In recent years, the preservation and upholding of cultural heritages in Khanh Hoa Province has been carried out more efficiently. The locals have been becoming more and more aware of the importance of cultural heritages.
In recent years, the preservation and upholding of cultural heritages in Khanh Hoa Province has been carried out more efficiently. The locals have been becoming more and more aware of the importance of cultural heritages.
Playing the role of a management unit, Khanh Hoa Provincial Center of Heritage Conservation has made many efforts in drawing up the documents to rank the vestiges and landscapes; holding festivals which are associated with the vestiges (Ponagar Temple Festival, Am Chua Festival); building steles of the vestiges. The center has also used an amount of annual revenue of Ponagar Temple (around VND500 million per year) to restore the provincial level vestiges and organize cultural festivals.
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| Ponagar Temple Festival often attracts large number of pilgrims. |
In 2016, the center proposed documents to give rank to three provincial level vestiges: Thien An Pagoda (Ninh Dong, Ninh Hoa), Ninh Lam Communal House (Van Khanh, Van Ninh), and Bao Dai Villa (Vinh Nguyen, Nha Trang). At present, the center is planning activities for 2017. Khanh Hoa Province now has 16 national level vestiges and landscapes and 171 provincial level ones. All these vestiges and landscapes are managed and used to serve the cultural and religious activities of the public.
Beside the tangible vestiges, the intangible ones have also been preserved quite well. The provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism recognized Whale Worshipping Ceremony, Leaving Tomb Ceremony of the Raglai (Khanh Son) and Ponagar Temple Festival as national intangible heritage.
The province has also paid more attention on restoring the vestiges. Specifically, in 2016, the provincial People’s Committee invested more than VND2 billion to restore and embellish the “no-number” ship memorial site (Ninh Van, Ninh Hoa). Recently, the provincial Center of Heritage Conservation made the survey, listed the vestiges and put forward renovation plans for the vestiges in the 2016-2020 period.
According to Nguyen Van Thich, Deputy Director of Khanh Hoa Provincial Center of Heritage Conservation, the local authorities and people are more and more aware of the importance of preserving and upholding the values of cultural heritages. Many localities mobilized the public to contribute funds to preserve the vestiges and restore the traditional festivals. In recent years, hundreds of vestiges have been restored and embellished thanks to the province’s and locality’s funds as well as financial contributions from the public. Especially, Nha Trang City issued a resolution on the preservation of vestiges. Accordingly, the expense for preserving vestiges includes 80 percent of city’s funds and 20 percent of public’s contribution.
Additionally, the propaganda on the cultural heritages has also been promoted. Every year, the center often associates with the localities in the province to hold contest about cultural heritages for pupils and officers. Many schools allowed pupils to visit museums, cultural and historical vestiges.
However, as reported by Le Van Hoa, Deputy Director of Khanh Hoa Provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the upholding of cultural heritages in the field of tourism also requires more efforts. Many vestiges like Dien Khanh Ancient Citadel, Dien Khanh Temple of Literature, Ba Vu Imperial Tomb (Ninh Hoa), Temple to Tran Quy Cap, etc. have still not been exploited efficiently. Reportedly, in the future, the province’s cultural sector will further promote the propaganda on the preservation and upholding of cultural heritages.
Xuan Thanh
Translated by H.N
