Ban Vuong festival of the Dao ethnic community in the northern province of Ha Giang has been recreated in Hanoi.
The Ban Vuong worship ritual is an important event for the Dao people in Vietnam, happening on the first day of the second lunar month to commemorate and thank the ancestors who gave birth to the Dao and assisted to 12 Dao ethnic families to cross the sea to new lands.
The Dao people in Hoang Su Phi district reenacted the Ban Vuong festival at the Vietnam National Village for Ethnic Culture and Tourism (Dong Mo, Son Tay, Hanoi).
The Dao consider the worship of Ban Vuong vital to their fates, their clan, and their community.
A Dao legend says that after Long Khuyển Hồ helped King Bình Vương defeat invaders, the king rewarded him by allowing him to marry one of the princesses. Later he inherited the throne and took the name Bàn Vương. Bàn Vương had 12 children, who grew up to become the heads of 12 Dao clans.
Bàn Vương led a simple life. He taught his people how to grow rice and cotton and weave fabric. When Bàn Vương died, the villagers worshiped him at their ancestral altars along with the deities of rice, art, hunting, and agriculture.
At the worship of Bàn Vương, six shamans were invited to host the ritual. The shamans invited the spirit of Bàn Vương to witness the piety of the modern Dao people. They offered incense and cereal products on Bàn Vương 's altar. At the end of the ceremony, the priests burnt votive papers to return Ban Vuong to heaven.
The Ban Vuong worship ritual is a humane ceremony as it encourages people to remember their ancestors. In addition, this ceremony also establishes a link strengthening the community and the relationships between both family members and among villagers.
Following are photos about the event:
At the beginning of the ceremony, there is a ceremony to call on Ban Vuong and local deities and declare the reason for the ceremony
The shamans burn paper money, joss paper gold and silver paper asking Ban Vuong and the local deities to help the people and bless the festival
People offer incense and give thanks to Ban Vuong for helping the Dao live peacefully for thousands of generations
Six shamans walk in a circle, call out to the local celestial spirit to welcome Ban Vuong and tell a brief biography and physique of Ban Vuong since birth
Tortoise dance is part of the ritual
The stick dance shows Ban Vuong, celestial spirit and earth deities descend from the altar to receive the offerings
The end is the ceremony to send Ban Vuong to heaven, which is also the time when the shamans remove their costumes, at the same time, wrestling, and getting into a trance and dancing
