In the morning of March 31, the ceremony to commemorate the anniversary of the death of the Hung Kings took place with the participation of NA Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung, Vietnam fatherland Front Chairman Huynh Dam and other officials of the northern midland province of Phu Tho.
Chairman of Phu Tho People’s Committee Hoang Dan Mac delivered the speech, emphasizing the precious tradition of Vietnam, betraying the proud history of 4.000 years. Therefore, the worship ritual demonstrates the moral saying, “When drinking the water, remembering its source”, he said.
Worshiping the ancestor showed the gratefulness of the current generation for Hung Kings and other national heroes. The anniversary of the death of the Hung Kings and the Hung Kings Temple Festival are held annually with the aim to build and develop a modern Vietnamese culture with national characteristics.
Also in the morning of March 31, the ceremony to commemorate the anniversary of the death of the Hung Kings took place in the Culture Park in District 9, Ho Chi Minh city.
City Party Secretary Le Thanh Hai together with other officials from the People’s Committee, Vietnam fatherland Front HCMC Committee attended the ceremony.
Millions of people from across the country also flocked to the sacred Nghia Linh Mountain in Phu Tho to worship at the Hung Kings Temple.
Leaders of Phu Tho Province held a friendly and cordial meeting with the visiting overseas Vietnamese diaspora, welcoming them on their return to their homeland to pay tribute to the legendary national founders.
Officials from the Foreign Ministry hoped that the Vietnamese diaspora continue to introduce their international friends to the traditional King Hungs Temple worship ritual, which originated from ancestral worship and has now become a significant cultural festival in the country.
Such traditional cultural events help to link the past and the present and foster strong sentiments in the Vietnamese people for their families and their country.
Pho Tho province is currently working on a dossier on the Hung Kings worship ritual to seek UNESCO recognition as a World Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is also establishing a data bank on the Hung Kings Temple Festival for research purposes and to preserve customs and rituals that have almost become lost.
In recent times, more attention has been paid to the Hung Kings worship ritual. On March 30, the King Hungs Secondary School in District 5 in Ho Chi Minh City organised a ceremony to commemorate the death anniversary of the Hung Kings.
In the central province of Da Nang, the Be Van Dan Elementary School also held a camp “back to origins”, to educate pupils to understand better the lives of the founders of their fatherland.
In an effort to preserve the ritual, the National Cultural Heritage Department and the Vietnam Institute of Culture and Arts Studies have coordinated with the Ministry of Education and Training to add Hung Kings worship ritual legends into school curriculum at all levels.
The ritual is significant to establish in the minds of the Vietnamese people that they had the same ancestors. This will remind all Vietnamese to stay united and love and protect each other.
In order to convenience visitors going north to attend the Hung Kings Festival, railway stations in Ho Chi Minh City have run extra train services.
The HCMC Eastern bus station also increased the number of coaches going to the north and central provinces during the three day National holiday from March 31 to April 2.
