Thousands celebrate Dong Da festival

Thousands of people from all regions across the country flocked to the Quang Trung Museum in the central province of Binh Dinh on February 4 to celebrate the 225th lunar anniversary of the famous Ngoc Hoi-Dong Da battle.

In the early spring of 1789, Nguyen Hue, who was later proclaimed Emperor Quang Trung, led his guerrillas from Hue imperial palace to Ha Noi, which was then occupied by the Chinese Qing army.

He launched a surprise attack and defeated more than 20,000 Qing soldiers during a battle on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year.

The festival at Quang Trung Museum in Nguyen Hue’s hometown re-enacted the attack through an array of artistic and martial art performances with the participation of thousands of actors.

A corner of Bai Dinh pagoda

Deputy PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc on February 5 beat a traditional drum to open the Bai Dinh Pagoda Festival in the presence of thousands of Buddhist monks and pilgrims.

Located in Gia Sinh Commune, Gia Vien District, Ninh Binh Province, the 1,000-year-old pagoda is where King Dinh Tien Hoang had set up an altar to pray for favorable conditions for people all year round.

It is also the place where King Quang Trung offered a sacrifice to the flag on the occasion of a military parade to motivate his soldiers before heading to Thang Long (old name of Ha Noi) to fight the Qing aggressors.

The festival will close at the end of the third lunar month.

The Perfume Pagoda Festival opened on February 6 and will last until the end of the third lunar month.

Perfume Pagoda Festival

Located in Huong Son commune, My Duc district, Ha Noi, the Huong pagoda festival is one of the longest festivals in the country.

Many pilgrims even arrived in the Perfume pagoda complex as early as 1am. The event starts on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year.

Up to 112,000 people visited the Perfume Pagoda during the first four days of the Lunar New Year, which is an increase of 6,000 visitors compared with last year.

The spring festival, which runs until early March, is expected to attract 1.4 million visitors this year.

Yen Tu Pagoda festival

Thousands of domestic and foreign tourists and Buddhist dignitaries flocked to the Yen Tu Pagoda in the northern coastal province of Quang Ninh to join the Spring Festival, which officially opened on February 9, the tenth day of the first lunar month.

A destination popular with Buddhist followers, the site expects to see about 3 million visitors, compared to the 2.1 million figure of the same period last year.

One of the highlights of this year’s festival is the inaugural of the statue of King Tran Nhan Tong, which was recognized as the largest monolithic bronze statue in Viet Nam by the Vie Nam Book of Records.

The King reigned over the country from 1279 to 1293 and then left the throne to devote his life to Buddhism. He founded the Truc Lam School of Zen and worked to unify different Vietnamese Buddhism sects into Vietnamese Zen Buddhism.

Yen Tu mountain is located about 50km from Ha Long City. The route of the pilgrimage, which winds from the foot of the mountain to its highest peak, is almost 30km. Dong Pagoda, which sits atop the mountain’s highest peak, is more than a kilometer above sea level.

The area has beautiful natural landscape and awe-inspiring scenery, along with surrounding ancient pagodas and hermitages.

In the upcoming time, other important festivals will be held such as Cau Ngu Festival, in Huong Hai Commune  in Hue City (the 12th day of the 1st month); Lim Festival in the northern province of Bac Ninh (on the 13th day of the New Year); and the 2014 Tran Temple Festival in the northern province of Nam Dinh (on February 11, the 12th day of the first lunar month).