Tet Nguyen Dan, Vietnam

Sunday, 20 June 2010 21:33

Last Updated on Saturday, 04 September 2010 12:08

Written by Administrator

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Tet Nguyen Dan, Vietnam is more popularly known as Tet and is celebrated on the 1st day of the 1st month of the lunar calendar. The celebrations for New Year’s Day in Vietnam are one of the most celebrated Vietnam festivals & events which last for 7 days.

Tet as it is also fondly called is also a very important festival as it provides one of the few breaks in the agricultural year. Vietnam New Year is celebrated between the harvesting of the crops and the sowing of the new crops.

The Vietnamese people begin their preparations for the New Year well in advance of the Tet Nguyen Dan, Vietnam. In order to get rid of the bad fortune, if any, associated with the old year the Vietnamese people clean their homes, utensils and sometime paint their homes as well. They buy new clothes and shoes, pay their pending debts and resolve the differences between families and friends.

Like the Chinese the Vietnamese people also believe that the events and works that they do on the eve of Tet Nguyen Dan in Vietnam determines their luck for the rest of the year. Hence everything that they do on this day should symbolize good fortune. The Kitchen God Tao is paid homage on this day as they believe that the three legs of the traditional cooking equipment in the kitchen represent three gods. Besides, gifts are also exchanged between family members and friends and relatives are visited during this period.

The special festive food during the Tet Nguyen Dan, Vietnam is rice pudding or Banh Tet .Along with this there are preserved sweets, beef, chicken, fish and fruits especially watermelons because of their red color which is considered lucky. The Vietnamese families’ plant a bamboo tree called Cay New in their courtyard during the Tet Nguyen Dan, Vietnam. This is decorated with bells, flowers and red streamers to guard them against bad luck and let good fortune flow into their homes all year through.