More than 40,000 visitors and pilgrims attended the opening ceremony of the Yen Tu Pagoda Festival 2010 in the northern coastal province of Quang Ninh on Feb. 23, the tenth day of the first lunar month.
More than 40,000 visitors and pilgrims attended the opening ceremony of the Yen Tu Pagoda Festival in the northern coastal province of Quang Ninh on Feb. 23, the tenth day of the first lunar month.
The province’s leaders and Buddhist dignitaries offered incenses to remember King and Buddhist monk Tran Nhan Tong(1258 - 1308) - the founder of Zen sect of Truc Lam Yen Tu which is recognized as the country’s leading centre for Buddhism; and prayed for peacefull and prosperous life to the people and the country.
The festival is held on Yen Tu Mountain every Spring so it is also called Yen Tu Spring Festival. The festival marks a pilgrimage to the Vietnamese Buddhist Center that lasts from the tenth day of the first lunar month to the end of the third lunar month.
Yen Tu has welcomed over 31,000 visitors since the first day of the lunar year and more than 2 million travelers in 2009.
The provincial authorities expect to receive more than 2.7 million tourists in this year.
This year’s festival sees several new constructions such as a lighting system from Giai Oan (Vindicating) Stream to An Ky Sinh man-shaped stone which is invested more than VND47 billion (over US$2 million) by the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism; parking lots and flower garden; cable car system carrying 2,500 passengers for one hour.
Yen Tu Mountain located 130 km north of Hanoi is home of many historical sites, primeval forest with plentiful and diversified flora including precious plants.
