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| OVs visit the Hung Kings Temple relic site. Photo: Pham Ly |
They paid homage to the Hung Kings by offering incense at their temples on April 25th and planted trees at the Den Gieng (Gieng Temple).
They fervently prayed for Vietnam to achieve even greater prosperity, a higher standing in the international community, and solidarity amongst the Vietnamese diaspora.
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| The OVs offer incense to the Hung Kings. Photo: Pham Ly |
Hieu noted that the annual incense-offering program, which is jointly organized by the COVA and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in collaboration with the provincial People’s Committee, has been met with a warm reception from overseas Vietnamese.
It is intended to bolster the pride of national traditions, pay homage to the nation, and fortify the robust national unity bloc.
On April 25th, the delegation convened with representatives of the provincial People’s Committee, taking time to honor the legendary ancestors of Vietnam – Father Lac Long Quan and Mother Au Co.
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| The OVs plant trees at the Den Gieng (Gieng Temple). Photo: Pham Ly |
Legend has it that Lac Long Quan (real name Sung Lam, the son of Kinh Duong Vuong and Than Long Nu) married Au Co, the fairy daughter of De Lai. Au Co then went on to give birth to a hundred eggs, all of which hatched into a hundred sons. Unfortunately, not long after, Lac Long Quan and Au Co parted ways. Lac Long Quan journeyed to the coast with fifty of the children, while Au Co stayed in the highlands with the other fifty.
Their eldest son was crowned king, and he named the nation Van Lang, establishing its capital in Phong Chau (modern-day Viet Tri in Phu Tho province), thus commencing the eighteen reigns of the Hung Kings.
The kings selected Nghia Linh Mountain, the highest in the region, to conduct rituals dedicated to the deities of rice and the sun in order to plead for abundant harvests.
To pay tribute to their monumental achievements, a complex of temples was erected on Nghia Linh Mountain to honor them, and the 10th day of the third lunar month is now celebrated as the national day of remembrance for the two kings.
The veneration of the Hung Kings, deeply rooted in the ancestral cults of the majority of Vietnamese families, was officially declared a part of Humanity’s Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO in 2012.
Over 2.5 million go on pilgrimage to ancestral land
Some 2.5 million people flocked to the northern midland province of Phu Tho to celebrate the annual Hung Kings Temple Festival as of April 23 (the eight day of the third lunar month), said the organising board.
Nearly VND30 billion invested to upgrade Hung King Temple
NDO – A project, aiming to upgrade the landscape and plant trees in the area of cross-road in Gieng Temple under the Special National Historical Relic Site of Hung Kings Temple in the northern province of Phu Tho, was inaugurated and put into use on December 15, after three months of construction.
Cultural activities to be showcased at Hung Kings Temple Festival
An exciting array of events are to be featured during the Hung Kings Temple Festival in the northern province of Phu Tho between March 24 and April 2, or from the first to the 10th day of the third lunar month, as a means of paying tribute to the nation’s founders.
Ceremony commemorates legendary ancestors of Vietnam
Authorities of the northern province of Phu Tho held a ceremony on March 29 to commemorate the legendary national ancestors of Vietnam, Father Lac Long Quan and Mother Au Co.
Hung Kings’ Temple festival cancelled over COVID-19 concerns
NDO/VNA – Activities within this year’s annual festival of the Hung Kings’ Temple, which falls on April 2, will be cancelled due to the acute respiratory disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), according to authorities of the northern province of Phu Tho.
