Golden Temple _ Sacred Mother Goddess place

In the sacred space, the singing of the cung van (traditional Vietnamese musicians) blends with the melodious music, the sound of people clapping their hands in admiration, the mediums transform into saints with their costumes, gestures, and movements... all creating a strange attraction for those present. The image of the Hau Dong (spirit medium) activities of the Mother Goddess worship at the temples and palaces in early spring is a cultural beauty, demonstrating the long-standing cultural and historical traditions of Thanh land.

Blending into the sacred space of Mother Goddess worship in Thanh land, every year in the third lunar month, going by boat or following the roads to Hoang Xuan commune, Hoang Hoa district, visitors can immerse themselves in the Phu Vang festival - the place to worship the First Holy Mother Lieu Hanh - one of the four "immortal" gods of Vietnam (Son Tinh, Thanh Giong, Chu Dong Tu, Lieu Hanh Holy Mother).

Phu Vang or Phu Vang Linh Tu is located on the mountain of Chua Lang Vang village, old Hoang Khanh commune (now Hoang Xuan commune), a land of mountains and rivers, blending with nature. Since ancient times, Phu Vang has not only been a place for Hoang Khanh people to seek spiritual guidance but also a place that attracts many people and visitors from all over the surrounding area around Bong intersection to pay their respects to the First Holy Mother Lieu Hanh. The temple is located about 7 km from Highway 1A, built in the 18th century. In Phu Vang, Holy Mother Lieu Hanh is a sacred person, with supreme power but close and simple in the spiritual life of the people.

The old Phu Vang Palace had the outermost gate facing the Ma River, which was the outer gate, and the inner gate was the inner gate. The inner gate had three doors (called the three-door gate), with two majestic guardians on both sides. The way up to the worship hall had to go through nearly a hundred stone steps, with two dragons on both sides, very majestic. Next was a crescent-shaped pond with fragrant lotus flowers, the sparkling water reflecting the sky. The structure of the worship hall was massive with two floors and eight roofs in the overlapping style, the curved ends supporting the elegant fish-tail tile roof. The innermost was the upper hall attached to the worship hall in the shape of the letter T. Along with the worship hall and the main shrine, the back palace of the Phu Vang Palace had three rooms, usually closed all year round, only on special days and weekdays was it opened to burn incense and worship. Here was an altar, with a statue of the Holy Mother and the Four Red Ladies. Above is hung a large Chinese character "mother of the world", outside the main pillar of the worshiping hall is a pair of parallel sentences: "The Emperor is absent, three times born in ten directions, Holy transformation - In the south, four immortals are the Mother of the world".

In 2021, the Phu Vang festival will be held earlier than previous years - from April 10 to April 14 (ie February 29 to March 3, Tan Suu year) with many rich and meaningful activities imbued with the traditional culture of the nation. In particular, on the morning of April 10 (ie the morning of February 29, Tan Suu year), the opening ceremony will take place with a special art program, bell ringing, drum beating and the opening ceremony of the festival. In the following days, visitors to Phu Vang, in addition to immersing themselves in the cultural space of the Mother Goddess worship here, will also listen to an introduction to the Palace; in addition, 11 cultural villages in the commune will offer offerings to the Mother Goddess, the sacrificial teams, and the spirit medium groups.

If you love the Mother Goddess worship, many people have certainly immersed themselves in the sacred space of the Hau Dong ritual more than once. Or conversely, some people accidentally entered the space of a Hau Dong ceremony and developed a love for it, urging them to learn about the spirituality and mystery of a belief. However, whether they have participated or not, perhaps not everyone knows about the factors related to the Hau Dong ritual. First of all, it must be a sacred space, a place to worship the Mother Goddess along with the cung van (players, singers) and the offerings (clothes, lanterns, torches), then the Thanh Dong is the center of each Dong. Just by looking at the costumes (blue, red, white, yellow...), dances, divine weapons, props... on the Thanh Dong, people can guess which "saint" it is. That is like a convention that any Thanh Dong must strictly follow when entering the Hau Dong ceremony.

The Vietnamese Mother Goddess worship does not depend on scriptures or books, but exists under the "texts" of songs that are passed down among the people. Accordingly, each price of the medium corresponds to different musical pieces, and the 36 prices of the medium are 36 different musical pieces. Listening to the musical pieces in the spirit medium rituals, that is the origin, merits, characteristics, preferences... of each spirit medium. Folklore also believes that before entering the spirit medium, the spirit medium is just an ordinary person like everyone else, but when entering the spirit medium, corresponding to each price of the spirit medium, it is considered the incarnation of the saints that have been worshiped by the people, so the respect is for the "saint" who manifests, not for the spirit medium.

In recent years, Phu Vang Linh Tu has gradually become a spiritual and religious highlight for many people and tourists from all over the world on their journey of spiritual and cultural tourism, remembering their roots. Every year, hundreds of tourists from many provinces and in Thanh Hoa province have come to Phu Vang to offer incense to pay respect to the Mother Goddess and visit the temple. In Phu Vang Festival 2021, people in the commune and tourists from all over the country prepared offerings, together with their families, friends and relatives, excitedly and eagerly came to Phu Vang to offer incense, pay respect, and pray for a year of favorable weather, good luck, prosperity, and happiness.

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