Unique market offers luck for sale
Nam Dinh (VNA) – From the
afternoon of the 7th day of the first lunar month, which falls on February 11
this year, people flock to the northern province of Nam Dinh for a unique
market which is held only once a year to sell - guess what - bad luck as well
as to buy good luck for the year to come.
The Vieng market opened at midnight of the 7th day and lasted
only through the morning of the 8th day of the first lunar month.
According to popular belief, anything bought at the market
would bring good luck to the buyer in the whole year.
The spring market displays handicraft products, genuine
antiquities along with their fake, home utensils, tools for agricultural
production, and many kinds of ornamental plants. Specialties are grilled veal
and "banh day" (sticky rice cake).
The cheapest things at the Vieng market are flowers and tree
sapplings, which bring both the buyer and seller happiness and luck.
Visitors then can go on to pray for a happy new year at
several local temples.
There are four Vieng markets in Nam Dinh province, with one
in Nam Giang township, Nam Truc district, and the other in Trung Thanh commune,
Vu Ban district, being the most popular.
The market in Nam Truc district is famous for the Dai Bi
pagoda where Buddhist Monk and Zen Master Tu Dao Hanh is worshipped, while the
other in Vu Ban district is home to the Phu Day relics complex dedicated to
Goddess Lieu Hanh – one of four immortals in Vietnamese legends.
The Phu Day historical and cultural relics complex was
recognised as the national cultural heritage in 1975. “Practices Related to the
Viet Beliefs in the Mother Goddesses in Three Realms" was named an
Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the UNESCO in April, 2017.-VNA