Cau Ngu festival at Ong Nam Hai Temple –Tuy Phong

20/07/2016, 15:13

BTO- Fishing villagers in Binh Thanh beach –Tuy Phong district on July 18 solemnly held a ceremonial event called Cau ngu festival at Ong Nam Hai worship temple, which has been recognized as a provincial-level historical-cultural relic.The festival attracted the participation of local residents and hundreds of visitors.   Ong Nam Hai temple (Whale-worship temple), located on the seaside near an immense sand hill, was built during the reign of King Minh Mang with a unique  architectural style bearing traditional features of Vietnamese mausoleums and communal houses. Thenceforth, dozens of dead whales (respectfully called Ca Ong) washing aside onto the shore were buried at the temple. The biggest ever is a 25 meter-long whale, which was 4.8 meters in width, 2.7 meters in height and weighed 60 tons. Legend has it that in a gloomy day in 1982, on the waters of Tuy Phong, it was suddenly...

About 2-3 year after that, residents performed a rite to take the remains of Ca Ong the temple for worship. Sine than, the whale’s whole skeleton has been kept and preserved by local people in accordance with fishermen’s religious traditions. The Cau Ngu festival is observed each year on June 16th (lunar calendar) by villagers to pay deference to Ong Nam Hai, pray for favourable weather and smooth sea so that they can catch abundance of marine products.

This year’s festival opened with a procession taking Gods from Binh An temple to Ong Nam Hai’s temple. The rites of welcoming Ong Nam Hai solemnly took place at the seaport under the performance of the ritual board and a Ba Trao rowing team, including a head rower and 12 members, presenting the solidarity of fishing villages and express their good faith. A service of worshiping and praying for peace took place one day later at Ong Nam Hai temple (Binh Thanh commune).

The festival is one of traditional cultural activities of local people to show their gratitude to the ocean and their ancestors, pray for the country’s prosperity, people’s happiness, favorable weather, successful marine catches and well-being livings for people.

Phuong Lan (Source: Binhthuan Online)


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Cau Ngu festival at Ong Nam Hai Temple –Tuy Phong