Unique water procession, statue bathing ceremonies at Con Son pagoda
Xã hội - Ngày đăng : 20:01, 22/02/2016
Water procession and statue cleaning are two important ceremonies of Con Son pagoda festival that take place on the morning of lunar January 16.
Water procession ceremony at Con Son pagoda
Water procession and statue cleaning are two important ceremonies of Con Son pagoda festival that take place on the morning of lunar January 16 with the profound meanings of praying for water and rain and letting each person purify himself to find the root of innate goodness.
Praying for water, rain
In throbbing sounds of gongs and drums, a procession, raising palanquins, marched from the stone yard of Con Son pagoda through the western gate to Con Son lake.
Taking the lead were two dragons formed by able-bodied young men dressed in festive clothes divided into two parallel rows with eye-catching dances. Following them were 200 colorful deity and Buddhist flags divided into four parallel rows. Making up the bustling atmosphere of the procession ceremony was an octet with such traditional musical instruments as flutes, Vietnamese two-chord fiddles, cymbals, etc. Behind were able-bodied young men carrying eight weapons, creating sublimity, solemnity, and imposingness.
In the center of the procession were 10 palanquins carrying flowers, vegetarian and meaty feasts and the formality team. Behind were one palanquin carrying incense burners, one dragon palanquin carrying a water vase, and three dragon palanquins for First Patriarch Tran Nhan Tong, Second Patriarch Phap Loa, and Third Patriarch Huyen Quang guarded by rows of eight weapons and parasols. The procession stretched hundreds of meters...
When the procession reached Con Son lake, the water vase was passed onto a dragon boat decorated with splendid flags and flowers, slowly advancing towards the center of the lake. There, monks performed ceremonies of incense offering and deity notification and climbed on a devotional platform to pray for water.
Amid the vast sky, the monks and head sacrificer burnt incense, chanted sutra, said some magic words, and released birds and fish. Then, water in the vital circle (a garland dropped on clear water) was scooped into the vase.
The ceremony lasted around 30 minutes. After the vase had been filled with water, the dragon boat docked, and the vase was returned to the palanquin and taken to Con Son pagoda in a sacred atmosphere.
That was a solemn water procession ceremony once occurring at the traditional festival of Con Son pagoda.
Superior Monk Thich Thanh Van, Deputy Head of the Provincial Buddhist Sangha's Executive Board, who once chaired a water procession ceremony at Con Son pagoda, said the ceremony aims to take holy water for year-round worshipping in the Buddha hall and carry out moc duc (statue bathing) ceremony.
In addition, the water procession ceremony also praises power and suggests a sense of neighborly affection and attachment.
Another deep meaning of the ceremony is to manifest a desire for rain and water. In Con Son, each traditional ceremony shows profound meanings and earnest desires of farmers. Earthen firecrackers boom in salvoes, symbolizing peals of thunder. The water procession ceremony aims to pray for fine weather. The ceremonies of offering sacrifices to heaven and earth on Ngu Nhac mountain and distributing cereals aim to pray for human health, creatures' prosperity, and bumper crops. In general, it is the Vietnamese's desire for a harmonious and prosperous life.
Self-discovery
One of the ceremonies conducted after the water procession ceremony at Con Son pagoda is moc duc. Moc duc is a sacred ceremony often taking place at pagodas. The ceremony not only expresses reverence to Buddha but also implies the purpose to help people find themselves and the root of innate goodness.
Not only a statue of Buddha, but tablets of the three Truc Lam patriarchs are also bathed in moc duc ceremony at Con Son pagoda festival. The water for statue bathing at Con Son pagoda is also special because it is the mixture of water in Ngoc well behind Con Son pagoda, Mat Rong well in Kiep Bac temple, and Con Son lake.
When the procession arrived at Con Son pagoda, the water vase was placed on the central altar in the yard to conduct moc duc ceremony. Already laid on the platform for statue bathing was a rectangular tank containing water from Ngoc and Mat Rong wells purified and mixed with fragrances, petals, etc. Half of the water taken from Con Son lake was poured into the tank for statue bathing. The other half was put onto the ancestral altar for year-round worshipping.
After the three kinds of holy water had been merged, the monks said some magic words and bathed the statue and tablets in accordance with Buddhist rituals. Then, the statue and tablets were dried with soft and clean towels, fumed, and respectfully returned to their places in the Buddha hall by the monks who later put their hands together and chanted.
Following the current of history, moc duc ceremony at Con Son pagoda festival has become a noble spiritual activity of people, monks, and Buddhists there. The ceremony is the reverence and fervor of the religious and Buddhists to Buddha and subtle dogmas.
The pure streams poured onto the statue are dependent originations for each person to find and correct himself, be patient and kind, and adapt to all dependent originations, even obstructive ones, to turn towards a good lifestyle.
NGOC HUNG