Sparkling "Flower lantern festival" on Luc Dau river, praying for national peace and prosperity

VHO - On the evening of October 13, at Luc Dau River in front of Kiep Bac Temple in the Con Son - Kiep Bac relic site (Tran Hung Dao ward, Hai Phong city), the Organizing Committee of the 2025 Con Son - Kiep Bac Autumn Festival held a "Praying for Peace Ceremony" and "Lantern Festival".

The peace praying ceremony and the lantern festival are spiritual needs of Vietnamese people, and are one of the typical rituals in the traditional festival of Kiep Bac temple.

The festival is meant to pray for the souls of the deceased to be cool and free from the mortal world, clearly demonstrating the philosophy of yin and yang harmony in the Vietnamese mind.

"Peace-praying ceremony" and "Lantern festival" are spiritual needs of Vietnamese people, and are one of the typical rituals in the traditional festival of Kiep Bac temple.

The Peace Prayer Ceremony and Flower Lantern Festival at Kiep Bac Temple aim to commemorate the heroes and martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the country in past dynasties.

Especially pray for the souls of Tran Dynasty generals and soldiers and the souls of those in the resistance war against the Yuan-Mongol invaders on Luc Dau River.

Through that, pray for national peace and prosperity, good weather, good crops.

Since 2007, the Peace Prayer Ceremony and Lantern Festival have been restored on a grand scale. The chosen location for the ceremony is Luc Dau River, Van Kiep Wharf.

Offerings for the "Prayer for Peace" ceremony

The construction of a tower to pray for peace on the sacred road, the inner road of Kiep Bac temple and on the Luc Dau river dike represents the beauty of spiritual culture in responding to people, dealing with situations and preserving traditional values ​​of the nation.

On the shore, the 9-storey tower symbolizes the axis connecting heaven and earth, yin and yang. The 9-storey patterns typical of Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism intertwine to create a splendid multi-colored picture like a majestic crystal tower in a festival night. The white and pink rope connecting the tower to the river symbolizes the Bridge of Salvation .

Festival to pray for national peace and prosperity

On the river, boats filled with lanterns sparkled, lighting up the entire sky of Van Kiep.

The brilliant flower petals carry the gratitude of today's generation sent to the distant land, gathering around Con Kiem (a sword-shaped strip of land of Tran Hung Dao in the middle of Luc Dau river) to form a fiery sword.

In the sky, fireworks and sky lanterns are brilliant

In the sky, fireworks, colorful sky lanterns…

Everything was filled with a sacred, mystical atmosphere. A feeling of lightness, excitement and transcendence was truly overwhelming…leaving in each person’s heart gratitude, pride and honor.

Many people participated in releasing flower lanterns at the ceremony.

The ceremony left a beautiful impression in the hearts of visitors to the Con Son - Kiep Bac autumn festival.

According to Ms. Tran Thi Hoang Mai, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Hai Phong, the total number of visitors to the Con Son - Kiep Bac relic site from the 1st to the 22nd of the 8th lunar month in 2025 will reach about 325,000, an increase of 214% over the same period in 2024.

Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/van-hoa/lung-linh-hoi-hoa-dang-tren-song-luc-dau-cau-quoc-thai-dan-an-174539.html