On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, thousands made their way to Ba Chua Kho Temple in Bac Ninh province to “borrow money” and seek blessings. Perched halfway up Kho Mountain, the temple venerates the Holy Mother in the land of Kinh Bac, long regarded as sacred. Businesspeople from near and far come here at the beginning of each year, hoping for prosperity and smooth ventures.

Gold paper offerings blanketed ceremonial trays, passed hand to hand through the tightly packed crowd at the temple gate. The sheer overload left many visibly exhausted, frowning as they struggled up each stone step.

To serve the influx of visitors, numerous full-service offering packages were available, including prepared trays and attendants who carried them up to the temple on behalf of worshippers.

On the prayer sheets, devotees carefully wrote the amount they wished to “borrow” from Ba Chua, accompanied by trays of votive paper money believed to correspond in value to the requested sum. In some cases, the figures reached tens of billions of dong. One tray of votive offerings used to “borrow” VND27 billion (US$1.1 million) was priced at around VND3 million (US$120).

The area designated for votive paper offerings in the courtyard was constantly piled high.

Inside the worship halls, lines of people pressed together to bow and pray. Many, unable to approach the altar, stood at a distance to read their petitions and ask for blessings.

Trinh Thi Nga said her family visits Ba Chua Kho Temple every year to pray for prosperity. “Each year I come to borrow capital for my business. The following year I return to repay the interest and ask to borrow again,” she shared.

Behind the temple, the area for burning votive offerings blazed red throughout the day. Ashes rose nearly to the mouth of the furnace, forcing many to stand back and toss their offerings into the fire as the flames burned too fiercely to approach.

Thach Thao