During Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday, Vietnamese usually visit pagodas to pray for peace and luck, one of the most popular pagodas in HCM City is Ông Pagoda in District 5. VNA/VNS Photo
HCM CITY – Vietnamese usually visit pagodas to pray for peace and luck. One of the most popular pagodas in HCM City is Ông Pagoda in District 5.
Ông Pagoda, also known as Quan Đế Shrine located at 676-678 Nguyễn Trãi Street, was built on a 4,000-square-meter plot of land by Chinese immigrants in the 19th century.
The pagoda has typical Chinese features, including the arrangement of statues and reliefs to its ornate ceramic tiles, unicorns and red-painted wooden beams.
The pagoda, dedicated to red-faced General Quan Công (Guan Yu), typically worshipped in Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism as an eminent figure in the Three Kingdoms legend and China’s ancient civil war, also houses his horse, Red Hare, believed to bring good luck.
After making an offering and praying, visitors usually crawl under Red Hare once or thrice hoping for a smooth start to the new year.
People will ring a bell attached to Red Hare’s neck. Ringing a bell in Buddhism is believed to bring luck and dispel evil spirits. – VNS
OVietnam