THE TRUONG BA TEMPLE FESTIVAL: A DESTINATION OF SPIRITUAL CULTURE IN QUANG NGAI

Every year, on the full moon of April in the lunar calendar, the people of Tra Bong cinnamon land organize the Truong Ba Temple Festival. This is a unique cultural feature that the people of Tra Bong have preserved for hundreds of years. A unique and ancient cultural heritage

The Truong Ba Temple relic is located in Tra Xuan town, about 1km west of the center of the Tra Bong district. This is an ancient architectural work, a religious base, and a place of worship for the fraternal ethnic groups living on the land of Tra Bong, becoming a pilgrimage place for Cham, Kinh, Hoa, Cor, and other ethnic groups.

The temple worships Ba Thanh Mau Thien Y A Na, or also known as Ba Chua Ngoc. Legend has it that in ancient times when opening up the land of Thanh Bong, Ba Thanh Mau Thien Y A Na helped the people eradicate demons and open up mountains and rivers. Since then, the new reclamation work has been successful and the people of various ethnic groups in Thanh Bong have lived peacefully and abundantly. To express their gratitude for Ba's merit, the people built a temple to worship.

Entering Truong Ba Temple is stepping into an ancient space. An old banyan tree with leaning leaves stretches its long body, covering the brick and lime wall of the temple gate with its dense canopy. The Vietnam Heritage Association recognizes this as a heritage tree with over 300 years old.

Inside the temple gate, there are altars to worship the white tiger, the elephant god, and the god of agriculture. The temple is structured according to the wooden frame house with three compartments with 16 lim wood columns, each column as big as a hug.

According to Dr. Doan Ngoc Khoi - deputy director of Quang Ngai Provincial Museum - this place has a religious exchange between the communities of Kor, Kinh, Hoa, and Cham ethnic groups. Because the main hall worships Thanh Mau Thien Y A Na according to the belief of Cham people and ethnic Kor people call her Ba Chua Thuong Ngan or "Mo hay" (meaning Our Lady), while Kinh people call her Ba Chua Ngoc.

The right hall worships Quan Thanh, and the left hall is an altar to Tran Quoc Cong Bui Ta Han, Quan Chieu Vuong Mai Dinh Dong - those who have great merit in opening up Quang Nam and Quang Ngai regions.

THE TRUONG BA TEMPLE FESTIVAL

The Truong Ba Temple Festival has long been the largest festival of Tra Bong cinnamon land, Tay Tra attracting thousands of people to attend. Every year twice, Spring Autumn Second Festival (Spring Festival from the 15th to 16th of April lunar calendar; Autumn Festival from the 15th to 16th of September lunar calendar), people from all over come to offer incense to express their gratitude to Ba Thanh Mau Thien Y A Na and their ancestors who had opened up the land.

The Truong Ba Temple Festival lasts 3 days (from the 15th to the 17th of April lunar calendar every year) with ceremonies including the moc duc ceremony, outer altar ceremony, main hall ceremony, incense offering ceremony to Ba Thanh Mau, and commemorating ancestors. The festival part includes gong dancing of the Kor people, lion dancing and boi singing, and bai choi singing.

On the first night is the flower lantern release ceremony on Trà Bồng River to remember the spirits, and the wandering souls and invite them to attend the ceremony. Then there is the moc duc ceremony at midnight, mothers and sisters bathe and change clothes for her.

The festival attracts more visitors with performances of gong dancing, lion dancing, and competitions such as jumping sackcloth, tug-of-war, and volleyball.

The Kor boys who usually go up to slash-and-burn fields now come back to attend the festival passionately with drumming gongs, and Kor girls graceful in ca dao dance. Children are excited about the lion dance. The elderly are engrossed in singing boi stories.

The Truong Ba Temple relic was recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a national historical relic in 2014; Truong Ba Temple Festival was recognized as a national intangible cultural heritage in 2017. A destination for spiritual tourism The Truong Ba Temple relic and Truong Ba Temple Festival become attractive destinations for tourists inside and outside the province.\