On the morning of February 28, Tam Chuc Pagoda officially opened the Tam Chuc Spring Festival Binh Ngo 2026 with the theme "Dawn of the Buddhist realm - Tam Chuc Spring Opening".
In the sacred atmosphere of the opening day of the Tam Chuc mountain and water region, the most prominent is the unique water procession ritual. The procession consists of dozens of boats, including two dragon boats leading straight to the position where the Neu tree is placed in the middle of the lake, near the ancient Tam Chuc communal house. The procession goes around the Neu tree, then performs the water asking ceremony.
This year, the organizers arranged more than 300 large and small boats and trams carrying more than 2,000 tourists and Buddhists to participate in the water procession. People and tourists line up to board the boat. The boat procession departed from Thuy Dinh wharf to the middle of Tam Chuc lake to get sacred water, then moved, docked at Tam Quan Noi wharf to transfer water to 3 water trucks and proceeded with the water procession ceremony to Tam The Palace and Ngoc Pagoda.
After performing the rituals, sacred water is put on a procession truck weighing nearly 1 ton, carried to Tam The Palace and Ngoc Pagoda. The water procession trucks do not use engines at all, so about 30 healthy people are needed to coordinate pushing and pulling.
Each vehicle has about 30 healthy people coordinating smoothly, some pulling in front, some pushing behind, gradually bringing the water palanquin forward. The water procession will travel a distance of more than 1km, overcoming many steep slopes to bring the water procession vehicle to the Tam The Palace yard.
As a member participating in pulling the water carriage, Mr. Truong Anh Tuan (24 years old, Tam Chuc ward) shared: "The water carriage is very heavy, every meter of movement is a moment we put our strength together. Although the water carriage is very heavy, we have to strain ourselves to pull it along a long distance with many steep slopes, but everyone maintains a cheerful and happy spirit. Being able to directly participate in this sacred ritual, I feel very proud and meaningful.
A large number of people and tourists from all directions were present to immerse themselves in the procession. Many people took the opportunity to capture impressive moments at the sacred water procession ceremony in the majestic mountain space.
