Discover Hai Ba Trung Temple Festival In Hanoi, Vietnam

Updated: 08/21/2019

Every year, numerous visitors and tourists coming to Vietnam to discover the beauty and cultural values of this S-shaped country. One of the most effective ways for you to understand the Vietnam Culture is to explore the festivals. Vietnam has the richness of festivals and one of the valuable folk festivals that is worth a visit is the Hai Ba Trung Temple Festival (Lễ hội Hai Bà Trưng).

Time And Location Of Hai Ba Trung Temple Festival

Hai Ba Trung Temple Festival is celebrated to sacrifice and show Vietnamese people to the two sisters Trung Trac (Trưng Trắc) and Trung Nhi (Trưng Nhị) who rode their elephants and led the troop to fight against the foreign invaders. Many places and areas have held Hai Ba Trung Temple Festival but the main ones are in these three following locations.

The first location to organize Hai Ba Trung Temple in Hanoi is Hat Mon Temple (Đền Hát Môn) located in Hat Mon (Hát Môn) Commune, Phuc Tho (Phúc Thọ) District. An outstanding custom of this festival is that locals give floating cakes on the river. There are three times this festival is held each year. The first one is from the 4th to 7th of the third lunar month. The second is on the 4th of the ninth lunar month and the last is on the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month.

Ha Ba Trung Festival also takes place in Ha Loi Temple (Đền Hạ Lôi) located in Ha Loi (Hạ Lôi) Commune, Me Linh (Mê Linh) District, Hanoi. Celebrated on the 6th day of the third lunar month, the festival has the procession of the palanquin and the ceremony of offering “day” cake, a traditional cake in Vietnam.

The third-place celebrating Hai Ba Trung Temple Festival is Dong Nhan Temple (Đền Đồng Nhân) that is located in Dong Nhan (Đồng Nhân) Ward, Hai Ba Trung (Hai Bà Trưng) District. Because of the convenient location in the city center, Hai Ba Trung Temple Festival organized on the 6th day of the second lunar month attracts a lot of city dwellers coming to worship two sisters Trung Trac and Trung Nhi.

Hai Ba Trung Temple Festival – The Special Origin

vietnam photos - hai ba trung temple festival — Source: dangcongsan

It is said that instead of surrounding the Chinese, two sisters Trung Trac and Trung Nhi with their strength and courage on their elephants led the Vietnamese troops to fight against the Eastern Chinese (Dong Han(Đông Hán)) enemies and made a great victory.

This victory has a wonderful meaning, not only bringing the freedom and liberation to Dai Viet (Đại Việt) (the old name of Vietnam) that was dominated by Chinese for 247 years but also showing the aspiration of Vietnamese people for national independence and peace. After defeating the Chinese invaders, Trung Trac and Trung Nhi proclaimed to become the new empresses in the early years of Vietnam. Trung Trac and Trung Nhi are the first female kings in Vietnam.

The rebelling of Ha Ba Trung against Chinese invaders is meaningful as it shows the strong spirit and patriotism of Vietnamese people generally and Vietnamese women particularly. Thanks to their great contribution and achievement to the country, the two Trung sisters were considered as Vietnamese heroines. So Vietnamese people have built the temples that worship and honor them in different parts of the country.

Hai Ba Trung Temple Festival At Hat Mon Commune

In the festival, a custom of putting the floating cake on the river takes place. In particular, locals give 49 cakes that are symbols of 49 sons of Lac Long Quan (Lạc Long Quân) in the river that comes to the sea.

Hai Ba Trung Temple Festival At Ha Loi Commune

The Hai Ba Trung Temple Festival at Ha Loi Commune, Me Linh District is the biggest and the most important one. There are ceremonies of carrying the palanquin of the king, fighting elephants and giving offerings to the ancient complex of Hai Ba Trung Temple from Ha Loi Communal House. The festival is celebrated in an exciting atmosphere with drum beats, colorful flags, music, and gongs. In the procession, the elders beat drums while beautiful girls and strong men carry palanquins. The festival has the participation of members of ritual performing groups and hundreds of Me Linh villagers. On both sides of the road, villagers show their offering to the parade.

Visiting the Hai Ba Trung Temple Festival at Ha Loi Commune, you can have a chance to take part in many activities and games like human chess, wrestling, dragon dances, and lion dances, earthen pot-beating, and games of swinging.

Hai Ba Trung Temple Festival In Dong Nhan Ward

There is the procession of carrying the statues to the Red River from the Dong Nhan Temple. In this festival, the bathing ceremony with many interesting cultural activities will take place. The most outstanding one in Hai Ba Trung Temple Festival in Dong Nhan Ward is the performance of altar-light dance. 12 beautiful girls wearing colorful dresses hold two lights and dance together. The incense burning ceremony ends the festival.

Hai Ba Trung Temple Festival is worth a visit as it contains the religious and spiritual importance, helps young people to learn about the tradition of Vietnam and enhances the Vietnamese patriotism to their country. I hope that you will find useful information in my article. If you have any questions to ask, please raise your voice by leaving your comment below and we will answer them as soon as we can. Visiting Vina.com, you will find more Vietnamese traditional festivals and interesting activities in Vietnam.