The Mekong Delta is known as the granary, which is the place that supplies many delicious fruit and vegetables for the whole country. Not only that, but the culture of the West is also very unique, unique, with a simple and rustic beauty like the personality of the people here.
Ba Chua Xu festival in Sam mountain – the biggest festival in the South West
The Ba Chua Xu festival in Nui Sam (Chau Doc – An Giang) is held on April 24 of the lunar calendar every year and is one of the biggest festivals in the South West . Every year, on this occasion, visitors from near and far will eagerly gather to worship. There are even groups of people coming a few days before to attend the ceremony of bathing her.
Ba Chua Xu festival at Nui Sam (Chau Doc – An Giang)
According to the ritual, the altar where the statue is placed will be obscured by a cloth curtain, with lace and embroidery, colorful patterns. After that, a group of 4-5 women who are chosen from the previous time will offer fragrant water and wipe all over the body of the statue, and then change into new hats and costumes. At the end of the ceremony of bathing Ba, the curtain will pull aside, people will begin and come to worship, send fruit and make a request for Ba’s fortune.
The ceremony for Ba Chua Xu consists of four main ceremonies: the procession of receiving 4 plaques from Thoai Ngoc Hau’s mausoleum to Ba temple, the ceremony of Xon Chau – Sing Boi, the ceremony of Tuc Yet and finally the ceremony of Chinh Te. After the ceremony ends, people begin with playing activities with folk cultural activities such as lion dance, cup dancing, …
Rituals for Ba Chua Xu include 4 main ceremonies
In the opinion of the people of An Giang, it is believed that Ba Chua Xu is a god who always protects and blesses the people, the annual ceremony of giving her thanks to the virtue that she has protected and saved them. born. Yet, many people still say that, to visit and pray at the Lady of the Sam mountain, the wish will come true. The good news and the sacredness of the Lady Chua Xu Mountain Sam gradually spread everywhere, since then more and more people from all over come to worship. Over time, this festival became one of the unique cultural features of An Giang and became the largest festival in the West .
Cholchnam Thmay – Traditional New Year of the Khmer
Cholchnam Thmay is also known as the traditional New Year of the Khmer living in the Mekong Delta. This festival usually takes place at the beginning of the new year (after the Kinh’s Lunar New Year), so it is also called “Age of Age Ceremony”. The Cholchnam Thmay Festival takes place around the third lunar month (ie about April of the annual calendar). Like the Chinese New Year, the Cholchnam Thmay festival lasts for 3 days, ie the 13th, 14th, and 15th of the third lunar month, if it falls in a leap year, the starting date will be delayed 1 day. This is one of the biggest festivals in the West and is most expected of the Khmer people living in the provinces: Soc Trang, An Giang, Tra Vinh, Kien Giang . In these days, most houses always have banh tet, fruit, and lanterns to worship and worship the Buddha.
Cholchnam Thmay, also known as the traditional New Year of the Khmer
During the 3 days of the festival, the first day is called “Chôl Sangkran Thmay” day. On this day, people will bathe and wear traditional costumes, bring incense and lantern offerings into the temple and make a Sangkran procession. In the evening, the pagoda yard will take place fun activities such as parachute dance, forestry dance, wind lamp release, …
The second day is called “Wonbơt”. In the morning, people wake up to offer rice to the monks at the temple. In the afternoon, there is a sand-mount ceremony, whereby people will find a handful of clean sand to bring to the pagoda around the Buddhist temples as well as in the hallway in front of the temple yard. The last day is called “Lân Săk” day, which is the ceremony of bathing Buddha statues.
Song On Ceremony – Celebrate peace, dispel evil gas
The Song On ceremony is a ritual with a long tradition in the southwestern region . Although today, this festival is no longer as popular as before, there are still many localities such as: Can Tho, Long An, Vinh Long, An Giang … performed even though the dates of these festivals are not consistent . However, the common point of festivals in these localities is that they are all held at temples, shrines, …
The Song On ceremony is a ritual with a long tradition in the Southern region
According to legend, this festival originated in the time when the site was reclaimed, when there were many diseases that harmed people. The southern people at that time believed that this was a disaster caused by the devil. Therefore, they celebrate the Song Wen ceremony, which means expelling off, banishing evil spirits and diseases caused to people. To prepare for the Song On ceremony, people prepare objects to sacrifice to the god in front of the same boat so that the objects just finished offering, then light incense to pray. Finally, bring to the river and let the boat drift with the water with the desire to bring the bad luck and accidents away and towards a peaceful and happy life.
Nghinh Ong festival – A festival of fishermen
Nghinh Ong festival is a festival with a long tradition and the biggest festival in the western region of fishermen. This is a festival commemorating the merit of the General Nam Hai Army on many times saving people through tribulations, great waves and winds in the sea. The biggest annual festival in the WestThis is held for three days .. Walking along the South Coast, visitors will find many temples and shrines worshiping fish. Normally, every time the festival takes place, there will be hundreds of fishermen’s small and large fishing boats decorated with flags and anchored to be able to perform the ceremony of bringing him to the sea – one of the rituals. The first page of the festival, followed by the solemn worshiping ceremonies of fishermen. Besides, fishermen will also invite each other, including visitors from far away to visit, they will eat, chat and have fun together. It can be said that this is a festival with bold fine style of the southwestern region.
This is a festival commemorating the merit of the General Nam Hai Army, many times saving people through tribulation
Before the festival, there will be hundreds of fishing boats large and small, decorated with flowers and anchored.