Returning to our ancestral homeland

In the Vietnamese psyche, Hung Kings Commemoration Day is not just a holiday, but a sacred spiritual symbol, embodying the principle of "drinking water, remembering the source." Every year, millions of people from all over the country make a pilgrimage to Hung Temple, returning to their national roots.

Visitors offer incense at Hung Temple, expressing their reverence and gratitude for the merits of the Hung Kings.

A tree with a hundred branches all grow from one root.

The Hung Kings Commemoration Day has long transcended the boundaries of a local festival to become a national holiday. Every year on the 10th day of the third lunar month, not only in Phu Tho but also at many Hung Kings temples throughout the country, solemn incense offerings are held. This shows that the Hung Kings Commemoration Day is not just a cultural and religious event, but a spiritual thread connecting the Vietnamese community, whether in the mountains or the plains, at home or abroad.

Nevertheless, Hung Temple remains the largest gathering place for the pilgrimage to the roots. From the beginning of the year, the Hung Temple historical site has been bustling with the arrival of tens of thousands of pilgrims from all over the country and overseas Vietnamese. In the first quarter of 2026 alone, the site welcomed over 150,000 domestic and international visitors. This number not only demonstrates the attractiveness of a tourist destination but also reflects the need to return to one's roots in the spiritual life of Vietnamese people today.

In the context of the newly merged province, the sentiment towards Hung Temple seems to have taken on an even deeper meaning. This year, the elderly residents of residential area 12 (formerly Tan Thinh area), Hoa Binh ward, chose Hung Temple as their first pilgrimage destination of the new year. Ms. Nguyen Thanh Hai, a member of the group, shared that, as a citizen of the ancestral land, her feelings towards Hung Temple and the Ancestor Commemoration Day have become more intimate and sacred.

Among the pilgrims visiting Hung Temple, there are those visiting for the first time, as well as those who have returned many times. Mr. Nguyen Cong Quan from Tay Hoa Lu ward, Ninh Binh province, shared that he makes time to visit Hung Temple every year because, in his opinion, it's not just a trip, but something necessary each year to remember his ancestors and remind his descendants of their roots. These simple thoughts show that the Ancestor Commemoration Day exists not only in rituals, but also in the consciousness and life of each family.

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More than just a journey of footsteps, the Ancestor Commemoration Day also spreads into a widespread cultural space. From the beginning of the third lunar month, many localities have been beautifying their village roads, hanging national flags, organizing cultural activities, rice cake wrapping competitions, and folk art festivals... Each locality participates in the festival not only through rituals but also through its own cultural identity, contributing to creating a common cultural space for the Vietnamese community to honor their roots.

On the stone steps leading up to Hung Temple, a long line of people stretched amidst the incense smoke – a place where the past and present meet in heartfelt reverence and gratitude to their ancestors.

A cultural space rich in identity.

While in the past, the Ancestor Commemoration Day was mainly associated with traditional rituals, today, this event is organized on an increasingly systematic scale, ensuring both the solemnity of the ceremony and expanding the cultural and tourism space to serve the people and tourists.

According to Pham Thi Hoang Oanh, Deputy Director of the Hung Temple Historical Relic Site, the unit has been upgrading its information system on a digital platform, building digital maps, smart guidance systems, automatic narration, QR codes at historical sites, and strengthening the smart surveillance camera system... This not only makes it more convenient for tourists to visit and learn about the relics but also contributes to improving the efficiency of management, preservation, and promotion of heritage values ​​in a modern and sustainable way.

With the preparations of the Organizing Committee, localities participating in the festival organized into clusters of communes and wards presented many unique cultural activities such as cultural camps, exhibitions of local products, competitions in wrapping banh chung (traditional Vietnamese rice cakes), pounding banh giay (traditional Vietnamese rice cakes), and folk art festivals... Each locality brought to the festival not only local products and artistic performances, but also its own unique cultural identity, contributing to creating a rich and colorful festival atmosphere.

Hung Kings Commemoration Day is a day when millions of people flock to Hung Temple, an opportunity for each person to reconnect with themselves – to the beginning of the nation's history. As the number of people visiting Nghia Linh Mountain increases each year, and as incense is still lit with reverence, the bond between the past and the present remains strong. And then, the roots will continue to be the foundation for the nation to move forward.

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To prepare for the Hung Kings Commemoration Day - Hung Temple Festival and the Ancestral Land Culture and Tourism Week in 2026, the Management Board of the Hung Temple Historical Relic Site has developed a comprehensive plan well in advance, assigning tasks to each department and unit. Traditional ceremonies such as the incense offering ceremony to commemorate the Hung Kings, the commemoration ceremony for National Ancestor Lac Long Quan, and the incense offering ceremony for Ancestral Mother Au Co have been meticulously prepared and organized solemnly, in accordance with traditional rituals. In addition, infrastructure serving the festival has been renovated and upgraded; detailed plans for security, traffic safety, fire prevention, and environmental sanitation have been developed to best serve the needs of the people and tourists visiting the Ancestral Land.

Nguyen Yen

Source: https://baophutho.vn/huong-ve-dat-coi-nguon-252333.htm