HUONG PAGODA FESTIVAL

Ordinal Full name Content Note Present, object of worship A meaning pilgrimage Duc whart, Yen stream Trinh temple, Thien tru pagoda Giai Oan pagoda Huong Tich groto Characteristic of Huong pagoda leader MEMBER LIST HUONG PAGODA FESTIVAL Together with BaiDinh and Yen Tu Pagoda Festival, Huong Pagoda Festival (also called Perfume Pagoda Festival) is considered the greatest Buddhist festival in the North part of Vietnam The festival plays an important role in the spiritual life of Vietnamese people in the general and Vietnamese Buddhists in particular Huong Pagoda is located in My Duc District, 70 kilometers away from Hanoi to the south This festival lasts for three months from th day of the first lunar month to the 15th day of the third lunar month In fact, the main festival days lasting from the 15th day to the 20th day of the second lunar month Annually, a huge number of pilgrimshave been flocking My Duc District for the three month Huong Pagoda Festival, enjoying the beauty of theHuong Son limestone mountains at a time when apricot trees are in bloomand pay tribute to Buddha, specifically to Avalokitasvara - one of Buddha's disciples In the late spring the trails leading up to the shrines are clogged with thousand making their pilgrimage *Objects of worship: Sakyamuni Buddha, AvalokitesvaraBodhisattva, Holy Mothers Various interpretations are associated with PhatbaQuan Am Legend has it that the festival is held to worship a princess named DieuThien who incarnated Avalokitasvara and attained enlightenment there According to folklore, once upon a time, there was a beautiful and kind-hearted princess named DieuThien —the third daughter of King DieuTrang, Huong Lam Kingdom However, at the age of getting married, the prince rejected all proposals from other countries and insisted on leading a religious life The King got very angry and locked her into the backyard of his palace As the princess’s decision was unchanged, King DieuTrang sent her to Bach Tuoc pagoda where she went through a wide range of arduous works; still, she completed them all Getting more and more displeased, the King even set Bach Tuoc Pagoda on fire and jailed the princess into the forbidden palace However, Princess DieuThien was so determined that she overcame all of the above challenges and difficulties At the end, the King decided to execute his stubborn daughter Right when DieuThien was escorted to the scaffold, HuongTich Mountain God came in the form of a tiger and saved her.The princess wake up in the forest and saw a handsome young man approaching her The man eagerly sent DieuThien chatty pick up lines; however, she kept on turning him down Surprisingly, the guy turned out to be Buddha He told the princess to practice Buddhist in HuongTich Cave After years of ascetic Buddhist practice, the princess got enlightened She saved the country from the war, protected her parents and sisters from devils From then on, she was canonized as Goddess of Mercy (Quan Am) and was widely worshipped throughout the country As theprincess was born on the 19th day of the second lunar month, that date is now observed by all Vietnamese Buddhists as a saint day The shrine in which she practised her religion was discovered in the 15th century by three monks The pilgrimage to Huong Son dwindled to a trickleduring the war years and the temples and shrines were left vacant In 1770, Lord Trinh Sam wrote five Chinese characters to describe HuongTich Cavern: Nam Thien De Nhat Dong (the most beautiful cave in Vietnam) The Huong Pagoda Festival started during the Le-Trinh Dynasty In 1958, after the restoration of peace in North Vietnam, the Government and President Ho Chi Minh personally gave instructions for the repair of the pagodas and temples and there storation of the festival Annually, visitors to the festivalto enjoy the beauty of the Huong Son limestone mountains at a time when apricot trees are in bloom and pay tribute to Buddha, specifically to Avalokitasvara, one of Buddha's disciples Accordingto the legend, a pilgrimage to Huong Pagoda in the spring willbringhealth, prosperity, good luck and happiness And whether you believe inthe story or not, there's no disputing that a trip like this offers aperfect chance to get closer to both nature and Vietnamese tradition *A meaningful pilgrimage: The festival is a traditional Vietnamese Buddhist celebration, held simultaneously in three locations: HuongTich, Tuyet Son, and Long Van.The festival is most crowded from the 15 th to 20th day of the 2nd month of the lunar calendar as this period marks the the main festival However, since the first day of the lunar New Year, tens of thousands of tourists and pilgrims have flocked to the sacred land to tour and pray for a prosperous and happy year Vietnamese or foreigners alike wish to come to Huong Son in springtime Heading there tourists come to a magnificent land, a famous beauty spot in Vietnam.It comprises a complex of pagodas and Buddhist shrines built into the limestone cliffs of Perfume Mount (Huong Son), scattering alongside the mountain up to the peak The complex’s center is right inside HuongTich cavern (or in other words, Inside Pagoda) Huge numbers of pilgrims flock to the site during Perfume Pagoda festival, which begins in the middle of the first lunar month and lasts until the middle of the third one (or from February till March) in order to pray for happiness and prosperity in the coming year Also, it is a very popular opportunity for young couples to meet and for numerous budding romances to be formed On this special occasion, a wide range of traditional cultural activities is incorporated Perfume pagoda is not only a religious site, but a great sight-seeing spot in Vietnam as well.Coming to Huong Pagoda, what should not be left home is a good camera, since you will regret unless you catch all the snapshots of this fascinating nature drawings! * Starting the pilgrimage! 1.Duc Wharf : The first starting point of the pilgrimage is Ben Duc (Duc Wharf) Normally, it takes more than hours to go from Hanoi to Ben Duc During the annual festival months, Ben Duc is packed with thousands of row boats used for shuttling visitors For many visitors, this one-hour boat ride on the Yen Vi Stream from Duc Wharf is actually the highlight of the trip, and inspiration sources of quite a few famous poets.DucWharf , where tourist start their journey in, is crowded with boats and people As the rule, pilgrims and visitors from all parts of the country, whether acquainted to one another or otherwise, greet everyone by saying “ A Di ĐàPhật” These words mean “ We beg Lord Buddha to give us health and luck” 2.Yen Stream: Yen stream flows between two mountains for kilometers Nevertheless, sitting on the boat, leisurely enjoying the surrounding landscape, you may feel that the stream is endless Despite a facilitated road from Duc Wharf to Perfume mountain, most people choose to use row boats on Yen Vi Stream (or Yen Stream), which is by far a much more romantic and scenic route to Huong Pagoda While traveling along Yen Stream, tourists pass by stunning landscape of blazing green rice paddles studded with jagged limestone mounts to the base of Huong Mountain Going boating in Yen Stream, visitors get a stunning view of the landscape in springtime Here lies Ngu Nhac Mountain, there stand Hoi Bridge, Dun and VoiPhuc (Prostrating Elephant) mountains Then come ThuyenRong (Dragon Boat) and Con Phuong (Phoenix) mountains, not to mention various other mountains named after their shape like Ong Su (Buddhist Monk), Ba Vai (Buddhist nun), Mam Xoi (Tray of Sticky Rice), Trong (Drum), or Chieng (Gong) If you are on a boat there, you can easily see on your left the Phoenix Mountain and DoiCheo Mountain, which looks like an Indian python (Tran) Also on the left are Bung and Voi, the two mountains associated with interesting legends On your right is NguNhacmountain with the Trinh Temple where visitors stop and burn incense for the God of the Mountain Before reaching Tro Wharf where the tour begins, the boat also passes by the Deo and Phong Su Mountains, Son ThuyHuuTinh Cave, Trau Cave, Hoi Bridge and Dau Valley 3.Trinh temple: The boats would take the visitors to the Elephant Mountain, the Dragon Mountain and then to the Trinh Temple which dedicated to a former general of Hung King The first stop before climbing up to HuongMountain must always be a visit to Den Trinh, which means “registration shrine” It was a very big temple which still has kneeling elephants at the gate and a quite large ceremony room At Trinh Temple visitors stop to burn incense and present to the Mountain Deity before going on their journey to Ba Cave In front of the cave spreads a land with magnificent beauty Leaving Ba Cave, tourists go to Tro Wharf, the starting point for the trekking up the mountain ThienTru Pagoda is the first destination 4.ThienTru Pagoda: The next point of interest would be a visit to ThienTru Pagoda (chuaNgoai - Outer Pagoda), which was built in the 18 th century under King Le Thanh Tong dynasty “ThienTru” means a heaven kitchen, derived from the imagination of the locals in this region, of which the rock formations in this area look like chefs busily working in the kitchen.ThienTru Pagoda is also famous for ThuyTien tower, a granite monolith Known as the Kitchen of ThienThuy - a tower-like natural rock Heaven, it boasts and Vien Cong Tower, exquisite terracotta architectural structure dated back to the 17 th century (ThienThuy is a mountain which under the effect of erosion, has thinned out in the form of a stupa Vien Cong Bao tower was built for 200 years ago with ancient bricks and contains elaborate sculptures )TheThienTru Pagoda also has a number of stele and poems inscribed on the mountain cliffs.On the right of the pagoda stands Tien Son Grotto, housing five statues carved out of stone and many stalactites and stalagmites which can be used as musical instruments and various formations on the walls of the cave Coming here, pilgrims have chances to admire the pagoda’s beauty and wonderful local landscapes 5.GiaiOan Pagoda : There after, the visitors would take the main road, and arrive at the “Clearing Unjust Charges” (GiảiOan) Pagoda where is located a well with limpid waters In front of the Pagoda is a brook with sources, called the “Clearing Unjust Charges” brook The legend has it that Buddha stopped here for a while in order to get rid himself of all the dust of the world of human beings And in washing one’s hands and face in the cool water of the brook, the visitors can feel that they are now free from all past “karmas”.Near to the “Clearing Unjust Charges” Pagoda are the TuyếtQuynh Cave and the PhậtTích Shrine which is known as preserving the “footprint” of Lord Buddha (in fact, this is merely a stone with a mark similar to a footprint) 6.HuongTich Grotto: After more than one hour along the stream and visiting the initial ancient pagodas from the riverbank, now pilgrims would climb up hundreds of stone steps, and then down 120 stone steps to HuongTich Grotto, literally meaning "traces of fragrance" The path to HuongTich winds its way through magnificently luxuriant landscapes The winding path paved with slabs of stone nature has smoothed Alongside the path visitors has a chance to feast their eyes on stunning landscapes The moss-grown HuongTich Grotto came to life thanks to the most venerable Van ThuyThien Tran Dao VienQuang Chan Nhan, the Chief monk of ThienTru Pagoda In front of the cave lie stone stairs Stepping down the 120-step stairs, tourists will find the inscription "The most beautiful grotto under the Southern Sky" in Han scripts, which are traces of Lord Tinh Do Vuong Trinh Sam's calligraphy in the rd lunar month of the year of the Tiger (Canh Dan -1770) Pushing into its belly, visitors get a spectacular view Getting into the grotto, you will find a purely cool atmosphere in a dim light before figuring out many stalactites and stalagmites are named after their shape: Rice Pile, naturally architectural works such as Dun Gao (Rice pile), Monkey Pile, Gold and Silver trees, Girl and Boy Mountains (in the shapes of a girl and a boy) and so forth Inside there are statues of King’s Father, Queen, Avalokitesvara, and so on Noteworthy is the Cuu Long structure with nine dragons flanking from above.The statue of Avalokitesvara carved out of emerald stone on a rocky lotus, constructed in 1793 under the Tay Son dynasty and a 1.24m bronze bell, moulded in the 3rd ThinhDuc Year (1655) The unique carving art together with the extremely magnificient works of Nature makes the Huong Pagoda complex the top-revenued tourism destination among others in Ha Tay, and the foremost destination of Buddhists in particular and tourists in general There are many interesting pagodas, caves and grottoes in Huong Son Among them include Long Van, Tuyet Son, Hinh Bong, and so forth The Ong Bay (Sung Sam) Cave, 2km from Long Van Pagoda, still retains traces of ancient people some tens of thousands of year ago Saying goodbye to Perfume Grotto, now tourists may choose to further go up to the top Mount by climbing up hundreds of stone steps, all worn smooth by passage of countless feet or take a short rest and complete the pilgrimage *Characteristics of Huong Pagoda Festival: Huong Pagoda Festival has two parts: The ceremonies and the entertaining activities Ceremonial rituals consist of incense offering procession and Zen ceremony in which Monks and Buddhists offer incense, flowers, candles and fruits During the ceremony, two monks will perform beautiful and flexible dances However, unlike many other festivals, the Huong Pagoda Festival does not involve traditional games, but romantic trips to caves, pagodas and temples and participation in ceremonies to beseech favours from Lord Buddha The Venerable Thich Minh Hien rang the bell to officially open the festival at the Huong Pagoda, on the sixth day of the first lunar month The opening ceremony began at the ThienTru Pagoda with pilgrimsand tourists invited to take part in the incense offering ceremony In order to warning up the festival’s lively ambience in the chilly weather, the traditional raditional songs and dances took place beforeand after the ceremony Visitors attending Huong pagoda festival usually make some wishes and when they are worshipping Buddha’s in the pagoda, they pray for their wishes to come true Visiting and praying in HuongTich Cave is the most important activity that visitor has to In the HuongTich Cave, people pray to have a son, a daughter by touching the mountain of the son or the daughter People also pray for prosperity and wealthy in Huongtich cave by touching gold tree or silver tree.The visitors bring offerings with them from home, including boiled chickens, boiled pigs'heads and steamed sticky rice After prayers, each person will take asmall portion of the offering (called loc) which is then carried home for their family Loc is a sacred and precious thing as it is believed to bring good luck to those who eat it On the other hand, cultural activities and sporting contests are also held on the occasion of Huong Pagoda Festival:enjoying boat cruise along Yen Stream for watching picturesque scenery, climbing mountain and exploring holy caves and folk song singing These festive activities take place throughout the festival Coming to Huong Pagoda Festival, tourists have chance to taste three famous delicacies which are bamboo shoot, Sang vegetables and griding roots Tourists will be overwhelmed by the white color or apricot flowers covering the entire area of Huong Son mountain And at the end of festival, tourists will have chance to taste the irresistibly fresh flavor of apricot juice.Huong Pagoda Festial is really a traditional and imbued national identity where people are oriented towards Truth, Beauty and Goodness.Unlike any other places, Huong Pagoda harmonizes the characters of a Buddhist architectural complex with the impressive natural beauty Coming here, tourists have chances to live in a boisterous atmosphere of a spring festival amidst beautiful landscape They seem to be free from all tiredness and sorrow and come to pay respect to the compassionate Buddha These days, the Vietnamese believe that Huong Son is Buddha's Heaven due to its sacredness and naturaly works of beauty Quite a few tourists would like to come back this mysterious and sacred mountain annually for religious reasons on the one hand, and on the other hand, for the enchanting natural landscapes 10 ... countless feet or take a short rest and complete the pilgrimage *Characteristics of Huong Pagoda Festival: Huong Pagoda Festival has two parts: The ceremonies and the entertaining activities Ceremonial... and flexible dances However, unlike many other festivals, the Huong Pagoda Festival does not involve traditional games, but romantic trips to caves, pagodas and temples and participation in ceremonies... trekking up the mountain ThienTru Pagoda is the first destination 4.ThienTru Pagoda: The next point of interest would be a visit to ThienTru Pagoda (chuaNgoai - Outer Pagoda) , which was built in the