Huong Pagoda fest draws 60,000

HA NOI ? The Huong Pagoda Festival in My Duc District, Ha Noi, officially began yesterday, admist fine weather and spring atmosphere. Approximately 60,000 pilgrims and tourists visited the site on the opening day, said Nguyen Van Hau, vice chairman of the district's People's Committee.

Visiting pagodas and temples on the occasion of new year to pray for good luck, good health and success is a custom for Vietnamese people, he said. Each year a million of people flock to the festival, which is the longest and largest one in the country.

The Huong (Perfume) Pagoda is a living witness to the harmony of Buddhist architecture with natural beauty. At the temple, tourists have a chance to relax in a boisterous atmosphere during spring festival amidst beautiful landscape.

"Huong Pagoda has given priority to nature," says Dao Van Binh, vice chairman of Ha Noi People's Committee. "Its landscape is beautiful."

The annual festival will run until April 28 and will feature various cultural activities, folk games and traditional rituals.

The Huong Pagoda Festival has been submitted for designation of UNESCO as a world cultural heritage site.

Surrounded by vast green rice paddies, the site is a complex of pagodas and Buddhist shrines built into the limestone cliffs of Huong Tich Mountain, amidst lakes and grottoes.

Built in the late 17th century, Huong Pagoda is located in My Duc District at a historic site that has a large number of pagodas, temples and caverns filled with marvelous kinds of stalactiles, about 60km from downtown Ha Noi. It lies in Huong Tich cavern that has the autograph of Lord Trinh Sam in 1770, describing the cavern as the most beutiful cave in the country.

This year, boats carrying local artists performing quan ho (love duets) will be launched for the first time in the festival's history.

On the first day of the festival, many tourists prefer to travel on upgraded boats. However there are not enough boats to meet the current demand, which has resulted in the organising board giving priority to foreigners.

The first day of the festival featured the opening ceremony for exhibition that showcases Buddhist antiques and oil paintings.

"This is the largest exhibition for Vietnamese Buddhism," says Thich Minh Hien, Huong Pagoda's chief monk.