Well situated in the shadows of Sai Son Mountain, Thay Pagoda lies in a tranquil and beautiful village, which is only around 40km west of Hanoi. The festival, officially held annually on the seventh day of the third lunar month and lasting for at least a week, pays homage to folk hero Tu Dao Hanh.The festival begins with Buddha worshipping and platform running, areligious performance accompanied by traditional music in a solemnatmosphere. Numerous traditional games are played during the festival,the best-known of all the activities is the traditional water puppetshow given on Long Tri pond, in front of the Thuy Dinh Temple. Afterceremonies for Buddha, you can take a hiking trip through the picturesque countryside which characterizes the region.Moreover, this is the time for you to enjoy hearing many famous legendsthat enrich the traditional value of this beautiful region.

The legend behind…

Thefestival takes place in the elaborate pagoda said to be built on theashes of a Vietnamese folk hero and is especially famous for theperformances of traditional water puppetry. It is said that Tu Dao Hanh was a Buddhist monk during the rule of the Ly Dynasty (1010-1225 A.D). Leading a religious life and dying in this very pagoda, hehad outstanding merits to the the religion popularization, illnesstreatment, and water puppetry creation. According to the legend, whatmakes him mysteriously sainted is that  at the end of his life, the Buddhist monksat in meditation for several months without food and drink and died inthat posture. Thereafter, the people put his withered corpse in thebuilding of the Genius for the purpose of worship.

Let’s enjoy the festival!

Severaldays prior to the festival, Buddhist followers and pilgrims here andthere flock to the pagoda, further adding to the boisterous atmosphereof the festival. The Pagoda is cleaned with scented incenses, glistening lighted candles, bringing about a charming scene.  (Venue)Manycultural games and art performances are held during the festival,including Tu Dao Hanh's statue bathing, incense sticks presenting,tablets escorting procession, Cheo (popular opera) performance, chessgames, water puppet shows, recital of the feats of Tu Dao Hanh and soon. In particular, you have a great chance to enjoy a water puppetryshow portraying the tales of Thach Sanh and Tam Cam, culturalactivities and features of rural life such as farm work, duck tendingand wrestling.

TheThay Pagoda festival is actually a joint festival of four villages(Thuy Khe, Da Phuc, Khanh Tan and Sai Khe). Although this area hasnumerous pagodas, the festival is held mainly in Thay Pagoda, whichcomprises three buildings: ante-chamber, Buddha's Building and Buildingof the Genius. The statue bathing ritualtakes place before the opening of the festival. Buddhist monks and thepeople participate in the ritual. Pieces of red cloth are used to cleanthe statues. Those who stand around solemnly hold their hands in frontof their chests, whispering Buddhist sutras. When the ritual ends, theholy water the Buddha bestows will be scattered all over the pagoda towish for bumper crops and prosperous life. The cloths are also torninto smaller pieces to grant attendants as they are thought to have thepower of warding off the evils.

Thetwo most noteworthy events and distinctive features of the festival arethe procession of the tablets and the water puppet show. The processionof Tu Dao Hanh’s worshipping tablet takes place on the 7th day of thethird lunar month. The local population believes that Tu Dao Hanh firstlearned supernatural powers and became a genius, and later on, embracedBuddhism. Therefore, at the start of the procession, his tablets mustbe wrapped in a piece of yellow cloth (the colour of the robes worn bypriests endowed with supernatural powers) and, on the return trip thesame tablets should be wrapped in the brown frock of a Buddhist monk.During the procession, Buddhist nuns take a walk  recountingthe feats of Tu Dao Hanh, first in learning supernatural magic and thenin leading a religious Buddhist life. Noteworthy is that in theprocession the tablet and white horse of Da Phuc must go ahead those ofthe Thuy Khue. Normally the procession comes to the pagoda at twilight.This timing is considered as propitious as it is the time when nighttakes over from day, when darkness and night come into contact witheach other.

Amongfascinating games in Thay Pagoda Festival, water puppetry seems to bethe most outstanding. The game is the second noteworthy item, atraditional cultural activity related to wet paddy cultivation in theRed River Delta. It is performed in front of the pagoda, on a pondcalled Long Tri. Tu Dao Hanh is said to be the founder of this artisticperformance. This item comprises two basic components: puppets andwater. The puppets are products of traditional popular wood sculpturesand lacquer painting. The place for the puppet performance is a lake ora part of the river. With its fluid nature and reflections, water canmirror efficiently the numerous changes in the colour of the sky, themountains, trees and leaves and give a mythical air to the performance.The artists must usually stay inside the water and direct the movementof the puppet through sticks and strings connected. The water puppetshows reflect productive activities - paddy cultivation, duck breeding,fishing, cloth weaving, etc. The shows also draw from folk or classicaltheatrical plays. Apart from the water puppetry, you'll catch fireworkspectaculars (mostly bangers), folk singers crooning into microphonesand sporting events such as mountain-climbing and rowing.

TheThay Pagoda festival is attractive to many visitors because of the mythsurrounding Monk Tu Dao Hanh and his feats, the beautiful scenery andthe water puppet shows. They fill the spectators with surprise andpleasure, who also pride in the rich imagination and dexterity of theperformers who create in this art. Going to Thay Pagoda Festival isreally worth, pilgrims will have an opportunity to revere the relicsimbued with the imprints of outstanding monks and men of the past.