New tours opened in the build-up to Ba Chua Xu Worshipping Festival

      Saigontourist has just opened a number of new tours from Ho Chi Minh City to the Mekong Delta in the build-up for the Ba Chua Xu Worshipping Festival in Chau Doc, An Giang.
Ba Chua Xu Worshipping Festival is a spiritual festival held in April every year that often attracts millions of visitors.
The festival originated from a legend dated 200 years ago. It tells that a long time ago Sam Mountain was desolate, bushy and thinly populated. It was the home of many wild beasts. At that time, the invaders often harassed the life of locals there.
One day, a squad of invaders climbed up Sam Mountain and found a beautiful stone lady statue. They wanted to take the statue but could not move it. In anger, they disfigured the statue, breaking off the left hand.
Shortly after, a little girl who had been playing joyfully in the village started shaking uncontrollably and became very flush.
The women called her Chua Xu Thanh Mau (the Lady of the Region) and said that the statue of the Lady on Sam Mountain was destroyed by the invaders so the villagers should take the sculpture down from the mountain. When the villagers climbed up the mountain they were very surprised to see the statue.
They selected nine virgin girls to carry the statue down. When arriving at the foot of Sam Mountain, the statue became so heavy that the girls were forced to place it on the ground.
The village elders understood this as a signal from the statue that this was the place that it wanted to remain, so a ceremony was held and a shrine was built on the spot dedicated to her. That day was the 25th day of April of the lunar calendar.
At present, all rites of the festival are held solemnly. At midnight on the 23rd day and in the early morning of the 24th day of lunar April, the statue-bathing rite is carried out for nearly one hour by four or five prestigious middle-aged women of the village.
They bathe the statue in water fragranced by jasmine, spray it with perfume, and then adorn the statue with a new bonnet and gown. Although the ceremony is held behind a silk curtain, it attracts the participation of thousands people who stand outside the sanctum.
On the night of the 25th day of lunar April and in the early morning of the 26th day, Tuc Yet and Xay Chau, the major rites of the festival, are carried out. At midnight, the Tuc Yet rite is performed by the main priest and four nobles.
The offerings include a white pig, a plate of pig’s blood, a tray of steamed sticky rice, a tray of five-fruits, and other gifts. To ceremonial music and drum and gong beats, the main priest and four nobles offer the Lady incense, wine and tea and read sermons. After the Tuc Yen rite is the Xay Chau rite.
The main priest dips a branch of poplar in a water bowl and splashes the water while reading "first, praying to heaven for good things; second, praying to the land for a bumper crop; third, praying for mankind's longevity; fourth, praying for annihilating demons".
When he finishes the rite, he beats three salvos of drumbeats to begin the Hat boi (classical opera) performance on the stage before the central sanctum. At 4am on the 27th day of lunar April, the Chanh Te rite is held, but is less spectacular.