Pilgrims pay homage to nation’s ancestors
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An estimated 3.5 million pilgrims will attend the Hung Temple festival that commemorates the death anniversary of the Hung Kings, believed to be the founders of the Vietnamese nation some thousands of years ago.
The festival kicked off in Viet Tri City of Phu Tho province on March 31 (the 6th day of the 3rd lunar month) with an incense offering ceremony at the Kinh Thien palace on Nghia Linh Mountain.
At the ceremony, the provincial people’s committee chairman Nguyen Quoc Lien vowed to turn Viet Tri into a city of festivals commemorating the Vietnamese people’s roots as well as a leading urban centre by 2015.
Mr Lien and other city leaders then laid wreaths at the Hung Kings Tombs and at a statue of late President Ho Chi Minh, who visited the city in 1954.
This year, four northern provinces - Phu Tho, Lao Cai, Yen Bai, and Vinh Phuc - and the capital city of Hanoi have joined up together for the first time to hold the anniversary. The Mai Linh taxi company also donated 6,000 traditional banh chung (square glutinous rice cakes) to the event.
State President Nguyen Minh Triet is expected to offer incense to the Kings on their death day which falls on April 4 (or the 10th day of the 3rd lunar month).
A series of cultural, arts and sporting events also started during the opening ceremony, including volleyball, crossbow shooting, Chinese chess, and traditional wrestling.