A procession at Vạn Ninh Temple Festival. — Photos of mongcai.gov.vn

The Vạn Ninh Temple Festival in the northern coastal province of Quảng Ninh has been recognised as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The recognition, announced in a decision released recently in Hà Nội by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, has helped Quảng Ninh increase its number of national intangible cultural heritages to eight.

The festival is a traditional event held annually in Vạn Ninh Commune, Móng Cái City on January 9 and 10 on the lunar calendar, including a series of ceremonial spiritual practices and cultural festivities.

According to the announcement, the procession and worshiping of saints are among the main ceremonial spiritual celebrations, while the festivities comprise diverse cultural performances including singing, dancing and folk games.

The Vạn Ninh Temple was built around the 15th century to worship Lý Thường Kiệt (1019-1105), a military man and politician who became one of the greatest generals of the Lý Dynasty (1009-1225).

The temple is also a place to worship seven other religious and historical figures who were revered as local saints, such as Zen Master Không Lộ, Zen Master Giác Hải, kings Trần Nhân Tông and Lê Thái Tổ, and generals Trần Quốc Tuấn, Phạm Ngũ Lão and Yết Kiêu.

The temple was first located in the Mũi Ngọc area, then moved to Vạn Ninh Commune. Through the ups and downs of time, the relic was damaged and no longer retained its original scale, artifacts and structure.

Spiritual practice is an important part of Vạn Ninh Temple Festival.

In 2008, it was restored on the original foundation area of more than 1,000 square metres, a high mound with a beautiful terrain facing the Southeast. In 2011, it was ranked by the provincial People's Committee as a provincial historical relic.

The 200 sq.m relic includes five front rooms and three back rooms. Its roof is covered with decorative tiles featuring many beautiful motifs including lotus petals. It is designed with trusses carved and firmly joined together. The communal house has 32 wooden pillars set on stones, including the 12 largest with a diameter of 45cm, and 20 smaller ones with a diameter of 35cm.

Every year, the Van Ninh Temple Festival welcomes thousands of visitors to worship and enjoy cultural activities on the relic site.

Trần Ngọc Trung, chairman of Vạn Ninh Commune's People's Committee, said that this year the festival was held after three years of closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The festival was also the first cultural event of the year in Móng Cái City with the message to worship for "a peaceful country, favourable weather and a bountiful harvest".

The main gate of Vạn Ninh Temple.

Through the festival, locals and authorities pay tribute to the merits of their predecessors, and at the same time the event creates motivation for them to strive to complete the targets and tasks set in 2023, Trung said.

The festival is held with the aim to preserve and promote cultural, historical and spiritual values, and to enhance the locals' pride in their homeland, said Trung. — VNS