Society

HCM City’s pagodas celebrate Buddha's birthday

Pagodas in Ho Chi Minh City this week have lit seven lotus-shaped lanterns to celebrate the anniversary of Buddha's birth.
Pagodas in Ho Chi Minh City this week have lit seven lotus-shapedlanterns to celebrate the anniversary of Buddha's birth.

The lanterns, which have 24 petals arranged in three layers, will be kept lighting on the Nhieu Loc canal until May 25.

The 2,557 th birthday of Buddha falls on the 15 th day of the fourth lunar month.

City pagodas will also mark the 50th death anniversary of theVenerable Thich Quang Duc, who died of self-immolation in June in 1963to protest the then American-supported Saigon government's repression oflocal Buddhists, the HCM City's Buddhist Sangha said.

The event will be highlighted by an exhibition featuring Buddhismculture at the Pho Quang Pagoda in Tan Binh district. The exhibitionwill close on May 24.

Talks about the life of Buddhahave also been organised at pagodas where many followers are takingpart in incense offerings.

In addition, 32 flower-decorated floats joined in a parade on the city's main downtown streets on May 22.

Also, five boats decorated with flowers by pagodas and Buddhist followers sailed in a parade on the Sai Gon River.

Activitiesto celebrate Buddha’s birthday were also held in the Mekong deltaprovince of Hau Giang, the central coastal province of Ninh Thuan andthe central Da Nang city.-VNA
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