Dau Pagoda Festival

23/03/2020 09:31

(BNP) – Dau Pagoda is the first pagoda of Vietnamese Buddhism to bear witness to the Vietnamese Buddhist lineage originating from India. Every year, on April 08 (lunar calendar) is regarded as the birth of Sakyamuni Buddha (Phật tổ Thích Ca Mâu Ni), the local people are excited to open the Dau Pagoda festival. This is a great and famous festival going on the folk song: “Wherever you go/ please come back if you see Dau pagoda tower/ Whatever you do/ Please come back to Dau festival on April 8th” (Dù ai đi đâu về đâu/ Hễ trông thấy tháp chùa Dâu thì về/ Dù ai buôn bán trăm nghề/ Tháng Tư ngày Tám thì về hội Dâu).

Dau Pagoda Festival.

The Dau Pagoda, also known as Dien Ung, is situated in Thanh Khuong Commune, Thuan Thanh district, in Bac Ninh province. It is also the oldest pagoda in Vietnam and keeps many ancient architectural works such as Luy Lau ancient citadel, Si Nhiepc tomb, pagoda system, temples, palaces, stupa…

The Festival takes place on the 8th day of the 4th lunar month and is organized by 3 communes in the Dau - Luy Lau area (Thuan Thanh). It observes Buddhist rituals with the cult of Fertility (the four Buddhist Goddesses, or Tu Phap: Phap Van representing the Cloud, Phap Vu the Rain, Phap Loi the thunder and Phap Dien the lightning).

This day has great meaning for the Buddhists who make their annual pilgrimage to the Dau Pagoda, among the oldest pagodas in the country. Many Buddhists believe they must visit this site every fourth lunar month to pay respect to the goddess Man Nuong.

The picking up ceremony in Dau festival is very special, with much typical cultural beauty and originally. In the morning of the eighth day of the main festival, the people of the village held the picking up ceremony of Tu Phap statues from pagodas of the village to the Dau Pagoda. According to the legend, the picking up ceremony includes worship horses, flags and fans, palanquins… from various directions. When arriving in Dau pagoda, we shall act the game “mother is chasing the children”. Four sedans of Phap Van, Phap Vu, Phap Loi, Phap Dien, each sedan runs three rounds and returns to its previous position. Sedan of Ms. Man Nuong (sedan of the mother) shall be picked up into Dau Pagoda. And then water robbing shall be demonstrated. This is the run contest between Mrs. Thunder Dharma (Pháp Lôi) and Mrs. Rain Dharma (Pháp Vũ). When there is an order, Pháp Lôi and Pháp Vũ shall run to the temple gate. The sedan which comes first shall take the water. The people see who the person is coming to the target first to forecast the crop. In case Mrs. Rain wins, it is a good crop, and Mrs.  Thunder wins, it is a crop with many insects and worms.

“Water robbing” contest is a special ritual, the most prominent festivals in the Dau festival and are always awaited by people and visitors. However, about 20 years back, the Dau pagoda festival does not hold the picking up ceremony for many reasons.