Tens of thousands of people attend the Ponagar Temple Festival

Held annually, the Ponagar temple festival is an occasion for people to worship Holy Mother Thien Y A Na and pray for favorable weather, bumper crops, wealth, peace, and happiness.

Le Van Hoa, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture and Sports of Khanh Hoa province, said: "This year, we are focusing on promoting heritages in association with sustainable tourism development. We want to introduce local relic sites to boost culture and socio-economic development. The Kinh and Cham communities embrace age-old cultural values."

In the days before the festival, locals made pilgrimages to the Ponagar temple. The pilgrims brought rice, poultry and fruits as offerings to Holy Mother Thien Y A Na, and attended a flower festival, a ceremony to pray for peace, and a traditional prayer ritual. The organizing board set up camps to accommodate the pilgrims.

Truong Thanh Khiem, a pilgrim from Ninh Thuan province, said: "10 people in my family made this pilgrimage. Many Cham people from different regions came to pay homage at the Ponagar temple and pray for health, good business, and favorable weather without flooding or droughts."

Ponagar temple, a typical representative of Cham architectural and sculptural art, was built between the 7th and the 13th century on Cu Lao hill, next to the Cai River, facing the East Sea. The Cham people have long worshipped Genie Po Inu Nagar, the Holy Mother of the land and a powerful deity. Later, Vietnamese people began worshipping Holy Mother Thien Y A Na.

In 1979 Ponagar temple was named a National Relic Site. In 2012 the Ponagar Temple Festival was named a National Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Khanh Hoa province is preparing a dossier to register Ponagar temple as a Special National Relic Site.