“ Vietnam Adventure Tours “ - Some 3,000 local residents attended the Huyen Tran Temple Festival which kicked off February 21 at the complex of temples in the central city of Hue's Ngu Phong Mountain to worship Huyen Tran Princess and her father, King Tran Nhan Tong (1258-1308).
Deputy
President Nguyen Thi Doan joined a ritual ceremony, and lit incense to
pray for peace and prosperity in the new lunar year of the Tiger.
The prayers and rituals were conducted by hundreds of Buddhist monks at the temple of King Tran Nhan Tong.
The
ceremony was also attended by hundreds officials from Hanoi, HCMC,
Danang and provinces of Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Quang Nam.
The
princess (1287-1340), was given in marriage to King Jaya Sinhavarman
III of the Kingdom of Champa in 1306 following a promise by the
Vietnamese King Tran Nhan Tong.
The Champa king in return
offered the provinces of O and Ly to the Vietnamese kingdom of Dai
Viet. The land of the two provinces was bordered by the Hieu and Thu
Bon rivers, and today consists part of Quang Tri Province, Thua Thien
Hue Province, Danang City, and part of Quang Nam Province.
Following
the princess's marital move, residents in neighbouring Thanh Hoa and
Nghe An regions came to settle the land, becoming the first residents
of the four provinces and city. Here they lived in cultural harmony
with the Cham people.
Princess Huyen Tran was therefore honoured
as the founder of the land by local residents. They hold an annual
ceremony to give thanks to the princess on the ninth day of new lunar
year, which marks her death anniversary.
Thua Thien-Hue Province
officially began hosting the Huyen Tran Temple Festival in 2008. This
year's festival is part of activities held by the province to celebrate
the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.
Phan Tien Dung,
Director of the provincial Department of Culture, Tourism and Sports
said the festival reminds people of the princess's contribution and
offers a chance to pray for the peace.
Participants played folk
games and visited an exhibition which displays local traditional
handicraft products, including bronze and wood carving, embroidery, and
incense and conical palm-leaf hat making.
The festival also
include a conference on the role of women in preserving national
culture, an orchestral performance of songs featuring Hue City, a
flower arrangement contest, and a kung-fu performance.
The
festival proves a popular pilgrimage for Buddhist followers in Hue and
neighbouring provinces, as King Tran Nhan Tong became a Buddhist monk
and his daughter a nun in the last period of their lives.
Just
want to let you know that we had a marvellous trip to Vietnam ,Laos and all the
guides and sites were very well planned and organised so a big thank
you. Next trip will be Cambodia and possibly Vietnam and 6 days on a
beach location. We’ll contact you soon for our trip.
