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Trippers flock to Kiep Bac lantern festival

Hai Duong News • 03/10/2023 14:25

Thousands of people looked forward to attending the event to commemorate fallen soldiers and pray for national peace and prosperity.

The venue of the requiem and lantern festival seen from above

A requiem and a lantern festival were solemnly held on the dyke of the Luc Dau river in front of Kiep Bac temple, Chi Linh city, Hai Duong province, on October 2 evening.

The tower and river dyke are decorated with thousands of colorful lanterns

Thousands of people flocked to the venue an hour before the event to see with their own eyes one of the most important and special ceremonies of the 2023 Con Son - Kiep Bac Autumn Festival.

Locals and tourists are eager to attend the ceremony

A nine-tier tower decorated with splendid patterns, incense, flowers, and offerings was erected by the river to symbolize a medium, the interference of heaven and earth, yin and yang, and the harmony of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism.

Thousands of lanterns were placed around the tower and the dyke to form the words Le Hoi Hoa Dang – Quoc Thai Dan An (Lantern Festival – National Peace and Prosperity), together with a lighting system forming a sparkling, magical, and sacred space in front of Kiep Bac temple.

People line up to float lanterns down the Luc Dau river

Monks, delegates, and people offered incense and took sacrifices from Kiep Bac temple to the tower on the Luc Dau river dyke to perform the requiem.

Everyone is looking forward to releasing lanterns to pray for national peace and prosperity

After the ceremony, delegates, locals, and visitors floated lanterns, which carried their wishes, down the Luc Dau river.

Mobile policemen help an old woman release her lantern to the river

They commemorated, expressed gratitude to, and prayed for the souls of heroic martyrs, especially soldiers and generals of the Tran dynasty who laid down their life in resistance wars against the Yuan – Mongol enemy, even invaders who died in battle.