On the morning of May 7, the 21st day of the third lunar month, large numbers of residents and tourists made their way to the Ponagar Tower relic site on 2/4 Street in Bac Nha Trang Ward to join the festival. The Ponagar Tower Festival is one of the largest traditional folk festivals in the province, closely associated with the Vietnamese worship of the Mother Goddess and the Cham custom of honoring the Mother of the Land.

From early morning, groups of visitors in formal and solemn dress arrived for the ceremony. Among them were many Cham people carrying offerings to the ancient tower to pay tribute to Mother Goddess Thien Y Ana. They brought betel and areca, wine, fruit and other offerings to perform their spiritual rituals and pray for the best of blessings.

While carefully arranging his offerings at the foot of the tower, Nam Trau, a Cham man, said Cham people often bring simple local products such as vegetables, fruit and chicken when visiting the Mother Goddess.

“When making offerings, I usually pray for peace in the family, good health, harmony among relatives, obedient children and progress in their studies. Returning to the Mother is a joyful day. Everyone turns toward goodness and remembers the person who helped reclaim and open the land and taught the people,” he said.

The festival drew not only local residents but also thousands of visitors from other provinces and cities, including Lam Dong, Dak Lak and Da Nang. Nguyen Minh Phuoc, 53, from Da Nang, said his family of three left Da Nang and, upon arriving in Nha Trang early in the morning, went straight to Ponagar Tower. He had carefully prepared fruit, incense, candles and formal clothes and headwear for the offering ceremony.

Because large groups of visitors arrived in great numbers, many people had to prepare their offerings outside the site’s grounds, patiently waiting in line for their turn to enter the main tower to offer incense and pray.

The Ponagar Tower Festival is held annually to honor Mother Goddess Thien Y Ana of the Vietnamese people and Goddess Po Inu Nagar, the Mother of the Land of the Cham people. Its rituals are rich in ethnic cultural identity and reflect the beauty of a unique spiritual and cultural exchange between the Vietnamese and Cham communities.

This year, the Ponagar Tower Festival takes place from May 5 to 11, or the 19th to the 25th days of the third lunar month, with free admission for visitors. The festival features 12 main groups of activities, including the water procession, the ritual of changing the Mother Goddess’s robe, the palanquin procession, prayers for the deceased, floating lanterns, prayers for national peace and prosperity, and incense offerings. The official opening ceremony was held on the evening of May 6.

According to the organizing committee, this year’s festival has attracted more than 100 registered groups, along with thousands of pilgrims and visitors each day. Throughout the festival, organizers have strengthened on-duty forces to ensure public order, environmental sanitation and food safety for the public.

Ponagar Tower is a historical and cultural relic complex dating from the eighth to the 13th centuries. It now preserves 14 royal decrees, including six issued by Nguyen Dynasty kings for Thien Y Ana, along with a system of ancient inscriptions in Sanskrit and Cham scripts. The site holds great architectural and historical value and stands as a vivid symbol of the enduring bond between the Vietnamese and Cham peoples through the image of Goddess Po Inu Nagar.

Xuan Ngoc