The festival of Ha Temple, Thuong Temple and Y La Temple is organized on a large scale, starting with the procession of Princess Phuong Dung (the elder sister) from Y La Temple in Y La Ward to Ha Temple in Tan Quang Ward in the early morning of February 11 (lunar calendar). The next day is the procession of Princess Ngoc Lan (the younger sister) from Thuong Temple in Trang Da Commune to Ha Temple for the ceremony. During the following days, the festival takes place with many exciting games such as playing cards, chess, cockfighting, tug of war, singing Chau Van, releasing flower lanterns on Lo River...

The festival includes a series of activities and solemn rituals symbolizing the family reunion of the two sisters, Princess Phuong Dung and Ngoc Lan, and is an opportunity for the people of Tuyen Quang to express their gratitude to the Mother Goddesses who have protected the community. Not only does the festival carry the unique cultural features of the Mother Goddess worship, it also brings together the typical cultural features of Tuyen Quang.

The highlight of the festival that many people look forward to the most is the custom of "crawl under the Mother Goddess's palanquin" with the belief that the Mother Goddess will grant health and happiness. When the procession of the Mother Goddess's palanquin passes through the streets, people of all ages wait on both sides of the road to crawl under the Mother Goddess's palanquin with the hope of a good new year. The festival ends on February 16 when people hold a ceremony to return the Mother Goddesses to their own temples.

Comrade Hoang Viet Phuong, Vice Chairman of Tuyen Quang Provincial People's Committee, said: The Mother Goddess worship has been present in Tuyen Quang since the early 17th century and strongly developed in the 18th century. This place is believed to be the birthplace of the Third Mother Goddess - the goddess who governs rivers and waters. Also because of the dense system of Mother Goddess temples, Tuyen Quang is considered "Mother Goddess land, Mother Goddess land". Tuyen Quang identifies spiritual and cultural tourism as one of the three main types of tourism, contributing to making tourism an important economic sector of the province.

In recent years, Tuyen Quang city has built many unique spiritual tourism products and routes connecting the city center with relics such as Ha temple, Thuong temple, Y La temple, Cam temple, Lam Son Linh Tu, Truc Lam Zen Monastery, Linh Thong pagoda... attracting visitors from all over the world. However, although Tuyen Quang's spiritual tourism products have been formed for a long time, they have not brought much profit and visitors have not spent much. According to statistics, during the annual festival season, Tuyen Quang welcomes about 300-400 thousand spiritual tourists, but mainly for money drops and donations.

According to Dr. Nguyen Vu Phan, former Acting Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Tuyen Quang, the province must create a difference by relying on the outstanding feature of the Mother Goddess land - the Mother Goddess who helps business to be favorable to attract visitors; it is necessary to build a typical spiritual tourism product such as the festival of the Mother Goddess temple, the Upper Temple, and the Y La Temple. In addition, the province needs to research and build a spiritual tourism product that not only brings revenue to the temples and pagodas but also creates jobs and income for people in the area. Only then will the community voluntarily participate in creating and developing tourism.

Associate Professor, Dr. Bui Hoai Son, Standing Member of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Education, said: Developing spiritual tourism based on the Mother Goddess worship belief in Tuyen Quang not only contributes to promoting local culture but also creates momentum for economic development, attracting domestic and foreign tourists. However, for spiritual tourism to develop sustainably, there needs to be a balance between promoting tourism and preserving inherent sacred values.

To build a unique spiritual tourism product, the State and local authorities need to have appropriate support policies, encourage responsible spiritual tourism models; at the same time, promote communication work, guide tourists to practice their beliefs properly, avoid wrong behaviors, and take advantage of beliefs for personal gain.

Developing spiritual tourism associated with Mother Goddess worship in a systematic, scientific and oriented manner not only helps preserve traditional cultural values ​​but also contributes to making Tuyen Quang a unique spiritual tourism center, meeting the needs of tourists to learn and experience culture.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/tuyen-quang-vung-dat-mau-linh-thieng-post864506.html