An art performance at the festival (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Visitors flocked to Phat Tichpagoda in Tien Dudistrict, the northern province of Bac Ninh, for a local annual spring festivalheld on January 28 (the fourth day of the first lunar month).
Apartfrom rituals praying for peace, the festival featured an array of cultural andart activities, and folk games.
Duringthe festival, Tien Du district has paid attention to ensuring security andsafety for visitors, environmental protection, food hygiene and safety, andfirefighting.
The Phat Tich pagoda, aspecial national relic site located just 25 kilometres northeast of Hanoi, wasbuilt in 1057 on a mountain called Lan Kha during the reign of King Ly ThanhTong (1054-72). It was reduced to ashes by French colonialists in 1948 andrestored in 1987.
During the excavation of the pagoda from 1949-51,archaeologists found numerous old stone sculptures carved with flowers anddragons, bird goddess statues from the 17th century, and a piece engraved withthe head of a fairy, all of which are now on display at the National HistoryMuseum.
A giant Buddha Amitabha statue, 27 metres tall and weighing3,000 tonnes, was installed outside on the Lan Kha Mountain in 2010. It wasadapted from a similar structure from the Ly Dynasty.
The Phat Tich Pagoda is associated with Tu Thuc’s meetingwith a fairy. As the legend goes, there were endless peonies on Lan KhaMountain and in the pagoda, leading a young woman to visit the pagoda one dayto see the flowers. She carelessly broke a tree branch and was fined by themonks, but a local scholar, Tu Thuc, was also visiting the pagoda and offeredhis coat to compensate for the broken branch. They became friends and continuedto meet at the pagoda. The woman ultimately invited Tu Thuc to visit her house, leading him to a peony forest andinto a cave on the mountainside with an imperial palace with high walls andstone footsteps. She revealed that she was a fairy and they got married.
Every year, people visit the pagoda to take part in the peonyfestival, where they enjoy looking at the flowers, listening to quan ho (loveduets) and poem recitations, and playing traditional games. The festivalusually lasts two days.
The pagoda was recognised as a national relic site in 1962and a special national relic site in 2014./.
VNA
