Our Fourth Trip to Viet Nam, Part 3-Pagodas

There are a lot of churches and pagodas in Viet nam. I like to visit the pagodas more though, perhaps because I was raised in a family according Buddhist tradition. My mother was a very devoted Buddhist. She used to take my sisters, brothers and me to the pagodas during the holidays. I still remember vividly one particular holiday-The Le Vu Lan (it is kind of like Mother and Father's Day roll into one). If both your parents are still alive, relatives and friends will give you a red rose. If you have only one parent left, they will give you a pink rose. And if you have none, you will get a white rose.

According to the Vu Lan tradition, you will have to treat your living parents with utmost respect, especially your mother. You will give her flowers, cook, and do everthing else so that she can relax and enjoy her children's appreciations on this special day. Visting the pagodas and eating a free vegetarian lunch there are also part of this tradition. It happened that we went to Viet Nam during Vu Lan's August 15th festival, so our relatives took us to the several pagodas in Ho Chi Minh city. I had a chance to relive the past while Anh-Vu and Hong- Bao got to observe and practice the tradition for the first time. My brother-in-law also drove us to Nha Trang to visit that city's pagoda. It was very popular with the locals and tourists alike, the Long Son pagoda.




Chua Quang Buu-pagoda, Ho Chi Minh city. This pagoda is about 300 years old.










Chua Quang Buu rat la dep nhung cung giong nhu phan lon cac chua lon khac, ben trong toan la nhung nguoi buon ban tap nham lam do ban chua di. That la tiec vay! Neu Viet Nam muon duoc khach ngoai quoc tham vieng chua nhieu hon, hay dep bo tat ca cac tro buon ban ben trong chua di. Khach Au Chau rat thich tham vieng chua vi ben nuoc ho khong co, vi the minh phai lam sao cho chua dep, sach se, va ton nghiem hon de ho se den nhieu hon.


Chua Buu Son-pagoda, Ho Chi Minh city.



Anh-Vu and Hong-Bao's first experience with praying in front of the altar. They lit some incense, had a free vegetarian lunch, and donated some Viet dong in the donation boxes at the pagodas.







My children and I and our relatives had a free lunch at the Hoi Son pagoda.



Chua Long Son-pagoda in Nha Trang city.








Statue of a Buddha; 24 meters tall. Very impresive, serene and beautiful.





Steps leading to the buddha statue, on both sides are dragons that are beautifully crafted.

Chi tiec la o trong chua toan la nguoi an xin, ban hang rong, va rac ruoi day ngap rat u la chuong mat. Theo toi, chua la mot noi ton nghiem, tho phuong, cho o cua cac vi tu hanh. Khong nen de nguoi dan buon ban, xa rac bua bai lam mat di ve trang nghiem, tham my va ve sinh cua chua.