The 705th commemorative anniversary of the attainment of Nirvana of King-Monk Tran Nhan Tong will take place on Yen Tu Holly Mountain, northern Quang Ninh province on December 3. The King is known as the founder of Vietnamese Zen Buddhism.

Tran Nhan Tong was born in 1258 and died in 1308. He was the third emperor of the Tran dynasty. Ascended to the throne at the age of 21, the king is famed for defeating Mongol invaders.

He abdicated his throne at the age of 35 and spent the rest of his life on the Yen Tu Mountain practising and propagating Buddhism. He founded the Truc Lam School of Zen, or the Bamboo Forest School .

During that time, the King-Monk worked to unify different sects of Vietnamese Buddhism into Vietnamese Zen Buddhism.

The Vietnam Buddhist Sangha Central Committee has long observed the day King Tran Nhan Tong attained Nirvana - the first day of the eleventh lunar month - as the national anniversary of Vietnamese Buddhism.

Most Venerable Thich Thanh Quyet, Head of the Quang Ninh Buddhist Sangha’s Executive Board said the most outstanding ideology of King-Monk Tran Nhan Tong was that of patriotism, national defence and development, which is associated closely to the Vietnamese nation. It was the inheritance of Buddhism ideology of many Vietnamese generations.

On the occasion, a bronze statue of the Kink-Monk Tran Nhan Tong will be placed on Yen Tu Mountain. The 15 metres high statue is made by artisans from Bac Ninh and Nam Dinh provinces.

Other activities and festivals will be held at the time.

According to Nguyen Minh Hong, Director of the Quang Ninh Department of Information and Communications, the province has held many big events, so that he believes the commemorative ceremony will be successful. Quang Ninh has stood ready for it, he added.

The Vietnam Buddhist Sangha is working with other agencies to compile a dossier on King-Monk Tran Nhan Tong to seek UNESCO’s recognition for him as a World Cultural Celebrity and for the Yen Tu historical site as a world cultural heritage.-VNA