Work on the casting of a bell in celebration of the 1,000th founding anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi began at Quang An Pagoda in Hanoi’s outlying district of Thanh Tri on May 27. Once completed, the bell will have a diameter of 2.5m and a height of 3.5m and weigh 7 tonnes.
The Thang Long-Hoang Thanh bell is one of the four sacred implements used in worship to safeguard the Thang Long citadel and the land of Vietnam.
According to Superior Bonze Thich Minh Tri, head of Quang An Pagoda, the bell will start ringing at 10:10’10†on October 10, 2010, the day marking Hanoi’s millennial founding anniversary.
The same day, a ceremony was held in the pagoda to celebrate the 2554th anniversary of Lord Buddha’s birthday. A message on Lord Buddha’s birth anniversary by the Patriarch of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha’s Patronage Council was read in the event.