Twenty three bronze drums have been brought to the Hung Temple National Historical Relic for the official offering ceremony scheduled to be held on April 2 in the northern province of Phu Tho.

Director of the relic Nguyen Tien Khoi said that of the drums, 17 will be on display and serve all cultural activities to commemorate Hung Kings death’s anniversary, five will be presented to Vietnamese embassies abroad after the Hung Kings Temple Festival and the remaining one to Ho Chi Minh Presidential Palace.

Casted by the Lam Kinh Cultural Heritage Association in the central province of Thanh Hoa, the drums are about 48-108cm in height and 60-108 cm in diametre. Five drums to be presented to the embassies were cast with images of the UNESCO-recognised cultural heritage sites in Vietnam.

Among those placed in the Hung Temple National Historical Relic, the biggest one of the “Bronze Drums – Resounding of the Ancestral Land” collection which weighs 470kg and is 88cm in height and 108 cm in diametre, Khoi said.

The death anniversary of Hung Kings will be commemorated together with the celebration of the Hung Kings Temple Festival from April 7 (the fifth day of the third lunar month) to April 12 (the 10th day of the third lunar month) in Phu Tho province.

Legend has it that Lac Long Quan, who was a dragon, met and married fairy Au Co, who later gave birth to 100 eggs from which 100 children sprang forth. The couple then parted due to their different origins. The man went seawards with 50 of their children, while his wife went to the mountains with the other half of the clan. The eldest son, who followed his father, later installed himself as Vietnam's first Hung King and today's Vietnamese people are said to be descendants of those children./.