Ba Thien Hau Worship Festival

Ba Thien Hau Worship Festival (Via Ba Thien Hau) is renowned as the Chinese people's biggest ritual of the year in our country, imbued with unique cultural character and conveying the spirit of solidarity and mutual affection. Every year, a great number of people visit to Ca Mau on pilgrimage to worship and pray for wealth and luck. Let us investigate the unique elements of this well-known festival.

The beginning of the Ba Thien Hau Worship Festival

The History of the Ba Thien Hau Worship Festival

Ba Thien Hau Worship Festival is one of the largest and most unique ceremonies of the Chinese minority who live here. The festival of Via Ba Thien Hau Ca Mau is said to have originated from the belief in worshiping Ba Thien Hau. According to legend, Lady Thien Hau, at the age of 16, unintentionally picked up Thien Thu in a dry well and learned all the miracles of transformation, becoming a god to save humanity and aiding many people to survive accidents. Lady Thien Hau's soul is still present after her death. Her holiness, in particular, has aided several ships in distress at sea. As a result, the Chinese see Lady Thien Hau as a divine figure who has protected and assisted them in escaping a harsh life. They built temples to venerate her wherever they went, which is why there is the Ba Thien Hau Pagoda and the Via Ba Thien Hau celebration in Ca Mau today.

Ba Thien Hau Worship Festival is one of the most important and distinctive Chinese minority festivals

Meaning of the festival of Via Ba Thien Hau Ca Mau

Ba Thien Hau Worship Festival represents the Chinese community's distinct spiritual beliefs as well as the aspirations for a calm, prosperous, and happy life. Not only that, but this celebration in Ca Mau demonstrates Kinh - Hoa people's strong togetherness and mutual devotion in the tremendous solidarity of Vietnamese ethnic families. The Chinese directly preserve, preserve, and develop the Via Ba Thien Hau festival in Ca Mau, but because it is suitable for the characteristics of the Vietnamese people's spiritual life and beliefs, as well as the Mother Goddess worship system in our country, such as Mrs. Lord Xu, Thien Y Ana, Ba Den..., people from all over the country enthusiastically respond to this ceremony.

The festival of Via Ba Thien Hau Ca Mau is the biggest ceremony of the year

Time and location of the Ba Thien Hau Worship Festival

Every year, around 9 a.m. on the 23rd day of the third lunar month (since the Chinese believe that 9 is a lucky number), the Ba Thien Hau Thanh Mau Temple in Ward 2 of Ca Mau city hosts the Ba Thien Hau festival. People from all over the world come here on this day to give incense, worship, and pray for peace, luck, and fortune.

What's special about the Ba Thien Hau festival in Ca Mau?

Space where the festival is held

If the Nghinh Ong Song Doc festival is held at the Tomb of Ong Nam Hai, the Via Ba Thien Hau Ca Mau event is held at the temple of Ba Thien Hau Thanh Mau. The Chinese people who moved to live and settle in Thoi Binh, Ca Mau province, built the Ba Thien Hau Pagoda in 1882 with Thien province architecture (meaning Heaven's Well). The Chinese community here will lavishly decorate the inside and exterior sections of the place of worship in preparation for Ba Thien Hau Worship Festival. The main hall is incredibly stately, surrounded by many beautiful crimson couplets and incense smoke that appears very whimsical. The statue of Ba stands in the center of the main hall, below it is the tiger god, and on the left and right flanks are the earth god and the scene's god emperor. Each group of people bustling with gongs, drums, lions and dragons, flags and fluttering flowers will parade through the inner streets of Ca Mau city to create the ambiance of the Via Ba Thien Hau celebration, especially during this time. The future will become increasingly hectic.

Rituals in the festival of Via Ba Thien Hau

The Board of Directors of Ba Temple will organize a number of sacred rites on the day of the Via Ba Thien Hau celebration in Ca Mau. These include bathing the statue of Ba to remove layers of dust and change into new garments, the incense offering ceremony to honor Thien Hau, and a plethora of cultural and artistic activities. The offerings are made in order for her to continue to bless and protect her offspring, wishing them a long and prosperous life.

There are many unique rituals in the festival of Via Ba Thien Hau

During the rituals of the Ba Thien Hau Worship Festival, a representative of the Executive Board will give a speech in Chinese praising Mrs, then offer incense for about three weeks of tea along with a piece of red paper with the words "three births, five fruits". Burning incense and candles is a Chinese symbol for seeking to converse with Lady Thien Hau and communicating prayers to the gods for national peace, prosperity, and a bountiful crop. For a month, peace incense burns day and night, and this is also an element of Ba Thien Hau Worship Festival.

Via Ba Thien Hau Festival in Ca Mau is a unique cultural and spiritual beauty of the Chinese community that clearly demonstrates the nation's spirit of solidarity and is worthy of saving in your tour guide. If you get the chance to visit the country or travel Mekong Delta Tours, don't miss out on experiencing this distinct religious identity.

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