Nam Giao offering ritual arranged
Friday, June 11, 2010 (GMT+7)
The sacred Nam Giao Offering Ritual took place the evening of June 9 at Nam Giao Esplanade, attracting thousands of visitors.
Nam Giao Offering Ritual is the ceremony to honour the sky and earth. It uses traditional factors from the Giao sacrifice ceremony of Vietnam which used to take place in Hue, highlighting human values and expressing aspiration for a peaceful country and happy people and favourable rain and wind. The ritual also aims to create an environment to promote and honour Vietnamese court music, show the beauty of ritual culture and traditional costumes of the ancient city of Hue.
This was the most important ceremony ritual in the feudal times. Nam Giao Esplanade was built in Duong Xuan village, south of Hue citadel, in 1806. At the beginning of 1807, Gia Long Court had its first religious worship ceremonies there. Nam Giao Esplanade is an open-air monument: The model of its architecture bears both the religious and political significance of Oriental feudalism.
The esplanade included three storeys: the top is circle to symbolize the sky, the two below storeys are square to symbolize earth and man. The Nguyen Dynasty often organized this ritual in spring. The King or the top mandarin was the officiating priest.
At the Hue Festival 2010, Nam Giao offering ritual was reenacted with two parts: First, the King came from the Citadel to Trai Cung (Fasting Palace) accompanying a procession called Ngu Dao with between 1,000 and 5,000 people. The King sat on the sedan chair carried by royal soldiers in the middle path. The Ngu Dao was divided into three groups carrying hundreds of flags, parasols and lanterns; second, the rituals at Nam Giao esplanade were performed.
The Hue Festival organising board and Thua Thien-Hue province plan to prepare documents to submit to UNESCO for recognising Nam Giao celebration as an intangible culture heritage.
Some pictures:
The King came from the Citadel to Trai Cung (Fasting Palace) accompanying a procession called Ngu Dao.
The King and mandarins performed the rituals.
160 elders from eight villages in Thua Thien-Hue province performed rituals at the eight altars of deities, which were placed at the four corner of the story symbolizing the earth.
Priests offered offering ...
... and sacrifice.
Female soldiers served the ceremony.
The male soldiers.
Source: VNN