Strange Het Temple festival, village men fight over banana roots

Unique Het Temple Festival in Thai Thuong Commune, Thai Thuy

Today, the Het Temple festival has gone beyond the village festival to become a regional festival, attracting thousands of visitors from all over. According to local legend, Het Temple is a place to worship gods with the titles of Tay Thai Binh Dai Vuong, Dong Thien Thuong Dai Vuong Dang Than, and General Pham Ngu Lao of the Tran Dynasty. Het Temple is currently the place to preserve the wrestling and ball wrestling festivals, which are said to be sports organized by General Pham Ngu Lao to train the soldiers' physical strength when stationed here.

Wrestlers at the Scream Temple

The representative of the committee of the Het Temple historical and cultural relic said: After thousands of years of history, the ball wrestling game is still passed down in its original form by the local people to this day. To participate in this game, the villages will select 18 players, who are strong and healthy young men. They will be divided into 2 teams, each team has 9 people including 1 general and 8 soldiers. The general chosen must be healthy, have good morals and qualities, and be loved by the villagers. Before starting the game, the players go to the temple to perform the incense offering ceremony and then go out to the field to compete. The ball field is a sandy beach, the ball is a banana root, weighs 8kg, is rounded and smooth, and is placed in the middle of the field. The distance from the ball position to each wide-mouthed pot is 80cm placed at the end of each field.

When the wrestling match begins, players must use their strength, agility, and skill to grab the ball and bring it back to their nest. After more than an hour, the team that gets the ball into their nest the most times wins.

Het Temple is a historical and cultural relic ranked at the national level in 1993.

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/doc-dao-le-hoi-den-het-post284755.html