Offering on the 2nd and 3rd days of Tết
- Lunar New Year (Tết)
- 6 prayer texts
- Offerings and steps
Culture and belief A record of custom.
About this rite: when it is held and for whom
Also called: Cúng cơm ba ngày Tết, Mùng 2 Tết mẹ, Mùng 3 Tết thầy
By custom, on each of the three days of Tết there is a meal offering to ancestors. Pages post separate prayer texts for ancestors, deities, and Thần Tài for the 2nd and 3rd days; the farewell ceremony for the ancestors on the 3rd day belongs to the category of burning votive paper.
- When
- The 2nd and 3rd days of the first lunar month
- For whom
- Ancestors, deities, Thổ Công (Earth God of the house); some households also pray to Thần Tài (God of Wealth) and Táo quân (Kitchen Gods)
Prayer text for offering to ancestors on the 2nd day of Tết (offered indoors)
- Used across Vietnam
- Folk practice
- Address to the ancestors
What this prayer says
Prayer to the ancestors in the house on the second day of Tết, offering incense, flowers and offerings and inviting ancestors on both sides to witness, asking protection for descendants to be healthy, peaceful, with smooth fortune; recited before the ancestors' altar.
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.
Showing the version used across Vietnam.
Other texts for Offering on the 2nd and 3rd days of Tết
Versions by region, by tradition and for each part of the rite.
- Folk practice, Address to the deitiesPrayer text for offering to deities and Thổ Công on the 2nd day of Tết
- Folk practice, At the altar of the God of Wealth and the Earth GodPrayer text for offering to Thần Tài on the 2nd day of Tết
- Folk practice, At the altar of the God of Wealth and the Earth GodPrayer text for Thần Tài on the 3rd day of Tết
- Folk practice, Address to the deitiesPrayer text for Ông Táo on the 3rd day of Tết
- BuddhistPrayer text for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd days of Tết (without sutra chanting)
Offerings and how the rite is done
As commonly practised and recorded by the sources. Each family and each region may do it differently.
Used across Vietnam, Folk practice
- When
- The 2nd and 3rd days of the first lunar month; on the 3rd day, the offering should be made in the morning, before 12 noon
- Where the offerings are set
- Ancestor altar, deity altar, Thần Tài altar, Táo quân altar
Offerings
| Offering | Notes |
|---|---|
| Incense, fresh flowers, lamps and candles | hoa đào (peach blossoms) in the North, hoa mai (apricot blossoms) in the South |
| Five-fruit tray, tea, wine, water | |
| Bánh chưng (square sticky rice cake) or bánh tét (cylindrical sticky rice cake), mứt (candied fruits), xôi chè (steamed sticky rice and sweet soup) | bánh chưng in the North, bánh tét in the South |
| Boiled chicken, pork, giò chả (Vietnamese ham and sausage) | In the North, add dưa hành (pickled onions); in the South, add canh khổ qua nhồi thịt (bitter melon soup stuffed with meat) |
Steps
- Pray to deities, Thổ Công
- Pray to ancestors
- Pray to Thần Tài; on the 3rd day, some households also pray to Ông Táo
Where the sources differ
- Order of prayers when deities and ancestors share one altar: Báo Hà Tĩnh writes to pray to deities first, then ancestors; the page for the 2nd day of this same newspaper places the ancestor prayer text first
More about Offering on the 2nd and 3rd days of Tết
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 mùng 2 Tết Bính Ngọ 2026 (baohatinh.vn)
- Văn khấn mùng 3 Tết Bính Ngọ 2026: hóa vàng, cúng gia tiên, Thần Tài, ông vải (baohatinh.vn)
Part of the open dataset Types of Vietnamese offering rites and Vietnamese offering procedures, licensed CC BY 4.0.
More prayer textsDeath anniversaries, Tết, the home, business, life-cycle rites and regional rites.Open