Thầy Pagoda Festival

18-22 April
Due west of Hanoi near Sài Sơn

At the end of his life, he sat in meditation for several months without food and drink and died in the process.

See previous article on visit to Thầy Pagoda.

The Thầy Pagoda festival is actually a joint festival of 4 villages: Thụy Khê, Đa Phúc, Khánh Tân, and Sài Khê. The festival is held mostly around Thầy Pagoda which is comprised of 3 buildings: the ante-chamber, Buddha’s Building, and the building of the Genie Từ Đạo Hạnh. It is said that Từ Đạo Hạnh led a religious life and died in this pagoda. At the end of his life, he sat in meditation for several months without food and drink and died in the process. Thereafter, the people put his withered corpse in the Building of the Genie for worship. The Ming Chinese who ruled Vietnam from 1407 to 1427 took Từ Đạo Hạnh’s corpse to a mountain and burned it. The local population collected his ashes and mixed them with earth to make a statue to worship. They believe that he had learned supernatural powers and thus became a then later embraced Buddhism.

Ceremonies connected with the Thầy Pagoda Festival proceed from the 5th to the 9th day of the 3rd lunar month, this year corresponding to 18-22 April. They include the bathing of Từ Đạo Hạnh’s statue, the presentation of incense sticks, a procession of the tablets, folk theatrical plays Chèo (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheo for further info), chess games, water puppet shows, and a recital of the feats of Từ Đạo Hạnh.

The procession of the tablets takes place on the 7th day of the 3rd lunar month, 20 April of this year, in which all four villages take part. At the start of the procession, his tablets must be wrapped in a piece of yellow cloth symbolizing his supernatural powers and on the return trip they must be wrapped in the brown frock of a Buddhist monk.

During the procession, Buddhist nuns walk while recounting the feats of Từ Đạo Hạnh, first in learning supernatural powers and then in leading a religious Buddhist life. The procession proceeds very slowly and usually returns to the pagoda late at night. This timing is considered propitious as it is the time when night takes over from the day – when they come into contact with each other. The order of the procession also has variations with specific significance. At the front of the procession are the tablets of the Spirit Protector and of the Red Horse of Thụy Khê and Khánh Tân villages; at the back come the tablets of Từ Đạo Hạnh. The tablet of the Spirit Protector of each village is carried by people of that village, while that of Từ Đạo Hạnh is carried by 4 people appointed by the four villages. During the return trip, the tablet of the Spirit Protector and the White Horse of Đa Phúc village must come first, to be followed by the table of the Spirit Protector and the Red Horse of Thụy Khê village. The order of the remaining components of the procession remains unchanged.