Festival of Dau Pagoda

Dau Pagoda Festival.

Every year, on April 08 (lunar calendar) is regarded as the birth of Sakyamuni Buddha, the local people are excited to open the Dau Pagoda festival. This is a great and famous festival going on the folk song:

“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”

(Wherever you go

Please come back if you see Dau pagoda tower/

Whatever you do

Please come back to Dau festival on April 8^th).

The picking up ceremony in Dau festival is very special, with many typical cultural beauty and originally. 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 horse, flags and fans, palaquins… from various directions. When arriving to 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 come first shall take the water. The people see who is the person coming to the target first to forecast the crop. In case Mrs. Rain wins, it is 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.

·         Address: in three communes as Thanh Khuong, Tri Qua, Ha Man, Thuan Thanh district, Bac Ninh Province.

·         Date of opening the festival: 8^th day of April of lunar calendar.