Bim Son town is a land of amazing natural landscapes, associated with many unique historical and cultural relics. Among them, the most prominent are the national historical and cultural relics of Song Son Temple and Song Son - Ba Doi Festival with many unique traditional cultural features of the nation being preserved and promoted.
Procession of the Holy Mother Lieu Hanh and the palanquin of Emperor Quang Trung.
The worship of Holy Mother Lieu Hanh at Song Son Temple
Since ancient times, Song Son Temple has been famous for its sacredness, attracting many people from Thanh Hoa and the whole country to come to burn incense, perform rituals, and enjoy the natural scenery. Therefore, there has been a folk song circulating: "Song Temple is the most sacred in Thanh Hoa". Song Son Temple in Bim Son is also associated with the legend of Holy Mother Lieu Hanh.
According to legend, Holy Mother Lieu Hanh's name was Fairy Princess Quynh Nuong, daughter of the Jade Emperor. Because she made a mistake by dropping a jade cup during a ceremony to pay homage to Heaven, she was banished to earth and reincarnated into the Le family in Van Cat village, An Thai commune, Thien Ban district, Nghia Hung prefecture (now Vu Ban district, Nam Dinh province), and was named Giang Tien by her parents. After three times of being banished, Fairy Princess Quynh Nuong was allowed to come down to earth by the Jade Emperor and did not have to reincarnate again. Then she ordered Princess Que Hoa and Princess Nhi Hoa to follow the Fairy Princess to earth. With her magical powers, the Fairy Princess traveled to all the beautiful and beautiful lands and often used magic to punish the wicked and show mercy to the good. Fairy Princess Lieu Hanh also often used magic to travel in the Song Son mountain area, Bim Son town and Tam Diep mountain, Ninh Binh province. Here, the Fairy Queen used magic to help travelers cross Ba Doi Pass and taught the local people how to dig wells to get water, grow mulberry trees, raise silkworms, and weave cloth.
After receiving a dream from the Fairy, the people of Co Dam village, Phu Duong, Ha Trung district - now Bac Son ward, Bim Son town called on each other to contribute labor and money to build a temple to worship Fairy Princess Lieu Hanh. That temple was called Sung Tran temple, now called Song Son temple.
Theatrical scene depicting the descent of Princess Lieu Hanh to earth.
Because of her many transformational powers, Fairy Princess Lieu Hanh contributed to helping King Le defeat foreign invaders; helped Lord Trinh punish some rebels within the clan, so she was given the title of Che Thang Hoa Dieu Dai Vuong by the royal court. During the reign of King Minh Mang (Nguyen Dynasty), Fairy Princess was given the beautiful title "Thuong Thuong Dang Toi Linh Than". From then on, Fairy Princess Lieu Hanh became a transcendent being, always bestowing grace on everyone, so she was honored by the people as the Holy Mother, Mother of the World - that is, the exemplary mother of all people. Holy Mother Lieu Hanh was honored by the people with all three capacities of Saint - God - Buddha. Especially in Vietnamese religious culture, Holy Mother Lieu Hanh is honored together with Saint Tan Vien, Saint Giong and Saint Chu Dong Tu as the 4 Immortal Saints. All Vietnamese people remember the proverb: "August is the anniversary of Father's death, March is the anniversary of Mother's death". That not only reflects the cultural and religious activities of the people, but also shows the respect and filial piety towards ancestors, the ones who gave birth, raised, taught and protected each Vietnamese person.
The female mediums participate in the female mandarin worship ceremony at the Song Son - Ba Doi festival.
Song Son Temple is located on a high ground, facing the Northwest, with a "tam" shaped architecture according to the Vietnamese temple tradition with three consecutive palaces, including: the Back Palace, the Middle Hall, the Front Hall and the outermost is the Nghinh Mon. The column system of the worshiping halls is nearly half a meter wide, the stone blocks are 6 inches high, carved by stone workers from Nhoi village, creating a hexagonal shape with many beautiful patterns. On the columns are decorated parallel sentences talking about the manifestation and merit of the Holy Mother Lieu Hanh, praising the beautiful scenery of Song Son.
Behind Song Son Temple is Thien Ly Road - the road that once marked the lightning-fast march of the Tay Son insurgents. Under the talented command of King Quang Trung - Nguyen Hue, the Tay Son insurgents crossed Ba Doi Pass to advance to Bac Ha, defeated 290,000 Qing invaders, liberated Thang Long in early spring of Ky Dau (1789). Following the winding Thien Ly Road for about 4 km to the Northwest, passing two passes, you will reach the top of Ba Doi Pass - where there is a stele house, surrounded by amazing nature.
Song Son - Ba Doi Festival has unique cultural features
Song Son Temple has a sacred space, charming scenery, harmonious architecture and decoration imbued with traditional Vietnamese culture, estimated to be nearly four hundred years old. Together with Phu Day of Nam Dinh province, Phu Tay Ho of Hanoi city, Pho Cat temple (Thach Thanh), Song Son Temple has become one of the largest spiritual cultural sites worshiping the Holy Mother Lieu Hanh in the country.
Procession of the Holy Mother Lieu Hanh and the palanquin of Emperor Quang Trung.
To preserve and promote the cultural and historical values and scenic spots of Bim Son town, in 1993, Song Son temple was recognized as a national historical and cultural relic by the Ministry of Culture and Information (now the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism). From 1998 to now, combining the State budget and contributions from organizations and individuals inside and outside the province, Bim Son town has invested in planning, restoring, embellishing and upgrading Song Son temple to almost the original state of Nguyen Dynasty architecture in 1939. Up to now, many new constructions such as Nghinh Mon gate, Co tower, Cau tower, Duc Ong temple, Vong Ngu tower, arched stone bridge have been restored to serve tourists from all over to offer incense, visit and enjoy the scenery.
Every year, when spring comes, the Song Son - Ba Doi festival, also known as the procession of the Holy Mother at Song Son temple, is held from the 10th to the 26th of the second lunar month every year. The festival is a long-standing traditional cultural activity, reflecting the cultural and spiritual needs of the people in Bim Son town, expressing the national cultural identity. The festival includes important rituals such as: the water procession, the announcement ceremony, the female mandarin worship ceremony and the main ceremony is the procession of the holy ball, the procession of Emperor Quang Trung. Only young, beautiful girls, with harmonious and disciplined families and filial children are selected by dignitaries in the village and commune to join the procession of the Holy Mother. Before the main festival, in the large yard in front of Song Son temple, many traditional folk games and performances are organized and take place enthusiastically, attracting a large number of people to participate and respond happily.
The scene recreates the hero Quang Trung - Nguyen Hue recruiting soldiers, gathering military provisions, and training patriots at Ba Doi Pass.
Song Son - Ba Doi Festival is also an occasion for all classes of people to commemorate the great contributions of the cloth-clad hero Quang Trung - Nguyen Hue, who 235 years ago stopped at Ba Doi Pass to join Ngo Thi Nham and Ngo Van So in recruiting soldiers, gathering military provisions, training patriots, and discussing strategies before marching to liberate Thang Long. That feat was engraved in the history of fighting foreign invaders and reclaiming the country of our people.
According to the plan, the Song Son - Ba Doi Festival 2024 will be organized by Bim Son town for 3 days, from April 2 to April 4, 2024 (ie from February 24 to February 26 of the lunar calendar). The main ceremony will take place on the morning of April 4, 2024, including activities such as: Incense offering ceremony, drum beating to open the festival, performing the sacrificial ritual, the procession of the Holy Mother Lieu Hanh, the procession of Emperor Quang Trung to the Ba Doi stele house to the Nine Wells temple and his return to the throne. Especially, there will be an art program with many unique cultural and artistic performances such as: "Lion - Lion - Dragon" dance, "Legend of the Princess of Ba Doi Pass" cheo play. The festival will be held from April 2 to April 3, 2024 with many special folk cultural activities such as tug of war, rice cooking competition, chess, and the Van Thanh festival.
Villages participate in the Song Son - Ba Doi festival.
Through the organization of the Song Son - Ba Doi Festival, it aims to meet the religious needs of the people and preserve and promote traditional cultural values, educate patriotism, love for the people, and solidarity in building the homeland and the country. At the same time, it raises the sense of responsibility of the Party committees, authorities and people of all walks of life in Bim Son town in preserving and promoting the value of existing historical relics, landscapes and landscapes. From there, continue to pay attention to investing and exploiting the spiritual cultural tourism potential of Bim Son town more and more effectively.
Tran Thanh
(The article uses materials from the book "Song Son Temple and the story of Holy Mother Lieu Hanh).
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