Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Bac Giang province Le Anh Duong, on behalf of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, hands over the decision recognising the woodblocks of Bo Da Pagoda as a national treasure to leaders of Viet Yen district, Tien Son commune and the pagoda’s head.

The event was attended by Than Van Khoa, Standing Deputy Secretary of the provincial Party Committee; Pham Dinh Phong, Deputy Head of the Cultural Heritage Department under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism; Le Anh Duong, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, representatives from local departments, branches and agencies, local people and visitors.

The leader of Viet Yen district briefed the attendees on the establishment and values of Bo Da pagoda and its Buddhist woodblocks. Through centuries, the pagoda has preserved the various valuable cultural heritage of the community, including the statue and stele systems, bronze bells, horizontal lacquered boards parallel sentences and worshipping objects. Especially, there are the Buddhist Sutras woodblocks carved by monks at the pagoda during Kinh Le Canh Hung’s reign (1740-1786). Notable sets of Buddhist scriptures are Lang Nghiem Chinh Mach, Yet Ma Hoi Ban and Nam Hai Ky Quy. Nearly 2,000 woodblocks were carved in Chinese, Nom (ancient Vietnamese ideographic script) and Sanskrit. The Buddhist scriptures have been used for rituals at the pagoda.

With such values, the Prime Minister on December 25, 2017, signed Decision No.2089/QD-TTg recognizing woodblocks of Bo Da pagoda as the national treasure. This is the honor of Bac Giang province in general and Viet Yen district in particular. Earlier, the pagoda was listed as the national special relic site and the Bo Da festival was recognized as the national intangible cultural relic site. Bo Da pagoda also has the largest tower garden in Vietnam.

In the coming time, the district will continue to coordinate with relevant agencies to set up solutions to promoting values of Bo Da pagoda and its woodblocks coupled with developing local tourism.

The festival’s art performance attracts a large crowd of visitors.

At the ceremony, on behalf of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Le Anh Duong handed over the PM’s decision recognizing the woodblocks of Bo Da Pagoda as the national treasure to leaders of Viet Yen district, Tien Son commune and the pagoda’s head.

On the same day, leaders of Viet Yen district beat a drum to kick off the Bo Da Pagoda Festival 2018 during an opening event. One of the ceremony’s highlights was an art show with the participation of 150 performers and musicians from the district’s art clubs and troupes, and local schools.

The festival also hosts a series of events, including the 18th Quan ho folk singing festival of Viet Yen district which features 200 solo, duet and group performances by more than 700 singers from 50 “Quan ho” clubs of 19 communes and townships; a competition for Vietnamese traditional wrestling; exhibitions on sketch paintings of Bo Da Pagoda and on traditional handicrafts, farm produces and local specialties; and calligraphy demonstration.

The festival will run through April 3.

Nguyen Huong, Hoai Thu