The Truc Lam Yen Tu Buddhist Zen Monastery held a ceremony to break ground for the construction of the Truc Lam Dai Giac Zen Monastery in Sapa town, the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai on May 10.
Event attendees included representatives from the Party Central Committee for Communication and Education, the Government Committee for Religious Affairs, the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, and 7,000 Buddhist monks, nuns and followers across the country.
Covering 2 hectares on Dien Bien Phu Street, the construction of the monastery is scheduled to be completed by May 2017.
Once completed, the monastery will provide a venue for Buddhist monks, nuns, and followers to observe their religion while serving as a spiritual tourist site for pilgrims to Sapa.
On this occasion, the monastery presented a social house cheque worth 150 million VND (6,900 USD) and 200 gifts valued at a combined 200 million VND (9,300 USD) to disadvantaged households, and conducted free medicine distribution in the locality.
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