More than 100,000 Cao Dai followers gathered for the sect’s grand ritual, Hoi Yen Dieu Tri Cung, in the Cao Dai Tay Ninh Church in the southern province of Tay Ninh on Sept. 22.

Hoi Yen Dieu Tri Cung is a great religious banquet for the Great Mother and the nine female Immortals of the Dieu Tri Palace ( Jasper Pond Palace ) held annually on the 15 th day of the eighth lunar month. Cao Dai followers believe the banquet implies a practice that enables them to achieve their goal of liberating themselves from the cycle of birth and death.

This year’s event was also attended by Plok Phan, Minister of State and officials from the Ministry of Cults of Cambodia , representatives from the Dhaka Academy of Bangladesh and officials from the Government’s committee for religious affairs and provincial administration.

Speaking at the banquet, Monsignor Thuong Tam Thanh, Chief of the Cao Dai Tay Ninh Church ’s Executive Council, called on Cao Dai followers to enthusiastically participate in poverty reduction programmes, charitable and social activities, as well as environmental protection campaigns.

He urged the followers to practise faith in line with both the religion’s rules and the country’s laws under the motto “serving both religion and society well”.

On the occasion, the Monsignor thanked the Party and State as well as local authorities for providing favourable conditions for Cao Dai followers to practise their faith./.