Dong Nai focuses on cultural development in 2024

Dong Nai Province has launched a cultural development project for 2024.

The project aims to build a healthy cultural environment, preserve and promote cultural heritage, art and literature, accelerate digital transformation, and boost cultural exchange with other localities and countries.

TRADITIONAL RITUAL: The Ong Temple Festival’s procession ritual on the Dong Nai River. VNA/VNS Photo Cong Thanh

Under the project, the province will prepare dossiers to seek recognition for worshipping ceremonies for peace at Nguyen Huu Canh Temple and To Su Temple in Bien Hoa City as national intangible cultural heritage.

Nguyen Huu Canh Temple in Buu Hoa Ward was built in the 18th century to honour Marquis Nguyen Huu Canh (1650-1700), who established territorial sovereignty over the southern region for Viet Nam.

In 1698, Canh was dispatched by the Nguyen rulers to extend the country's southern borders and establish Gia Dinh, now part of HCM City. He later encouraged people from the central region to move southwards and to settle down in the new land, and ordered the construction of roads, canals and markets.

The worshipping ceremony is annually held on 15th-16th days of the fifth lunar month to show gratitude for Canh’s great services to the nation, as well as to remind young generations to preserve and promote national traditions.

In 1991, the temple was recognised as a national historical heritage site by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Meanwhile, the ceremony at To Su Temple, known as the Lady Thien Hau Temple, in Buu Long Ward in Bien Hoa City takes place on 10th-13th of the sixth lunar month every three years.

The event is celebrated by the ethnic Hoa people (Chinese-born Vietnamese) to pray for peace, attracting thousands of pilgrims and visitors.

The work seeking recognition for the two temples is expected to finish before the 330th anniversary of the founding of the province in 2028.

According to Nguyen Hong An, deputy director of the province’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Dong Nai has advantages with heritage tourism, and the application of digital technology to bring better experiences to visitors.

The province is building a 3D virtual tour of the Tran Bien Temple of Literature, Cu Thach Ancient Stone Tomb, Tan Trieu grapefruit orchards, Cat Tien National Park, the Dong Nai Cultural and Natural Conservation Zone, and the Amazing Bay water park.

Last month, the province hosted the Ong Temple Festival, its first cultural tradition to be recognised as a National Intangible Heritage in 2023.

The festival was held on February 19-22, to show gratitude to ancestors who established and developed the land of Bien Hoa Dong Nai.

It offered various rituals and activities such as a procession in downtown Bien Hoa City and along the Dong Nai River, a release of floating lanterns, a martial arts performance, and folk games and music.

The festival attracted visitors from neighbouring provinces, and countries such as China, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

The Ong Temple in Hiep Hoa Ward was named a national architectural heritage in 2001. 

(Source:VNS)