Originating from the conception that everything has holy characters,worshipping water god is an early custom popular in water areas in theRed River. An insight of the legend on the gods worshipping in thetemples, pagodas in the delta, the festival of water procession, thecustom of worshipping these gods can reveal that the vestiges of waterworshipping custom is quite strong. A panorama by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism web portal. - Custom of worshipping tutelary god: Legend and original… Originating from the ancient Chinese time, after integrating intoVietnam, it quickly grasped into the soul of Vietnamese people and hasbecome very diversified. The tutelary god may be a god such as Phu DongThien Vuong, a mountain god such as Tan Vien or a god having creditswith the country and people such as Ly Thuong Kiet, Tran Hung Dao, YetKieu, Da Tuong, etc. Sometimes bad gods… with manystories which are strange, unreasonable. However, the tutelary gods whohave been appointed (with the exception of bad gods) always symbolisesthe villages that they control which is a reflection of history,morality, customs, law as well as the hope for survival of the wholevillage. The tutelary god has the power to brighten invisibly like asuper power, which may make villages become a tight system. According to the ancient customs, kings often appoint tutelary godsinto three levels: the highest, the middle and the lowest tutelary gods,depending on the stories, and credit of the gods towards the country,people and villages. The gods are considered to put from these positionsto the other ones, if during the controlling time, these gods helppeople much in the spiritual life and physical life of the people. Theappointment for tutelary gods should base on the petition to the king ofthe villages about the credit of the gods. This petition to the kingshould be submitted to the royal palace per regulated time. In each timefor appointment, the royal palace always sent the knight very solemnlyand kept it in the knight box being worshipped in the palace of thecommunal house. The tutelary god is regarded as thebless god, or the god bringing about conferring blessings to thevillagers, it is often the case that each village worships a tutelarygod, but sometimes a village worship two or three gods or three villagesworship a shared god. The tutelary god can be female or male, dependingon the stories of each village. The communal houseis the place worshipping tutelary gods, and has become a holy culturalsymbol of each Vietnamese people. Every village has communal house, andeach hamlet may has separate communal houses. The communal house worshipthe tutelary god but at the same time becoming the gathering place ofvillage dignitaries, or the place for activities of the villagecommunity. Every activity takes place in the communal house under thewitness of the tutelary god. In the soul ofVietnamese people, the tutelary god is the superpower god, who canwitness the whole life of the village, protecting and helping villagersto be prosperous and healthy. The generations of the village grow up andgrow up but the tutelary god is forever, and has become the vestige of avillage through ups and downs. It can be said thatthe tutelary god is the super controller of the village not only in thespiritual life but it is still a part of physical life of the village.So the worshipping of tutelary gods is the worshipping of the rules ofvillages, and the habits as well as customs of the villages. This worshipping is the intangible contact to help villagers to unite,the lifestyle of harmonisation, the habits and customs of the villagesare protected. Therefore, the authorised people or other families in thevillage that wish to open festivals or hold any events should havesacrifices to ask for permission first. - The special holy ritual of the wet rice culture in the border of the Red River The water procession is a special holy ritual reflecting the belief ofpraying for water of people living with the wet rice culture by theriver, in the worshipping ritual of river god. Almost all procedures andactivities in the procession such as dragon dance, fish procession,boat racing, water procession, etc, are related to water – one veryimportant factor in agricultural production. Through this ritual, peoplewould like to pray for timely rains and favorable conditions to growrice conveniently, to get abundant crops. * Water procession at the festival commemorating the god Chu Dong Tu From 10 to 12 February lunar calendar annually, people of Binh Minh,Me So and Da Trach communes in Chau Giang district (Hung Yen province)often hold festivals to commemorate the god Chu Dong Tu. At Da Hoa temple, i n the early morning of the 10th, inhabitants ofnine communes hold a long procession along the dyke of the Red River toDa Hoa temple. Marching in the van of the procession are residents ofHoang Trach commune, followed by their fellows of Dong Que, Bang Nha,Phu Thi, Phuc Trach, Thiet Tru, Nhan Thap, Da Hoa communes, and finallythose of Me So commune. When the procession reachesthe temple, palanquins and offerings are placed at a designated place.Then, the members of the procession and pilgrims begin the openingceremony at the courtyard. As the opening ceremony and incense presenting ceremony end, people participate in day-long traditional games. At Da Trach temple, i n the morning of the 10th, residents of DaTrach, Ham Tu, Yen Phu, Dong Tao and Tu Dan communes, Khoai Chaudistrict, Hung Yen province, hold a procession from Da Trach temple tothe Red River to get water. The water procession ispreceded by a 20-meter-long dragon. Thirty strong young men carry thedragon and dance in the rhythm of drumbeats, which makes the processionjubilant, followed by two rows of women in colorful dresses holdingflags, gongs and drums, and parasols. Young women perform a dance withconical hats and castanets with coins stringed. Young men carrypalanquins holding a jar, and a profusely decorated stick and conic hat -the two magic articles bestowed on Chu Dong Tu by the Buddha. Then comethree palanquins containing the tablets of Chu Dong Tu and his twowives. The end is God of Carp palanquin "Be ngu than quan". Notable menin traditional costumes go after the procession. When the procession arrives at the riverbank, the boats of Khoai Chaudistrict sail downstream the Red River to meet the procession of MaiDong commune (Hung Yen province), Khai Thai and Tu Nhien communes(former Ha Tay province, now Hanoi). They join into a long processionand row to middle of the river to get water. The procession brings waterto the temple at 11.30 a.m and the opening ceremony begins. After the water palanquin is placed in the temple, palanquins of godsare placed in the courtyard, then the dragon dancing group comes to thetemple's door worship god; senh tien dance and conical hats dance areperformed on Tien bridge. After the opening ceremony, various games andactivities are organised such as wrestling, human chess, and traditionaland religious dances. * Water procession of traditional festival of Hoa Lu ancient capital The traditional festival of Hoa Lu ancient capital (in the past calledTruong Yen festival, Co Lau festival) often takes place from March 8-10of the lunar calendar annually. This is a chance to commemorate twokings, national heroes : Dinh Tien Hoang and Le Dai Hanh. The festival has existed since Hoa Lu capital became an ancient one.The festival has the largest scale in years with the end numbers arethree, five, eight and zero. The ceremony beginswith a water procession, the greeting group starts from Dinh TienHoang’s temple and move towards Hoang Long river. The preparation forthe procession is quite elaborate. The day before the opening ceremony,local people choose a big bamboo on the banks of Hoang Long river andtie a yellow silk band with the best wishes written on it to the top ofthe bamboo. When the group reach the river, they get on dragon boats androw to the middle of the river. They start to throw votives down to theriver to show respect to Ha Ba (river god) and hope for a good luck andpeaceful year. Afterwards, the host of the ceremony throws a clothcircle onto the river and then take water from it to pour into a jarcovered with red cloth. This jar is brought back to the temple. Right after coming back to temples to Dinh King and Le King, the groupcarry out a worshipping ceremony. To begin with, the host makes aworshipping speech, which is divided into nine paragraphs. After eachparagraphs is finished, a man and a woman will sing a Ca tru tune inorder to explain what the host has just said. Besides ceremony, visitors can enjoy interesting entertainment programsand take part in many fun traditional games such as human chess, martialart, boat racing, singing Chau van, making poems, writing Hanideograph. The most exciting game is Co lau tap tran (reed drill) whichrecounts the childhood of Dinh Bo Linh. * Water procession in Giong festival The festival is an event which implements many compulsory rituals.This ritual is carried out in tight and strict order from preparing tothe end of the festival. Frequently, a festival often has rituals:ceremony of clean statue, sacrifice, procession, opening ceremony of thefestival and the closing ceremony of the festival. Ceremony of cleaning statue (bathing ceremony for god statue): Thisceremony is usually carried out at midnight before the date of openingceramony. * Water procession in Ngu Doi temple festival Ngu Doi temple is located Duy Binh hamlet, Vinh Ninh commune, VinhTuong district. Annually, the festival of Ngu Doi temple takes placewithin the 14th and 15th days of the lunar February. The festival isattached to the beliefs worshipping Tan Vien god, one of “fourimmortals” of Vietnam, which is regarded as the ancestor of farming inthe Red River delta in Doai (west) region – the area belonging to SonTay border gate in the old time.-VNA