VIETNAM FESTIVAL AND EVENTS
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August
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The festivals and
events are calendared in Lunar month. Normally, a lunar month stay
later than western month of around 30 days.
MARCH
PERFUME PAGODA ( HUONG TICH) FESTIVAL
The
Perfume Pagoda
(Huong Tich), At My Duc, 69km south of Hanoi, without doubt, is the
most famous Buddhist pilgrimage site in northern Vietnam.
Hundreds
of thousands of pilgrims travel to this sacred cave to pray for
happiness and prosperity in the coming year. pilgrims board boats,
usually rowed by young women, which carry them along the Yen Stream
through a stunning landscape of blazing green rice paddles studded
with jagged limestone mounts to the base of Huong Mountain. From the
riverbank, pilgrims proceed on foot, past various ancient pagodas,
monasteries and shrines, up hundreds of stone steps and a switchback
trail, all worn smooth by the passage of countless feet.
The Perfume Pagoda consists of a group of caves and is an impressive
architectural ensemble of both human and natural endeavor.
The Perfume Pagoda Festival lasts from the 6th day of the 1st month to
the end of the 3rd month of the lunar calendar. Visitors can get tot
the Perfume Pagoda either by the inland road or by water way. The
Vietnamese believe that Huong Son is Buddha's Heaven. Huong Son is
considered the place to worship Bodhisattva Kwan Yin. People conduct
a dragon dance in the yard of Trinh Pagoda, and sail the royal barge
on the 6th day of the 1st month. The festival is held in three places,
Huong Tich, Tuyet Son, and Long Van. The festival is most crowded from
the 15th - 20th day of the 2nd month of the lunar calendar as this
period marks the main festival. The path leading from Ngoai Pagoda to
Trong Pagoda is full of visitors coming up and down the mountain.
A pilgrimage to the Perfume Pagoda is not only for religious reasons,
but also to see the numerous natural landscapes and the buildings that
are valuable artifacts of the nation.
Starting Dates in Western
Calendar 2005 Feb 23, 2021 Feb 12, 2021 Mar 4,
2008 Feb 21.
COW RACING FESTIVAL
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Each year on the last
day of the Khmer calendar, the Khmer, an ethnic minority group living
in the Mekong delta province of Angiang, hold a
festival to honor
their ancestors. The festival begins with a visit to the pagoda, where
Khmer families invite the souls of their ancestors to dine with the
living. Should any visitors appear during the festival they will be
warmly received since the Khmer believe that guests who arrive around
New Year are messengers sent by their ancestors.
Following a visit to the pagoda people walk to the nearest stream or
river where they tie the trunks of banana trees together to form
rafts. Offerings are placed on these rafts, which are then pushed into
the water to be swept away by the current.
These quiet ceremonies are sharp contrast to the highlight of the
festival, a cow race. The racetrack, set in a muddy and slippery paddy
field, is 120m long, with both the start and finish lines marked with
red and green flags. Each race involves two pairs of cow, controlled
by two young men. To further complicate their task, the teams must run
in a straight line and will be disqualified for veering off course.
The races are both exciting and hilarious. People travel from miles
for the show, bringing food and pots and pans for a picnic. Part
rodeo, part race and part comedy, a Khmer cow race is an unforgettable
spectacle.
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