Prayer text for the offering on the full moon of the first lunar month (without chanting sutras)

Cúng rằm tháng Giêng (offering on the full moon of the first lunar month). On the full moon of the first lunar month of the lunar calendar; the offering to ancestors is usually made at the giờ Ngọ (noon hour)

  • Used across Vietnam
  • Buddhist

Culture and belief A record of custom.

What this prayer says

Prayer text for the full moon of the first lunar month for a family or an office, shop, etc., in which the disciple addresses the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and the community of noble ones, invites heavenly beings, spirits, ancestral spirits, and related spirits to support the ceremony, offers pure food, and dedicates merit for peace and safety and for the deceased.

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.

8 more blanks

(Cắm hương, quỳ, chắp tay, chủ sám bạch)

(Tụng. Mõ, chuông)

(Chủ sám)

(Hạ lễ)

How it differs from the common version

This text differs from the original in that it opens with "Nam mô Phật Bổn Sư Thích Ca Mâu Ni", refers to the speaker as "đệ tử", invokes the Devas, the deities and the spirits of ancestors; it has a section for vowing merit, three mantras, hồi hướng (dedication of merit) and a closing declaration; it does not pay homage to Thành hoàng, Thổ địa, Táo quân.

The common version: Prayer text for the full moon of the first lunar month (Tết Nguyên tiêu)

Other texts for Cúng rằm tháng Giêng (offering on the full moon of the first lunar month)

More about Cúng rằm tháng Giêng (offering on the full moon of the first lunar month)

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

Collected text. The dotted italic words are blanks for you to fill in.

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.