Traditional Festival of Lai Yen Village

The festival dates back to very ancient times, from the reign of the Tran kings; the main venues are Kinh Thien Shrine and Nha Phuc Pagoda.

According to Elder Nguyen Huy Bich, born in 1932 and one of the village elders, 1946 was the last year the festival was held. During the war the festival was not held, but on the main festival day people still burned incense and performed rituals. In 1986 the festival was restored.

According to the Ngoc Pha, steles, and couplets at Kinh Thien Shrine, it is said that at this shrine, on a dark night, villagers saw many bright halos radiate from the shrine and fly straight up to the sky. The elders considered this a good omen and built a shrine named 'Toi Linh Tu'; when a heavenly deity descended, they took the characters Nhat and Nguyet to form the character Minh and used it to name the deity worshipped.

In the year Ly Cong Uan moved the capital to Thang Long, he stopped here on the way and conferred on the deity the title 'Chi Minh Dai Vuong'.

In the Tran dynasty and subsequent royal dynasties, the deity was conferred the title 'Duong Canh Thanh Hoang Chi Minh Dai Vuong'. The local tutelary deity became increasingly efficacious, having merited underworld assistance to the Ly and Tran kings on their campaigns against the Cham, defeating the Cham, and thus received conferrals from the royal dynasties. The deity was even more efficacious when King Tran went to pray for offspring, saw the beautiful scenery, and visited; a princess named Thang Duc was born, now the Mother of Lai Yen Village.

When the princess grew up, she did not marry but asked her father to return to practice religious cultivation at the place where she was born (Nha Phuc Pagoda). Therefore, the festival is held to commemorate the merit of restoring the country and bringing peace to the people of Duong Canh Hoang Chi Minh Dai Vuong and Princess Luc Phi Nuong, who are worshipped together.

Through the feudal dynasties, whenever prayers were offered, they received spiritual assistance, so the deities were bestowed beautiful titles for worship.

Royal conferrals: currently kept at Kinh Thien Shrine.

+ Thuan Thien 7th year (1016)

+ Dai Dinh 6th year (1145)

+ Thien Tu Gia Thuy 4th year (1189)

+ Nguyen Phong 2 (1252)

+ Hung Long 7th year (1299)

+ Hung Long 20th year (1312)

- Inscriptions on stone steles.

The traditional festival of Lai Yen Village takes place over 2 days. Mother Festival: the 8th day of the first lunar month at Nha Phuc Pagoda, and Saint Festival on the 12th day of the first lunar month at Kinh Thien Shrine.

The main festival is held only once every 5 years; in the main festival there are 2 more palanquins in the procession than in the customary festival, and a ceremony is held at the Cay Gao shrine (Gao Hamlet stone tomb).

Customary festival: held annually, but the procession has 2 fewer palanquins than the main festival and no ceremony at the Cay Gao shrine (Gao Hamlet stone tomb).

- There are customs, taboos, rituals, ceremonial practices, and prohibitions:

Before bringing offerings or performing sacrifices, one must wash one's hands with Thanh Tao water.

People in mourning are not allowed into the Great Hall; they may only serve the festival outside in the courtyard.

Participants in the sacrifices: dutiful children from families with prestige in the village and not 'polluted' – not in mourning.

Currently, the transmission and practice of the heritage in the community are carried out as follows: The traditional festival is held annually; village elders regularly recount the origin of the deity worshipped at the site so that descendants remember it; young and middle-aged generations are mobilized to join the festival organizing committee and to take part in practicing the organization of the ritual and festive parts, so as to grasp the rites, customs, and folk games, and later continue to inherit and carry out the task of organizing the festival.

b. Description of the forms of expression, practice process, material and spiritual products created in the process of practicing the intangible cultural heritage, related cultural space, etc.:

From the days of the fourth quarter of the year, the festival venues prepare facilities and materials for the festival. In the first days of the first quarter of the following year, the festival organizing committee holds a meeting to approve the plan for organizing the spring festival and assigns tasks to committee members.

On the 6th day of the first lunar month, the festival organizing committee meets once more to check preparations for the festival. The main rituals in the festival are as follows:

- Mother Festival

+ On the 8th day of the first lunar month, a procession goes from the communal house to the pagoda: at the head of the procession is the dragon and lion team, followed by the drum and music team, then the team carrying flags, canopies, banners, and ceremonial staffs; after that come the palanquins in order, first the That Su palanquin, then the Oan palanquin, and finally the Gia Van palanquin.

When the palanquins and procession have entered the Mother House, the Phuc Trieu Y ceremony (robe-wearing ceremony) is performed. The That Su palanquin is moved aside to the veranda, the Oan palanquin advances past the Su palanquin and is also moved aside to the porch. When the Gia Van palanquin has advanced past, the That Su palanquin is also carried out after the Gia Van palanquin in a single file.

When the Gia Van palanquin has reached its position, the palanquins stop; the quang que elders offer the robe bundle and pass it inside for the Giai elder to offer inside. When the Giai elder has finished and turns back, the master signals to turn and lower the palanquins; at the same time, flags, canopies, banners, staffs, and other objects for worship are also offered in for worship. When the drum and music end, the Oan palanquin is brought forward to offer the Oan offerings; they are temporarily placed on the upper Tam Bao porch while the palanquin is carried down to the rear Tam Bao for worship.

The master enters to perform the ceremony. After the ceremony, the quang que elders offer trays of Oan offerings and pass them to the Giai elder to offer inside to the Mother; the two other trays of Oan offerings are offered by the head of the committee and passed to the vai elder to offer to the Buddha. After that, the procession teams, together with the procession, go in turn to perform the Mother ceremony according to the arrangement of the chief officiant. When the procession has finished the ceremony, the pagoda prepares porridge and banh duc for the procession to receive the pagoda's blessings.

In the afternoon, the Oan procession goes from the communal house to the pagoda with 2 palanquins. At the head are also the dragon and lion teams, followed by the drum and music team, then the team carrying flower trays, and after that the flower palanquin and the Oan palanquin.

+ On the 9th day of the first lunar month: In the morning, the order in which the teams in the procession enter to sacrifice to the Mother is the same as on the morning of the 8th day of the first lunar month. In the afternoon, the Giai Y ceremony (robe-removing ceremony) is performed; after it, the robes are still left in the pedestal. The master enters to perform the thanksgiving ceremony; the order and positions of the teams entering to perform the ceremony are applied as when they entered to perform the Phuc Trieu Y ceremony. After the teams have entered and completed the thanksgiving ceremony, the master enters to perform the ceremony requesting permission for the procession. Next, representatives of the teams enter to perform the ceremony. When Elder Truong Chi Do has performed up to the second ceremony, the big drum sounds three rolls of three beats and stops; the mouth drum and men sound three rolls of three beats and stop. The procession drum sounds three rolls of three beats and stops. When the big drum has struck the first of seven beats, the mouth drum and men also strike one beat and lead the group into the procession.

When they reach the curtained gate, they stop. A quang que elder offers the robe bundle from inside the curtained gate through the central gate for the Giai elder to bring out; a quang que elder offers the incense bowl and vase, and when the robe bundle has been placed in the palanquin, the incense bowl and vase are also offered and placed carefully in their working positions. At this moment the mouth drum changes to three beats and the palanquin is also carried in procession. When the palanquin has been carried out to the bell tower, the master stands before the palanquin, bows, then turns into the pagoda to perform the thanksgiving ceremony. The rite, order, and process on the route carrying the procession back to the Shrine are applied as on the 8th day of the first lunar month when processing to the pagoda.

- Saint Festival

+ On the 12th day of the first lunar month: Phuc Trieu Y ceremony (robe-wearing ceremony). The positions of the tasks are deployed in the following order:

The golden sword, the eight precious objects, and the dòng doi, once they have reached their positions, are offered up and then stand in their prescribed places. The fan bearers go up to the gate of the Lower Temple, offer the fans, and cover the temple gate. The fourth drum-signal bearer, when he reaches the eaves of the Lower Temple, stops and beats the drum in order. The third drum-signal bearer, when he reaches the eaves of the Middle Temple in the temple courtyard, stops and beats the drum in order.

Upon reaching the Upper Temple, near the altar of the second drum-signal bearer, he stops and beats the drum steadily so that the quang quẻ elders can perform the dressing ritual. When the dressing is complete, the master offers the hat, adjusts it evenly, then steps back with the quang quẻ elders and bows to descend from the temple. At this point, the second drum-signal bearer signals the drums to enter the closing round; when the round is over, he steps back, bows, and descends from the temple. After the Phục triều Y ritual is completed, the offerings of thanks are made in the order of the chạ and positions, applied as in the entrance ritual of Phục triều Y.

After that, the Nhập tịch ceremony, that is, a report ceremony with one round of wine, is held to report that the Phục Y work has been completed.

When the Nhập tịch ceremony is over, there is a break to receive the lộc, and in the afternoon Dân Anh is welcomed (According to legend, Lại Yên Village originates from Tiền Lệ Village, which moved down, so Lại Yên Village and Tiền Lệ - Tiền Yên Hamlet have a brotherly relationship; therefore, every year on the Saint Festival on the 12th day of the first lunar month, Tiền Lệ Hamlet carries a palanquin down for the ceremony).

+ 13th day of the first lunar month: Tề thường tịch, Giải Y ceremony, farewell ceremony. In the afternoon, the Đại đức and the people perform the altar ceremony in the Quản Kinh Thiên courtyard.

+ 14th day of the first lunar month: summarize the festival work at the Quán to announce the revenue and expenditure during the festival.

After the summary, the festival organizing committee will hold a meeting of its members to report the summary of the spring festival work.

However, in principal years, on the 12th day of the first lunar month, a procession with 5 palanquins is held from the Đình to the Quản, and on the 15th day of the first lunar month, the mandarin elders and the elders of the ceremonial board enter the stone tomb of Xóm Gạo to perform the traditional ceremony for cụ Quận.