The 2010 Goddess Ponagar Festival opened in Nha Trang city of the south central province of Khanh Hoa on May 5, attracting more than 5,000 pilgrims of 100 delegations from surrounding provinces.
According to the province’s relic and landscape management centre, the Festival is the biggest religious festival held from the 21st to 25th day of the third lunar month every year to commemorate the Goddess Thien Y A Na – Holy Mother of the Cham community in the central region.

At the opening ceremony, various traditional dances of Cham people were performed to honour the beauty of the Cham culture.

Earlier, on the night of May 3, more than 7,000 flower garlands and coloured lanterns were released from 22 boats to the Cai river near the foot of the Ponagar Tower to pray for people and soldiers who had laid down for the cause of national construction and defence.