At the ceremony presenting the certificate (Source: VNA)Phu Tho (VNA) – The northern province of Phu Tho on March21 received a certificate recognising the Mother Au Co worship as part of thenational intangible cultural heritage.
Addressing theevent, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Ha Ke San said theMother Au Co worship at the Mother Au Co Temple in Hien Luong commune, Ha Hoadistrict, is the first national intangible cultural heritage recognised in thedistrict as well as the province.
He urged thedistrict to actively work with the provincial Department of Culture, Sports andTourism and relevant agencies to preserve and promote the value of theheritage, with focus on campaigns to raise the public awareness of the heritageand encourage the community to preserve and practise the heritage’s rituals ina sustainable manner.
Measures areneeded to protect the heritage space, upgrade and manage the Mother Au CoTemple site, he said, calling for an action plan to ensure the continuity ofthe ritual in the current life.
The worship ofMother Au Co at the temple is practised in numerous forms, includingworshipping Mother Au Co and her children. The Mother Au Co Temple Festivaltakes place from the seventh to the ninth day of the first lunar month. Thetemple was built under the reign of King Le Thanh Tong (15th century) and nameda national historical and cultural relic site in 1991.
Legend has it that Au Co, who was a fairy, descended to the earth on theseventh day of the first lunar month. She met with Lac Long Quan and gave birthto 100 sons. Fifty of them followed their father to the sea and the other halffollowed their mother to the mountains in the upstream Red River.
When they arrived in the area which is nowHien Luong commune, Au Co and her children were so captivated by the area’sfertility and stunning landscapes that they decided to settle there, and thiswas where the eldest son was crowned as King Hung – the legendary founder ofVietnam.
They practised water rice cultivation to provide food, planted mulberry trees,and bred silk worms before Au Co returned to heaven on the 25th day of thetwelfth lunar month.
Vietnam has about 8,000 festivals each year. Of which, nearly 90 percent aretraditional festivals, 6 percent are religious ones and 4 percent arehistorical ones.-VNA
VNA
