中文 - Tiếng Việt

Pig procession festival in Hoai Duc's La Phu village

Thứ Ba, 07/02/2023, 12:19

A large number of local people and visitors joined the Pig Procession festival in La Phu village, Hoai Duc, Hanoi on February 3 or the 13th day of Lunar New Year.

1.jpg -0 — La Phu village in Hanoi’s outlying district of Hoai Duc is one of the few ancient rural villages that well preserve its communal house and traditional festivals.

2.jpg -1 — According to La Phu villagers, La Phu communal house has a large and beautiful courtyard. It has a traditional architectural lay-out with a shrine behind. It is a place of supernatural power with pre-eminent figures.

3.jpg -2 — Every year on the 13th day of the first lunar month, a pig procession festival is held in La Phu village to commemorate the Great Holy Tam Lang, a talented general in the 6th King Hung Due Vuong, who fought to bring peace to the nation.

4.jpg -3 — La Phu village was chosen by general Tam Lang as a troop station. Legend has it that whenever general Tam Lang set out to fight the enemy, La Phu villagers prepared steamed sticky rice and pork to feed the general and his troops. General Tam Lang was later worshiped as the village Tutelary God.

5.jpg -4 — The general died at midnight on the 13th day of the first lunar month. Ever since, on that day, La Phu villagers organize a pig procession festival to honor the death anniversary of general Tam Lang.

6.jpg -5 — At the beginning of each year, each hamlet in the village chooses one family to host the pig procession and another family to raise Mr. Pig.

7.jpg -6 — The two families should be respectable and have both boys and girls. Their descendants should be successful, and the families should have nor family death in the previous year.

8.jpg -7 — Every February the selection of pigs begins. The pigs should be well-proportioned, good-looking, weigh 60 to 70kg, and will receive special care with raising cost contributed by the whole village. Pigs are respectably called "Mr. Pig". If a "Mr. Pig" gets sick, the raiser must bring offerings to the communal house to pray for him to get better soon.

9.jpg -8 — At 6 p.m. on the 13th day of Lunar New Year, the "pigs" and other offerings are paraded around the village to a stirring drum beat. According to village custom, hamlets nearest the communal house parade Mr. Pig first. At 9.00 p.m., Mr. Pig is brought into the communal house. At midnight, the elders begin a ritual which will last until 2 a.m. After the ceremony, the pork is divided among the families of the hamlets for a good luck.

By TM

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