Tay Ninh (VNA) - The enshrinement ceremony of the Konagamana Buddha Statue was solemnly held at Ba Den Mountain, Tay Ninh province, on December 29 (the 10th day of the 11th lunar month), with the participation of more than 450 venerable monks, monastics, and Buddhist devotees.
Following the enshrinement ceremony, the statue of the “Buddha from the Past” will officially welcome pilgrims and visitors for worship and veneration from January 1, 2026.
The enshrinement ceremony was organised under the auspices of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS) and presided over by Venerable Thich Thanh Phong, Vice President of the Executive Council of the VBS and head of its Central Committee for Economics and Finance, who served as head of the Organising Committee.
It was honoured by the presence and spiritual testimony of Most Venerable Vien Minh, Deputy Supreme Patriarch of the Patronage Council of the VBS; Most Venerable Thich Thien Nhon, Deputy Supreme Patriarch of the Patronage Council and President of the Executive Council of the VBS; Most Venerable Thich Thanh Nhieu, Standing Member of the Patronage Council and Standing Vice President of the Executive Council of the VBS; and Venerable Thich Quang Tam, Member of the Executive Council and Head of the Tay Ninh provincial Buddhist Sangha Administration Board. It also gathered more than 450 venerable monks, senior dignitaries of the Patronage Council, and representatives of Buddhist Sangha administration boards from across the country.
Within the framework of the ceremony, a series of solemn rituals were performed, including Buddha-name recitation for blessings, purification rites, consecration and enshrinement rites, and chanting of sutras for auspiciousness. A sacred lantern-offering ceremony was also held, with prayers for world peace and the well-being of all beings, creating a deeply spiritual moment on the legendary sacred summit.
Located at the highest point on the summit of Ba Den Mountain, the Konagamana Buddha Statue is cast in red copper and finished with 24k gold gilding. The statue stands 7.2 metres tall, depicting the Buddha seated in full lotus posture on a lotus pedestal set amid Udumbara Lake, shimmering with golden lotus blossoms. The Buddha’s right hand forms a teaching mudra, symbolising the period of preaching in the Buddha’s life, while the left hand holds a fig fruit an image associated with the path to awakening beneath the Udumbara (stands for fig) tree.
Surrounding the Konagamana Buddha Statue is the Udumbara Waterfall, 12 metres high and 50 metres in diameter, constructed with 32 golden pillars symbolising the Thirty-Two Marks of the Buddha. Inspired by the Buddha’s radiant aura spreading in all directions, the Udumbara Waterfall glows in golden light, creating a striking focal point on the sacred summit. Water cascading from the waterfall flows into Udumbara Lake, forming a mystical and sanctified space symbolising auspiciousness, prosperity, and blessings spreading throughout the human realm.
According to Most Venerable Thich Thanh Nhieu, the statue’s dignified seated posture beneath a decades-old fig tree carries profound and humanistic meaning, guiding people toward efforts to cultivate a life of peace, fulfillment, and spiritual purity. “The enshrinement ceremony of the Konagamana Buddha Statue marks a new stage in the process of embellishing and enhancing the timeless values that the sacred land of Ba Den Mountain has bestowed upon humanity. Through this, it nurtures faith and serves as a spiritual anchor for local communities as well as pilgrims and visitors from afar,” he said.
To date, Ba Den Mountain is among the rare sites in Vietnam to enshrine the corporeal form of Konagamana Buddha – the fifth of the Seven Buddhas of the Past and the second of the Five Buddhas of the Fortunate Aeon. According to tradition, on the day of Konagamana Buddha’s birth, a rain of gold descended from the heavens; therefore, he is known as Konagamana (in Sanskrit tradition, associated with “golden” auspiciousness).
According to the Chinese monk and renowned Buddhist translator Xuanzang (also known as Tang Sanzang), the relics of Konagamana Buddha are enshrined in a stupa at Nigali Sagar, in what is now Kapilvastu district in southern Nepal.
Buddhist scriptures record that Konagamana Buddha attained enlightenment beneath the Udumbara tree – traditionally associated with the fig, and with the Udumbara flower as a mythical auspicious bloom in Buddhism. The Udumbara flower is believed to bloom once every 3,000 years and to appear only when a Buddha or a Wheel-Turning Monarch is born.
At the summit of Ba Den Mountain, the Konagamana Buddha Statue is created beside a decades-old fig tree, reflected upon Udumbara Lake, evoking the Buddha’s path to awakening and the belief that auspicious blessings will be bestowed upon all beings.
Together with the Tay Bo Da Son Lady Buddha Statue, symbolising compassion, and the Maitreya Bodhisattva Statue, representing joy and equanimity, the Konagamana Buddha Statue embodies peace and auspicious serenity. Ba Den Mountain has thus come to encompass the Buddhas of the Past, Present, and Future: Tay Bo Da Son as the embodiment of the Present, Maitreya as the Buddha of the Future, and the Past Buddha enshrined at the highest point of the sacred summit as Konagamana.
The Konagamana Buddha Statue will officially welcome pilgrims and visitors for veneration from January 1, 2026, making every journey to Ba Den Mountain even more complete. It will be a journey from the Past to the Present and toward the Future, embracing compassion, joy, and peaceful auspiciousness on the sacred summit of southern Vietnam./.
