Hung Temple on the last day of the year

The ancestral land of King Hung is an ancient land, the cradle of Lac Viet culture. Throughout thousands of years of history, Phu Tho today is considered a "museum" of Vietnamese national culture, with strong cultural imprints and a rich and diverse system of tangible and intangible cultural heritage associated with the Hung King era.

In the final days of the year, thousands of Vietnamese people sincerely go to temples and offer incense to express their gratitude for the contributions of the Hung Kings and their ancestors in building and defending the nation, while also praying for good fortune, health, family harmony, peace, and happiness in the new year of the Snake 2025.

As is customary, every year at the end of the year, in preparation for the Lunar New Year, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hang from Phuc Tho district, Hanoi , and her family sincerely return to Hung Temple to pray for good fortune in the new year. Ms. Hang shared: "No matter where we work, my family always looks back to our ancestors. As the old year is about to pass and the new year is coming, my family returns together to light incense sticks in gratitude, thanking the National Ancestors for the peace and good fortune they have received in the past year, and praying for many good things in the new year..."

Over the years, Phu Tho province has paid special attention to the preservation of cultural heritage in conjunction with sustainable socio -economic development. Along with its system of historical and cultural relics, traditional festivals, and unique national intangible cultural heritage, Phu Tho is honored to possess two intangible cultural heritages recognized by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites – the Hung Kings worshiping belief and Phu Tho Xoan singing – which are a source of pride and a unique identity of the Vietnamese people to the international community.

To date, Hung Temple and other cultural heritage sites are being effectively protected by Phu Tho province, bringing vitality and a strong influence to contemporary social life. The province is also very interested in exploiting the values ​​of cultural heritage to develop tourism. Along with the Hung King worship tradition, centered around the annual Hung King Ancestor Commemoration Day – Hung Temple Festival, programs such as "Xoan singing in ancient villages" and "tourism to the roots" are increasingly attracting a large number of domestic and international tourists to visit, practice the religion, and enjoy Xoan singing. Each year, the province welcomes approximately 6-7 million visitors, achieving significant tourism revenue growth and creating jobs for over 12,000 workers. Cultural heritage is becoming a rich source of cultural tourism products, contributing to the sustainable development of Phu Tho tourism. Between January 1st and January 24th, 2025 alone, more than 10,000 pilgrims visited Hung Temple, including foreign tourists.

According to Mr. Pham Thanh Long, Deputy Director of the Hung Temple Historical Relic Area, during the period 2021-2024, the province mobilized over 450 billion VND to implement the restoration and preservation of relics and structures within the relic area, aiming to build the Hung Temple Special National Relic Area to be worthy of its status as a special national relic, a center of cultural and spiritual beliefs for ancestor worship, and a tourist destination. From this capital, dozens of projects serving the people have been built and put into operation, typical examples include: completing the restoration and preservation of infrastructure and landscape at the Hung Temple Historical Relic Area Festival Center; installing a landscape lighting system around Mai An Tiem Lake; restoring and preserving the bas-relief "Uncle Ho speaking with officers and soldiers of the Vanguard Army Division" at the intersection of Den Gieng Temple...

In the warm spring weather, groups of descendants once again make pilgrimages to the Hung Temple Historical Site, the center of worship for the first Hung Kings of the Vietnamese people, to reconnect with their national roots and to feel even more proud of the dragon-fairy lineage flowing in the blood of every Vietnamese citizen.

People and pilgrims flock to Hung Temple to light incense sticks in reverence, expressing gratitude for the contributions of the Hung Kings and their ancestors in building and defending the nation, while also praying for good fortune, health, family harmony, peace, and a happy New Year of the Snake 2025.

Present at Hung Temple during the last days of the year, many locals and tourists said that every year they and their families organize a pilgrimage to Hung Temple, enjoying the spring season in the ancestral land to pray for peace and good fortune for their families and friends. This is a beautiful custom of the descendants of Lac and Hong. This affirms that, through many ups and downs of the nation's history, the belief in worshipping Hung Kings has always been passed down, occupying the most sacred place in the spiritual life of the Vietnamese people, possessing enduring vitality and spreading strongly among all strata of the population.

Visiting Phu Tho in the spring, tourists will be immersed in the spiritual and cultural atmosphere of hundreds of folk festivals at the cradle of the Vietnamese nation, including festivals and beliefs that have been recognized as national intangible cultural heritage such as the Dao Xa Temple Festival, the Au Co Mother Goddess Temple Festival associated with the worship of Mother Au Co, the Tro Tram Festival, etc.

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Source: https://baophutho.vn/den-hung-ngay-cuoi-nam-227131.htm