(VOVWORLD) - The Vu Lan Festival, celebrated on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month each year, is one of the major Buddhist holidays. It’s an occasion to express gratitude to parents and demonstrate the freedom citizens have to practice religion.
 Many activities are underway to celebrate Vu Lan ceremony (Photo: Minh Nhan/giacngo.vn) |
Spiritual belief contributes significantly to the great unity of the nation. The Vu Lan Festival, which falls on Sunday, August 18, this year, is just one of more than 8,000 religious festivals in Vietnam.
A strong sense of community
Organized by Vietnam Buddhist Sangha Executive Boards nationwide, the event draws not just Buddhists, but also many lay people.
Since the beginning of the 7th lunar month, many people in HCM City have visited Quốc Tự pagoda in District 10 to offer prayers for national peace and longevity for parents and to commemorate and express gratitude to ancestors and heroes.
The Vietnam Buddhist Sangha in Ninh Binh province organized a filial piety commemoration at Bai Dinh pagoda that attracted thousands of monks, nuns, Buddhists, students, and tourists from all over the country.
 (Photo: Quang Dao/giacngo.vn) |
In Ha Nam province, the Executive Council of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha and the Management Board of Tam Chuc pagoda organized a Vu Lan ceremony to honor filial piety that featured traditional Buddhist rituals like flower offerings and placing roses to commemorate parents.
Across several Central provinces, large numbers of Buddhists and non-Buddhists participated in celebrations of the holiday.
Once a holiday exclusively for Buddhists, the Vu Lan Festival has evolved into a widely-observed event that harmoniously blends Vietnam’s religious and secular life and demonstrates the strong sense of community that permeates religious festivals in Vietnam.
Religious freedom
For years, religious holidays like Buddha's birthday and the Buddhist Vu Lan Festival, Christianity’s Christmas and Easter festivals, Caodaism’s Yến Diêu Trì Cung Festival, the Cham people’s Kate Festival, and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan have all been celebrated on a large scale, attracting both religious followers and the general public.
Throughout Vietnam's development, the Party has implemented guidelines, policies, and laws to support the spiritual and religious needs of the people, to foster national unity and religious harmony in the interest of national development.
The wide observance of religious festivals in Vietnam confirms the Party and State commitment to religious freedom. Authorities at all levels support the organization and security of these events, demonstrating the State's dedication to creating favorable conditions for religious activities that comply with the law.
The diversity of religious festivals and other activities is a clear indication that freedom of belief and religion is guaranteed in Vietnam. Article 24 of the 2013 Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam explicitly states "Everyone has the right to freedom of belief and religion, and have the right to follow or not to follow any religion." The State respects and protects this right.