Attending Ullumbana Ceremony at Co Am Pagoda – Nghe An

In response to the invitation of Junior Venerable Thich Tam Thanh, in the morning of August 3rd, 2014 (on July 8th , Horse Year), Senior Venerable Thich Chan Tinh came to witness the Ullumbana ceremony and ceremony of casting a copper bell at Co Am pagoda – Dien Minh village – Dien Chau district – Nghe An province.

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Not only has the Ullumbana become an important ceremony of\r\nBuddhism but also people everywhere. So, in Ullumbana  yearly, all\r\ncome to pagoda for attending the  ceremony to be pinned a rose\r\ndespite red, white or pink color to memorize parents ’s deeds. At Co Am\r\npagoda, in this Vu Lan festival, thousands of people also arrive at pagoda to\r\nattend the ceremony. In early morning, Buddhists come to pagoda in a bustle.

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 It is on this land last winter that the Senior\r\nVenerable came to witness the ceremony of appointing and groundbreaking Co Am\r\npagoda, which was a covered field previously. However, nearly one year,\r\nthe works have been in progress gradually. On the purpose of making favorable\r\ncondition for Buddhists ’s attending in Ullumbana Ceremony, Junior Venerable\r\nThich Tam Thanh must complete the coarse ground floor of lecture hall\r\nquickly. Although the pagoda has not been finished yet, on this Ullumbana\r\nseason, a large number of Buddhists attended the ceremony in that\r\nright hall.

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We usually hear the saying: “building a pagoda, sculpting a\r\nstatue, casting a bell…” Almost three things always need to be done together.\r\nTherefore, when the pagoda has been building, it’s time to think about\r\nsculpting statues and casting bells. For this reason, on this Ullumbana\r\nopportunity, Co Am pagoda started to cast a bell with the weight of 1000 kilos\r\nthank to the donation of Buddhist Vu Thi Minh family and other Buddhists.

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 On witnessing the ceremony, Senior Venerable Thich\r\nChan Tinh praised Dharma learning spirit of Buddhists here. The Senior\r\nVenerable advised that everyone should complete Co Am pagoda together. At the\r\nsame time, he recommended that they should practice diligently and keep five\r\nprecepts as a basis to become a right Buddhist.

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 After ending the Ullumbana Ceremony, a praying\r\nceremony of casting a great bell was carried out, attended by the Venerables\r\nand over 7000 present Buddhists.

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 In the evening, the Senior Venerable witnessed and\r\ntransferred the taking Triratna refuge and Five precepts to almost 1000\r\nBuddhists. With favor of the weather, the Ullumbana ceremony and ceremony of\r\ncasting a great bell were taken place smoothly in the morning, but in the\r\nceremony of taking refuge, the bad weather affected the transmission of\r\nTriratna Refuge a lot.

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How bad the weather was, after this great ceremony, the\r\nBuddhists will always believe and desire that the pagoda will soon be finished\r\nfor perfect oncoming ceremonies.

Here are the photos taken:

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