TL;DR: The Keo Hành Thiện Pagoda Festival is the largest annual festival of the Keo Hành Thiện pagoda complex, held in the middle of the Ninth lunar month (falling around 19 to 25 October in the 2026 solar calendar) to commemorate the birth of the Holy Patriarch, Zen Master Dương Không Lộ. The complex comprises Keo Trong Pagoda (Thần Quang tu) and Keo Ngoai Pagoda (Đĩnh Lan tu), and was ranked a Special National Relic in 2016, with rites of procession, boat racing, robe offering, banner raising and lantern parading alongside many folk games. It must be clearly distinguished from Keo Pagoda in Vũ Thư (formerly Thái Bình, now Hưng Yên), since the two share an origin but are different relics.
What is the Keo Hành Thiện Pagoda Festival and when does it take place?
The Keo Hành Thiện Pagoda Festival is the largest autumn festival of the year at the Keo Hành Thiện pagoda complex, held in the middle of the Ninth lunar month to commemorate the birth of the Holy Patriarch Dương Không Lộ. By the lunar calendar, the festival runs from the 10th to the 16th day of the Ninth month; converted to the solar calendar in 2026, this period falls on 19 to 25 October. It is an occasion for the local community and pilgrims from elsewhere to offer incense, carry palanquins and join folk games tied to the traditions of Hành Thiện village.
Besides the autumn festival, the pagoda also has a spring festival held in the First lunar month for Keo Trong Pagoda and the Second lunar month for Keo Ngoai Pagoda, with rites of incense offering, palanquin procession, elders' banquet and rice-cooking contests. However, according to VietnamPlus, the autumn festival remains the largest of the year.
Where is Keo Hành Thiện Pagoda and whom does it worship?
The Keo Hành Thiện pagoda complex is located in Hành Thiện village, Xuân Hồng commune, Xuân Trường district, Nam Định province as recorded by the source at the time of publication; after subsequent administrative boundary adjustments, this area belongs to Ninh Bình province. The pagoda consists of two structures: Keo Trong Pagoda (Thần Quang tu) and Keo Ngoai Pagoda (Đĩnh Lan tu).
The pagoda follows the structure of "Buddha in front, Saint behind": the front worships the Buddha, the rear worships the Holy Patriarch, that is, Zen Master Dương Không Lộ. According to recorded documents, the Holy Patriarch Dương Không Lộ had the personal name Minh Nghiêm and the title Không Lộ; his father's homeland was Giao Thuỷ village, Hải Thanh prefecture (Nam Định), and his mother's homeland was Ninh Giang prefecture (Hải Dương). He is recorded as a historical figure of great merit to the Ly dynasty, was granted the title of National Master and Great Dharma Master by the Ly king, and was the person who founded and established Keo Hành Thiện Pagoda and Hành Thiện village.
What is special about the architecture of Keo Hành Thiện Pagoda?
The relic complex is an ensemble of architectural structures built in symmetry, deeply imbued with the architectural style of the Later Le dynasty, 17th to 18th centuries. The decorative carving details here are assessed as highly artistic, expressing the labor and creative minds of ancient builders and folk artisans, contributing to the history of Vietnamese fine arts.
As for artifacts, the pagoda still preserves many relics in materials such as wood, paper, stone, ceramics and bronze. Noteworthy is the system of Han-Nom carved woodblocks including steles, edicts, hagiographies, parallel sentences and great characters, along with palanquins and banners. According to VietnamPlus, the Han-Nom carved stone stele remains intact. The existence of the pagoda helps evidence the history of formation and development of Vietnamese religion and belief.
With those exceptional values, the architectural and artistic relic of Keo Hành Thiện Pagoda, comprising Keo Trong Pagoda and Keo Ngoai Pagoda, was ranked a Special National Relic by the Prime Minister in Decision No. 2499/QD-TTg dated 22 December 2016.
What rituals and games does the Keo Hành Thiện Pagoda Festival have?
According to VietnamPlus, the autumn festival features many distinctive rituals and folk games such as: phung nghinh (ceremonial welcome procession), boi trai (boat racing), phuc mieu y (offering robes to the deity), dung phuon (banner raising), ruoc den (lantern procession), Thanh dan (Holy Birthday rite), water puppetry, cheo can (dry land rowing play), xiangqi, cau du (swing catching), cockfighting and banh day making. Among the games tied to the waterways and rice fields of the former coastal land of Nam Định, activities such as boat racing, shrimp counting, duck catching and human chess are highlights awaited by locals and visitors.
These activities can be grouped for easier tracking:
- Ritual and procession group: phung nghinh, lantern procession, banner raising, phuc mieu y, Thanh dan rite.
- Land-based games group: xiangqi, human chess, cockfighting, cau du, cheo can, water puppetry.
- Water and field games group: boi trai (boat racing), shrimp counting, duck catching.
- Culinary and community activity group: banh day making, elders' banquet in the spring festival.
Distinguishing Keo Hành Thiện Pagoda from Keo Pagoda in Vũ Thư
This is the most confusing point for searchers. Keo Hành Thiện Pagoda (Nam Định, now Ninh Bình) and Keo Pagoda in Vũ Thư (formerly Thái Bình, now Hưng Yên) are two different relics, though both are linked to the legend of Zen Master Dương Không Lộ and share a common origin from the land along the Red River. Clear distinction helps readers avoid confusion when looking up information about festivals, addresses, timing and managing units of the relics.
The table below summarizes the points to distinguish:
| Criterion | Keo Hành Thiện Pagoda | Keo Vũ Thư Pagoda |
|---|---|---|
| Recorded location | Xuân Hồng commune, Xuân Trường district, Nam Định province (now Ninh Bình) | Vũ Thư district, formerly Thái Bình province (now Hưng Yên) |
| Names of structures | Keo Trong Pagoda (Thần Quang tu), Keo Ngoai Pagoda (Đĩnh Lan tu) | Keo Pagoda (Thần Quang tu) |
| Worshipped figure | Holy Patriarch, Zen Master Dương Không Lộ, combined with Buddha worship in the structure Buddha in front, Saint behind | Holy Patriarch, Zen Master Dương Không Lộ, combined with Buddha worship |
| Main festival periods of the year | Spring (First month for Keo Trong, Second month for Keo Ngoai) and Autumn (mid-Ninth lunar month, the largest festival) | Spring and Autumn festivals tied to local traditions |
| Relic ranking | Special National Relic under Decision No. 2499/QD-TTg dated 22/12/2016 | Special National Relic (under state ranking rounds) |
Why is the Keo Hành Thiện Pagoda Festival important to the community?
The festival is not only an occasion to commemorate the Holy Patriarch Dương Không Lộ, who founded the land and the pagoda, but also an occasion for the Hành Thiện village community and neighboring areas to meet and share cultural activities. Rituals such as phung nghinh, lantern procession and banner raising express the solemnity of the ceremonial part, while games such as boat racing, shrimp counting, duck catching and human chess are communal and tied to the waterway and field life of local residents.
In terms of preservation, the existence of Keo Hành Thiện Pagoda and the festivals tied to it help evidence the history of formation and development of Vietnamese religion and belief, and are also valuable materials for research into the history of fine arts, architecture and folk culture. The pagoda space also often hosts exhibitions, for example the Hành Thiện 200 Designations Exhibition under the village heritage digitization program recorded by VietnamPlus.
Notes when looking up and attending the festival
Searchers should clearly determine whether they are looking for information about Keo Hành Thiện Pagoda (Nam Định, now Ninh Bình) or Keo Pagoda in Vũ Thư (formerly Thái Bình, now Hưng Yên) to avoid confusion about address and festival timing. As for timing, the festivals are calculated by the lunar calendar, so when converting to the solar calendar one should check the lunar calendar of each specific year. For 2026, the autumn festival from the 10th to the 16th of the Ninth lunar month corresponds to around 19 to 25 October solar.
As for belief content, the rituals at the pagoda such as incense offering, palanquin procession, phung nghinh and Thanh dan are cultural and belief practices of the local community. The writer presents these practices as cultural data, neither affirming nor denying the efficacy of the rituals.
