Opening Ceremony of the Cultural Week "Buddhism in Nghe An Accompanying the Nation"

(Baonghean.vn) -On the afternoon of August 12, 2012, at the Labor Culture House in Vinh City, the Central Culture Committee of the Vietnam Buddhist Association and the Buddhist Executive Board of Nghe An province organized the opening ceremony of the "Nghe An Buddhism Accompanying the Nation" Cultural Week.

Attending the ceremony, on behalf of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha were Venerable Thich Thien Duyen - member of the Central Council of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, Venerable Thich Thanh Nhieu - Standing Vice Chairman of the Central Executive Council of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha - Head of the Buddhist Executive Board of Nghe An province, and representatives of other venerable monks and members of the Central Executive Council of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha. On the central level were Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh - Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front; Major General Le Dinh Luyen - Director of the Social Security Department - Ministry of Public Security; and Nguyen Quoc Tuan - Director of the Institute of Religious Studies - Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences. On the provincial leadership side were Mr. Thai Van Hang - Member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, representatives of the Fatherland Front, various departments and agencies, along with a large number of monks, nuns, and Buddhist followers from within and outside the province.



Comrade Thai Van Hang - Member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, delivered a speech at the ceremony.



On behalf of the Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial People's Committee, and the Provincial Fatherland Front Committee, Comrade Thai Van Hang presented a beautiful bouquet of flowers to the Organizing Committee of the Buddhist Culture Week.



The venerable monks and nuns perform a ritual before the official ceremony begins.



Buddhists view the photo exhibition "Vietnamese Temples".

The Buddhist Culture Week, themed "Buddhism in Nghe An Accompanying the Nation," organized jointly by the Central Culture Committee of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, the Nghe An Provincial Buddhist Association, and the Institute of Religious Studies, will take place from today, August 12th, to August 18th, 2012. This is one of the cultural activities leading up to the 7th National Buddhist Congress in Hanoi. The Nghe An Buddhist Culture Week is the largest ever held, featuring a variety of activities such as presentations, lectures, scientific seminars, film screenings, art photography exhibitions, a lantern festival praying for national peace and prosperity, a vegetarian food festival, the Vu Lan filial piety festival, scholarship awards for diligent students, and sightseeing tours.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Comrade Thai Van Hang – Member of the Standing Committee and Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee – highly appreciated the preparation, purpose, significance, and importance of the Buddhist Culture Week. He also affirmed the attention of the Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial People's Committee, and the Provincial Fatherland Front Committee to the development of Buddhism in recent years, especially in creating conditions for the restoration of temples and ensuring that the religious activities of the people take place smoothly, in accordance with the constitution and laws, and in line with the development trends of the new era.

Following the opening ceremony of the Buddhist Culture Week, the "Vietnamese Temples" photo exhibition, featuring 108 photographs by photographers nationwide, was inaugurated, marking the beginning of a series of activities for the "Buddhist Culture Week" in Nghe An.

Thanh Thuy