Many violations around Phuc Khanh pagoda area
To pray for peace and luck for his family at the beginning of the year, Mr. Bui Tien Sy (name changed) traveled from Hoa Binh province to Phuc Khanh pagoda (Dong Da, Hanoi) to worship at the pagoda. Right from the entrance, Mr. Sy paid 100,000 VND for parking his car according to the instructions of the locals who introduced him as a car parking business around the pagoda.
"I went from Yen Thuy district (Hoa Binh) to Phuc Khanh pagoda at 10 am. As soon as I arrived at the pagoda gate, many people waved at me and instructed me to park my car right on the roadside. The parking fee here is 100,000 VND. These people told me not to leave my car for more than 2 hours even though the parking lot did not have a stop sign according to regulations," said Mr. Sy.
Not only did he have to pay a high price to park his car at an unlicensed parking lot, Mr. Sy said that as soon as he entered the temple gate, many people tried to persuade him to buy small change at a high price and then instructed him to put the money in a ritual to pray for good luck.
"The vendors outside the temple gate guided me to buy offerings and advertised selling small change with a fee of 30% for 1,000 VND denominations and 20% for 2,000 VND denominations. Then they guided me into the temple yard to register for a star offering ceremony to ward off bad luck and pray for peace for my family. At the beginning of the year, everyone goes to the temple with a happy and joyful mentality, but in my opinion, taking advantage of that to make money at a spiritual place is not right at all," said Mr. Sy.
Publicly announce the price of collecting money for offering stars to dispel bad luck
Coming to Phuc Khanh Pagoda as a tourist going to the pagoda at the beginning of the year, the reporter witnessed the activity of collecting fees for offering stars to ward off bad luck taking place here.
To make an offering to dispel bad luck, first the person in need will have to move to the temple yard, where there are many tables prepared by the temple with people instructing how to see good and bad stars to fill out a paper prepared by the temple.
"If you want to see your fortune, you must first read this horoscope book, look at your year of birth, for example, if you were born in 1994 - Giap Tuat, you will be 32 years old this year. From the age column, look at the horoscope table to see what star you will encounter this year, then bring it inside the house to pay. You fill in the names and stars of all the people in your family here," a middle-aged woman sitting at the information desk told the reporter.
After filling in all the information, we continued to the table to pay the money for the star-dispelling ceremony inside the temple as instructed. Here, Ms. Dinh Thi Hien - Nam Tu Liem, Hanoi (name has been changed) is being guided to pay the costs for the star-dispelling ceremony and pray for peace for her family.
"My family has 3 people, 2 of whom have bad stars, La Hau and Ke Do. The cost to resolve each bad star is 150,000 VND, and the fee to pray for peace for the family is 100,000 VND. I paid a total of 400,000 VND at the temple today," Ms. Hien informed.
When it was the reporter's turn, after lining up to wait for the previous people to pay, we were instructed by two women sitting at two tables: "In your family of four, one person has a bad star, the cost to get rid of the bad star is 150,000 VND, and the cost to pray for the safety of the whole family is 100,000 VND, which is 250,000 VND. Please take the change here and put it in the other box for me," the woman sitting at the cashier's table instructed the reporter.
Speaking to Lao Dong, Venerable Thich Minh Duc - representative of Phuc Khanh Pagoda said that collecting money to offer stars to dispel bad luck is a habit at the pagoda, not a price set by the pagoda. Reporters need to be flexible because the money to dispel bad luck as reported is to dispel bad luck for 13 months.
"The ceremony to pray for peace at Phuc Khanh pagoda is up to you. The pagoda does not have a price. The nuns collect it like that, I know, but maybe it's just people. The pagoda is the same as every year. The pagoda offers this ceremony for the whole year, so you have to be flexible. This leap year has 13 months, and the money for oil, lamps, and paper offerings is for 13 months," Mr. Thich Minh Duc informed.
Problems at Huong Pagoda Festival
At the Huong Pagoda festival (My Duc, Hanoi), we also recorded the phenomenon of advertising the sale of wild animal meat and hunting wild birds to sell to tourists who want to release them.
"My restaurant sells a lot of animal meat, but if you want to eat wild meat, there is civet, civet shot on the mountain, the price is 1.5 million VND/kg. If you want to buy fresh meat, the price will be higher, but we will bring it here and perform a show for you.
My house has many leaders from the district to the province coming to eat, the dining room is private, has air conditioning. Coming from Van Dinh to here, I guarantee you will not find a more beautiful restaurant. My house has VIP rooms on the 3rd and 4th floors, ensuring confidentiality and information security", Mr. Q - owner of Q.M restaurant at Huong Pagoda tourist area advertised to PV.
In addition, according to records, around Huong Pagoda, there is also the phenomenon of hunting wild birds with traps to sell to customers who want to release them. Following the instructions of local people, we found the area near Trinh Temple with many flocks of wild birds placed close together like a "heavenly net and earthly net".
“They spread rice along the rice fields, set up traps and sound machines to catch all the birds released by tourists. When the cages are full, the sparrows will continue to be brought back to the selling points inside the festival,” said Mr. Thai (name changed), a local resident.
Speaking to Lao Dong, Mr. Vuong Trong Dao, chairman of Huong Son commune (My Duc district) said that regarding the business of wild animal meat, it is very likely that traders are swapping meat for other animals such as cats and rabbits and then deceiving customers. Regarding the bird traps in the temple area that are being placed indiscriminately, affecting the image of the spiritual place, the authorities will inspect and handle them immediately after receiving feedback.
