Tay Thien festival attracts visitors

The 2015 Tay Thien Festival, a large festival in the north, kicked off on April 3 (the fifteenth day of the second lunar month) in Dai Dinh Commune, Tam Dao District, Vinh Phuc Province, attracting a large number of visitors.

The festival is held annually to worship Mother Lang Thi Tieu, a Hung Queen, who helped the king defeat invaders and taught the people how to grow rice and make handicrafts.

At the festival, visitors can witness the beauty of the Tay Thien complex and feel the tranquility, poetry and holiness in the air of the imposing landscape of the Tam Dao mountain range—mantled by clouds, wind and fog, and blanketed in colourful and fragrant flowers.

The Tay Thien Festival opens at the Truc Lam (Bamboo Forest) Tay Thien Zen Monastery, one the most impressive and peaceful monasteries in Viet Nam.

Tay Thien is considered the birthplace of Vietnamese Buddhism. A Buddhist monk from India came to this spot in the 3rd century BCE and chose the mountain as the spot from which to spread the religion.

According to Pham Quang Nguyen, who is Chairman of the People's Committee of Tam Dao District, Vinh Phuc Province directed Tam Dao District to prepare infrastructure, and ensure safety and security for visitors.