Annually
held after Tet Holiday, Co Loa Festival pays homage to King An Duong Vuong who
built the Au Lac Kingdom and the Co Loa Citadel to fight the battle against
enemies in III
Taking place from the 6th to the 16th day of the
Lunar New Year at An Duong Vuong temple in Dong Anh District, on the outskirts
of Hanoi, Co Loa Festival based on the legend of An Duong King of Au Lac and
his magic crossbow. According to the legend, Genius Kim Quy, a Golden Tortoise,
gave Thuc Phan (An Duong Vuong) a magic crossbow which could kill tens of
thousands of enemy soldiers at a shot. However, the King’s daughter My Chau
told the secret of her father's magic crossbow to her husband Trong Thuy, the
son of rebel Chinese general Trieu Da, and thereby unwittingly enabled Trieu Da
to conquer Co Loa in 208 B.C. Learned of the reason for his defeat, King An
Duong is said to have killed his daughter and then committed suicide. Nowadays,
in Co Loa citadel, there exist many vestiges still reminding you of the
episodes of the legend.
Visiting Co Loa on the 6th of the 1st lunar month,
you will have the opportunity to take part in Co Loa Festival organized by the
12 hamlets of the village. Thuc Phan An Duong Vuong was remembered for building
Co Loa citadel and for ruling Au Lac for 50 years, 3rd century B.C. Besides the
ceremonial rites in honor of King An Duong Vuong at the Upper Temple, there is
an imposing and solemn procession of 12 palanquins going round the Trong Thuy
Well to the Village gate. Moreover, in the festival, people also put a lot of
effort into celebrating traditional activities.
On the afternoon of the 5th day of the first lunar
month, all of the eight communes (including Co Loa Commune and the establishing
relations between seven communes) hold the incense offering ceremony at the
communal house. At Thuong Temple, village officials and mandarins hold the
similar ceremony and revise the King’s contributions and achievements. The
official festival day, which is on the 6th of the first lunar month, commences
with processions of notables from surrounding villages to the King An Duong
Temple where a miniature royal court containing an incense burner, a stone
tablet and a funeral oration is placed in front of the two altars. The
literature procession is preceded by a flag that symbolizes the five elements
(metal, wood, water, fire and earth), a musical company, and a sacrifice. This
procession featuring two sedan chairs proceeds through the 12 hamlets of Co Loa
Commune. One carries a small statue of the King, the other a beheaded statue of
his daughter which symbolizes for her punishment. The procession then continues
to the Trong Thuy Well and back to the various hamlets, accompanied by
firecrackers.
Preceded by the literature procession is a
sacrificial ceremony that lasts until 12 p.m. The ceremony takes place in the
King's honor, accompanied by traditional music. Next to the ceremony is the
procession of 12 villages to take the god from the temple to the communal house
so that he can watch the festivities. This is the biggest procession with the
participation of all the palanquins. When reaching the main entrance, the
palanquins return to their villages. Co Loa’s procession and palanquin do the
same rituals once more at the communal house. The festival continues until the
16th day of the first lunar month, with evening fireworks displays, traditional
games such as cock fighting, human chess, tug of war, card playing, wrestling,
swing, rope climbing, martial arts, flag dancing and archery and performances
of ca tru, cheo and tuong.
On the final day of the festival, a grand farewell
ceremony will be held at the temple. After the rituals which are the same as in
the main festival day, the cult table of god will be returned to the sanctuary.
Local people enjoy the god’s favor and expect a year of prosperity and
protection from the god. The meaningful festival is always closed with a
thanksgiving ceremony.
This
article written by Lanh Nguyen from Vacation to Vietnam
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original article, please visit:
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