The Steering Committee for the Southwest Region and leaders of the Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long visited a number of local pagodas on September 17 on the occasion of the Sene Dolta Festival, a Khmer holiday to honour ancestors.

Committee member Nguyen Quang Truong wished the Buddhist dignitaries, monks and Khmer people in the province a joyous and prosperous festival.

He expressed his hope that the dignitaries and monks would work to promote solidarity in the province and act as bridge linking the Party and government with the locality’s Khmer population.

On the occasion, the committee also presented gifts to a number of disadvantaged Khmer families in the locality.

The heads of pagodas thanked the Party, State and local government for supporting the Khmer community in the province, pledging to continue to guide their followers to contribute to socio-economic development and other initiatives launched by the Party, State and local government.

In a bid to create the best conditions for Khmer people to enjoy the event, the People’s Committee of Vinh Long instructed local authorities to organise festivities and preserve and promote traditional customs.

Meanwhile, leaders of the neighbouring province An Giang visited monks, pagodas and Khmer communities throughout the locality, and also handed over gifts.

An Giang is home to more than 95,000 ethnic Khmer, accounting for 4.2 percent of the total local population and 75 percent of the province’s ethnic minorities.

In Can Tho city, a working group of the Steering Committee for the Southwest Region and municipal leaders visited dignitaries and monks in a number of pagodas as well as Khmer communities in the city to extend warm wishes on the occasion of the Sene Dolta Festival.

Nguyen Phong Quang, Deputy Head of the committee, briefed community members on socio-economic development in the Mekong Delta region and Can Tho city during this year’s first eight months, to which Khmer people had contributed significantly.

The team also visited the municipal Solidarity Union of Patriotic Buddhist Monks at Munirangxay pagoda, and presented gifts worth 200 million VND to disadvantaged Khmer families in the Mekong Delta region.

Tran Sone, head of the Can Tho Solidarity Union of Patriotic Buddhist Monks said the local Khmer community had celebrated a cheerful Sene Dolta Festival this year due to increased living standards.
 
The event is one of the largest annual festivals of the Khmer people, alongside Chol Chnam Thmay (New Year) and Ooc Oom Bok, a festival to thank the moon for good harvests.

During the Sene Dolta festival, Khmer people come together to pay tribute to their ancestors and enjoy traditional songs and dances after a hard year of work.

The majority of Vietnam’s Khmer population lives in the southwestern region, who worship at more than 453 Khmer pagodas.-VNA