Photo/Video: Buddha statue procession on Saigon streets

5,000 people participated in the procession of the Buddha statue on the one kilometer journey from An Quang Pagoda to Viet Nam Quoc Tu to celebrate Buddha's birthday, evening of 26/vnexpress.net

At 8:30 p.m. on May 26, the Buddha's birthday statue was carried from An Quang Pagoda by palanquin to Viet Nam Quoc Tu (District 10) for a distance of about one kilometer.

This is one of the opening activities of Buddha's birthday week (Buddhist calendar 2567) organized by the Buddhist Cultural Committee, Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, Ho Chi Minh City.

Buddhists take the Buddha statue down from the car to place it on the main altar of Vietnam Quoc Tu Pagoda.

According to Buddhist beliefs, Vesak is the day Buddha Shakyamuni was born in Lumbini Garden on the 15th day of the 4th lunar month (624 BC). Southern and Tibetan Buddhism also call it the Three Gorges Day (the day of birth, the day of enlightenment and the day of entering Nirvana of Buddha). Each country celebrates the Three Gorges Day (Vesak) at different times depending on its beliefs.

Some countries such as Vietnam, China, Korea, Japan... celebrate Buddha's birthday on the 8th day of the 4th lunar month (May 26). Countries following Theravada Buddhism celebrate it on the 15th day of the 4th lunar month (June 2).

Monks and about 5,000 Buddhists brought the Buddha statue to the main altar at Viet Nam Quoc Tu Temple for the ceremony.

The Executive Committee of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha in Ho Chi Minh City held a ceremony when the Buddha statue was installed.

Vietnam National Pagoda inaugurated in 2017, the 13-storey tower is 63 m high, worshiping the heart relic of Bodhisattva Thich Quang Duc.

"My mother brought the statue of monk Thich Quang Duc home to worship. She told stories about the monk who sacrificed himself in 1963 to protect justice and the Dharma. Since then, I have followed Buddhism. Now that I see the statue of the monk at the pagoda, I am moved as if I see him present before me," said Ms. Nguyen Thi Yen, District 12, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of monk Thich Quang Duc's self-immolation.

There were also many children participating in the Buddha statue procession.

Nguyen Thi Thuy, 4 years old, from District 10, went with her grandmother to Vietnam Quoc Tu Pagoda to attend the Buddha's birthday ceremony.

The procession of Buddha statues lined up hundreds of meters long, decorated with lights, flowers... In addition to walking, the group had 20 cars going from Su Van Hanh Street (An Quang Pagoda) through Ngo Gia Tu, turning onto Le Hong Phong to 3 Thang 2 Street to return to Viet Nam Quoc Tu.

The line of cars on 3/2 Street stopped to let the procession pass.

Along with the procession of the statue, bathing the Buddha is also a traditional ritual during the Buddha's birthday. Buddhists bathe the Buddha to express their hearts to the Buddha, a way to purify their body and mind according to Buddhist philosophy.

The ladles of water poured over the Buddha also help Buddhists practice mindfulness, abandon evil and do good, and pray for peace.

In addition to the Buddha statue procession, the temple also held an exhibition called " The Sacred Fire Shines Brightly in Golden History" displaying many documentary photos and artifacts commemorating the 60th anniversary of the day when monk Thich Quang Duc and a number of Buddhists burned themselves to death to protest the Ngo Dinh Diem regime's suppression of Buddhism.

vnexpress.net