The Pure and Ethereal Beauty of the Mother’s Land

At the Au Co Mother Temple festival on the 7th day of the first lunar month, the Female Sacrifice Ritualunfolded like a vibrant cultural tapestry—both solemn and graceful—serving as the most distinctive highlight in the series of activities honoring Mother Ancestor Au Co. With radiant and youthful faces, the young women performed the rites with fluid movements, acting as a bridge between the past and present, reviving the precious traditional values of the Vietnamese people.

The ritual formation is meticulously arranged in the temple courtyard, creating a sense of majesty and grandeur that still retains the soft elegance of the "Ladies of the Mother’s Land."

The chief female celebrant, in a brilliant red robe, honors the beauty of Vietnamese women within ancient cultural rites.

The youthful and saintly grace of the chief celebrant during the petition-offering ritual.

Young women carefully tend to each incense stick offered to the National Mother.

Dressed in radiant yellow, a young woman performs the wine and tea offering ritual with profound reverence.

A pink candle, symbolizing warmth and eternal continuity, illuminates the delicate face of the young woman keeping the ritual’s rhythm.

Banh Chung and Banh Giay—delicacies crystallized from the “pearls” of heaven and earth—are offered to Mother Ancestor Au Co with heartfelt filial piety.

A female celebrant performs the reading of the eulogy to express gratitude for Mother Ancestor Au Co’s merits.

A young woman of the Ancestral Land, like a spring flower in full bloom, joins her hands in prayer for peace and blessings.

Amidst the solemn scent of incense and the crisp drumbeats, the female celebrant performs the ritual of burning the eulogy, praying for national peace, prosperity, and favorable weather.

Clad in vibrant ceremonial robes, the female celebrants seem to breathe new life into the nation’s precious traditional values at the heart of the Au Co Mother Temple heritage site.

Le Hoang