Ceremony to receive the decision recognizing 10 statues of sacred animals as the National Treasure at Phat Tich pagoda

26/02/2018 11:17
(BNP) - On February 20th (January 5th in Lunar New year), at Phat Tich pagoda, People's Committee of Tien Du district solemnly held a ceremony to receive the decision recognizing 10 statues of sacred animals as the National Treasure at Phat Tich pagoda.

Secretary of Provincial Party Committee awarded the Decision recognizing 10 statues of sacred animals as the National Treasure to Phat Tich pagoda

Attending the ceremony were Mr. Nguyen The Ky, Member of Party Central Committee, General Director of the Voice of Vietnam; Mr. Nguyen Nhan Chien, Member of Party Central Committee, Secretary of Provincial Party Committee, Head of Provincial Delegation of National Assembly Members; Mr. Nguyen Huu Quat, Standing Deputy Secretary of Provincial Party Committee; Mr. Nguyen Tien Nhuong, Permanent Vice Chairman of Provincial People's Committee; Mr. Nguyen Huu Thanh, Vice Chairman of Provincial People's Committee; the former provincial leaders; members of the Provincial Party Standing Committee; leaders of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, the Provincial Buddhist Sangha; international guests; leaders of Tien Du district and so many local residents and tourists.

According to ancient records, Phat Tich pagoda is an original place of Buddhism in Vietnam. Through nearly 2,000 years of history, Phat Tich has always been the center of Buddhism, culture and education of Vietnamese feudal dynasties. In the reign of King Ly Thanh Tong, in Dinh Dau year (1057), the pagoda was built as an ancient big landscape and constantly being reconstructed on a larger scale, bringing high artistic, architectural values that presented the identities of each feudal period.

In the retained legacy system, the group of 10 sacred animals’ statues is a sculpture holding unique artistic value. It consists of 05 couples of horses, rhinoceros, buffalos, elephants, lions arranged symmetrically in front of the forecourt corridor. These are the original monuments carved in the eleventh century, along with the construction of the pagoda.

At the ceremony, authorized by the Prime Minister, Secretary of Provincial Party Committee Nguyen Nhan Chien awarded the Decision recognizing the statue of the 10 sacred animals at Phat Tich pagoda as a national treasure to the Party, government and people of Tien Du district.  It is the second national treasure of Phat Tich Pagoda after the Amitabha stone statue recognized in 2012, which affirmed the value of material and non-material cultures of the special national relic - Phat Tich pagoda.

On this occasion, the ceremony for praying for national peace and fireworks performance were also took place to welcome the event of recognizing the statue of the 10 sacred animals as national treasures at Phat Tich pagoda.

Along with the Peony watching festival taken place on the 4th day of January in Lunar New year, the other cultural activities at Phat Tich Pagoda’s festival became a special cultural highlight of the spring after Vietnamese Traditional Tet, attracting a large number of local people and visitors.