Ceremony of Roofing the Main Hall at Tay Khanh Pagoda.

On January 5, 2017 (Lunar December 8), Venerable Sen. Thich Chan Tinh has visited Tay Khanh Pagoda in Kien Xuong District, Thai Binh Province to witness the ceremony of roofing the main hall, invited by Reverend Thich Tam Kinh.

Located in Cao Mai village, Quang Hung Commune, Kien Xuong District, Tay Khanh Pagoda is an ancient construction of Thai Binh, the widely known agricultural province. Since its early establishment, the pagoda has been performing its role successfully as a spiritual shelter where both the villagers and Buddhists from other regions can rely on. This was also the homeland of Ngo Chan Tu, a senior Buddhist monk who made many great contributions to Buddhism, including bringing about the foundation of Hoang Phap Pagoda in Hochiminh City.

In recent years, based on the high nobility of the Buddha’s ambassador, seeing “Preaching the dharma as a duty, doing good deeds as a life-long career”, Ngo Chan Tu holy site at Tay Khanh Pagoda was built in 2013 and many periodic retreats have been held to welcome Buddhists from all walks of life. In order to offer a favorable condition for Buddhists’ cultivation and to have room for visitors and Buddhists who gather up on big ceremonies, Tam Bao block is now under a restoration for more guesthouses and residence, etc.

At the ceremony, visitors and Buddhist have brought with them beautiful flower bouquets as means of congratulations.

Giving his speech at the ceremony, Reverend Thich Chan Tinh and abbots extended their thankfulness towards the Reverends of Thai Binh Provincial Buddhist Association and local authorities. It was their warm-hearted assistance that made this Buddhist dutiful assignments successful. Also on this occasion,the Reverend talked about the correlation between preaching the Dharma and building more scenic pagodas in order to preach the Dharma and do good deeds. The talk was an invaluable lesson to help Buddhists make good progress on the path of communicating Buddhism and doing good deeds, which presents the virtue of “a Buddha’s commissioners”.

After the talk, all the monks and Buddhists present started the chanting rituals to have a successful roof topping ceremony.

The ceremony ended up with satisfaction when monks and Buddhists released balloons and pigeons for the wish of peace.

Below are the photos recorded:

Translated into English by Thanh Nguyen.