As part of the ongoing Quan The Am (Avalokitesvara) Festival 2023, the Buddhist Cultural Museum officially opened its door to the public, and the Van Hanh Library was inaugurated on Wednesday.

The Buddhist Cultural Museum, the first of its kind in Viet Nam, is located in the 700m2 campus of the Quan The Am Pagoda, Ngu Hanh Son District, Da Nang.

The Buddhist Cultural Museum, the first of its kind in Viet Nam, is nestled in the Marble Mountains Tourist Area special national-level relic site.

On display at the museum are now 500 valuable artifacts which feature Buddhist arts along with Buddhist culture of Viet Nam and some other Asian countries. These artifacts have existed since the founding of the Quan The Am Pagoda which is the spiritual holy place of the Marble Mountains complex.

Prominent among them are Buddha statues made from many different materials like bronze and jade, including statues of Shakyamuni in the 16^th century, Amitabha in the 19^th century, Buddha Avalokitesvara and Maitreya Buddha.

In addition to Buddha statues, there are many unique artifacts such as woodblocks of Buddhist scriptures, worshiping objects and musical instruments, bronze bells and porcelain vases all used in Buddhist worship and solemn rituals.

Also on the same day, the Van Hanh Library was officially inaugurated. The 300m² venue features neatly placed bookshelves, and has 3,000 titles of with 50,000 copies of books in many different fields such as economics, culture, history and geography in order to meet the diverse needs of readers.

Besides, the Quan The Am Pagoda is also committed to creating all favourable conditions for readers to experience a day of reading such as organising tea ceremony space, and providing free drinking water and vegetarian dishes.

Also on March 8, at the Quan The Am Festival, there was a lecture programme on reading culture themed ‘How reading brings good human values in family and social life?’.

The museum is now home to about 500 antiques and artifacts such as statues and paintings of Buddha, Bodhisattvas and Patriarchs; woodblocks of Buddhist scriptures; worship things; and musical instruments, all dating from the 7th - early 20th centuries.

The museum attracts a large number of visitors on the first day of opening.

Apart from materials of wood, copper and iron, many Buddha statues are also made of stone. Many antiques are donated by people.

Taking the name of the famous monk and also the name of the street leading to Quan The Am Pagoda (Su Van Hanh), the Van Hanh Library makes an impression on anyone who comes here.

Currently, the Van Hanh Library has 35,000 books with 3,500 titles. Half of them are books related to Buddhist culture, whilst the rest are books in many different fields such as economics, culture, history and geography, which can meet the diverse needs of readers.

The opening of the Van Hanh Library in the campus of the Quan The Am Pagoda signficantly contributes to the establishment of a unique cultural complex, thereby attracting many visitors to visit and read books.

Also on March 8, at the Quan The Am Festival, there was a lecture programme on reading culture themed ‘How reading brings good human values in family and social life?’

Reporting by X.DUNG, Q.CUONG - Translating by M.DUNG