Association worshiping the Water God

Water God worship festival in Hanoi Time: February 10 of the lunar calendar The Water God worship festival is held on the 10th day of the second lunar month every year in Linh Dam village, Hoang Liet ward, Hoang Mai district, Hanoi. The festival in Linh Dam organizes many folk performances in the communal house yard such as: human chess, sailing competition... Linh Dam village has a large communal house, the architecture is in the style of Cong script, including 5 main worship rooms and 3 harem rooms, imbued with the artistic architectural style of the late Le Dynasty and early Nguyen Dynasty. The communal house's door overlooks Linh Dam lagoon. Initially, Linh Dam communal house was a sacred temple in the region. Linh Dam Temple was formerly the water god belief center of many residential clusters in the Linh Dam lagoon area. Later, due to population growth, each residential cluster proposed to the state to establish its own administrative unit. Villagers proactively build communal houses to worship the village God to independently carry out cultural activities. Linh Dam Temple is only a place to worship the water god of Linh Dam village and changed its name to communal house. Linh Dam Communal House worships the water god Bao Ninh. Legend has it that during the Tran Dynasty, there was a famous Confucian scholar Chu Van An who opened a teaching wall in Cung Hoang commune, Thanh Tri district, Hanoi. There were many students attending, among them was a scholar who diligently came to listen to the teacher's lectures but whose whereabouts were unknown. Teacher and student Chu Van An searched for new whereabouts or that scholar often went out to the reeds on the banks of Lan Dam lagoon (now Gan temple) and then disappeared. Chu Van An knew it was a water god but told his students not to treat him differently from his friends. That year there was a drought, the trees dried up, and the people were hungry. Feeling sorry for the people suffering from lack of water, Chu Van An called his students to ask if there was any way to help the people. The student thought for a moment and then said to the teacher: "The laws of heaven and earth are strict, but what you teach is also very important." Having finished speaking, the scholar stood in the school yard, took out a pen stand, poured ink, and used the pen to absorb the ink and spill it all over the place. Black ink splashed into the sky and immediately dark clouds gathered, it was pouring rain. The people were very excited to have water for farming. After a week, the scholar rushed from school to Linh Dam lagoon. There was a loud explosion in the sky. Chu Van An and his team ran out and saw a boat floating in the lagoon. Chu Van An and his students and people worked together in harmony. To this day, Duc Bao Ninh's grave still exists. Previously, the Water God festival at Linh Dam temple took place solemnly in August. On August 16, elders representing the villages at Gan temple (legend is that this is where the Water God transformed into a human to study with Master Chu Van An) discussed the organization of the ceremony. On August 18, the whole village gathered to worship the community. The villages in the general procession from the village communal house to Gan temple, lower palanquins in front of the temple for officials and elders to enter and worship. After the ceremony, in the afternoon, the villages process the palanquin back to the village communal house. After the restoration of peace, the organization of communion and mass sacrifices was no longer maintained. Linh Dam villagers organize a traditional village festival on February 10.