Preserving spiritual cultural heritage

Khanh Hoa Province is known as the center of practicing the worship of Mother Goddess Thien Y A Na in the southern central and central highland regions in Vietnam. The provincial Association for Preservation of Cultural Heritages and Spiritual Tourism has carried out many activities to preserve and promote the good values of this spiritual cultural heritage and orientate the practice of this cultural and religious form among the public.

Groups of pilgrims practicing the worship of Mother Goddess Thien Y A Na attending Ponagar Temple Festival 2024

Established in 2015, Khanh Hoa Provincial Association for Preservation of Cultural Heritages and Spiritual Tourism now has 125 members and 21 folk dance groups practicing the worship of Mother Goddess Thien Y A Na. These groups often perform religious activities at the worship places on the occasions of religious days of the Mother Goddess, lunar 1st day and 15th day. They also attend the festivals and other activities relating to the worship of Mother Goddess Thien Y A Na such as Ponagar Temple Festival and Am Chua Festival. 

As reported by Ngo My Chau, vice president of Khanh Hoa Provincial Association for Preservation of Cultural Heritages and Spiritual Tourism, in general, the religious activities of the folk dance groups practicing the worship of Mother Goddess Thien Y A Na took place solemnly and in conformity with Mother Goddess worship beliefs, rules and regulations; partly contributed to the preservation and promotion of value of the worship of Mother Goddess Thien Y A Na.

Over the years, the association has actively equipped the members with guidelines, policies and laws of the Party and the State as well as directions of the province on building and developing culture and tourism; proposed solutions to preserve and promote tangible and intangible cultural values in the province. The association has also called for public contribution to restore and embellish historical and cultural and religious monuments, promote the unique traditional cultural values in Khanh Hoa.

In 2024, the association proposed building the Provincial General Museum, Truong Sa (Spratly) Museum, A. Yersin Museum, and the project on preservation and promotion of Dien Khanh Ancient Citadel’s value; cooperated with other units to prepare documents to propose the recognition of  Ponagar Temple as a special national monument, Cau Da Villa (Vinh Nguyen Ward, Nha Trang City) as a provincial architectural and artistic monument and Doc Gao archaeological site (To Hap Town, Khanh Son District) as a provincial archaeological monument. Additionally, the cooperated with the Provincial Department of Culture and Sports, Vietnam National Institute of Culture and Arts Studies in Hue, and the Institute for Asian Studies (affiliated with Aix-Marseille University, France) organized a seminar and exhibition about Raglai cultural heritages in Khanh Hoa. Furthermore, the association held field trips to other provinces to exchange and learn experience in preservation and practice of religious rituals of cultural heritages.

In 2025, Khanh Hoa Provincial Association for Preservation of Cultural Heritages and Spiritual Tourism will continue to focus on developing its members; implement activities to promote Khanh Hoa's cultural heritages; cooperate with the Provincial Department of Culture and Sports to organize an international scientific conference about preserving and promoting cultural heritage values in conjunction with sustainable tourism development in Khanh Hoa; jointly organize Ponagar Temple Festival and Am Chua Festival on a larger scale. The association will continue to cooperate with other agencies to inspect the activities of folk troupes practicing the rituals of worshiping Mother Goddess Thien Y A Na in the province to ensure that their religious activities are in conformity with the religious beliefs and contribute to the preservation of spiritual and cultural beliefs.

Giang Dinh
Translated by H.N