The world’s largest sandstone statue of Maitreya Buddha was officially sanctified on Ba Den Mountain in Tay Ninh Province on January 28.
The sanctification ceremony for the great Maitreya Buddha statue was the most sizable spiritual, cultural event that had been held on Ba Den Mountain. The organizers were quoted by tuoitre.vn as saying that more than 500 Buddhist monks and nuns, as well as thousands of Buddhists and tourists from all over the world attended the event. On this occasion, about 20,000 flower lanterns with written wishes of Buddhists and visitors were lit up on the mountain.
The great sandstone statue of Maitreya Buddha, situated at an altitude of 900m on Ba Den Mountain, is 36m tall; the widest part of the statue measures 45m; the surface area of the statue is 4,651m2 ; and it weighs 5,112 tons. The statue was assembled from 6,688 natural sandstone pieces as inspired by the terraced rice fields of the northern region.
In early January, Sun World Ba Den Mountain organized a green day for Buddhists and tourists to take part in tidying up the mountain and sacred places.
Cooking banh tet for tenants
Bui Thi Ben, 58, is the owner of 35 rooms for rent to some 80 workers and students in Tang Nhon Phu A Ward, Thu Duc City, HCMC. On the threshold of the upcoming Tet, Lunar New Year holiday, like many previous years, she began to decorate her house to welcome Tet, and prepared ingredients such as glutinous rice, mung beans, fatty pork, and banana leaves to wrap and cook banh tet (cylindrical sticky rice cakes) as gifts for her tenants.
It took Ben and some women in the neighborhood two days to prepare ingredients and wrap banh tet. Then she and her husband cooked the cakes overnight. When the sticky rice cakes were well done and cooled down, she presented the banh tet to her tenants, two cakes each room.
Ben told nld.com.vn that she left her hometown of Haiphong City for HCMC in 1985. During the social distancing period from May to October 2021 throughout the city because of Covid-19, not only did the kind lessor reduce or even exempt rents to all her tenants, but she also tried to supply food and necessities to them.
A mother gives birth to five children within 13 months
Shortly after having given birth to two sons, Do Thi Tuyen, a 32-year-old resident of Dong Nai Province, was amazed to discover she was pregnant again. Despite the surprise, she successfully gave birth to triplets, making her a special mother who had five children within just over a year.
Tuyen married Nguyen Van Toan in 2016. Diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome, she had to undergo egg stimulation procedures to enhance the chance of conception. The couple welcomed their first twin sons in October 2020. With their twins only three months old, Tuyen was shocked to discover her new pregnancy. Consequently, her first two sons were sent to her parents’ care, allowing her time to rest and ensure her health remained stable.
Due to the risk of miscarriage, she received medical care at a hospital during the 28th week of pregnancy. At the 32nd week of pregnancy, she underwent a cesarean section owing to the high risk of premature birth, reported the VnExpress news site. Under the attentive care of doctors and their families, the three babies remained stable and were discharged from the hospital after half a month.
Traveling throughout Vietnam several times after retirement
After retirement, Bui Duy Linh, 72, who lives in District 7, HCMC, has taken time to ride his motorbike throughout the nation. Over the past 15 years, he has traveled across the country by motorbike six times, all alone or with his friends.
Linh told thanhnien.vn that he made the first trans-Vietnam trip on his motorbike in 2009 after three months of preparation. On this very first journey, he conquered Fansipan Mountain with the help of a tour guide and a porter.
In 2015, Linh made his second trans-Vietnam trip by motorbike. Then he continued to make such long journeys in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021 from his house in District 7 to the northeastern and northwestern regions of the country. He chose different routes for his trips, either along National Highway 1, or coastal roads, or Ho Chi Minh Road. He also took time to visit famous destinations in the central region, and rode his motorbike to most cities and provinces in the Mekong Delta region. Formerly, Linh used to ride an old Honda Wave motorbike for his trips. Since 2018, he has owned a SYM Husky 125cc motorcycle.
