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PM visits pagoda set to host Buddhist festival

Buddha statues inside the pagoda. — VNS Photo Tran Mai Huong

HA NOI — Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc visited Tam Chuc Buddhism Culture Centre on Tuesday in Kim Bang District, Ha Nam Province, which will host Vesak celebrations between May 12 and 14.

Vesak, which stems from the Pali word Vesākha, and in Sanskrit Vaiśākha, celebrates the birth, enlightenment, and death of Gautama Buddha in the Theravada or southern tradition.

The 16th United Day of Vesak celebrations and international Buddhist conference will receive over 10,000 people including Buddhist leaders, scholars and Buddhists from about 100 countries and territories from across the world as well as 10,000 Buddhist followers and Vietnamese people.

PM Phuc asked local authorities and investors at the site to ensure the construction of the whole complex is ready well head of the time.

He stressed that though Viet Nam had hosted the event successfully in 2008 and 2014, the organisers still needed to focus on the task ahead.

Even though the site is still under construction, it has received thousands of visitors since the Lunar New Year holiday.

The site sits on the foundations of an ancient Tam Chuc Pagoda dating back to the Dinh Dynasty over 1,000 years ago. The new pagoda has been built using giant blocks from Kim Lan ceramic village in Ha Noi. As many as 12,000 murals depicting legends of Buddha craved into volcano rock by Indonesian artisans will decorate the area.

A garden of 1,000 stone pillars, each 12m high and 200 tonnes in weight, carved with Buddhist teachings, will also be installed at the site. — VNS