Keep the village festival in the city

The custom of chasing away the dead is one of the rare customs still preserved at the Suot temple festival.

Flipping through each documentary photo recording the bustling atmosphere of the Bao Sai communal house, temple and pagoda festival (Pham Ngu Lao ward), Mr. Nguyen Huu Nhat, a member of the relic management board, said that despite being located in a narrow street, the Bao Sai communal house, temple and pagoda festival is still held every year. In particular, the procession ceremony is still held every 5 years. Performing the procession ceremony requires the participation of hundreds of people, especially the palanquin procession team must be young men. Every festival day, even though they work far away, young men still come back together. According to the 2020 calendar, the Bao Sai communal house, temple and pagoda festival will have a procession ceremony, but due to the impact of the epidemic, the festival cannot be held.

"It has been 6 years since we have not been able to hold the procession, and we feel the lack and the longing. Every festival season, organizing the procession is a lot of fun. In the middle of the street space, the palanquin passes through Binh Minh, Truong My, Le Chan, Le Thanh Nghi streets... Wherever the procession passes, people eagerly follow it," said Mr. Nhat.

Bao Sai Communal House worships Truong My, a general who fought off foreign invaders during the Hai Ba Trung period. Bao Sai Temple, also known as Thanh Hu Dong, worships Princess Tien Dung, daughter of the 18th Hung King. Previously, the festival of Bao Sai Communal House, Temple and Pagoda was held by the people on the 10th day of the 3rd lunar month, along with the Hung King's death anniversary. Later, it was moved to the 10th day of the 2nd lunar month, which is believed to be the birthday of General Truong My. The traditional festival is held on the 10th and 11th days of the 2nd lunar month every year.

Every festival season, people in the neighborhood eagerly prepare rituals, offerings to the saints and burn incense to commemorate Princess Tien Dung. In addition to the rituals, the festival also includes folk games such as boat racing, chess, human chess, wrestling, etc.

As for the Suot temple festival, 2020 marked a memorable milestone when the festival was recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a national intangible cultural heritage.

Mr. Tran Xuan Thinh, Permanent Member of the Relic Management Board, said it was a source of pride that every festival season attracts thousands of people to participate. Located in a location with rapid urbanization and a large population, it was thought that the festival would gradually fade away, but on the contrary, many activities have been expanded more than before. Suot Temple and Communal House worships King Vu Huu, who helped King Le Chieu Tong repel the invading Ai Lao and Champa armies. He was born and raised in Thanh Cuong village (now areas 2, 3 and 4, Thanh Binh ward). When he died, King Le posthumously conferred him the title of King and the title of Supreme God of Fortune. The Suot Temple and Communal House Festival has many unique rituals, and the process of preserving the rituals has had many ups and downs along with social changes. Up to now, most of the customs have been restored, and it is precious that in the urban space, customs such as distilling Hoang Tuu wine, slaughtering pigs, etc. to offer to the saints are still done by the people themselves.

At the temple festival, Suot communal house has the custom of chasing the tiger (catching tigers) which is one of the rare customs. According to the legend, during the reign of King Le Chieu Tong, the Champa invaders invaded our country. At this time, King Le invited Vu Huu to the court to lead the army to fight the enemy. He obeyed the king's order, recruited soldiers in the area and prepared to leave when a big tiger came to harass the people of Thanh Cuong village. He organized the soldiers to fight the tiger to save the villagers. When the tiger was killed, he ordered his soldiers to sacrifice the meat to heaven. From that legend, the custom of chasing the tiger is reenacted by the people every time there is a grand village festival (every 5 years) as a way to commemorate the merits of King Vu Huu.

According to Mr. Thinh, the festival is held every year, but some customs can only be carried out every 5 years because the regulations are very strict. For example, to organize the festival, 90-100 people must be mobilized, meeting all the criteria: men from 18 to 54 years old must be virtuous, healthy, their family has no funeral that year, are trusted by the village, must abstain from killing for 45 days, do not do evil... Because it is so strict, it must be organized periodically to maintain the customs according to traditional rituals, and pass them on to future generations.

In Hai Duong city, there are still some festivals such as Dinh Van Ta communal house festival (Quang Trung ward), Dong Nien communal house festival (Viet Hoa ward) ... which still retain many traditional cultural features. Each festival has its own identity but all aim to preserve the good values ​​of our ancestors. In the middle of the city, people still preserve folk customs and beliefs, especially keeping the festival tradition according to ancient customs, which is truly a precious thing.

HUYEN ANH