What to do and how to celebrate the Vu Lan Festival in Vietnam
Whether you are a Buddhist or not, Vu Lan Festival has become a day to honor your parents and ancestors, as well as a reason to meet as a family and spend time together.
There are several ceremonies to be performed at home, at pagodas, at the cemetery of their forefathers, and at night for the Vietnamese people who practice more traditional forms of celebration.
Ceremonies At Home
A platter laden with fruits, snacks, and foods is placed on the family's ancestral altar at home on the morning of the seventh lunar month celebration. To welcome ancestors back home to enjoy the event with family, incense is burned. The living family will meet to pray and have lunch together, which is usually vegetarian.
Ceremonies At the Pagodas
Pagodas all around the nation are bustling with activity on Vu Lan Festival as Buddhist monks, nuns, and devotees come to pray. Dieu Phap, Hoang Phap, and Vinh Nghiem are three of the most well-liked places of worship in Ho Chi Minh City.
For tourists, the temples frequently conduct a "rose on the shirt" ceremony. If their mother is still alive, a red rose is worn; if she has passed away, a white rose is worn. The rose flower has come to represent love and community among people.
Along with prayers, the Vietnamese often thank their ancestors by giving them gifts such as flowers, fruits, joss paper, sticky rice cakes, and snacks. In the expectation that their loved ones will be able to enjoy these possessions in the hereafter, many people donate phony currency and paper replicas of opulent objects, such as clothing, bags, air conditioners, even villas, and cars.
The monks frequently give lectures to guests in which they counsel those present on their duties to their parents as children and how to honor them regardless of whether they are still alive or have died away.
During the Vu Lan Festival, foreigners are also welcome to visit the temples and take part in the festivities.
Visiting Cemeteries
During the Vu Lan Festival, some people would also visit their ancestors' graves. The graves will be cleaned and maintained as part of the event, and people will pray and present gifts to the deceased.
Ceremonies At Night
A lantern-releasing event takes place along the rivers in several parts of the country, most notably in Hoi An. These lanterns are designed to look like lotus blossoms.
Once lighted, the Vietnamese make wishes for their parents and release the lanterns into the river, believing that the steam from the river will carry the wishes made with it. It's a fantastically dazzling sight to behold.
