Home > Vietnam > Vietnam Travel News > Hero memorialised in bronze |
Hero memorialised in bronze
The Viet Nam Buddhist Sangha and Ha Noi municipal authorities began casting a statue of legendary hero Giong on Monday in Phu Linh Commune in Ha Noi’s Soc Son District.
The Viet Nam Buddhist Sangha and Ha Noi municipal
authorities began casting a statue of legendary hero Giong on Monday in Phu Linh
Commune in Ha Noi’s Soc Son District.
The 11.7m-high and 13.5m-wide bronze statue, weighing 85 tonnes, is an image of
Giong ascending to heaven on his iron horse after defeating northern invaders.
The statue is being constructed of 77 tonnes of bronze, four tonnes of tin and
four of tonnes of lead, plus gold added by pilgrims who attended the casting
ceremony.
Legend has it that the three-year-old Giong, born after his mother tried to fit
her feet in the footprints of a giant, suddenly grew into a giant when invaders
attacked the country. He asked the king for an iron horse and promptly chased
the enemy out of the country with a sword and groves of bamboo. Once they were
defeated, he and his horse flew into the sky from Soc Mountain in Soc Son
District.
The statue, by sculptor Kim Xuan will be placed on Da Chong, the highest peak of
Soc Mountain.
Artisan Vu Duy Thuan, one of the casters, said the casting was far more
difficult than other statues. Placed on the peak, the statue would suffer the
power of winds and storms, he said, requiring casters to work accurately to
ensure the statue’s safety and durability.
The statue was of great spiritual significance as it would help teach younger
generations about the nation’s traditions of patriotism and defence, said Most
Venerable Thich Thanh Quyet, a member of the Buddish Sangha Executive Council
Standing Committee and head of the project’s management board.
To be built with donations at a cost of up to VND50 billion (US$2.8 million),
the statue is a major project to celebrate the millennial anniversary of capital
Ha Noi in 2010. It’s expected that parts of the statue will be carried to Da
Chong during the twelfth lunar month, with the erection of the statue to be
finished on the occasion of next year’s Giong Festival.
The Giong Festival has been nominated to UNESCO for designation as the world’s
intangible heritage. The festival depicts the patriotic ardor and love for
freedom of the Vietnamese people and expresses their earnest gratitude for their
national heroes. It intermingles a sincere devotion to the motherland with an
earnest effort to preserve the nation’s cultural legacy.
The festival is celebrated on the ninth day of the fourth month of the lunar
calendar.
Source: VietNamNet/Viet Nam News |
High Quality Tour Service:
Roy, Spain
Fransesca, Netherlands
A member of Vietnam Travel Promotion Group (VTP Group)
Address: Room 509, 15T2 Building, 18 Tam Trinh Str., Hai Ba Trung District, Hanoi, Vietnam (See map)
Tel: +84.24.62768866 / mail[at]tuanlinhtravel.com
Visited: 1967