Dang Thi Nhieu (centre), keeper of the Forest Temple, Ngoc Thuy Ward, Long Bien District, Hanoi, in a "hau dong" dance (Photo VNA)Hanoi (VNS/VNA) — A festival featuring the cult of Mother Goddesses was opened at the Forest Temple in Ngoc Thuy ward, Long Bien district of Hanoi, on November 9.
The festival, organised by the Thang Long Cultural Heritage Association, will run until November 13 with performances by 29 mediums.
Each day, seven mediums will perform with cung van (singers of spiritual rites) and to the accompaniment of traditional musical instrumentalists. They will present trance performances to pay tribute to 50 genies worshipped as part of the Mother Goddess beliefs.
Luu Minh Trị, chairman of the association, said the festival helped promote the cultural value of Mother Goddess worship and preserved the traditional elements of hau dong practice.
The Mother Goddess cult predates Buddhist and even Taosit beliefs and is believed to be one of the ancestral religions of Vietnamese people.-VNA
VNA
