What is Co Le Pagoda Festival and when does it take place?
Co Le Pagoda Festival, commonly called hoi Ong in folk speech, is an autumn festival of the people of the old Thiên Trường region, now Co Le commune, Ninh Binh province (before July 2025 it was Co Le town, Trực Ninh district, Nam Định province)13. The festival runs from the 13th to the 16th of the ninth lunar month each year, with the main day on the 14th, the day commemorating the passing of Đức Thánh Tổ1. A local folk verse records the rhythm of the festival: "Dù ai buôn bán trăm nghề, Mười tư tháng chín thì về hội Ông"1.
知识类别: 历法历法事实. 可由历法推算得出，能与纸本历书或独立推算互相核对。 五类标签Because the festival dates follow the lunar calendar, they fall on different solar dates each year. In 2025 the festival runs from 2 to 5 November on the solar calendar, corresponding to the 13th to 16th of the ninth lunar month2.
Co Le Pagoda is also known by its Sino-Vietnamese name Thần Quang tự; according to documentation from the Cục Di sản văn hóa, the pagoda was founded and developed from the Lý dynasty3. Besides worshipping the Buddha, the pagoda also worships Đức Thánh Tổ, the Zen master Nguyễn Minh Không, whom folk tradition titles one of the "Nam Thiên Tam Vị Thánh Tổ"1.
How is Co Le Pagoda different from Keo Hanh Thien Pagoda?
The two pagodas both worship Lý dynasty Holy Ancestors and both hold festivals in the ninth lunar month, but they are separate relics and should not be confused. Keo Hanh Thien Pagoda in Xuân Hồng commune, old Xuân Trường district, worships Đức Thánh Tổ, the Zen master Dương Không Lộ; its festival runs from the 12th to the 15th of the ninth lunar month and was added to the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 20191. Co Le Pagoda worships Đức Thánh Tổ Nguyễn Minh Không; its festival runs from the 13th to the 16th of the ninth lunar month and was listed in 202312.
Both places hold boat races, but the Keo Hanh Thien race takes place on the Ninh Cơ river with male rowers aged 20 to 30, who according to accounts recorded by Nhân Dân newspaper can stand and row for the whole course of more than 60 km1. The Co Le boat race has its own scale and rules, tied to five clans in the commune, presented below.
How is the legend of Đức Thánh Tổ Nguyễn Minh Không told?
知识类别: 流派：Truyền thuyết dân gian流派解读. 某一流派或某部典籍的理解；其他流派可能理解不同。 五类标签Tradition attributes to the Zen master Nguyễn Minh Không, also known as Lý Quốc Sư, the role of healing the Lý king. This is a legend handed down in folk tradition and in the pagoda's own documents, not a historical event verified by modern research. Modern research does not regard the miraculous healing episodes in the legend as proven.
According to the same tradition, Nguyễn Minh Không, together with Dương Không Lộ and Từ Đạo Hạnh, is grouped among the three Holy Ancestors of Vietnamese Buddhism, called in folk speech the "Nam Thiên Tam Vị Thánh Tổ"1. This grouping is a traditional designation, not an academic classification.
What rituals does Co Le Pagoda Festival include?
The ritual part of the festival consists of traditional ceremonies preserved over many generations. According to Nguyễn Quang Trình, head of the festival organising committee, this is one of the typical traditional festivals that still keeps many ancient cultural rituals, such as the Buddha procession, wrestling, and human chess, reflecting the cultural life of wet-rice farming people1.
A distinctive feature of the Co Le festival is the ceremony offering incense to monks who died in the nation's resistance wars1. According to documentation of the Nam Định provincial museum, in 1947 at Co Le Pagoda a ceremony was held to take vows for 27 monks who volunteered for the front to defend the Fatherland1.
知识类别: 史料历史文献. 有文献、年代与出处；旁边的注释编号指向该出处。 五类标签The 2025 Co Le Pagoda Festival includes these activities: a Buddha procession, a procession of the Holy Ancestor, sutra chanting performances, and folk games such as wrestling, human chess, lion and dragon dances, chèo singing, and văn singing2.
Order of rituals by day
The sources do not publish a detailed hour-by-hour schedule for all four days, so the table below summarises the milestones the sources mention, together with what lacks confirmation.
| Lunar day | Main content according to sources | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 13th of the ninth month | Opening of the festival, Buddha procession and Holy Ancestor procession | Within the festival span of the 13th to 16th12 |
| 14th of the ninth month | Main day, commemoration of the Holy Ancestor's passing | The great day recorded in the verse "Mười tư tháng chín thì về hội Ông"1 |
| 15th of the ninth month | Festival activities continue: wrestling, human chess, chèo singing, văn singing, lion and dragon dances | Folk games mentioned for the festival as a whole12 |
| 16th of the ninth month | Closing of the festival | Within the festival span of the 13th to 16th12 |
Which ritual falls on which day, apart from the main day on the 14th of the ninth month, is not specified by the consulted sources.
What is special about the Co Le boat race?
The highlight of the festival is the boat race on the river in the pagoda area2. The race involves five major clans in the commune: Nguyễn, Phan, Lê, Dương and Đào Phạm Dương (also called Dương nhì), divided into four boats2. The teams are distinguished by the colours of their clothing: green, red, purple and yellow2.
| Clans taking part | Number of boats | Composition of each boat |
|---|---|---|
| Nguyễn, Phan, Lê, Dương, Đào Phạm Dương (Dương nhì) | 4 boats for 5 clans | 16 people: rowers, 1 steersman, 1 drum striker, 1 water bailer |
How the five clans are arranged into four boats, and which clan is paired with which, is not specified by the sources.
As for the racing ground, according to relic documentation, Chu Trước lake (also called A Nốc lake) surrounds the Hội quán and the main pagoda and connects with the Co Le river; during the festival the lake is where the boats of the rowing teams moor to pay homage to the Saint before setting off3. The lake and the river in front of the pagoda thus both form part of the racing space.
知识类别: 民间观念民间观念. 人们相信、禁忌或口耳相传之事，作为信仰记录，而非已核实的事实。 五类标签In the belief of riverine people, the boat race is both an occasion to compete and a way to remember the fishing trade associated with the Holy Ancestors. At Keo Hanh Thien Pagoda, the boat race is explained as commemorating the fishing trade of the Holy Ancestor's youth1. For Co Le Pagoda, the consulted sources do not record a similar explanation.
What notable architecture does Co Le Pagoda have?
知识类别: 史料历史文献. 有文献、年代与出处；旁边的注释编号指向该出处。 五类标签Co Le Pagoda is an architectural complex spreading east to west, comprising many structures: the Cửu phẩm liên hoa tower, the arched bridge, the three-entrance gate, the Buddhist Hội quán (chùa Trình), the temple to Đức Thánh Trần and the village guardian deity (Linh Quang tự), the Mother Goddess shrine, the main pagoda, the ancestor hall, the lecture hall, two side corridors of 25 bays each, the Phương đình, the bell tower "Kim Chung Bảo Các", and the stupa garden of the monks Phạm Quang Tuyên and Thích Thế Long3.
The Cửu phẩm liên hoa tower is octagonal, built in the middle of a large lake, measuring 22.85m by 18.35m, 26.30m high, with 11 tiers: one base tier, nine lotus tiers and one top tier3. The load-bearing pillar of the tower is a round column at the centre, designed on the principle of wider at the top and narrower at the base; around the column are 64 steps from the base to the top, where a bronze Amitabha statue is placed3.
The arched bridge was built in 1921, restored twice in 1954 and 2003, 10.60m long, 4m wide, arched into three spans across Chu Tước lake (A Nốc lake)3. The main pagoda combines traditional national architecture with the Gothic architecture of a Catholic church, and is assessed in heritage documentation as rare in Vietnam3.
What titles has Co Le Pagoda Festival been recognised with?
知识类别: 史料历史文献. 有文献、年代与出处；旁边的注释编号指向该出处。 五类标签Co Le Pagoda is a special national relic3. Co Le Pagoda Festival was added to the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List by decision of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on 6 March 202312.
Relic ranking and festival listing are two different procedures: one recognises the architectural and artistic value of the structure, the other records the intangible cultural value of the customs, rituals and performances associated with it.
What should festival-goers keep in mind?
Co Le Pagoda Festival is an occasion for community cultural life, not a religious ritual obligatory for outsiders. Visitors may join the festival activities, such as watching boat racing, wrestling, human chess, chèo singing or văn singing, or take part in the ritual part, such as offering incense12.
Because the festival is crowded and has activities on water, moving around the lake and along the river requires care, especially with small children. The main day is the 14th of the ninth lunar month, so to see the full rituals one should come between the 13th and the 16th of the ninth lunar month12. The corresponding solar dates change from year to year, so the lunar calendar of the intended year should be checked.
Gợi ý của Nhật Nguyệt: if you have only one day, choose the main day, the 14th of the ninth lunar month, to join the ceremony commemorating the Holy Ancestor; if you want to watch the boat race, ask the organising committee in advance about the day and time of that year's race, because the sources do not state a fixed race day within the four-day festival.
