The Goddess Ponagar Festival has taken place in Nha Trang City drawing a large number of locals and tourists inside and outside Khanh Hoa Province...
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| Thousands of pilgrims pour to Goddess Ponagar Festival 2011 |
The Goddess Ponagar Festival has taken place in Nha Trang City drawing a large number of locals and tourists inside and outside Khanh Hoa Province. Thanks to the organizing board’s good preparation, the event has run smoothly featuring many spectacular cultural and religious activities.
The Goddess Ponagar Festival was held on 22-25 April (on 20-23 of the third lunar month) at the Ponagar Temple, Nha Trang City, which became crowded and buoyant with thousands of pilgrims and tourists from all quarters, Hue, Da Nang, Binh Dinh, Ninh Thuan, Dak Lak and so on.
Luu Thi Tho, a Cham girl from Ninh Phuoc District, Ninh Thuan Province said “Held annually, the Goddess Ponagar Festival is a very important event for our ethnic minority people. We come here pray for health, happiness and good crops.” The offerings were just simple products made by worshippers themselves.
The national traditional festival featured traditional cultural characteristics, which are believed to combine between rituals of the Buddhism and Goddess religion. Many cultural activities included traditional art performances, religious dance, floral lantern night, etc.
The festival aimed to commemorate the Mother of the Region who according to Cham legends, had created the homeland, maintained the race, discovered rice plants and taught locals how to transplant rice seedlings..
During the festival, security was assured thanks to organizers’ good preparation. Detailed plans for the festival defining duties of each relevant agency and department had been issued a long time earlier. Particularly, free meals and accommodation were offered to attendees when required.
Goddess Ponagar Festival 2011 has just ended leaving good impressions as such a spectacular well-celebrated cultural and religious event.
Nhu Thao
