COVID-19: Buddhist followers wear face masks while attending Vu Lan Festival

Thousands of Buddhist followers nationwide flocked to Ninh Tao Pagoda in Thanh Liem district, the northern province of Ha Nam, for the Vu Lan Festival on September 2. The festival falls on the 15th day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar. Buddhist followers believe that on the day, wandering souls return to their former homes. The festival is based on the legend that when mediating, a Buddha’s disciple named Muc Kieu Lien saw his mother suffering hell’s tortures. Following Buddha’s advice, on the seventh full moon of the year, Lien gathered monks and devotees to pray for his mother. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

This year’s festival took place amidst the complex development of the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, festival goers were requested to wash their hands with sanitiser and wear face masks. The festival offers an occasion for children to express their gratitude towards their parents (especially mothers) and help ancestors’ souls find their way back to the earth. The Vu Lan Festival has also become something like a Vietnamese version of Mothers’ Day, when Vietnamese people show their gratitude towards their mothers. It is a spiritual and cultural activity imbued with humane meaning, tradition and cultural identity of Vietnam, contributing to promoting the spirit of solidarity and mutual support among overseas Vietnamese in the country. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

Ninh Tao Pagoda in Thanh Liem district, the northern province of Ha Nam, has considered COVID-19 prevention and control a priority task in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The festival falls on the 15th day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar. Buddhist followers believe that on this day, wandering souls return to their former homes. They also traditionally believe that when coming together to pray on the occasion, they can bring better health to their living parents, while also saving parents who have passed from being punished in the underworld. In photo: festival goers are requested to wash their hands with sanitiser and wear face masks before going inside. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

This year’s Vu Lan Festival was held in Ninh Tao Pagoda in combination with COVID-19 prevention and control measures.  As of September 1 morning, Vietnam’s total COVID-19 infections stood at 1,044 and the death toll reached 34. Vu Lan Festival is meant for people to express their gratitude and appreciation to their parents. Vietnamese show their appreciation and respect to their parents by wearing roses and going vegetarian. With its connection to Vietnam’s tradition of worshipping ancestors, the festival has become one of the long-lasting charms of local culture. In photo: Festival goers wear face mask while joining a ritual of the festival. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

The festival began at 7:30pm on September 2 and was hosted by Venerable Thich Dao Duyet, head of Ninh Tao Pagoda. The Buddhist Vu Lan Festival takes place on the full moon of the seventh lunar month. These days, crowds of Buddhists and non-religious people alike flock to pagodas and worshipping places nationwide to hear talks about parental love and pray for their parents. One of the key emblems of the prayer ceremonies are the roses worn on people’s shirts, which symbolise the love that children have for their parents. The practice also helps to remind people not to forget their parents. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

Ninh Tao Pagoda is a famous Buddhist destination in northern Ha Nam province, attracting crowds of Buddhist followers and people nationwide to the Vu Lan Festival. The provincial tourism sector has set a goal of serving 2.5 – 3 million visitors, including 190,000 foreigners by 2020, and 7.6 million by 2030. The total tourism revenue will reach 2 trillion VND (86.4 million USD) and around 10.3 trillion VND by 2020 and 2030, respectively, up 10 – 15 percent on average. Up to 21,000 jobs will be created, including more than 8,300 direct ones. To such end, the sector will build and popularise Ha Nam tourism trademark, work with the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism and the Vietnam Tourism Association to join tourism fairs in traditional markets. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

The most important part of Vu Lan Festival is the moment when girls appear with baskets of roses on their hands. Guests will wear or carry the flowers which symbolise the love that children have for their parents. Many wear roses on their shirts: red for those whose mothers are still alive and white for those whose mothers have passed. During the festival, children try to do good to bring blessings to their parents, either alive or deceased. Buddhist followers traditionally believe that when they come together to pray for their departed parents, they can atone for their parents' past mistakes and save them from being punished in the underworld. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

One of the key emblems of the prayer ceremonies are the roses worn on people’s shirts, which symbolise the love that children have for their parents. Normally, those whose mothers are alive wear red roses, while white ones are for those whose mothers have passed. Meanwhile, monks and nuns wear yellow roses. The practice helps to remind people not to forget their parents. For Vietnamese, this is a special occasion for all children to honor their parents and to remember their responsibilities for them. Vietnamese believe that children bear an immeasurable debt to their parents and dedicating one's lifetime to paying it off is still not enough. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

Vietnamese children are taught to place their parents above all: to care for and love them till the day they die. The Vu Lan Festival is a good time to once again remind children about that. During the ceremony, people not only pray for their parents in this life but in all previous lives. Buddhists believe in reincarnation, which means any lonely spirits wandering out there could be their parents from previous lives, so they pray for everyone who has ever walked this planet. In photo: a girl is wearing a red rose at the Vu Lan festival at Ninh Tao Pagoda. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

During the Vu Lan festive season, throngs of worshippers stream into temples and worshipping places across the country to pay their respects to Buddha, chant sutras, and pray for the welfare of their parents. According to scholars, Vu Lan Festival is an occasion for the children to do good to ease any punishment their dead forebears and living parents have received for their wrongful actions. People visit temples during the day, give alms and food to the poor, and set free caged fish or birds, while at home they prepare offerings of fruit and vegetarian food to the Buddha and to their ancestors. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

During the Vu Lan festival, children try to do good to bring blessings to their parents, either alive or deceased. The festival peaks on the full moon day of the seventh lunar month. Buddhist followers traditionally believe that when they come together to pray for their deceased parents, they can atone for their parents' past mistakes and save them from being punished in the underworld. The practice of wearing roses started to become popular in Vietnam only around 50 years ago after Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, whose mother had passed, wrote an essay to praise mothers in Saigon in 1962 with inspiration in his previous visit to Japan where he was given a white carnation by a Japanese student. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

For years, Ninh Tao Pagoda has maintained the organisation of the Vu Lan Festival, attracting the participation of Buddhists and people from different provinces. Western countries have their own days for mothers and fathers, and so does Vietnam. Like other Asian countries, Vietnam honors the 15th day of the 7th month of the lunar calendar as the day to pray for their parents. The most common way Buddhists pray for their parents is to provide social relief. The Buddhists’ shirts are pinned with red, pink or white roses, which represent living parents, a dead parent and two dead parents, respectively, so they could feel the "sacred presence of their parents, in this life" and "how much we’re made up of parents’ blood and tears". (Photo: VietnamPlus)

Hundreds of candle-lit lanterns make a dazzling scene as they are glowing against the dark. It is believed in Buddhist culture that their light signifies the transition from darkness to a brighter future. It is said that prayers for parents will become more powerful when they are done on a vegetarian diet. For several years, the Vu Lan Festival has also marked Mothers’ Day in Vietnam. Pagodas are crowded during the festival day because Buddhists gather for monk’s lecture. In the lecture, the monk will tell about responsibility of children to parents as well as pray for parents whether they are still alive or dead. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

Notably, the Vu Lan Festival attracts many young people. For Vietnamese, this is a special occasion for all children to honor their parents and remember their responsibilities for them. Vietnamese believe that children bear an immeasurable debt to their parents and dedicating one's lifetime to paying it off is still not enough. Children are taught to place their parents above all: to care for and love them till the day they die. The Vu Lan Festival is a good time to once again remind children about that. During the ceremony, people not only pray for their parents in this life but in all previous lives. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

Thousands of Buddhists attended the lecture provided by monks who tell about the responsibility of children. The festival is based on the legend that when mediating, a Buddha’s disciple named Muc Kieu Lien saw his mother suffering hell’s tortures. Following Buddha’s advice, on the seventh full moon of the year, Lien gathered monks and devotees to pray for his mother. Inspired by the story, Vietnamese hold a ceremony to ask Buddha to bless their parents if they're still alive or to protect and welcome them into Heaven if they have passed away. They burn votive alms for their parents, and also for lonely spirits because they believe it is a good deed that will bestow more blessings on their parents to the earth. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

Due to the complex developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, rituals during this year’s Vu Lan Festival were held briefly and solemnly. Many people also stay at home and pay tribute to their parents on social networks. Some would change their profile picture on Facebook to a white rose, or send a beautiful white rose to another friend to show empathy. Several would post photos of them with their late mothers. “It’s Vu Lan, and I miss you,” one caption read. Scholars said the festival is an occasion for children to do good deeds to ease any punishment their dead forebears and living parents have received for wrongful actions. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

The festival is the second largest annual traditional festival in Vietnam after the lunar New Year (Tet) festival, and it is celebrated by Vietnamese people through various religious rituals and humanitarian activities. Vietnamese Buddhist followers traditionally believe that when they come together to pray on the occasion, they can bring better health to their living parents, while also saving parents who have passed from being punished in the underworld. The festival also aims to commemorate soldiers who sacrificed their lives to protect the country, and pray for national peace and prosperity. With its connection to Vietnam’s tradition of worshipping ancestors, the Vu Lan Festival has become one of the long-lasting charms of local culture. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

Hundreds of Buddhists poured to Ninh Tao Pagoda to listen to venerable monks preaching the significance of the day and how to change the karma of their parents. They reviewed the example of Muc Kien Lien (Maudgalyayana), one of the Buddha’s disciples who visited hell to save his doomed mother – the story from which the festival derives, according to the Ulambana sutra. Sutras say that the father and mother are two buddhas at home that should be revered. Buddhism stresses filial piety when the parents are alive. Children should cater to parents both physically and mentally, inherit their spirit and admonish them to be good and stay away from evil. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

After passing the lanterns to one another, Buddhists listened to venerable monks preaching the significance of the day and how to change the karma of their parents. According to scholars, the festival is an occasion for children to do good deeds to ease any punishment their dead forebears and living parents have received for wrongful actions. Falling on the 15th of the seventh lunar month, the festival and the month has long been associated with filial piety, in which children reflect on their behaviour with the aim of improving. People visit temples during the day, give alms and food to the poor, and set free caged fish or birds, while at home they prepare offerings of fruit and vegetarian food to the Buddha and to their ancestors. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

In photo: A mother is interpreting the wording of the book provided by Ninh Tao Pagoda to her kid. The festival is a beautiful Vietnamese tradition and an occasion for family members to show their affection for one another and pay tribute to their ancestors. This helps to educate the younger generations about their filial duties. Many people go to the pagoda on this occasion and hold religious rituals to worship their ancestors and pray for the wandering souls. However, we don’t have to wait until the 7th lunar full moon festival to pay our respects to ancestors and parents, that’s something we can and should do every day.  (Photo: VietnamPlus)