Offering rites of the Southern region (Nam Bộ) cultural region
Culture and belief A record of custom.
The rites
- Offering on the 2nd and 16th of every monthThe 2nd and 16th of the lunar calendar every month, usually in the late afternoon and evening
- Prayer for health, prayer for the elimination of illnessWhen someone in the household is sick; during the cầu an (prayer for peace and safety) service at the pagoda
- Lễ Cầu ngư, cúng cá Ông (fishing prayer ceremony, offering to the Whale)Each fishing village has its own day: from the first lunar month to the fourth lunar month in the central region, the eighth lunar month in Cần Giờ; the death anniversary (giỗ) of cá Ông follows each village's custom
- Daily chanting and bowing of Hòa Hảo Buddhist followersDaily at home; on major holidays of the Church, there are communal prayers recited together
- Lễ vía Bà Chúa Xứ núi Sam (the Lady of the Sam Mountain festival)From the 22nd to the 27th of the fourth lunar month; pilgrims visit the Lady throughout the year
- Lễ vía Quan Thánh Đế Quân (festival of Quan Thánh Đế Quân)Each place has its own date: the 24th of the sixth lunar month (Hội An, Chợ Lớn), the 13th of the fifth lunar month (Cần Thơ), and some places the 13th of the first lunar month
- Lễ vía Bà Thiên Hậu (festival of Bà Thiên Hậu)The 23rd day of the third lunar month; the lễ mộc dục (statue bathing rite) is held before that; many shrines in Nam Bộ also carry Bà's palanquin in procession on the full moon of the first lunar month
- Cúng việc lề (communal lineage death-anniversary offering)Each lineage has its own day in the year, by their custom
- Lễ rước sắc, mừng sắc phong (procession of the royal edict and celebration of the conferment)At the beginning of the communal house festival (in Nam Bộ: the first day of the Kỳ yên festival); Phú Gia (Hà Tĩnh) on the 7th of the first lunar month
- Sen Đôn Ta ceremony of the Khmer peopleThe last three days of the eighth lunar month and the beginning of the ninth lunar month; in the past the festival season lasted half a month
- Tết Chôl Chnăm Thmây of the Khmer peopleThree days in mid-April of the solar calendar, calculated according to the Khmer calendar
- Ok Om Bok moon offering ceremony of the Khmer peopleNight of the full moon of the tenth lunar month
- Lễ cúng Ông Tà (ceremony to worship Ông Tà) (Đom Lơng Néak Tà) of the Khmer peopleOne day chosen by each phum sóc (hamlet) within the third, fourth, or fifth lunar month, at the start of the rainy season