This is a ritual that has been lost for more than a century, and for the first time has been restored as a main content in the organization of the Tran Temple Seal Opening Festival in the year of the Horse 2014.
The procession of offerings from Con Son Pagoda to Nguyen Trai Temple. Photo: VNA
From 7 o'clock, rituals such as reading petitions, inviting incense sticks... are performed by elders at Co Trach temple, then a palanquin procession is organized to the ancient well to perform the water drawing ceremony.
The procession consists of 230 people with flags and banners going first, the dragon and unicorn procession team; gongs and drums, the octet team, the water procession palanquin, the fish procession palanquin, the fishing team with full equipment such as nets, drums, traps, etc.; the holy palanquin with umbrellas on both sides, the male mandarin's worship team, the female mandarin's worship team.
After fetching water, the procession organized fishing in the fish pond next to the ancient well. The fish caught included snakehead fish and carp weighing from 1.5-2kg, contained in red painted baskets to be transferred to the dragon palanquin.
Dragon dance at the main festival day of Tran Temple (Nam Dinh) in 2013. Photo: VNA
From 8:30 am, the group began to carry water and fish to Thien Truong temple, perform the water offering and fish sacrifice rituals. Next, the fish were released into the Red River, at the Huu Bi ferry area (in My Trung commune, My Loc district), releasing one carp and one snakehead fish at the same time until all were released. In the afternoon, from 2 pm to 4 pm, the female mandarin worship ritual at Co Trach temple will take place.
The water procession and fish sacrifice rituals are present in many festivals in the Northern Delta. This is a ritual to encourage agriculture and fishing, and to pray for favorable weather for rice farmers.
It is known that the Tran Temple Seal Opening Ceremony in Nam Dinh will take place on the 14th (early morning of the 15th) of January. In addition to the water procession and fish sacrifice rituals, from the 12th to the 16th of January, at the Tran Temple relic complex, there will be many other traditional festival activities such as lion dance, dragon dance, cheo singing, chau van singing, human chess competition, wrestling, martial arts performances outside the Ngu Mon gate.
