Legend from the temple
Bach Luu commune has a long-built Vu temple, located in Mat Xua village, now two villages , Lang and Anh Dung hamlets - on the winding dike around the green rice fields. The temple worships Princess Cuc Hoa, who helped the Trung sisters fight the Eastern Han invaders in the early AD.
The temple still worships 3 The village gods of Bach Luu Thuong are Luu Linh Dai Vuong, Son Lang Dai Vuong and Minh Lang Dai Vuong who helped King Dinh Tien Hoang suppress the rebellion of 12 warlords in the 10th century.
Local people say that every year there is a red-crested snake. (they call it the snake god) often comes to reside at the temple for a few days and then leaves. This strange thing still happens today that they have witnessed.
Every year, Bach Luu Thuong village has 3 main ceremonies , including January 3rd - Dinh Bridge Party; December 6 - anniversary of the apparition (3 gods worshiped at the temple ) and August 10 - anniversary of the day the god appeared (Princess Chrysanthemum), the villagers held a grand ceremony with full rituals of procession, sacrifice, and singing.
In particular, those who attend the ceremony must be dignitaries , and their families must not be in mourning. The offerings include sticky rice, chicken, fruit, and black pork. The money for the ceremony's maintenance must be contributed by the village's incense burners. After the ceremony , it is divided among the incense burners and the elders in the village. Nowadays, the festival is still maintained by the villagers but is somewhat simpler.
Because of the sacredness of the temple, many people still come here to pray for peace, happiness, good crops and especially "pray for a baby". For families with infertility or difficulty having a son, preparing offerings and praying sincerely will easily make their wishes come true.
Traditional snake farming village
Partly due to the strange appearance of the snake god at the temple every year, the people here have started the snake farming business. One of the families that has been raising snakes for a long time in the village is Mr. Pham Van Nam. (born in 1977) with a scale of thousands of animals.
Mr. Nam shared: “My wife and I have two daughters, and since raising snakes, we have had a third child, a boy. Coincidence or eating snake eggs, my wife gave birth to a son, which is a great joy for my family. Especially, during the egg season, many families in the village came to buy them, at first just to nourish themselves in preparation for childbirth , but strangely , most of the women who ate snake eggs gave birth to boys.”
His family has a traditional profession of raising snakes. In addition to selling eggs seasonally , Mr. Nam also gives them to many families in the village to enjoy the taste or when there are no conditions to buy. According to Mr. Nam - Most women who eat it give birth to boys.
According to the concept of the people here - snakes are sacred animals, symbols of gods, of strength; symbols of intelligence and fertility. Just like the residents living near rivers in Greece all worship snakes; some tribes in Australia also worship snakes because according to them this animal symbolizes the negative, related to the agricultural industry .
In spiritual life, many people also believe that accidentally encountering a snake on the road or dreaming is lucky. Therefore, the people of Bach Luu do not eat snake meat, only eat snake eggs when those eggs cannot hatch. And before intending to have children, they go to the temple to pray to the snake god with a thoughtful and careful offering ceremony.
Cultural officer of the commune Nguyen Van Nang said: “In the commune, there are families that have only one child when the wife eats snake eggs, such as Mr. Nguyen Van Quy in Hung Manh village, Vu Hong Nam in Dong Duong village, Ha Trong Khanh in Anh Dung village, Dao Xuan Tung in Hong Sen village… most of the families have two sons who grow up to be successful.
Not only eating snake eggs, but also an indispensable ritual before wanting to have a child is that families often go to Vu temple to "pray for a baby", begging the gods and snake gods to come here to get their wishes .
In stories about snakes, people here often whisper to each other "eat snake eggs to have a son and remember to go to the temple to pray to the gods" - The rumors as well as the coincidences in Bach Luu are still thrilling stories… making many people want to come here to learn and explore .
Article and photos : Thu Thuy
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