The festival is held right after the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday and expected to last until Sunday. Thousands of Buddhist devotees and visitors gather at the Tay Thien Stupa for the opening of the festival, with the wish for a new year of peace and happiness.
After ringing the Vietnamese traditional Dharma bell to kick off the festival, the Gyalwang Drukpa shared that the beginning of the Lunar New Year is a holy occasion which brings a lot of positive and peaceful energy to everyone. He also conveyed special thanks to the organizers, the government, monks and nuns and volunteers who helped make the festival possible.
The Gyalwang Drukpa unties the ceremonial knot to inaugurate the five circumambulations around the Tay Thien Grand Mandala Stupa.
At the grand opening of the five circumambulation paths at the Tay Thien Stupa, the Gyalwang Drukpa teaches that these five colored paths represent the five elements: earth, water, fire, wind and space, which are accordingly colored yellow, white, red, green and blue, which make up the entire universe.
It is believed that when circumambulating on these paths around a holy mandala, such as the Tay Thien Stupa, practitioners with genuine devotion can receive positive energy from the universe, nurture compassion and wisdom, and accumulate merits. The Gyalwang Drukpa himself completed three circumambulations together with the monks, nuns and devotees.
The Gyalwang Drukpa leaves a hand print and signature to bless the ongoing projects at the Tay Thien Grand Mandala Stupa.
Highlights of the day include the unfurling of the Thousand Armed Avalokiteshvara embroidered painting, measured 16 by 12 meters. A gift from the Gyalwang Drukpa to the Vietnamese people, it is currently the largest Buddhist painting in Vietnam.
He emphasized the Buddhist view that fortune or suffering in one's life is directly caused by one's actions and karma, if we harm others or cause suffering, the world will be chaotic, and happiness lies in our own hands.
In regards to the Thousand Armed Avalokiteshvara painting, he teaches that the thousand arms represent positive activities, while the thousand eyes represent positive views. The thousand arms and thousand eyes together represent the positive actions and thoughts of beings. The precious rosary, lotus, vase, and bow held in Avalokiteshvara's hands convey compassion towards all sentient beings.
The Gyalwang Drukpa blesses a new 3-meter tall Buddha Shakyamuni statue inside the Stupa. It is a replica of the Buddha Shakyamuni statue at Hemis, the most famous monastery in Ladakh, India.
Thousands of devotees brave 12 degrees Celsius cold winds of the northern region to arrive in Tay Thien early morning.
Le Thi Bay and her group departed Hanoi at 5 a.m. to arrive early for the festival. The 82-year-old enjoyed visiting temples during the Lunar New Year holiday and often prayed “for my family to have great health, for the country to be peaceful, and for everyone to enjoy a happy life without hunger, war or hate."
The Tay Thien Grand Mandala Stupa is 37 meters tall with a 1,500-square-meter construction area, located at the foot of Thach Ban Mountain in the Tay Thien area. This is the first masterpiece of Vajrayana mandala architecture in Vietnam. The Stupa’s main gate faces southward, with the purpose of spreading the blessings of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas towards the entire country.
The Mandala Stupa represents the gathering of Buddhas of the 10 directions, with five small stupas at the top level representing the five kinds of wisdom of Buddhas, surrounded by 16 offering Bodhisattvas.
The main stupa on top of the dome, a distinctive Vajrayana feature, holds Buddha Shakyamuni’s relics as well as a 2,000 year-old Buddha statue.
Returning to Vietnam for the 11th time, and for the first time in four years, His Holiness and the Drukpa Lineage Sangha will hold grand prayers for peace and prosperity and spiritual activities across northern Vietnam from January 26 to February 10, such as the grand prayers and blessings for the public at Thien An Temple (Vinh Phuc), Que Lam Monastery (Phu Tho), and a public talk “Living with Happiness.”
The Drukpa Lineage originated a thousand years ago in India, and has a widespread influence across the Himalayas in regions such as Ladakh, West Bengal (India), Nepal, and Bhutan. The lineage also has practice centers in around Asia, Europe, and North and South America.
The Gyalwang Drukpa was born in 1963 in a family of prestigious Vajrayana practitioners. Throughout four decades of spreading the Buddha Dharma across the world, he has started many humanitarian initiatives related to environmental protection, relief aid, education, medical treatments and heritage preservation. He was honored by the United Nations with the Millennium Development Goals Award.
