Huong Pagoda Festival hosts 30,000 visitors on opening day

A ceremony at the opening day of the Huong Pagoda Festival this year. (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) - The Huong Pagoda Festival, the longest of its kind in Vietnam, began in Huong Son commune in Hanoi’s outlying district of My Duc on February 15 (the 6th day of the first lunar month), welcoming 30,000 visitors.

According to Nguyen Ba Hien, head of the management board of the Huong Son landscape complex, also known as Huong Pagoda and featuring a series of Buddhist pagodas, caves and temples, the annual event opened for festivalgoers on February 11. The number of people coming to worship and visit the site has so far amounted to 130,000.  

This year’s festival sees the use of e-tickets instead of paper ones to curb congestion and overcrowding, with up to 4,500 boats and 110 electrical cars available to offer transport services.

Going to the Huong Pagoda is a spiritual journey to the Buddhist Land – where the Goddess of Mercy leads a religious life. Visitors have sightseeing trips to pagodas, temples and caves which are the main attractions at the Huong pagoda festival, and join ceremonies to ask for favours from Lord Buddha.

Built in the late 17th century, the complex was listed among special national relic sites in December 2017./.

VNA