Hoa Lu Ancient Capital Festival known as Truong Yen festival is a traditional festival held to commemorate two kings Dinh Tien Hoang and Le Dai Hanh who contributed to establish Dai Co Viet Kingdom and build the Capital Hoa Lu. The festival has existed since the Capital Hoa Lu became an ancient one. The festival has largest scale in years with the end numbers are three, five, eight and zero. It is celebrated in spring, on the fifteenth of February of lunar calendar which is considered as the birthday of Dinh Tien Hoang King or on the eight and thirteenth day of lunar third month.
Photo by Richard Mortel |
Right after coming back to Temple of Ding King and Le King , the group carry out a worshipping ceremony. To begin with, the host makes a worshipping speech, which is divided into nine paragraphs. After each of the paragraphs is finished, a man and a woman will sing a Ca trù tune in order to explain what the host has just said.
Besides ceremony, visitors can enjoy interesting entertainment programs and take part in many fun traditional games such as human chess , martial art, boat racing, singing Chầu Văn , making poems, writing Han ideograph. The most exciting game is "Cờ lau tập trận" which recounts the childhood of Dinh Bo Linh.
It can be said, if given the opportunity to tour Ninh Binh, was once selected to participate in a cultural festival that local, travelers should certainly think about traditional festivals Hoa Lu ancient capital importance and this is very meaningful.