(VNF) - The second daisy festival will open at Ba Vang pagoda in Uong Bi city, the northern province of Quang Ninh, on October 9^th (the 9^th day of the 9^th lunar month of 2016).

As scheduled, the opening ceremony will be attended by thousands of Buddhist dignitaries, monks, nuns, followers and visitors. The festival aims to converging the fine traditional culture of Vietnamese people associated with daisies and Buddhist culture.

Apart from admiring daisy flowers, visitors can join traditional cultural and art activities such as calligraphy performance, cheo and tuong performances, or flower arranging competition among craftsmen.

The first daisy flower festival in 2015. (Photo: Internet)

According to venerable Thich Truc Thai Minh, responsible for Ba Vang pagoda, the ninth day of the ninth month in the lunar calendar is ancient Vietnamese holiday namely Tet Trung Duong (Double Yang Festival) or Tet Trung Cuu (Double Ninth Festival), daisy flower Tet. Tet Trung Cuu borrows the repeat of nine to mention about long-livedness. This custom was rather popular in the past, bearing beautiful cultures.

In Tet Trung Cuu, artists often climbed up a mountain to contemplate the moon, compose poem or paint, and people went to forest to gather daisy flowers for arrangement and wish for luck to their family. In Tet Trung Cuu, people offer their parents and relatives food to pay respects.

This is the second time the daisy festival will have been organized at the pagoda. The event has become one of the cultural festivals in Uong Bi city in particular and Quang Ninh province in general, contributing to the development of the Yen Tu spiritual tourism destination./.

Ba Vang Pagpoda has lured hundred thousands of visitors since the last lunar month of 2015, according to the People’s Committee of Uong Bi city.

The overview of the newly-built Ba Vang pagoda. (Source: Internet)

Located on the 340m tall Thanh Dang Mountain in Uong Bi City, Ba Vang pagoda destination belongs to Yen Tu landscape, Ba Vang Pagoda, also known as Bao Quang Tu, was built in 1706 under the dynasty of King Le Du Tong. Its founder is Zen Master Mahasamon - Tue Bich Pho Giac.

The pagoda includes a large forecourt, a sanctum, a Holy Mother’s temple, a Mountain Spirit temple, and an old longstanding well. Many valuable historical and cultural relic made by stone, ceramics dating from the thirteenth and fourteenth century have been currently displayed at the pagoda.

Through the ups and downs of history, changes of time and the ravages of nature, the original pagoda was no longer present. It was restored in 1988 and rebuilt in 1993 in order to meet the demand for religious activities and beliefs of the local people and tourists. In March, 2014, its newly-built sanctum was inaugurated and then became the largest one in Vietnam.

Considering the pagoda’s historical value, Quang Ninh People’s Committee has ranked it among province’s historical heritage sites./.

( Compiled by VNF )