A century-old folk belief

There are many materials and research works by domestic and foreign researchers about the origin of Ba Chua Xu (Goddess) on Sam Mountain; there are many different versions about the formation of Sam Mountain Goddess Temple. The most popular legend among the people of Chau Doc, An Giang is: “…About 200 years ago, a group of border troublemakers came to Sam mountain. Here, they saw the statue of the Lady near the top of mountain. They were greedy and tried to take it away, but they could only move it a short distance, so they angrily smashed and broke the left arm of the statue, then they left. The villagers, with their faith, mobilized hundreds of strong people to bring the statue down the mountain to worship and preserve it, but no matter what they did, they could not move it. At that time, the Lady chose a woman to channel her spirit and proclaimed herself as a Goddess of this locality (Holy Mother of the Realm). She revealed to the villagers that to bring her statue down from the mountain, they only needed nine virgin girls to lift it. As it turned out, when the girls arrived to carry the statue, it became light and moved easily. However, upon reaching the current location of the temple, the statue suddenly grew heavy and could no longer be lifted. The villagers believed the Holy Mother of the Realm wished to reside there, so they built a temple in her honor. That day, the 25th of the fourth lunar month, became the festival day (Goddess Veneration Festival) to commemorate her.

Around year 1820, the Goddess Temple was just a simple bamboo and leaf place, located on the low-lying land Northwest of Sam Mountain (in Vinh Te village), its back facing the cliff, the main hall overlooking the village road and the vast fields. After many renovations, the Temple became more and more spacious, attracting the trust of the local people. The village council took charge of managing and organizing the Goddess Veneration Festival, which became larger and larger. However, anyone familiar with this Festival of the Land knows that there are two main characters in the festival: an angel and a human god. The angel is the Holy Mother of the Land - a spiritual, mysterious character, existing in many legends and in the beliefs of the people. The human god Thoai Ngoc Hau is a real person, a mandarin of the Nguyen Dynasty, who organized the construction of roads, digging canals, expanding hamlets, developing production, protecting the border, bringing peace and prosperity to the people.  

The traditional Goddess Veneration Festival on Sam Mountain has been preserved and practiced for many generations in Chau Doc, imbued with the cultural identity of the people of the Southwest region. The main festival day is the 25th day of the 4th lunar month. Traditional worship rituals include: Goddess bathing ceremony (held at 12pm on the 23rd and early morning on the 24th of the 4th lunar month); Thinh Sac ceremony (held at 3pm on the 25th of the 4th lunar month); Tuc Yet and Chau construction ceremony (held at 12pm on the 25th and early morning on the 26th of the 4th lunar month); Chanh Te ceremony (held at 4am on the 27th of the 4th lunar month); Hoi Sac ceremony (held at 3pm on the 27th of the 4th lunar month).

7 years of perseverance and dedication

With its outstanding historical and cultural values, of special significance to the community, in 2014, the Goddess Veneration Festival on Sam Mountain was recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage. In 2024, An Giang province solemnly held the opening ceremony, commemorating the 10th anniversary of this event. Over the past 10 years, in addition to raising the pride and awareness of the community in preserving and protecting the festival, An Giang province has also contributed to enhancing the value, increasing the attractiveness, attracting tourists, and forming cultural and tourism products from heritage, promoting local economic development.

But that is not the worthy end of the Festival. Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Khanh Hiep informed that the profile preparation for the Goddess Veneration Festival on Sam Mountain to submit to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to be included in the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage represented for Humanity was raised during a meeting between Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Dang Thi Bich Lien and leaders of An Giang province in mid-2018. In June 2020, the Government Office announced the opinion of Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam on the plan to prepare a dossier of Vietnam's typical intangible cultural heritage to submit to UNESCO, including the Goddess Veneration Festival on Sam Mountain. 

“From May 2021 to February 2022, the dossier of the Goddess Veneration Festival on Sam Mountain was carried out in accordance with legal regulations. The People's Committee of An Giang province sought appraisal opinions from the National Cultural Heritage Council; Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism; continuously edited and supplemented the dossier. In December 2024, Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of An Giang Provincial Party Committee Le Hong Quang led the provincial working delegation, participating in defending the dossier at the 19th session of the Intergovernmental Committee of the 2003 Convention (held in the capital Asunción, Republic of Paraguay). Joy quickly came to An Giang, when the Goddess Veneration Festival on Sam Mountain was immediately recognized by UNESCO as a part in the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage represented for Humanity” – Mr. Nguyen Khanh Hiep informed.  

Preserving Heritage - Promoting Identity - Connecting the Future

This is the first traditional festival of the Mekong Delta region to be honored as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity. At the same time, it is the pride of the people of An Giang in particular and the people of the whole country in general, because the honored heritage contributes significantly to affirming the diversity and rich values of Vietnamese national culture in the context of development and integration.

“To mark this event, the locality solemnly organized the ceremony to receive the UNESCO certificate recognizing the intangible cultural heritage of the Via Ba Chua Xu Festival on Sam Mountain as an intangible cultural heritage represented for humanity; safely and thoughtfully opened the Via Ba Chua Xu Festival in 2025, creating an important premise and bridge to introduce the culture, history and identity of An Giang to people at home and abroad. In the coming time, the province will continue to identify the values, research, inventory, and document the intangible cultural heritage of the Via Ba Chua Xu Festival on Sam Mountain; the beautiful traditional customs, rituals, and festivals associated with this heritage. Efforts will be intensified to promote education and awareness throughout society, especially among younger generations, about the importance of preserving and enhancing the value of heritage. This also aims to foster patriotism, the traditional principle of 'Drinking water, remembering its source,' national unity, and respect for the role of women in the community," affirmed Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy, Vice Chairwoman of the People's Committee of An Giang Province.

The transmission of values also lies in creating conditions for the practice, creation and teaching of heritage in the community; encouraging elderly ritual practitioners to teach the younger generation; honoring, having policies to reward, and conferring honorary State titles on individuals and communities that have made many contributions to preserving, practicing, teaching, protecting and promoting the heritage value of the Via Ba Chua Xu Festival on Sam Mountain. The responsibility of the next generation is to strengthen State management, prevent and eliminate bad customs, strictly handle acts of exploiting heritage for profit, distorting heritage, negatively impacting community and social life; protecting the originality of rituals, avoiding commercialization or distortion of festivals; linking cultural heritage conservation with sustainable tourism development.

The Via Ba Chua Xu Festival on Sam Mountain is listed in the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage represented for Humanity, which is not only the pride of An Giang province, but also of the whole country. With strong commitments from the government and the community, we believe that the Festival will continue to be protected and promoted, becoming an important resource for the development of the country and locality, and a spiritual and cultural foundation for educating future generations./.

News by Gia Khanh

Translation by Hoang Oanh