AsemconnectVietnam - The “Khai ha - Cau an” Festival in Ho Chi Minh City and another dedicated to Mother Au Co in the northern province of Phu Tho, both named as national intangible cultural heritage, opened on February 4.

 The “Khai ha - Cau an” Festival, a traditional festival to pray for peace in Ho Chi Minh City, and another dedicated to Au Co – the legendary mother of Vietnam – in the northern province of Phu Tho opened on February 4, the seventh day of the first lunar month. Both of them have been included in the list of national intangible cultural heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.The annual “Khai ha - Cau an” Festival starts with a ritual of dismantling the Neu tree, which is planted in front of Vietnamese houses on the last day of the lunar year to expel evils, worship deities, and pray for good luck for the New Year.It is followed by the praying ceremony for peace, a ritual of taking the brush to write the first characters for the New Year, and a ritual of stamping a seal.Meanwhile, the Mother Au Co Temple Festival opened in Hien Luong commune, Ha Hoa district, Phu Tho province, with a ritual honouring the guardian deity at the local communal house. A palanquin procession began later on the day, taking the offerings from the communal house to the Au Co Temple. The ritual prays for peace, good weather, prosperity and happiness.
The temple was built under the reign of King Le Thanh Tong (15th century) and named a national historical and cultural relic site in 1991.Legend has it that Au Co, who was a fairy, descended to the earth on the seventh day of the first lunar month. She met with Lac Long Quan and gave birth to 100 sons. Fifty of them followed their father to the sea and the other half followed their mother to the mountains in the upstream Red River.When they arrived in the area which is now Hien Luong commune, Au Co and her children were so captivated by the area’s fertility and stunning landscapes that they decided to settle there, and this was where the eldest son was crowned as a Hung King – the legendary founder of Vietnam.They practised water rice cultivation to provide food, planted mulberry trees, and bred silk worms before Au Co returned to heaven on the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month./.