Hanoi
Festival of worshipping Mother Goddesses takes place in Hanoi
A festival featuring the worship of Mother Goddesses will bring many folk artists from across the nation to Hanoi on November 9-13.
One slide in Hau Dong ritual performance
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The Thang Long Cultural Heritage Association will organize the festival at Rung Temple, Long Bien district. Participating in the festival, 23 spirit mediums would reappear Hau Dong ritual on stage. The ritual to worship Mother, or the Mother Goddess Religion, is one of the main religions in Vietnam which originated from the thousand-year-old age of matriarchy. Hau dong, a spirit possession ritual of the Mother Goddess religion, is a folk religious performance that holds both spiritual and folk artistic meanings.
This is the chance for honoring Vietnamese tradition of worshipping Mother Goddesses, enhancing spiritual life and preserving treasured value of this culture in the daily life.
Twenty nine mediums and cung van (performers in spiritual rites) will present a trance performance to pay tribute to 50 genies worshipped as part of the Mother Goddesses beliefs. In Vietnam’s Mother Goddess worshipping practice, there are Four Palaces including Nhac Phu (Forest), Thien Phu (Heaven), Thuy Phu (Water) and Dia Phu (Earth).
With the participation of artist troupes, the event is expected to help promote unique indigenous culture and practices.
Within the framework of the festival, the Vietnam Music Development Centre will host a workshop on preserving and promoting Mother Goddess worshipping at the Hao Nam Temple, Hao Nam Street, Hanoi, on November 16.
Vietnam’s tradition of worshipping Mother Goddesses was recognized as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the UN cultural agency UNESCO last year.
