Prayer text after cleaning the altar (inviting the deities to return to the altar)

Bao sái bàn thờ (cleaning and rearranging the altar). In the twelfth lunar month, usually after the offering to Ông Công and Ông Táo on the 23rd and before the year-end offering

  • Used across Vietnam
  • Folk practice
  • Closing thanks and burning of votive paper

Culture and belief A record of custom.

What this prayer says

Prayer text after cleaning the altar, inviting the deities and ancestors to return to the incense table; the tín chủ (the person making the offering) gives thanks for the old year's blessings and prays for blessings in the new year, asking the deities to grant the head of the household peace and favourable conditions. It is recited during the thanksgiving and burning of votive paper.

The prayer below is kept in Vietnamese, the language it is read aloud in during the rite.

Fill in before the rite

Your name and address appear in the prayer below and are kept on this device only.

Your regional custom

Showing the version used across Vietnam.

Offerings and how the rite is done

Offerings, steps and things to avoid for Bao sái bàn thờ (cleaning and rearranging the altar)

Other texts for Bao sái bàn thờ (cleaning and rearranging the altar)

More about Bao sái bàn thờ (cleaning and rearranging the altar)

Nhật Nguyệt articles on the rite, the custom and how to prepare.

The wording is kept exactly as published by the source. The dotted italic words are blanks for you to fill in.

Sources

  • Bài khấn dọn bàn thờ cuối năm (vtcnews.vn)

Part of the open dataset Vietnamese offering prayers (văn cúng), licensed CC BY 4.0.

More prayer textsDeath anniversaries, Tết, the home, business, life-cycle rites and regional rites.