Travel to Huong Pagoda in the lily blooming season

(VNF) - Huong Pagoda or Perfume Pagoda in Hanoi is an autumn venue for photographers because of the lily blooming season on the Yen stream.

Together with Bai Dinh and Yen Tu Pagoda Festival, Huong Pagoda Festival is among the greatest Buddhist festival in northern part of Vietnam.

Huong Pagoda Festival plays an important role in the spiritual life of Vietnamese people in general and Vietnamese Buddhists in particular. (Photo: tsungubar)

Around 60 kilometers southwest of Hanoi, Huong Pagoda is one among the largest religious sites in Vietnam. It comprises a complex of pagodas and Buddhist shrines built into the limestone cliffs of Huong Tich Mountain (Mountain of the Fragrant Traces), scattered alongside the mountain up to the peak.

Among the better-known sites here are Thien Chu (Pagoda Leading to Heaven); Giai Oan Chu (Purgatorial Pagoda), where the faithful believe deities purify souls, cure sufferings and grant offspring to childless families; and Huong Tich Chu (Pagoda of the Perfumed Vestige).

Huge numbers of pilgrims flock to the site during Huong Pagoda festival, which begins in the middle of the first lunar month and lasts until the middle of the third one (or from February till March) in order to pray for happiness and prosperity in the coming year.

Getting to the pagodas requires a journey first by road, then by river, then on foot or by cable car. (Photo: pumil__)

On this special occasion, a wide range of traditional cultural activities is incorporated. Huong Pagoda is not only a religious site, but a great sight-seeing spot in Vietnam as well.

In the autumn, this place also welcomes a lot of tourists and photographers who come here for the best photos.

For those who have visited Huong Pagoda once remember the interesting feeling as boating through a small stream on the way to the pagoda. It is romantic Yen stream of 4 kilometers long winds around mountains. Especially, if you come here on November, you will see water lily in bloom.

Water lily bloom at the end of year; hence it is not festival season. That’s why it is very quiet and suitable for those who want to contemplate in peaceful space.

Water lily flowers bloom under pale sunlight at the end of year. (Photo: vietreader.com)

Like lotus, water lily flowers are grown under water in ponds and lakes. Water lily has something more powerful, beautiful and miraculous. (Photo: lilies. tinmoitruong.vn)

In the season of water lily, Yen stream becomes a flower stream full of fresh pink color as an ink-painting. (Photo: cfoc_paris)

The Yen Stream becomes peaceful and more romantic with tranquil space and blooming water. (Photo: quyhanhpham)

Water lilies usually bloom brightly in the morning and again in the afternoon. (Photo: nhungkeoo)

To take the best pictures of lilies, tourists are advised to come here before 9 a.m. (Photo: lilies. tinmoitruong.vn)

Tourists can hire a boat for about VND 50,000 (USD 2.5)/boat. (Photo: lilies. tinmoitruong.vn)

( Compiled by VNF )