UNESCO recognizes Vietnam’s Hung Kings worship ritual as one of the world’s intangible cultural heritages- Photo: VNA

The Hung Kings’ Temple Festival was upgraded to the national level in 2000. The highlight of this year’s festival is a ceremony to honor UNESCO’s recognition of Vietnam’s Hung Kings worship ritual as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity. Ha Ke San, Vice Chairman of the Phu Tho Provincial People’s Committee and Head of the festival’s organizing board, said: "This year’s event is special because it includes a ceremony to honor and receive world cultural heritage certification for the Hung Kings’ worship ritual. The ceremony is held on the fourth day of the third lunar month and so, the festival will last for 7 days. The program also includes a street carnival with a large number of participants”.

Attending the ceremony to receive UNESCO’s recognition were representatives from 24 member states of the Inter-governmental Committee of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions and overseas Vietnamese. This is an opportunity for people around the world to learn about the global significance of the Hung Kings worship rituals, a beautiful Vietnamese cultural tradition, which reflects the unity of the Vietnamese people. Dang Dinh Thuan,Vice President of the Phu Tho Folklore Association, says: “Phu Tho is the ancestral home of the nation, from where the Hung Kings founded and developed the country. In Phu Tho, in addition to the Hung Kings’ Temple, there are more than 300 other relics associated with the Hung Kings rituals. The main value of the Hung Kings worship ritual is its reflection of the Vietnamese tradition of “drinking water, remember its source”. By practicing the ritual, Vietnamese people of different generations express their gratitude to the founders of Vietnam”.

The official worshiping ceremony at the Hung Kings Temple is held in the morning of the 10^th day of the third lunar month. At the time, similar ceremonies will be held at more than 1,400 worship relics across the country. The worshiping ceremony begins with State leaders burning incense at the Upper Temple where the Hung Kings worshiped their God. Traditionally, offerings include a five fruit tray, square sticky rice cakes and round sticky rice cakes. The ceremony is to remind people how the Hung Kings taught them to grow rice.

Hung Kings' Temple festival- Photo: Quang Trung

Many festive activities have been held prior to the official festival day, including a bronze drum beating ceremony, a pilgrimage to the Hung Kings’ Temple, a palanquin procession and a competition of traditional sticky rice cake making. This year, the Hung Kings’ Temple festival will be held throughout Viet Tri city and neighboring areas attracting thousands of visitors. Phung Van Thanh, a visitor from Hanoi, says: "This is the first time I’ve been here. I have long been wanted to visit the ancestral heart of Vietnam and see the Hung Kings’ relics. The landscape here is very beautiful and the roads are asphalted. My dream has come true today and I think I will come back".

Nguyen Thu Phuong, also from Hanoi, says that she hopes to visit the relic every year and that as her children grow up, she will teach them about the roots of the nation. Phuong says UNESCO’s recognition raises the significance of the Hung Kings ancient ritual. "I am very proud of UNESCO’s recognition because it means that globally people recognize the cultural value of Vietnamese rituals. The recognition will help people learn more about Vietnam and hopefully, more visitors will come to Vietnam", said Phuong.

During this year’s festival, diverse cultural and sports activities will be held, including a Xoan singing and dancing performance at the Upper Temple, Ca Tru folk singing performance at the Lower Temple, and folk games. The festival will be wrapped up with a firework display. The festival is part of the National Tourism Development Program and an effort to develop Viet Tri City, Phu Tho province into a festival city.

To Tuan