Since being recognised in 2000 as one of Viet Nam’s top 15 national-level spiritual festivals, the annual Quan The Am (Avalokitesvara) Festival has drawn a great deal of attention from local residents and Buddhist followers from the city and elsewhere in the country.

The Quan The Am (Avalokitesvara) Festival, which takes place annually in the 2nd lunar month, has attracted thousands of Buddhists and non-Buddhists

The Festival, held at the Avalokitecvara Pagoda in the Marble Mountains tourist area, is running from today, 2 April until Thursday, 5 April.

Located at the foot of the bell-shaped Kim Son (Mt. Metal) to the northern side of the tourist site, the over 60-year-old pagoda is considered as a sacred place for hosting the Quan The Am Festival.

Avalokitesvara, the bodhisattva of compassion, is one of the most important and popular Buddhist dieties for both Buddhists and non-Buddhists.

Like other meaningful cultural and spiritual event, the Quan The Am Festival plays an important role in educating human beings towards love and the good things in life.

The event aims to meet the cultural, spiritual and religious needs of the locals and it is a good opportunity to advertise the city’s tourism images to domestic and foreign visitors.

This year’s festival features a number of solemn Buddhist rituals. 

Included are a Buddhist flag raising ceremony, an incense-offering ceremony in commemoration of

Princess Huyen Tran, a ceremony to pray for peace and safety throughout the year, and a ceremony to pay tribute to those who founded the Non Nuoc stone carving handicraft.

Besides, there are various fascinating arts performances and cultural exchanges with visiting Buddhist delegations from Thailand, India, Japan and other countries worldwide.

One of the highlights at this year’s event is that ceremonies will be held for the recognition of the Buddhist Cultural Museum located at Quan The Am Pagoda as the first of its kind, and a Buddhist flag here as the largest of its kind in the country, by the Vietnam Records Organisation.

The nearly 100m² museum, the first of its kind in Viet Nam, exhibits a total of around 200 valuable Buddhist antiques which have been on display at the Avalokitecvara Pagoda since 1957.

Mr Nguyen Hoa, the Vice Chairman of the Ngu Hanh Son District People’s Committee said the the organisation of the festival helps to implement a project for preserving and upholding the district’s cultural heritage values.

According to the event’s organisers, this year’s festival is welcoming a larger number of visitors than in previous years.

The organisers are making every effort to ensure security, fire fighting and prevention, food hygiene and safety, environmental sanitation, and civilised trading activities during the event.

In particular, the police force, urban rule inspectors, and civil defence members are available at major streets and approach roads to the festivals in order to ensure the smooth movement of vehicles, and avoid road traffic accidents.

In addition, effective measures are being taken to stop littering, harassment of tourists, the operation of street vendors, the illegal trade in fish and birds for release, and the increase in parking fees.  Heed is also paid to increasing checks and monitoring the presence of those who disguise themselves as monks and nuns in order to beg for alms illegally.