HCM CITY — A special block calendar featuring Buddhist pagodas across Viet Nam is proving popular amongs monks, nuns and Buddhists countrywide, even though The Year of the Cat is still two months away. The block calendar is the first to be published by the Viet Nam Buddhist Sangha Central Dharma Executive Council in cooperation with the Loc Tai System Joint-Stock Company and Thoi Dai Publishing House.
It contains 365 tear-off pages featuring quotes from the Buddha and 365 photos of Viet Nam's popular and historic Buddhist pagodas in HCM City and throughout the country, all taken by photographer Vo Van Tuong.
Tuong said he chose the best photos among tens of thousands of photos of pagodas in Viet Nam that he had taken over a 30-year period.
"Apart from old photos, I also spent a month travelling across the country to take new photos for the calendar."
The calendar publishers have issued 30,000 copies of the 4.5 by 20.5-cm calendars and 10,000 20 by 30-cm calendars, priced at VND80,000 (US$4) and VND180,000 ($9), respectively.
"We hope the calendar will be a New Year gift that the Viet Nam Buddha Sangha will give to monks as well as Buddhists across the country," said the Most Venerable Thich Thuong Toan, deputy director of the Buddhist Sangha Central Dharma Executive Council's Economics and Finance Department.
The calendar blocks can be purchased at bookstores at pagodas in HCM City and across the country.
Calendar market
Apart from the block calendar from the Viet Nam Buddhist Sangha, this year's calendars include a wide range of subjects from traditional pictures to well landscapes.
According to calendar sellers in HCM City, local publishers have released block calendars featuring Ha Noi landscapes and historical sites in 3D to celebrate the 1,000 anniversary of the capital.
Tran Thi Hoai, owner of a calendar shop in District 5, said the most prominent calendar for 2011 was Lich su Viet Nam (History of Viet Nam), featuring 365 paintings about Viet Nam's history from the beginning to the reunification day in 1975.
Large and extra-large block calendars sized 25 by 45 and 40 by 60 are also popular this year. They are usually bought for gifts for relatives and friends.
The price of small – and medium-sized block calendars currently ranges from VND6,000 ($0.2) to VND20,000 ($0.5) while larger ones are VND260,000-600,000 ($13-30).
According to the Ministry of Information and Communications, local publishers are registered to produce 16.4 million copies of block calendars this year. — VNS