160,000 visits to worship relics every day in Ho Chi Minh City on Vesak Day

On the morning of May 8, the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha held the closing ceremony of the 2025 United Nations Vesak Festival, and invited the relics of Buddha Shakyamuni from Thanh Tam Pagoda to Ba Den Mountain ( Tay Ninh ).

Sharing information at the press conference after the ceremony, Venerable Thich Tam Hai, Head of the Information and Communications Department of the Ho Chi Minh City Buddhist Sangha, said that the event of worshiping Buddha's relics at Thanh Tam Pagoda and the relics of Bodhisattva Thich Quang Duc's heart at Vietnam National Temple (District 10) attracted a large number of tourists from all over the world.

Venerable Thich Tam Hai shared at the press conference (Photo: Ngoc Tan).

According to the organizers' statistics, the Buddha's relic worship site has welcomed about 100,000 visitors per day, while the number at the Thich Quang Duc Bodhisattva Heart relic worship site is about 60,000 visitors per day.

The Ho Chi Minh City Declaration, made at the closing ceremony of the 2025 Vesak Festival, affirmed the respect for the relics of Buddha Shakyamuni of India and the heart relics of Bodhisattva Thich Quang Duc of Vietnam as sacred heritages of humanity for world peace.

Venerable Thich Tam Hai said that the pilgrimage to the relics at Viet Nam Quoc Tu went smoothly, without any unfortunate incidents. Meanwhile, the pilgrimage to the Buddha relics at Thanh Tam Pagoda (Binh Chanh District) had a few cases of tourists getting sunstroke in the first few days.

At the press conference, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Hoi, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture and Sports of Ho Chi Minh City, said that the heatstroke situation of tourists had been foreseen and promptly handled by the organizing committee. Traffic to the place of worship from all four directions was convenient, leading to the large number of people flocking to Thanh Tam Pagoda, causing long waiting times.

Mr. Hoi also affirmed that ensuring traffic for delegates, guests and people during this year's Vesak Festival is much better than the previous one, without causing traffic jams that prevented delegates from entering the hall.

Dantri.com.vn

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/xa-hoi/160000-luot-chiem-bai-xa-loi-moi-ngay-o-tphcm-dip-dai-le-vesak-20250508115849736.htm