Prayer text for carrying the spirit tablet into the main hall and announcing to the ancestors (reference version)

Ceremony of carrying the spirit tablet into the main hall and announcing to the ancestors. Immediately after the đàm tế (end-of-mourning) ceremony; pagodas and many households in Nam Bộ do it after 49 days

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

Culture and belief A record of custom.

What this prayer says

Reference prayer text to the ancestors in the rite of carrying the spirit tablet into the main hall and reporting to the ancestors, recited before the altar to present to the deities and ancestors the carrying of the spirit tablet, incense bowl and portrait of the deceased to be placed at the ancestral altar after the end of mourning, asking them to witness and receive the deceased into the ranks of the ancestors.

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

How it differs from the common version

Present-day prose replaces the parallel clauses "Gót tiêu dao... Cõi trần thế...": it states that the mourning period has ended and asks to carry the spirit tablet from the mourning altar up to the ancestors' altar.

The common version: Prayer text for the ceremony of carrying the spirit tablet into the main hall and announcing to the ancestors

Offerings and how the rite is done

Offerings, steps and things to avoid for Ceremony of carrying the spirit tablet into the main hall and announcing to the ancestors

Other texts for Ceremony of carrying the spirit tablet into the main hall and announcing to the ancestors

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.