Festival of Ha Temple, Thuong Temple, Y La Temple

The Lower Temple, the Upper Temple, and the Y La Temple are ancient architectural works, with both high architectural and spiritual values; values from the sacredness of the Mother Goddess Worship belief - a beautiful feature in the cultural beliefs of the Vietnamese people.

Ha Temple, Thuong Temple, and Y La Temple are three of the five relics of Tuyen Quang city that have been ranked by the state as national historical and cultural relics; along with that, the Ha Temple, Thuong Temple, and Y La Temple Festivals have also been recognized by the state as national intangible cultural heritages. The Mother Goddesses worshiped in the three main temples are "sacred", the core of the traditional festival that has been preserved, conserved, and passed down to this day. The Thuong Temple, Ha Temple, and Y La Temple Festivals are held to promote and honor the cultural values of the people of all ethnic groups in the city, especially the worship of Mother Goddess - Mother of Water.

Ha Temple, located in Tan Quang Ward; Thuong Temple, located in Trang Da Commune, the two temples mentioned above were both built during the Later Le Dynasty (mid-18th century); Y La Temple, located in Y La Ward, Tuyen Quang City, was built later during the Nguyen Dynasty (19th century). The three temples were built by the people to worship the Holy Mother (Mau Thuong Thien, Mau Thuong Ngan, Mau Thoai) and the deities in the Vietnamese Mother Goddess worship.

According to folk legend, there were two princesses, daughters of King Hung, Phuong Dung (also known as Princess Quynh Hoa) and Ngoc Lan (also known as Princess Mai Hoa). One day, they followed the royal procession to inspect the local area and parked their boat on the bank of the Lo River (in Hiep Thuan village). At night, a storm arose and the two princesses suddenly flew up to the sky. The people thought it was supernatural and built a temple to worship them. The temple to worship Princess Phuong Dung is on the right side of the Lo River in the territory of Y La commune (now Ha temple).

The temple worshiping Princess Ngoc Lan is on the left side of Lo River in Tinh Huc Commune (now Thuong Temple). Over time and with the ups and downs of history, due to war, Ha Temple was severely burned, and residents had to bring the statue of the god to Y La village to take refuge. In 1817, Khai Dinh 3, started to rebuild Ha Temple on the old location but on a larger scale. At that time, at the location where the statue of the god of Ha Temple took refuge, Y La villagers also built Y La Temple to worship Princess Phuong Dung. The formation of Mau Y La Temple originated from Ha Temple, the two temples worship Princess Phuong Dung who incarnated as Mau Thuong Thien. In folk beliefs, Y La Temple is the "refuge" place of Mau, a place with a sacred terrain to protect the Holy Mother, a place capable of preserving Goodness, so the Thuong Temple and Ha Temple Festivals are inseparable from Y La Temple.

The two Holy Mothers are worshiped in three temples that share the same solemn Mother procession day; during the Mother procession days, the Y La Temple is chosen as the starting place for the procession, and the Ha Temple is the place for the worship. Thus, along with the establishment of the Ha Temple, the Thuong Temple and the Y La Temple, the Festival was also formed in Tuyen Quang city.

The festival of Ha Temple, Thuong Temple, and Y La Temple is an event for people to remember and express their gratitude to the merits of the Holy Mother for the ethnic communities living in the area. At the same time, the festival is also an opportunity for people to relieve and express their worries and anxieties to the gods, hoping for the gods to help and protect them to overcome difficulties and reach a brighter tomorrow. This is a spiritual product formed from the process of wet rice farming associated with praying for favorable weather, water control activities, fighting against natural disasters and floods, reclaiming land, establishing villages, organizing labor and production of the Vietnamese people.

The festival of carrying the Mother Goddess at Ha Temple, Thuong Temple, and Y La Temple in Tuyen Quang city is associated with the land and people here. It is an essential need of life, preserved and passed down from generation to generation by the people of the ethnic groups living in the city. The festival has existed and developed until today and has become a unique cultural activity of the people of Tuyen Quang. Through many generations, the festival of carrying the Mother Goddess in Tuyen Quang has been associated with the village, place name, and land as an indispensable element in the life of the ethnic community in Tuyen Quang city.

Since 2007, the Ha Temple Festival, Thuong Temple Festival, and Y La Temple Festival have been restored every year in early spring, from the 11th to the 16th of the second lunar month. From early morning on the 11th of the second lunar month, people and visitors from all over gather at Y La Temple to welcome Princess Phuong Dung (the elder sister) from Y La Temple to Ha Temple. Then, on the 12th of the second lunar month, people hold a ceremony to welcome Princess Ngoc Lan (the younger sister) from the Thuong Temple to Ha Temple. The two ladies will meet at Ha Temple to worship together. The ceremony is solemn, with the participation of all ages, young and old, men and women, and visitors from all over. Besides the ceremony, the festival takes place with many games such as: playing to tom, tam cuc, chess, o an quan, cockfighting, tug of war, singing chau van, water procession and releasing flower lanterns on Lo River.....;

In particular, the custom of "crawl through the Mother Goddess's palanquin" is still preserved with the belief that the Mother Goddess grants health, prosperity, and happiness. Boys and girls who love each other will become husband and wife, so every year, not only children, but also old people in their 70s and 80s still sit in line waiting to crawl through the Mother Goddess's palanquin with great excitement. On February 16 (Lunar calendar), the festival ends, and people hold a ceremony to return the Mother Goddess to her own temple to protect and keep the people safe, healthy, with bountiful crops, and to pray for everyone to enter the new year with peace, prosperity, a warm family, and harmony among the people. In addition, the festival is the time for brothers, friends, and visitors from near and far to turn to their roots, thank the Mother Goddess, and pray for a prosperous and successful new year.

The festival of Ha Temple, Thuong Temple, and Mau Y La Temple has long become a unique and special tourism product of Tuyen Quang city. The festival is also an opportunity to introduce, promote, honor, and develop the cultural values of national relics of Tuyen Quang city to domestic and international friends and tourists.

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