The first drops of melt bronze were poured into a mould to cast a 2.1 m high and 1.2 tonnes heavy bell at a Zen Monastery on April 17 before crowds of Buddhist monks, nuns and pilgrims from all parts of the country.

The great bronze bell, known as Dai Hong Chung, designed to be 1.2m in diametre too, is erected to commemorate fallen soldiers and locals who died on Mount C4 , the Ham Rong mountain, where the Truc Lam Ham Rong Zen Monastery is located, to safeguard the Ham Rong bridge, a traffic artery during the war for national salvation.

The event began with prayers where dozens of thousands of worshippers dropped gold and silver pieces and coins into the bronze-smelting kiln in a hope that the bell will ring in deep hollow notes, which will echo across the world

The Zen Monastery itself has contributed to making the Mount C4 a site of historic relics and tourist interest, thus turning the once war-torn central Thanh Hoa province into a spiritual tourist attraction soon./.