(VOVWORLD) -The Ponagar Tower Festival, the largest folk festival in South Central Vietnam, opened in the resort city of Nha Trang on Sunday, attracting thousands of locals and tourists.
 The main ceremony is carried out in the Ponagar Tower's courtyard. (Photo: VOV) |
The annual event is taking place from the 20th to the 23rd days of the third lunar month.
Days before the festival, thousands of people of the Kinh and Cham ethnic group made a pilgrimage to the Ponagar Tower, carrying rice, poultry, and fruits grown in their gardens as offering to the Mother Goddess Thien Y A Na.
In addition to the main ceremony, the festival features a lantern releasing ceremony, a ritual to pray for the country’s peace and prosperity, and a traditional worshiping ceremony.
Truong Thanh Khiem, a visitor from Ninh Thuan, said: "I came here with my 10-member family. Cham ethnic people from all over the country came here to visit the Ponagar Tower to pray for good health, good business, and favorable weather."
The Ponagar Tower, constructed in the 7th to the 13th century, on Cu Lao hill, next to the Cai River, facing the East Sea, is typical of the Cham architecture and sculpture.
It is also a place for worshiping Goddess Po Inư Nagar, the all-powerful creator of the Cham. Later on, it also became a place for worshiping Mother Goddess Thien Y A Na.
In 1979, the Ponagar Tower was recognized as a historical national relic site and in 2012, the Ponagar Tower Festival was also recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.