The Organizing Board of Con Son – Kiep Bac Spring Festival opened the 2017 spring festival on February 12 (the 16th day of the 1st lunar month).
* Cuu pham lien hoa house at Con Son pagoda inaugurated
|
| Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh and delegates burn incense to commemorate the 683rd death anniversary of Venerable Huyen Quang, the 3rd patriarch of Truc Lam Zen, (1334 – 2017) |
The Organizing Board of Con Son – Kiep Bac Spring Festival opened the 2017 spring festival and inaugurated a cuu pham lien hoa (nine-storeyed lotus-shaped) house at Con Son pagoda on the morning of February 12 (the 16th day of the 1st lunar month) at Con Son relic site.
A solemn water taking ceremony began at 6.30 am. From Con Son pagoda, delegates, Buddhist monks, nuns, and followers, locals, and visitors from everywhere formed a majestic procession with dragons, flags, parasols, bat buu (eight weapons), and palanquins and proceeded to Con Son lake.
There, the delegates and monks took a water jug on board, offered incense, notified deities, and climbed on a devotional platform to pray for water. 30 minutes later, water in a vital circle was scooped into the jug and taken to the pagoda for a seating ceremony.
Water taking is an important ceremony at Con Son – Kiep Bac Spring Festival and was restored in 2008 with the purposes of praising the power of villages, praying for crops and water, and performing moc duc (statue bathing) ceremony.
After the water taking ceremony, the opening ceremony of Con Son – Kiep Bac Spring Festival 2017 solemnly took place in the yard of Con Son pagoda with musical and festive drum performances.
Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Luong Van Cau delivers the festival opening speech
The 683rd death anniversary of Venerable Huyen Quang, the 3rd patriarch of Truc Lam Zen, (1334 – 2017) was celebrated at this year's festival.
Huyen Quang, whose real name was Ly Dao Tai (born in 1254 in Bac Ninh), was a person of great learning and talent and came first in Giap Tuat examination (1274).
After having worked as a mandarin for the Tran dynasty for a short time, he resigned, became a monk, persistently learnt religions, and compiled prayer books. He once accompanied King Monk Tran Nhan Tong and Phap Loa around the country to preach and became the 3rd patriarch of Truc Lam Zen.
In the last years of his life, he became the head of Con Son pagoda, continued the construction of many Buddhist structures, including a cuu pham lien hoa house, and compiled prayer books for later generations.
The speech delivered by Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Luong Van Cau at the festival opening ceremony clearly stated the meaning and importance of Con Son – Kiep Bac in history and great contributions of Truc Lam Zen to the cause of national construction and defense.
In the 14th century, Con Son became an ancestral land of Truc Lam Zen and a spiritual fulcrum of the army and people of Dai Viet (old name of Vietnam).
Con Son is also associated with the life of National Hero, World Cultural Celebrity Nguyen Trai.
With such special value, Con Son – Kiep Bac was recognized as a special national relic site, and Con Son – Kiep Bac festival as part of the national intangible cultural heritage in 2012.
 |
| Leaders of the Party, the State, the Vietnam Fatherland Front, ministries, Central agencies, and the province inaugurate the cuu pham lien hoa house at Con Son pagoda |
After an incense offering ceremony in commemoration of Venerable Huyen Quang, the delegates inaugurated the cuu pham lien hoa house at Con Son pagoda.
The house construction commenced in February 2015, consisting of cuu pham lien hoa, ancestral, and rear houses, with an investment of over VND75.8 billion from the Central budget and donations.
Of which, the highlight is the cuu pham lien hoa house with three storeys and 12 roofs. Inside the house is a 7.9m-high octagonal tower with nine lotus-petal-carved storeys and 216 statues of Amitabha Buddha, Avalokiteshvara and Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattvas.
In Buddhism, cuu pham lien hoa is a special symbol to praise dharma, Nirvana, and Sukhavati.
Con Son pagoda was built in the 10th century and enlarged in the 13th century by Monk King Tran Nhan Tong. Its structures were further renovated and perfected by Phap Loa and Huyen Quang, the 2nd and 3rd patriarchs, including a three-door gate, bell and drum towers, a front house, thieu huong (ceremony house), a central chamber, an ancestral house, a rear house, front and rear corridors, towers, Bach Van small temple, etc. Of these, the cuu pham lien hoa house is a religious structure with special value.
In mid-19th century, the French colonialists invaded Vietnam and destroyed Con Son pagoda as well as the cuu pham lien hoa house.
With special cultural value of the relic site, on June 18, 2010, the then Prime Minister approved a master plan to preserve and promote Con Son – Kiep Bac historical relic site in association with tourism development. The cuu pham lien hoa house at Con Son pagoda is one of items in the plan.
Taking a water jug from Con Son lake to the ancestral house
Dragon and kylin dance at the festival
NGOC HUNG
