HCM City (VNA) – Thousands of Buddhist monks, nuns, and devotees gathered at Vietnam Quoc Tu Pagoda in District 10, Ho Chi Minh City on May 6 to venerate the heart relic of Bodhisattva Thich Quang Duc, a revered Vietnamese monk who self-immolated in 1963 in protest of religious repression.
The veneration ceremony, hed within the framework of the United Nations Day of Vesak Celebrations 2025, was announced to begin at 2 pm on the day. However, people lined up outside the pagoda hours earlier.
Volunteers are deployed to support the elderly and children. All visitors must turn off their mobile phones or put them on silent mode, and refrain from filming and taking photos, and from bringing food, drinks, or items that could disrupt order or affect the safety and solemnity of the area where the Bodhisattva's relic is enshrined.
On May 5 afternoon, the heart relic was returned to the pagoda after 34 years of being kept at the State Bank of Vietnam's Region 2 branch in HCM City.
Organisers said the veneration ceremony will run until May 10.
Thich Quang Duc set himself on fire on June 11, 1963 at a busy Saigon intersection to protest the US-backed South Vietnamese government’s crackdown on Buddhists.
His act drew international attention and remains a powerful symbol of self-sacrifice and spiritual conviction./.
