Visiting temples, communal houses, and pagodas at the start of the year, especially during Tet holiday, is a longstanding cultural tradition of the Vietnamese people, passed down through generations.
Each year, Vietnamese people burn nearly 60,000 tonnes of votive paper, equivalent to almost 228 million USD going up in smoke. This not only results in waste but also contributes to environmental pollution and fire hazards. Interestingly, burning votive paper is not a tradition in Buddhist culture, prompting many pagodas to reject this practice. By limiting the burning of votive paper and incense, the pagodas have contributed to protecting the environment in sacred places and guiding Buddhist followers towards a more positive direction.
Chol Chnam Thmay is a New Year festival of the Khmer ethnic people according to their traditional calendar. The festival fell on April 14-16 this year. In Soc Trang province, over 400,000 Khmer people celebrated the traditional New Year festival with joy and fun thanks to improved livelihoods.
Tradition has it that during the first days of the Lunar New Year, Vietnamese families go to pagodas to pray for a year of good luck, health, happiness, and prosperity.
The Executive Board of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS) in the south-central coastal province of Khanh Hoa has held a ceremony announcing decisions on the appointment of heads of six pagodas in Truong Sa island district.
The 400-year-old city of Hoi An in central Vietnam has jumped four places to the 7th position on this year’s list of 10 cheapest destinations for the British.
The vegetarian food segment has been attracting a great deal of attention from businesses in recent years and gradually satisfied the tastes of customers.
Some 200 images and artifacts related to “Nghe” – a sacred animal in the ancient culture of Vietnam – are on display at an exhibition that opened in the central city of Da Nang on August 15.
UNESCO Chief Representative in Vietnam Susan Vize said the preservation of heritage urban areas should be integrated into economic growth to ensure sustainable development.
Khanh Tho and Long Son pagodas of Vietnamese people in the western province of Kanchanaburi, Thailand, have been attached with the plates bearing Vietnamese names.
Homestays in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam have been named 1st in the top eight best Christmas trips for solo travellers by Wanderlust, a prestigious magazine from the UK.
