Lam Chay Festival - A traditional and modern beauty

Preserve tradition

Right from its first days, Lam Chay Festival has had a profound humanistic meaning and has been preserved and developed. All rituals in the festival are aimed at praying for the souls of the dead and praying for peace for the people.

With many diverse activities lasting from January 14 to 24:00 on January 16, the festival is a harmonious fusion of local religions, notably Buddhism and Caodaism. Worshiping rituals are held alternately to pray for the deceased and pray for good weather, peace, and convenience for the people.

Mr. Le Quang Trung (member of the Management Board of Tan Xuan Communal House) said: "Lam Chay Festival has become a tradition for the people of Chau Thanh district, so when organizing the annual festival, we always focus on preserving the original rituals during the festival to preserve precious values in the spiritual life of the people. When performing worship rituals, members all wear ceremonial clothes, showing the respect and solemnity of the festival."

Mainly held at Tan Xuan communal house, but in reality, Lam Chay Festival takes place in from Tan Xuan communal house to Linh Phuoc pagoda, Ong pagoda, Dien temple, Am Nhon temple, Phuong Que Ngoc Dai temple, Tam Vu river, etc with many different rituals such as praying for peace (Buddhism), worshiping heroic martyrs (Caodaism), honoring martyrs (Buddhism), worshiping fallen heroes martyrs and the deceased (ceremonial group under the Management Board of Tan Xuan communal house), etc.

Worshiping ghosts is a traditional, humane ritual in Lam Chay Festival (Photo: Monks worshiping)

A special thing that shows the deep humanity in Lam Chay Festival that has been preserved until today is the ritual of worshiping ghosts. The group went to locations across the district to worship and invite the soul to Ong Tieu's altar. The burial sites are prepared by the people, under the permission and supervision of the local government, to offer sacrifices to helpless souls (according to folk beliefs). In addition, the group also had a memorial ceremony of burning incense and visiting graves at the Chau Thanh - Tan Tru inter-district Martyrs' Cemetery. The group has the participation of a large number of people, forming a long procession, creating a unique feature of Lam Chay Festival.

The procession of Ong Tieu is held solemnly and is a special highlight in Lam Chay Festival

An important and indispensable ritual in the Festival that attracts a large number of people is the procession of the Mr. Tieu. According to Mr. Le Quang Trung, Mr. Tieu is the embodiment of Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva, with a head of three horns and a tongue made of pink paper half a meter long, where all magic is concentrated.

Mr. Tieu was shaped 2m high, placed at Linh Phuoc pagoda, then carried to Ong pagoda and then carried on a platform at Tan Xuan communal house. Burning Ong Tieu's burning pyre on the night of January 16 to pray for luck and peace in the new year is the most awaited ritual.

Modern activities

In addition to the ceremony with traditional rituals, Lam Chay Festival also has other many activities: Folk games, lion dance, opera, etc.

In addition to preserving good traditional values, Lam Chay Festival also accepts and harmonizes with the development of society. It is no coincidence that the Festival attracts tens of thousands of people from everywhere to participate. In recent years, in addition to the ceremony, the Festival also has many activities such as folk games, lion dance, etc, attracting people of all ages.

Presenting at the Festival almost every year , Mr. Huynh Tan Hoang (Phuoc Tan Hung commune, Chau Thanh district) shared: "Among the games, the duck catching game is the most awaited. Ducks are released into the river and everyone competes to catch them. Some years I also catch ducks, which is considered good luck at the beginning of the year."

For the people of Chau Thanh district, Lam Chay Festival is both an event worth waiting for and a source of pride, so even though business is bustling, people always remembers about Tam Vu on 16th January. Even though he left his hometown to settle in Australia for nearly 20 years, every year Mr. Pham The Hung (Tam Vu town) returns home to celebrate Tet and participate in Lam Chay Festival. Not only participating, Mr. Hung is also a core member of the team preparing the floats at the festival.

Mr. Hung confided: "I have been involved in making floating boats and floats since the 1990s. The festival is the soul of my homeland and my grandparents' tradition, so I cannot give it up. Participating in the festival, whoever has the merit puts in the effort, whoever has the money puts in the money, everyone shares the same heart, no one compares or is jealous. Even my friends in Australia, who have not been able to return for many years, also support the festival by donating to organize" Thanks to the consensus of the people, Lam Chay Festival is increasingly growing in scale, attracting a large number of tourists from near and far to participate.

This year's dragon mascot of the float team is 10m long, has colored eyes and a movable jaw, expected to be more lively than previous years.

Mr. Nguyen Van Muoi (Captain of the Flower Cart Making Team at Lam Chay Festival) said: "The successful organization of the festival is due to the consensus of many people. Everyone participating in preparation and contributing funds is completely voluntary. The sharp and artistic mascots, decorations on floats, floating boats or festival gates are contributed by artisans and people in the region. This year, the dragon mascot of the float has eyes made of colored lights and a movable jaw design, certainly more lively than previous years' mascots because the techniques and skills of the brothers here are getting higher and higher”.

As one of the most crowded festivals in the province in early spring, Lam Chay Festival has never had any trampling, pushing or disfiguring, creating offensive images. The festival has always been known as a festival full of laughter; Rituals that are prone to distortions are closely monitored by local authorities; People also raise awareness and preserve the purity and goodness of the festival.

After more than 30 years of participating in Lam Chay Festival, Mr. Ho Van Nghia (Tam Vu town) affirmed: "There has never been a year when trampling on each other has occurred in the activity of receiving fortune. We give and receive blessings in joy and sharing with each other. In the past few years, when realizing that the number of visitors to the festival was too large, the organizers flexibly distributed fortunes before the time of the gantry, and dispersed the fortune-telling points to avoid gathering too many people. Everyone can happily receive the blessing, safe and sound."

Besides, the ghosts worshiping ceremony with the participation of a large number of people creates a long, bustling procession that is always accompanied and supervised by traffic police, criminal police, and civil defense forces. The stops are civilized and organized.

Once a year, Lam Chay Festival, with its harmonious combination of tradition and modernity, not only meets the needs of spiritual life, demonstrates the tradition of remembering its source when drinking water, but also attracts people - becomes the second indispensable Tet in Chau Thanh district./.

By Que Lam - Translated by Q. Thien

Source: https://baolongan.vn/le-hoi-lam-chay-net-dep-truyen-thong-va-hien-dai-a171735.html