| Description |
Thanh Liet Temple Festival - also known as the mussel procession festival, is a long-standing custom of Thanh Liet village, Hung Lam commune (now hamlet 9, Xuan Lam commune) held on the 6th day of the 2nd lunar month every year. According to the community's concept, the festival is to commemorate the merits of Nguyen Bieu, Princess Lieu Hanh and the water gods who bless the shrimp and fish catching, mussel raking on Lam river. The festival space is a section of Lam river about 2.5 kilometers long, from the river wharf in front of Thanh Liet temple to Phu junction, including rituals such as: ramming ceremony, welcoming ceremony, main ceremony, and chopping ceremony.
On the 1st day of the 2nd lunar month, at the temple, the village's ritual committee performs a mediumship ritual to ask for the gods' instructions on organizing the festival. On the morning of the 5th, the ritual committee performs a ritual to ask for permission from the gods to hold the Pho Tro/Moc Duc ceremony.
The most special ritual is the water procession. On the morning of the 6th, the Saint's palanquin is carried from the temple to the sandbank and put on a boat. The large boats of the fishing village are arranged in a long row, decorated with flags, flowers, sacrificial objects, and offerings... Leading the procession is the master boat with a decorated altar for the water god, on which the village's elders are carried, followed by the boat carrying the palanquins of the gods. They worship the water god at the junction of the Lam River (Nghe An) and La River (Ha Tinh). The master of ceremonies performs the rituals of worshiping the water god, the river god... typical of the river region. Legend has it that in this ceremony, there is also the ritual of carrying mussels and releasing mussels into the river, so the Thanh Liet Temple Festival has long been called the mussel procession. The ceremony lasts for 2 hours and ends with the procession of the god's palanquin back to the Thanh Liet Temple and the organization of the grand ceremony.
The festival has games that are imbued with the identity of the river region such as swimming, prize-winning, diving, rowing, clam-raking, volleyball, tug-of-war, chess, etc.
Thanh Liet Temple Festival is imbued with the identity of the river region, is a place to preserve the worship of water gods and reflects the professional thinking of the people in the lower Lam River. With its typical value, Thanh Liet Temple Festival was included in the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2018. |
