The Buddhist Cultural Museum, located at Ngu Hanh Son District's Quan The Am (Avalokitecvara) Pagoda in the Marble Mountains Tourist Area, officially opened its doors to the public on Thursday.

The nearly 100m² museum, the first of its kind in Viet Nam, exhibits around 200 valuable Buddhist antiques which have been on display at the Avalokitecvara Pagoda since 1957.  The museum also features many other antiques which have been donated by pagodas across Da Nang, and other localities nationwide.

Visitors at the museum

The majority of the artifacts date back to between the 7^th century and the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, whilst the remainder are still undated.

Buddha statues at the museum are made from many different materials like bronze and jade, and include a statue of the baby Buddha from the 16^th century, a Buddha Amitabha statue from the 19^th century, and a Maitreya Buddha statue.

The most valuable exhibits are a statue made of precious white jade in the shape of the Bodhisattvas holding a baby in her arms, and a set of eight Buddha statues made of bronze dating back to the 9^th century.

Visitors to the museum have the opportunity to learn more about the objects used in Buddhist worship and solemn rituals, including Buddhist scriptures, photos of Buddha and bronze bells.

A statue of Avalokitecvara

Addressing the opening event, the Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr Tran Quang Thanh, said that the new museum will become one of the city’s most attractive tourist destinations for visitors from both home and abroad.

Vietnamese historian Duong Trung Quoc stressed the need for the management board of the museum to fully exploit the value of the intangible cultural heritage of the displayed artifacts.  He said that a focus should be on developing a website for the museum to introduce readers to useful information about the museum's displays.