The requiem started early in the morning. Thousands of Buddhists participated at the event and listened to the stories about Vu Lan Festival. They also chanted Buddhist mantras and said prayers for the deceased. Vu Lan Festival is often an occasion for people to meditate on their parents.
After the ceremony, a ritual was held to pray for the peace and salvation of the dead. This is ritual often aims to commemorate soldiers who died during the country’s resistance wars and people who died in misery.
Although there are a great number of visitors to the Bai Đinh Pagoda during the Vu Lan Festival, excessive burning of votive papers and offerings are apparently no longer a problem, adding a calmer, better organised Vu Lan Festival.
