A painting exhibition featuring mothers is now open at the Pho Quang Pagoda in Ho Chi Minh City , celebrating the Buddhist holiday of Vu Lan.

The festival, held during the seventh lunar month every year, celebrates and pays gratitude to motherly love.

The exhibition includes 50 abstracts in different sizes by monk Thich Phap Hanh of Ba Ria-Vung Tau province as well as works by Vietnamese-Canadian artists Vi Tran and Luong Quoc Thang.

Although the artists' styles and images are different, they have used blue to highlight their works because "the colour means love, compassion and sharing", said Hanh.

Over more than 10 years, Hanh has painted some 600 works in different styles and displayed his works at home and abroad, including the Republic of Korea , German and the US .

He said Vu Lan was the time for people, especially the youth, to look back and remember their mother's love and sacrifices.-VNA