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Chiêu Trưng Temple Festival is one of the four most famous temples in Nghe An ("Cờn Temple, Quả Temple, Bạch Mã Temple, Chiêu Trưng"), located on Long Ngâm Mountain, in Thach Ban Commune, Thach Ha District, Ha Tinh Province. Chiêu Trưng Temple in Ha Tinh consists of 3 buildings (Hạ Temple, Trung Điện Temple, Thượng Điện Temple) and a mausoleum. The Thượng Điện area has a plaque issued by King Le Thanh Tong: "Nam Thiên Tuấn Vọng". In the middle of the Thuong Dien is a statue of Chiêu Trưng Dai Vuong Le Khoi made of painted wood, bearing a solemn appearance. Chieu Trung is a very sacred temple, established to worship General Le Khoi - son of Le Tru, second brother of Le Loi. Le Khoi's posthumous name is Vo Muc, from Lam Son village, Tho Xuan district, Thanh Hoa province. In 1446, Le Khoi led his army to quell the rebellion. Wherever his army went, they won, but on the way back, he fell seriously ill and died at the foot of Long Ngam Mountain, in Dinh Ban Commune. In 1487, Le Khoi was awarded the title of Chieu Trung Dai Vuong by King Le Thanh Tong. To commemorate the great contributions of Chieu Trung Dai Vuong Le Khoi, the two districts of Thach Ha and Loc Ha coordinated to organize his death anniversary with many traditional cultural and sports activities.
The Chiêu Trưng Temple Festival is held to commemorate the contributions of King Le Khoi and pray for favorable weather, calm winds, calm seas, and good crops. The Chiêu Trưng - Le Khoi Temple Festival is held annually, attracting a large number of visitors from all over the country.
Before the main ceremony at Le Khoi Temple, the local people at the temples of Thach Kim, Mai Phu, Thach Ban, Thach Hai, and Thach Tri communes solemnly organized palanquin processions, royal decrees, and sacrificial objects to celebrate the death anniversary of the famous general Le Khoi. The processions were led by two exemplary elders. During the festival, the palanquin processions were elaborately prepared, with each procession having more than 100 people. The procession also includes a group of musical instruments, umbrellas, flags, sacrificial objects, etc. The procession by boat usually has 5-7 boats/group. Boats of neighboring villagers and fishermen from other places often go in and out of Cua Sot and the dragon boat racing group also join the procession.
The festival takes place in 4 communes: Thach Ban, Thach Hai (Thach Ha district) and Mai Phu, Thach Kim (Loc Ha district), from the 1st to the 3rd of the 5th lunar month. The ceremony includes: opening ceremony, palanquin procession, sacrificial ceremony and death anniversary ceremony, dragon boat procession. In which, the opening ceremony took place on the morning of the 1st of the 5th lunar month at the main temple of Chiêu Trưng Dai Vuong Le Khoi and from the temples of Le Khoi in the communes to the main temple. The procession of royal decrees and sacrificial objects from the temples to the main temple on the top of Long Ngam mountain. After the dragon boat procession on the Cua Sot River, representatives of the two districts held a ceremony at the main temple to commemorate and pay tribute to the great general Le Khoi and pray for national peace and prosperity.
The festival includes many practical and meaningful cultural, artistic and sports activities imbued with the traditional flavor of the locality such as: walking on stilts, playing chess, flying kites, boat racing, volleyball... Through the festival, fishermen pray for favorable weather and wind, protection for each fishing trip to have a good catch, and a full boat of seafood. This is also an opportunity for Ha Tinh to promote and introduce the tourism potential in the area, contributing to attracting domestic and foreign tourists to visit. In 2017, the Chiêu Trưng Dai Vuong Le Khoi Temple Festival was included in the list of national intangible cultural heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
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