AsemconnectVietnam -  A festival for practices related to folk beliefs in Mother Goddess of Forest will debut at Dong Cuong Temple in northern Yen Bai province on May 20-21 in celebration of Visit Vietnam Year 2017 – Lao Cai – Northwest.

The event will bring together practitioners of Mother Goddess worship from all over the country and feature a variety of activities. 

One of the festival’s highlights will be the practice of “len dong” (“going into a trance”), a spirit ritual in which practitioners become mediums for 36 different deities, involving a number of artistic elements, such as music, singing, dance and costumes. 

The festival will host a carnival where local performers and practitioners will recreate the Mother Goddess worship and hold a trade fair to promote local cinnamon products.

Photos and paintings depicting traditional practices of worshipping Mother Goddesses and other rituals of ethnic minority groups in the region will also be on show, including a complete set of worship paintings of the Dao ethnic minority people, displayed for the first time.

According to Tran Thuy Luu from the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the festival will be held at at Dong Cuong Temple, an important historic and cultural relic for Mother Goddess worship.

It is well-known as a sacred temple located close to the bank of the Hong (Red) River where the Mother Goddess of Forest was reborn and lived. It also worships several ethnic minority heroes during the Tran Dynasty (1225-1400) who scarified their lives in battles against Mongol invasions.

The Mother Goddess of Forest is among the Mother Goddesses of the Three Realms in the Viet beliefs who look after heaven, water and mountains and forests.

Source: VNA