Prayer text for moving the altar to a new house

Bốc bát hương, chuyển bàn thờ (ritual of filling the incense bowl and moving the altar). When moving to a new house, replacing the altar, replacing the incense bowl, or moving the altar to another place in the house; choosing the date and time by custom

  • Used across Vietnam
  • Folk practice
  • Address to the ancestors

Culture and belief A record of custom.

What this prayer says

Prayer text to the ancestors when moving the altar to a new house, read before the altar to ask the ancestors' permission to take up the incense bowl and move the portraits and worship objects to the new address, humbly asking the ancestors to witness and approve.

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

Fill in before the rite

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Showing the version used across Vietnam.

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Other texts for Bốc bát hương, chuyển bàn thờ (ritual of filling the incense bowl and moving the altar)

More about Bốc bát hương, chuyển bàn thờ (ritual of filling the incense bowl and moving 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

  • Văn khấn chuyển bàn thờ gia tiên (hoatieu.vn)

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

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