Phu Ung temple festival

Phu Ung temple festival At the beginning of the first lunar month every year, tourists inside and outside the province enthusiastically come to attend the Phu Ung temple festival (An Thi district) to commemorate General Pham Ngu Lao, a famous general who helped the Tran Dynasty defeat the Nguyen - Mongol invaders and protect the country's borders. Pham Ngu Lao was a general in both literature and martial arts, who was highly trusted, trained, and recommended by Hung Dao Vuong Tran Quoc Tuan to the court and became an assistant general for three generations of Tran kings. He made great contributions to our nation's fight against foreign invaders and protected the southwestern border of the Fatherland. General Pham Ngu Lao's background, career, and role in the Tran Dynasty have been recorded in history books and worshiped by the people. After his death, he was honored by the king as "Superior God of Happiness" and the court allowed him to build a temple right on the foundation of his family's old house in Phu Ung village.  The traditional festival of Phu Ung temple is held from January 11 to 13 (lunar calendar). However, from the first days of January every year, the temple is open to serve tourists from all over to offer incense. In recent years, the Phu Ung temple festival has been expanded, attracting a large number of visitors from all over. Mr. Nguyen Van Uy, Chairman of the People's Committee of Phu Ung commune, Head of the festival organizing committee, said: In order for the festival to take place healthily and solemnly, preparations for the Phu Ung temple festival have been underway since the first days of December. This year's festival, the commune has expanded the parking area to serve the needs of visitors, and at the same time repaired and expanded the stage and entertainment spots to make the festival safe and fun; Shops are neatly arranged, ensuring food hygiene and safety. In addition, the issue of ensuring festival security is emphasized with the strengthening of the police force right from the first days of the year so that tourists from all over the world attending the festival can feel secure in worshiping and visiting. In particular, this year's ceremony will be more solemn with the opening drum performance of a 24-piece drum rig, combined with a dragon dance team from Kiem Khe Town, Thanh Liem district (Ha Nam), twinned with Phu Ung commune. This year's opening drum performance and dragon dance will take place 30 minutes before the incense offering ceremony to commemorate General Pham Ngu Lao. The traditional festival of Phu Ung temple includes a ceremony and a festival that is both solemn, dignified, bustling, and fresh. The political festival began to be held on January 11, the day General Pham Ngu Lao launched his army to fight the enemy. On that day, rituals take place: Great ceremony, internal worship, external worship. The festival opened with the procession of taking Princess Tinh Hue (daughter of Pham Ngu Lao) from the lord's palace to Pham Tien Cong's mausoleum to present to him, then to Pham Ngu Lao temple to present to her father. Participating in the procession are teams of ceremonial flags, lion and dragon dancers, tablets, teams carrying flower palanquins, and carrying princess palanquins. After the traditional procession from the lord's palace to the temple, villagers and tourists held an incense offering ceremony, reviewing the background, career and contributions of General Pham Ngu Lao to the country. During the 3 days of the festival, after the ceremonial activities and traditional solemn ceremonies, there are also folk games of the festival such as: Chinese chess, cockfighting, puppet shows, tug of war, quan ho singing, asking for words at the beginning of spring, tickle wrestling competition, dong dance... attracting a large number of tourists to watch and participate. Besides folk games, a number of sports activities such as volleyball, badminton, Chinese chess... take place enthusiastically, helping people immerse themselves in the festival as well as have the opportunity to have fun, rest, and pray for a lucky working year. The traditional festival of Phu Ung temple is a festival imbued with profound cultural values. This is not only an opportunity to commemorate the merits of the famous general Pham but also to educate future generations about the will to rise, about patriotism, and demonstrate the nation's long-standing civilization. Phu Ung Temple Festival is also one of the major festivals in the province's cultural activities and spring festivals.