Snake and custom of worship of Vietnamese people

In the culture of many peoples in the world as well as in Vietnam, snakes are animals that have a strong influence on people's customs and beliefs.

>>> Why do humans worship serpent?

A Khmer temple with a Naga snake statue.

Stemming from the natural environment associated with river conditions, the solid image was assimilated with the water spirit, entering the Vietnamese folk mind very early and often associated with the worship of natural gods.

In the culture of ancient Vietnamese people, the most popular and important beliefs, reflecting their conception and behavior with water, are the worship of deities. It is not only a source of drinking water for people and things but also causes terrible disasters. Water can destroy everything but at the same time awaken the revival. One of the most horrors coming from nature to humans is flooding. The tremendous devastation of this natural hazard makes people both want to control and worship. The custom of snake worship was born on that psychological basis.

In the culture of many peoples in the world as well as in Vietnam, snakes are animals that have a strong influence on people's customs and beliefs. Stemming from the natural environment associated with river conditions, the solid image was assimilated with the water spirit, entering the Vietnamese folk mind very early and often associated with the worship of natural gods.

The most popular snake worship of Vietnamese people is in the Northern Delta. Snake god temples can be found along the Red River, Cau River, Duong River and through relics and festivals such as the Divine Land and Linh Dam Village Association to worship the deity Bao Ninh. This is the Dragon god, turned into a pupil to study the religion. During the drought, the heavenly family stopped the rain, obeyed the teacher, the god did rain against the drought and was punished by the heavens, the people were grateful to worship.

Another festival related to snake worship is Thu Le village festival. According to divine powers and legends here, Linh Lang Dai Vuong is a snake god. After setting up the water, he turned into a dragon and slithered into the West Lake. Nhat Tan village festival (worshiping Uy Linh Dai Vuong, which is the eldest of seven snake-god brothers, then reincarnated as Prince Uy Do Linh Lang) shows the traces of snake worship. In addition, there may be other festivals such as Yen Noi village festival in Tu Liem, Hanoi to worship the Order of Bach Hac Tam Giang.

Snake worship - worshiping gods is not only popular in the Northern Delta but also in Central, Central Highlands and Southwestern regions. The M'nong worship the serpent as a deity with great power and influence on the community. Muong people in Thanh Hoa also have solid worship. The temple of snake gods is known today in Luong Ngoc village, Cam Luong commune, Cam Thuy district.

In the Mekong Delta today there are still many anecdotes about snakes. People are afraid of snakes, want to pray to snakes and worship snakes. In Dinh Thuy commune, Mo Cay district, Ben Tre has a communal house called Snake temple, which is still handed down to giant and gentle gods. The people of Rach Gia and Kien Giang still talk about the gods of solidity in Vinh Hoa temple with a revered belief and attitude. In the mind of the people of Rach Gia, when the gods appeared, it was time for him to inform the winners of the season. Or in the legend of the Wild Paradise in Dong Thap Muoi also refers to the snake army helping the hero to fight the French enemy.

In the folk beliefs of the Khmer in Southern Vietnam, the legend of snake god Naga plays a very important role. This belief is explained by the founding legends of the Khmer. Khmer people worship snake gods with the belief that they are the masters of water, creating favorable rain for Southeast Asian rice farmers (Naga also means rain god, creating rain for all things to multiply). .

Thus, the solid image in folk beliefs in this respect is identified with the natural phenomenon - water. The snake image was exaggerated to match the intense power and destruction of the flood. Of course, in Vietnamese beliefs, it is not always a spirit that is a snake god but can be a stream, dragon, fish. Even so, the images are related to snakes. Either the variant in terms of the name, or the same hydrodynamic nature. However, through the materials, it can be seen that snake worship is the most typical basic image of the worship of the water god - the natural belief of the ancient Vietnamese.

During the development of history, changes in geographic and socio-cultural conditions, serpent beliefs were added with later cultural layers and more or less changed to suit each new condition. .