country and abroad.

In recent years, people have begun to gather many rare plants and flowers from across the country to grow on a hill near the temple, aiming to create a greener environment with all the hills covered with trees.

According to a legend the 6th Hung King held a contest to choose his crown prince and he asked his sons to offer him the things they though were most valuable. Prince Lang Lieu won the competition by creating the banh chung (square glutinous rice cake filled with green bean paste and fat pork wrapped in rush or bamboo leaves and boiled) and banh day (rice cakes).

Vietnam has submitted documents concerning the rituals dedicated to Hung Kings to UNESCO to seek recognition for the rituals as Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The annual festival to commemorate Hung Kings, which falls on the 10th day of the third lunar month, was first recognized as a national event in 2007.

There are more than 1,400 places of worship dedicated to Hung Kings across the country and numerous festivals are held every year to commemorate the nation’s founders. The festival at Hung Kings’ Temple in Phu Tho Province is the major official event dedicated to the nation’s legendary founders.

This year’s festival was held from April 7-12, with a wide range of cultural activities taking place in Viet Tri City, at the Hung Kings’ Temple and surrounding areas.

The Hung Kings Temple is located on Nghia Linh Mountain, Phong Chau District, in Phu Tho Province, about 100km northwest of Hanoi. The complex contains ancient tombs, monuments and temples.

The ceremony in photos:

The procession started at the foot of Nghia Linh Mount to the Thuong Temple in the early morning.

Thousands of people stood along the road to see the procession.

Young men carried offerings to Hung Kings.

The palanquin.

Party Chief and National Assembly Nguyen Phu Trong and

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan

Flows of people to the Hung Kings Temple.

Though they grouped up at the foot of Nghia Linh Mount in the early morning,

hundreds of thousands of people couldn’t get to the mountain top to observe the ritual.

Many elderly and children waited patiently.

Unicorn dance and drum performances attracted visitors.

Calligraphers were very busy.

A boat racing contest.

Vehicles queued in several kilometers.

The temple welcomed around three million visitors on April 11-12.

Saigonees commemorate Hung Kings

HCM City’s officials and thousands of local people were present at the Park for National Culture and History in District 9 on April 12 to burn incense for Hung Kings.

The program to commemorate Hung Kings took place at the park on April 11-12, with many activities. The incense offering ritual was organized in the morning of April 12, attracting HCM City leaders and 15,000 people.

At the same time, more than 2,000 people representing 30 delegations throughout the country participated in a palanquin procession entitled “Hung Kings travel to the land of the four supernatural creatures” at the Suoi Tien Cultural and Tourism Park.

At the Dam Sen Cultural Park, a program named “Looking Towards the Ancestral Land” with dragon boat race, music performances, folk games, etc. attracted thousands of visitors.

Rituals were also made at the Temples of Hung Kings in the Saigon Botanical Garden, Tao Dan Park, and other places.

Some pictures about activities to commemorate the Hung Kings in HCM City:

The life of ancient Viet people at a village festival at the Dam Sen Park.

An ancient market place.

A rural girl.

Calligraphers.

Source: VNN/VNE/TT/VNA