PHU THO – TNN – Tuesday, April 28, 2015 12:14

Nearly five million pilgrims have traveled to Phu Tho Province to pay tribute to Hung Kings, the country’s legendary founding fathers, during their death anniversary this week.

Temples in the province, not far from Hanoi, started the festival five days before the main event on Tuesday, but many people had come here days before that.

Local officials estimated that the number of visitors hit five million as of the end of Monday.

Phu Tho authorities have deployed hundreds of police and military officers to maintain security during the festival.

They said there has been hardly any case of street snatching and overcharging.

Nguyen Thi Tuyet Chinh, deputy director of the province’s culture and tourism department, told Tuoi Tre newspaper there were several pick-pocketing incidents but the officers have dealt with them.

“There have been no traffic jams. Some tourists were still littering though,” Chinh said.

According to Vietnamese legends, the first Hung King was a son of a dragon father and a fairy mother who set up the country’s first government thousands of years ago.

He passed down the throne to 17 other Hung Kings before the control shifted in around 250 BC to another ruler named An Duong Vuong.
A ritual to offer incense and other sacred items to the kings were held on Tuesday morning.