Hai Ba Trung Temple Festival in Melinh - Hanoi
The Hai Ba Trung (Trung Sisters) Temple Festival is held annually on lunar January 6 in Me Linh Commune, Me Linh District, Hanoi. It is the birthplace of the two sisters Trung Trac and Trung Nhi, two famous Vietnamese heroines who rode elephants to lead their troops to defeat the foreign invaders. Here they proclaimed themselves the new empresses after gaining independence for the country in the early years of Vietnam (40-43AD).
Two kilometres south of Hoan Kiem Lake,
this temple was founded in 1142. A statue shows the two Trung sisters
(from the 1st century AD) kneeling with their arms raised in the air.
Some say the statue shows the sisters, who had been proclaimed the
queens of the Vietnamese, about to dive into a river. They are said to
have drowned themselves rather than surrender in the wake of their
defeat at the hands of the Chinese.
The Hai Bà Trưng Temple is a Buddhist temple in Hanoi near Hoan Kiem
lake . It is one of several temples to the two Trưng sisters, (or Trưng
Queens), in Vietnam.
According to tradition it was founded by Ly Anh Tong around 1160
after he visited a shrine to the Trung Sisters who then appeared to him
as rain spirits. Culturally the development of the cult of the sisters
at that time is in the context of assertion of independence after the
end of 1000 years of Chinese colonization. The altar display at the
Trưng Sisters temple shows their violent death rather than suicide
The Festival opens with the procession
of the king’s palanquins, fighting-elephants and offerings from the Ha
Loi Communal House to the ancient complex of Hai Ba Trung Temple. The
procession is held with jubilance and excitement with colourful flags,
drumbeats, gongs and musical sounds performed by an octet. The respected
elders in the village are selected to beat drums and strong men and
beautiful girls carry the two palanquins during the procession. On both
sides of the village road, the villagers display their offerings to
welcome the procession.
Origin
The revolt of Hai Ba Trung against the Chinese East arm in the 40s
is short but very meaningful in the rising the independent soul of the
Vietnamese people and Vietnamese women in general.
According to the Vietnamese account, the two Trung Sisters, riding
elephants leading the troops in battle, defeated the Han invaders,
gaining independence for the country after more than two centuries of
domination by the foreign feudal invaders. For the first time in
Vietnamese history, the country of Viet had a king, more significantly a
woman king. In many historical references and books, since their great
achievement, the Vietnamese people consider them as the national
heroines, even sacred spirits, and they built temples in many parts of
the country to honour and worship them.
Celebration
The Festival starts with a procession of carrying the king’s
palanquin and the fighting elephants, together with other offerings from
Ha Loi communal house to the Hai Ba Trung Temple, with the
participation of hundreds of Me Linh villagers and members of
traditional ritual performing groups. During the Festival, folk games
and artistic performances are held, such as dragon and lion dancing,
cheo (operetta) singing, wrestling competition, swinging, etc.
Many domestic pilgrims and foreign tourists attend the Festival in
honour of the national heroines’ merits or to learn about an important
event in the country’s history. This is also one of the cultural and
festive events to be held in 2010 in celebration of the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long – Hanoi.
In the Hat Mon festival, there is an interesting custom which is
giving the floating cake on the river. People take 49 cakes (in the
symbol of 49 sons of Lac Long Quan (father of Vietnamese people) to
place in the lotus and drift into the river to let it come to the sea.
A parade with a fighting elephant statue carrying offerings from Ha Loi Communal House to Hai Ba Trung Temple.
Respected elders in the village are selected to beat drums.
Girls play the role of soldiers of the Trung Sisters.
The Festival also includes many cultural activities, such as traditional
dances, wrestling and folk games of swinging and earthen pot-beating.
Villagers display their offerings on both sides of the village road to welcome the procession
The procession of imperial accouterments.
Offerings to the Trung Sisters.
Besides the ceremonies, the festival consists of many cultural
activities, such as wrestling, human chess, lion and dragon dances
involving the participation of a large number of villagers.
The Festival is of great spiritual
and religious significance. It is a cultural event to educate young
people about the patriotic tradition and to salute the country and its
heroic women.