GIONG FESTIVAL OF PHU DONG AND SOC TEMPLE

1.    Name of heritage: Giong Festival of Phu Dong and Soc temple
2.    Kind of Building: Intangible cultural heritage of humanity
3.    Kind of heritage:  Intangible cultural of humanity
4.    Address: Phu Dong – Soc Son
5.    Date of being recognized as heritage by Unesco: November,16th 2010
6.    Summary about heritage information:
       Giong Festival of Phu Dong and Soc temple is one of the biggest in Northern delta. This festival re-acts about the old story about how the Lord Giong fought and defeated the aggressors. An according to some traditional records, Giong was born very strangely.His mother saw a huge footstep in the field and tried her foot on. Coming back home, she got pregnant and gave birth to the little boy named Giong. This legendary focuses on the patriotism of Vietnamese young people. The architecture it self shows that the temple was constructed in the XI century under the Ly Dynasty. Every yaer on April 9th (lunar calendar), people from all parts of the country take part in this festival. The Lord Giong festival takes place on a large-scale area of 3 kilometres including Thuong( upper) Temple, Mau Temple and Kien So pagoda.Giong festival starts from the sixth April. Villagers often march in a procession with flags to Mau Temple and plain rice to Thuong Temple.Among festivals in Hanoi, Giong Festival can be regarded as the greatest one. It is also an opportunity for participants to witness the ritual ceremonies. People can also feel the multi – Lateral relationships between village and State, individual and community, past and present, reality and unreality, heaven and earth, which are all kept up and handed down to many generations.