HOANG MUOI TEMPLE FESTIVAL

Hoang Muoi Temple Festival is a traditional festival associated with the relic of Hoang Muoi temple in Hung Thinh commune, Hung Nguyen district, Nghe An province.

In the system of shrines to worship Goddesses of the Vietnamese people, mandarin Hoang Muoi is one of ten mandarins, often worshiped in temples and shrines to Goddesses. In Nghe An, the temple worshiping mandarin Hoang Muoi in Xuan Am village, Hung Thinh commune, Hung Nguyen district is famous for its sacredness. In addition to the main figure of worship is mandarin Hoang Muoi, the temple also worships a system of statues of goddesses and other blessed gods: Duong Canh Uy Minh Song Dong Ngoc Nu, Dac Tien phu quoc tuong quan Nguyen Duy Lac,...

The temple was built under the Le Trung Hung Dynasty, around the 17^th century. Along with the formation and existence of the temple, the festival of Hoang Muoi Temple has been conducted for hundreds of years to commemorate and pay tribute to mandarin Hoang Muoi's merits.

Hoang Muoi Temple Festival is held for 03 days, from 8^th -:- 10th October at the lunar calendar every year. The main festival held on 10th October at the lunar calendar comes from religious and spiritual origins. People believe that Mr. Hoang Muoi transformed himself on 10^th October at the lunar month and coincided with the name "Mr. Hoang Muoi". It also coincides with the New Year of Rice, which is very popular in Vietnam, also known as Tet Song Thap (or Tet Trung Thap) or Tet Ha Nguyen. The festival is held on 10^th October because of the people's belief in roundness and fullness, bringing many good things.

The festival takes place in the campus of Hoang Muoi temple relic in Hung Thinh commune, Hung Nguyen district, Nghe An province. The relevant places in the process of practicing the festival are: lineage hall of the Nguyen family clan in Xuan Am village, about 2km west of  Hoang Muoi Temple, this is the place where the ordination is kept and the ceremony takes place to ask for the ordination of the god to return to the temple on festive occasions.

In terms of form, the festival of Hoang Muoi Temple has the main rituals: the opening ceremony, the procession ceremony, the reporting ceremony, the great sacrifice ceremony.

The opening ceremony begins at dawn on 8^th October at the lunar calendar, which means clearing and purifying all shrines at the temple and the surrounding space. After the opening ceremony, around 14 pm on 09^th October at the lunar calendar, the procession began to take place from the Nguyen family clan's lineage hall in Xuan Am village to Hoang Muoi temple. This custom was originated in the feudal period: The deity of Hoang Muoi temple was assigned to the Nguyen family clan to look after and keep.  At each festival period, the procession is carried out to the temple and after the festival, the procession is returned to the lineage hall. After the stabilization ceremony, around 4 pm on 9^th October at the lunar calender, the reporting ceremony will be started. Offerings including pig sticky rice, chicken sticky rice, five fruits, betel nut, tea, wine, incense and flowers are fully displayed on the altars. The celebrant of the ceremony will respectfully invite the gods at Hoang Muoi Temple to witness the festival, ask for permission to open the festival, pray for blessings for the sky to clear, and the festival to take place safely and successfully. On the morning on 10^th October at the lunar calender, the great sacrifice ceremony will begin. Sacrifices are fully prepared basically like the reporting ceremony. The Great Sacrifice Ceremony takes place in about two hours, according to traditional rites, including two ceremonies: the proclamation ceremony and consecration ceremony. A special highlight at Hoang Muoi Temple Festival is the Hau Dong ceremony.

The festival takes place in 2 days from 9^th to end of 10^th October at the lunar calender with many interesting activities, many folk games that people participate enthusiastically such as boat racing, tug-of-war, human chess, card chess, blindfolded pot beating, etc... In addition, there are camping activities, displaying typical products of traditional craft villages; Sports activities: men's and women's volleyball competitions between communes in the district also took place excitingly, fiercely competing, attracting a large number of people and tourists to participate in cheering.

Hoang Muoi Temple Festival has existed for hundreds of years and is maintained continuously. Through many ups and downs in history, Hoang Muoi Temple Festival still exists and is increasingly spreading not only in Nghe An region but also famous throughout the country, attracting a large number of people in the region and tourists from all over the country to participate and practice religious ceremonies. With typical value, Hoang Muoi Temple Festival was included in the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage by Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism according to Decision No. 2970/QD-BVHTTDL, on August 27, 2019.