The cultural tourism week under the theme “Heritage Journey from Sai Temple to Co Loa Relic” has been initiated at the Sai Temple National Historic Site, Thuy Lam Commune, Dong Anh District, Hanoi.
The main events will take place from February 9 to February 21. While exploring the monuments and relics and participating in the festival activities, visitors will have the opportunity to indulge in traditional dishes, distinctive agricultural products, and experience the rich traditional culture of Thuy Lam Commune, as stated by Dinh Van Thu, Chairman of Thuy Lam Commune People’s Committee.
| Hanoi’s leaders pay homage at the Co Loa relic. Photo: Doan Thanh/The Hanoi Times |
Thu mentioned that the cultural tourism week serves as a connection among significant heritage sites in the district, offering visitors a unique encounter with the cultural legacy of Dong Anh District, which comprise the sacred Sai Temple and the former capital of Co Loa. Throughout the heritage journey, visitors will discover other remarkable tangible and intangible heritages such as Thuy Loi Communal House, Sai Temple and its King’s Procession Festival, the rice cooking competition in Luong Quy Village, and the water puppet performance in Dao Thuc Village.
| Nguyen Thi Tam, Vice Chairwoman of Dong Anh District People’s Committee, speaks at the opening ceremony of the Cultural Tourism Week. Photo: Doan Thanh/The Hanoi Times |
During the inauguration ceremony on February 3, Nguyen Thi Tam, Vice Chairwoman of Dong Anh District People’s Committee, highlighted that Sai Mountain and Sai Temple bear witness to the fierce battles and heroic victories of the renowned General Ly Thuong Kiet, the brilliant commander who led the Dai Viet army and people to triumph over the Chinese Song invaders at the Cau River front line in the 11th century.
In 1010, King Ly Cong Uan relocated the capital from Hoa Lu (located in the northern province of Ninh Binh) to Dai La (now Hanoi) and established the Thang Long Citadel. In 1011, he visited the Sai Temple and transferred the ancestral tablet of the deity Huyen Thien Tran Vu from there to the Quan Thanh Temple near the Thang Long West Lake for worship, venerating him as the guardian deity of the northern region of the imperial capital Thang Long.
“Together with the Co Loa Festival, the Sai Temple Festival has been recognized as a National Intangible Heritage and has been preserved, inherited, and cherished by generations of people in the district, becoming an invaluable cultural asset,” mentioned Tam.
“These are immense potentials and advantages for the tourism development in the district, particularly in the current era of globalization, Dong Anh is rapidly transforming itself into an appealing and hospitable destination, with tourism emerging as a significant driver of socio-economic development and becoming a pivotal economic sector of the district in the near future,” she added.
| Delegates inaugurate the Sai Temple-Co Loa Heritage Journey. Photo: Doan Thanh/The Hanoi Times |
