Capital Temple Festival

The festival of Do Temple was organized to commemorate the merits of King Ly Cong Uan, who opened the Ly dynasty, developed Dai Viet civilization; Contributing to educating the younger generation in morality "Drinking water to remember the source."

Every year, the temple festival is one of the most Dinh Dinh festivals in Bac Ninh, held on the 14th, 15th and 16th of the 3rd lunar calendar on the occasion of the day of King Ly Cong Uan to the throne and shown to move the capital. 

In the past, the festival of Do Temple was held every year according to Co Le on March 15 (lunar calendar), dragged in 4 days: 14,15,16,17-3 (now organized in 3 days 14,15,16/March and the Association is March 15.

Legend has it that it was the festival to celebrate the coronation day of Ly Thai To (March 15, Canh Tuat - 1010). That day was good, the spiritual spirit was spiritual, Ly Thai To celebrated the sacrifice of heaven, placed the Thuan Thien Thuan, expected the people of Thai Binh, the people who moved the capital.

Do temple festival is a traditional festival since ancient times, a very important custom of the people of Dinh Bang, vibrant in the Kinh Bac region, to Thang Long-Hanoi and other provinces.

The opening ceremony is a very important part, the beginning of the luck for the whole community, so all acts, words, and voice are strictly followed.

In the ritual of the ceremony, there is a ceremony "Tuc listing" - this is the ritual of procession of Ly Thanh Mau Minh Duc Queen Dowager Pham Thi, who had merit to become Ly Thai To. This ritual is also understood as a filial piety, the procession of the Holy Mother to attend my great ceremony. The procession was held from 13:30 on 13/3 (lunar calendar), from the temple to the communal house where the citadel worshiped the Imperial Citadel and the Luc To, the heads of the six lineages with the village in the 15th century, through Kim Dai Pagoda, the temple to worship the Dharma Master, the sixth ancestor of Buddhism, and then to the ancient Phap temple to commemorate Ly Thanh Mau here.

The Ceremony of the Li Bat De of the festival was procession to the ancient temple of Phap after one day, on the afternoon of March 14, the night of 14 reciting Buddhist monks and preparing all rituals to take the 15 -year -old procession to the temple. The procession at the festival of Do Temple was described "Eight the splendid palanquin was procession from Do Temple to Co Phap Pagoda to hear the monks and nuns chanting, then the procession of Ly Chieu Hoang's palanquin was not carried, had to carry out in front of the temple for her to welcome the palanquin of the eight kings."

In Do temple festival, there is a dragon dance activity, this is a typical characteristic activity of the festival, showing the heroic Thang Long-show of promotion and dreams of wet rice farmers.

Next is the great ritual. Sacrifice is a series of movements and behaviors to show respect for the great merits of the Ly kings. In the sacred atmosphere, the sacrifices on behalf of the villagers pray for the protection and belief for them so that they have an extraordinary power, overcome all difficulties in life. The ancient Do Temple Festival is often brought to eight palanquin, but because of much effort and money, nowadays only hold the procession of two palanquins with symbolic significance.

The ceremony and the festival are an inseparable unity. If the ceremony is the belief, the part of the spiritual world; The festival is the gathering of entertainment, which is the daily cultural life that only on these occasions can people have the conditions to show their existing ability, or practice. In particular, there is a drawing of experience in life, with attractive traditional cultural games with national identity.

At Do temple festival, there are activities, such as wrestling, playing chess, singing mandarins, poetry festivals, playing swings, dropping pigeons, playing cockfighting, cooking rice cookers ... Wrapping is a martial arts game in the festival.

Many researchers believe that the temple festival is hidden in which two main factors, firstly, expresses their respect and commemorate people who have merit to the people to uphold the tradition of "drinking water to remember the source." Secondly, praying for blessings, expressing the desire for a good, natural, geography, and harmony. Through the festival, the activities that are art or ritual are now improved to celebrate the king.

The temple festival is a place to focus on the thoughts and psychology of the people with respect for the levels of meritorious services to the country, meeting the needs of people returning to the roots, mingling with nature, rediscovering the national cultural identity.

The worship and worship of a symbol with the power to protect the community, which is the Bat of the Ly Dynasty, is shown to focus on the ceremony rituals of the festival. The rituals are institutionalized, the order shows the relationship between people and the gods, between people and people, expressing admiration and honoring the emperors.