After two-year hiatus due to COVID-19, the 2022 edition of Ponagar Temple Festival attracted interest and participation of a lot of people in and outside Khanh Hoa Province.
Ponagar Temple (Photo: Vinh Thanh)
Uc Thi Hien and her family of more than 20 people traveled over 200km from Ninh Phuoc District, Ninh Thuan Province to Nha Trang City to participate in the 2022 Ponagar Temple Festival. They had happily been preparing for the pilgrimage in one week before the open of the festival. A group of pilgrims from Da Nang City had also prepared carefully offerings and ritual costume to express their gratitude to Thien Y A Na Holy Mother. “Before the outbreak of COVID-19, our group often participated in festivals relating to the Holy Mother. Attending this year’s Ponagar Temple Festival, we pray for good health, good things, and success in work,” a pilgrim from Da Nang said.
The 2022 Ponagar Temple Festival took place from April 20 t0 23 (lunar April 20-23). In order to ensure safety for the participants, the organization board made some changes to the ritual activities of the festival. The opening ceremony was organized at a relatively small scale but still solemnly. Some activities such as flower lantern floating and folk games were cancelled. Many traditional ritual acts such as changing clothes and cleaning statues ritual and offering incense were still organized. The organization board also arranged a stage for the pilgrims to perform ritual dances. The festival also saw the performances of the artists and actors of Khanh Hoa Provincial Theatre of Traditional Art.
The COVID-19 prevention and control measures were implemented throughout the festival in a way that both protected the health of the participants and created favorable conditions for the pilgrims to perform ritual acts. The participants were asked to wear masks; a maximum of 15 to 20 people were given 15 minutes for the acts of worship inside the main temple at once. “Although the festivals had been cancelled for two years, it has been organized in an orderly and good fashion, creating favorable conditions for the participants, especially the pilgrims from faraway localities,” said pilgrim Luu Tan Thanh from Ninh Thuan province.
As reported, about 100 groups of 2,500 pilgrims participated in the 2022 Ponagar Temple Festival. Besides, during the festival, the temple received more than 4,500 tourists and around 65,000 local people and Cham people from other provinces.
Giang Dinh - Translated by H.N