Religious rituals start Ba Chua Xu Festival in An Giang

The annual festival takes place at Ba Chua Xu Temple in Nui Sam, Chau Doc city from the 22th – 24th of the fourth lunar month, which falls on May 17-19 this year, to honour the sacred Ba Chua Xu, a local tutelary goddess.

It recreates five folk ceremonies, including a procession of the statue of Ba Chua Xu from Sam Mountain down to the temple, and washing the statue.

The event is being held during the celebration of An Giang’s 2017 tourism month with various activities, such as dragon dances, boat racing, Khmer cow racing and traditional art performances.

About five million people make a pilgrimage to Chau Doc every year for the festival.

It is said that the temple of Ba Chua Xu was built with leaves and bamboo in the 1820s. It was rebuilt and is now a beautiful site in the Sam Mountain area.

Located in the That Son (Seven Mountains) area, which is the delta’s roof, Sam Mountain has many cultural heritage sites, including ancient Tay An pagoda, and the mausoleum of Thoai Ngoc Hau (1761 – 1829), a renowned general of the Nguyen Dynasty.