(VOVworld)- The death anniversary of the Hung Kings, the founders of the Vietnamese nation, is of great significance for every Vietnamese. There is a saying: “Wherever you go, remember the death anniversary of the Hung Kings on the 10^th day of the third lunar month”. The Hung Kings Temple in Phu Tho province is where people go to worship the founders of Vietnam. VOV’s Dang Hanh reports.

A ceremony of worshiping the Hung Kings

There’s a legend that Au Co and Lac Long Quan were the mother and father of the Vietnamese and parents of the Hung Kings. The Hung Kings’ era was an important milestone in Vietnam’s history and a foundation for the nation’s cultural, historical, and patriotic tradition. Remembering the great merits of the Hung Kings, people in Phu Tho built a temple and designated the 10^th day of the third lunar month as the death anniversary of the founders of the nation. Since 2007, this day has been recognized as a national holiday. Han Van Hien, a student in Hanoi, told VOV: “The death anniversary of the Hung Kings is very sacred. This day is special for me because I ‘m from Phu Tho province. During my childhood, I was taught by my parents about this day, which reminds us of our origins. Now I am living far from home but no matter how busy I am, I always manage to return to my homeland, where the Vietnamese nation originated, on the death anniversary of the Hung Kings”.

Pilgrims flock to the Hung Kings Temple festival

This year’s Hung Kings Temple festival will take place on April 16^th. High ranking officials of the Party, State, Vietnam Fatherland Front, and social organizations will attend an incense burning ceremony at the Upper Temple on Nghia Linh Mountain. Immediately following this, similar ceremonies will occur at 1,471 other Hung Kings Temples all arounf Vietnam. In some villages, the ceremony is followed by a procession of a red-lacquered gold-trimmed palanquin from the local communal house to the temple. There will also be traditional games like wrestling, swinging, human chess, and crossbow shooting. Vietnamese people will offer to all ancestors local specialities like banh chung, square sticky rice cakes, and banh day, round sticky rice cake. Hoang Thi Mai, a resident of Tuyen Quang, says her family offers oranges and banh gai, black glutinous rice cake, to worship the Hung Kings: “When the time comes, I always return to the Hung Kings Temple. When I was a schoolgirl, I loved history, so I find this anniversary very sacred. Although I live far from Phu Tho, I try to visit this land on the Hung Kings’ death anniversary and feel as if I have returned to my origin”.

The festival has come to symbolize the spirit and unity of the Vietnamese nation and has been recognized by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage of mankind.