A Vietnamese saying goes “Thang Tam gio Cha, thang Ba gio Me” (the Father’s Death Anniversary Falls in the Eighth Moon and the Mother’s in the Third Moon), showing gratitude respectively to “Duc Thanh Tran” (Saint Tran) and “Thanh Mau Lieu Hanh” (Mother Saint Lieu Hanh) as the Vietnamese thousands-year-old religious philosophy “uong nuoc nho nguon” (remembering its source when drinking water).
According to many researchers, in the Heritage of Worship of Mother Goddesses, practiced by the Viet ethnic group, Mother Saint Lieu Hanh was referred to as “mau nghi thien ha” (Mother of the World), a nymph who descended to Earth, lived as a human and became one of four immortal saints of the Viet people. She is “Mau Thuong Thien”, the first Mother Goddess having the power to manage the firmament and master supernatural forces such as clouds, rain, wind, storms, thunder and lightning.
In Vietnam, the Mother Goddesses religion in general and the belief of Worship of Mother Goddesses in particular appear in many localities, but Nam Dinh is considered the heart with some 400 Mother Goddesses Worship locations, of which Phu Day becomes the focal point of this belief- practicing activities.
Phu Day lies in Kim Thai commune, Vu Ban district, Nam Dinh province, a well-known architectural complex related to the Viet people’s “Tho Mau Tam Phu” belief. Among 21 architectural works of Phu Day complex, three are closely related to Mother Saint Lieu Hanh, including Tien Huong temple (the principal one), Van Cat temple and Lieu Goddess shrine.
The Phu Day festival is organised in the third lunar month every year, honouring Mother Saint Lieu Hanh, the head deity in the Worship of Mother Goddesses. Mother Saint Lieu Hanh was worshiped in various localities, but the Phu Day festival is the biggest and most original. The festival lasts many days with diversified activities, of which “Hat van” and “Hau dong” (chant singing and trancing) is most prominent – a ritual with deep colours of esoteric spirits culture, which creates the distinctiveness and strong vitality of this special belief.
As said by cultural researchers, the Phu Day festival is an important component of a great Lieu Hanh historical chorus. This shows that Phu Day is the centre of the Heritage of Worship of Mother Goddesses.
