Unique ceremony to carry the statue of Lady of the Land of Sam Mountain

VHO - The Organizing Committee of the National Festival of Lady of Sam Mountain has just held a ceremony to carry the statue of Lady of Sam Mountain from the stone pedestal on top of Sam Mountain to the temple at the foot of Sam Mountain. This is one of the important rituals in the series of rituals of the festival.

Unique ceremony to carry the statue of Lady of the Land on Sam Mountain - photo 1 — The ceremony to carry the statue of Lady Chua Xu of Sam Mountain from the stone pedestal on top of Sam Mountain was held solemnly and dignifiedly.

At exactly 3:00 p.m. on May 19 (April 22 of the lunar calendar), the procession of the statue of Lady Chua Xu of Sam Mountain took place in a solemn atmosphere, fully complying with traditional rituals.

The ceremony includes the following parts: the water opening ceremony, the mountain climbing ceremony, the Holy Mother invitation ceremony, the incense offering ceremony at the martyrs' monument. And especially the ceremony of moving the Lady's palanquin from the martyrs' monument to the top of Sam mountain to perform the ritual of re-enacting and inviting the Lady's crown onto the palanquin.

Legend has it that more than 200 years ago, when Sam Mountain was still deserted, villagers went up the mountain and discovered an ancient statue sitting on a sandstone pedestal.

During that time, foreign invaders often harassed our country. Once, when they went to the top of Sam mountain, they found this ancient statue.

Despite many attempts to carry the statue down the mountain, no matter how hard they tried, they could not move the statue so they had to leave it behind.

Seeing this, the villagers wanted to “invite” the statue down the mountain to preserve and worship it. Many strong men and strong men were mobilized but they could not lift the statue.

While the village elders were praying, a little girl who was playing suddenly sat down, her face red, her head shaking, and said: "Choose 9 virgin girls to take her down the mountain."

Unique ceremony to carry the statue of Lady of the Land on Sam Mountain - photo 2 — The statue of Lady Chua Xu of Sam Mountain is enshrined in the Lady Temple, in Nui Sam Ward, Chau Doc City, An Giang Province.

When they reached the foot of the mountain, the statue suddenly became so heavy that they could not lift it. The villagers understood that she wanted to reside here, so they built a temple to worship her.

Initially, the temple was built simply with bamboo and leaves. After many renovations, the temple was completed and spacious as it is today.

The national festival of Ba Chua Xu Mountain Sam is a unique festival that has existed for a long time, imbued with the cultural, spiritual and religious values of the people in the Southern river region, attracting a large number of pilgrims, worshippers and participants.

Through the activities at the Sam Mountain Lady Festival, Chau Doc City wishes to promote and introduce to domestic and international friends the potential, strengths, scenic spots, historical and cultural relics, and people of Chau Doc.

Thereby, attracting investment and visitors to the city, contributing to promoting the development of the province's tourism industry.

The intangible cultural heritage of the practice of the Via Ba Chua Xu Sam Mountain Festival in Chau Doc, An Giang - a unique festival that has existed for a long time, imbued with the spiritual and cultural values of the people of the South, was officially recognized by UNESCO at the end of 2024.

This is the 16th intangible cultural heritage of Vietnam recognized by UNESCO, and is also the first heritage of Vietnam whose subjects are both majority and minority ethnic groups.

The festival is the inheritance, absorption and creation of Vietnamese people in the process of land reclamation, the synthesis of the Mother Goddess worship of the Vietnamese, Khmer, Cham and Chinese ethnic groups. The festival contains profound human values, the community's aspiration for good things in life.

The Sam Mountain Lady Festival takes place from April 22-27 (lunar calendar) every year, i.e. from May 19-24, 2025.

Some pictures of the procession of the statue of Lady of Sam Mountain :