Bringing the Lady of the Realm back to the community

The venue stretches from the Martyrs' Monument House of Nui Sam Ward, the area where the Lady reigns on the top of Nui Sam Mountain and ends at the stage of the Lady of the Land Temple of Nui Sam Mountain (Nui Sam Ward, Chau Doc City, An Giang Province). Leaders of the Provincial Party Committee, People's Council, People's Committee, Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of the province, departments, branches, Chau Doc City and thousands of people attended.

The martyrs' stele house was chosen as the place to hold the ceremony to depart for the mountain, including a dramatization program and incense offering.

Before the ceremonies began, as usual, Sam Mountain was covered in heavy rain, sometimes light rain. However, when the ceremony was held, the sky cleared up, the air was clear, exciting visitors from near and far.

The leaders and the Management Board of Sam Mountain Mausoleum took turns offering incense on top of Sam Mountain, where there is a sandstone pedestal where it is said that the Lady resided more than 200 years ago.

In the ceremony to invite the statue of the Lady of the Land down the mountain, for many years now, her crown and splendid coat have been chosen to replace her statue, making it more convenient during the ceremony and for future storage.

The ritual emphasizes the details: The villagers, with their faith, mobilized hundreds of strong people to bring the statue of the Lady down the mountain to worship and preserve it, but no matter what they did, they could not move it. At that time, the Lady trampled the bronze to a woman, calling herself the Holy Mother of the Land, and told the villagers that to bring the Lady down the mountain, all they needed was 9 virgin girls to mount the statue.

Sure enough, when the girls came to carry the statue, it became light and moved easily. When it reached the current location of the temple, the statue suddenly became so heavy that it could no longer be lifted. The villagers thought that she wanted to reside here, so they built a temple to worship her.

In the late afternoon, when all the rituals on the mountain were finished, the palanquin was gradually brought down the mountain, in the anticipation, interest and admiration of thousands of people from near and far, in the bustling sound of lion drums. The road was quite long, but the crowd held each other and walked, cheering each other on, wholeheartedly fulfilling the wish of bringing the statue of the Lady down the mountain, as a tradition that had been preserved for hundreds of years.

Many groups of female high school students in Chau Doc city were selected to participate in the procession of the Lady's statue, taking turns performing the ritual.

The Via Ba Chua Xu Nui Sam Festival is a rich folk cultural phenomenon, playing an important role in folk life, not only for the Kinh, Hoa, Cham and Khmer people in the South, but also influencing and positively impacting the spiritual life of a part of the population across the country. The importance of the festival is reflected in its unique cultural value and its solid spiritual support for the people over the years.

Along with the procession of people carrying the Lady's palanquin from the foot of the mountain to the Lady's temple, there is a street festival. Among them, the image of the "human god" Thoai Ngoc Hau - a mandarin of the Nguyen Dynasty, who had the merit of organizing the construction of roads, digging canals, expanding hamlets, developing production, protecting the border, bringing peace and prosperity to the people's lives. Behind his achievements is his wife Chau Thi Te, who is admired by everyone.

Part 3 of the current ceremony is the worship and invitation of the Holy Mother to the temple. Each dance and song shows the respect and pride of the local people in particular, and the ethnic communities that worship the goddess in Vietnam in general.

In 2014, with its typical historical and cultural values and special significance to the community, the Via Ba Chua Xu Festival in Sam Mountain, An Giang province was listed as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. By 2024, the Festival will be recognized by UNESCO as a Representative Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

This is the first year that Via Ba is held after the Via Ba Chua Xu Sam Mountain Festival was recognized by UNESCO as a representative intangible cultural heritage of humanity. Thereby, aiming to preserve and promote the value of the representative intangible cultural heritage of humanity, develop the socio -economy with a focus on developing local tourism. Organizing the practice of traditional festival rituals, building a cultural environment, festival civilization; managing and organizing festivals according to regulations.

Source: https://baoangiang.com.vn/ruoc-ba-chua-xu-ve-voi-cong-dong-a421090.html