Thay Pagoda Festival

The Thay Pagoda Festival is held right at Thay Pagoda – a pagoda nestled at the foot of Phat Tich Mountain, Quoc Oai Commune, Hanoi. 

The Thay Pagoda Festival is a major festival held from the 3rd to the 7th day of the 3rd lunar month every year. This festival attracts many people to explore the cultural features of the region.

Thay Pagoda is the place of worship for Master Tu Dao Hanh and his three lives. He is a monk, a Buddha, and a king, and is regarded by the people as the founder of Vietnamese water puppet art.

For the people around the Doai region, from old to young, all know the mysterious legend of Zen Master Tu Dao Hanh, who healed illnesses and taught the villagers. He taught culture, shuttlecock kicking, wrestling, water puppetry… hence the people admired his talent and virtue. People come to Thay Pagoda festival for different purposes: to pray for love, luck, wealth, and some come to enjoy the scenery here.

Ceremonial part

The Moc Duc ceremony, also known as the statue bathing ceremony, takes place every year on the morning of the 5th day of the third lunar month; villagers and pagoda staff prepare fragrant water and new towels to conduct the ritual. The water for bathing the statue is rainwater boiled with five kinds of fragrant leaves. Joining the statue bathing ceremony with the abbot are 12 village elders. To be selected for this ritual, the elders must be people of good morality, trustworthy, respected by the villagers, with happy families, and although elderly, mentally lucid. The ceremony takes place in a solemn and orderly atmosphere under the witness of pilgrims and villagers. 

The ceremony of welcoming the ancestral tablet and the An Vi offering: Following the ritual part is the procession of the tablet of Saint Tu Dao from the Saint's Hall down to Trung Pagoda so that the Saint can witness the rituals taking place during the three days of the festival. The ritual begins with a sutra reading in the village amid swirling incense smoke. After reading the permission sutra, the monk and the elders proceed to bathe the statue. The statue is carefully and thoroughly washed with fragrant water and dressed in new clothes. All activities take place solemnly and reverently; the saint's tablet is carefully carried along the path down, lined by elders wearing rosaries and holding banners, and the tablet is escorted to its resting place at Trung Pagoda. 

The offering ceremony and procession: The 7th day of the third lunar month is considered the main day of the festival, called the great offering. On this day, the four village communal houses go to Thay Pagoda to pay respects; at the head of the procession are flag bearers, followed by ritual officials, and finally the five-direction flags, halberds, gongs, and drums. The palanquins of the four villages gather in the pagoda courtyard to perform the offering ceremony, starting from Thay Pagoda to Thieing Hill.

The villages bring the offerings to the shrine for the monk, leaving the abbot to oversee and perform the rituals for the Saint. At this time, the Saint's yellow robe is replaced with a Buddhist cassock. The people call this robe-changing scene “from God to Buddha” to recreate the cultivation process of Saint Tu, who first practiced as an immortal and later attained enlightenment as a Buddha. 

When the procession reaches the territory of a village, that village performs a ceremony to stop the saint's palanquin to congratulate and pray that the Saint will protect and bless the villagers.

Festive part

The festive part takes place in parallel with the ceremonial part. The large grass field in front of the pagoda recreates many folk games such as wrestling, shuttlecock kicking… or mountain climbing to enjoy the scenery and entering Cac Co Cave.

Puppet performance festival

Zen Master Tu Dao Hanh is the founder of water puppet art, so Thay Pagoda is also considered the cradle of water puppet art. During the festival, the Thuy Dinh pavilion is brightly decorated with cloth panels printed with dragon, unicorn, turtle, and phoenix motifs. The water puppet festival is held at Thuy Dinh as an underwater game. In fact, many water puppet performances have been seen, but nowhere is it as unique as the puppetry at Thay Pagoda. Images of the countryside and everyday life of the people seem to be miniaturized and brought to life on the water surface. The puppet acts are skillfully performed by artisans with the harmonious combination of music and singing, making the puppets seem to be given souls and creating appeal for viewers. The water puppet performance has a strange attraction that contributes to making the festival lively.