Vu Lan Festival is a sacred occasion honoring filial piety, celebrated solemnly on the full moon of the seventh lunar month. The festival carries profound meanings of maternal love and gratitude. In this article, Yen Tu Tung Lam will join you in exploring the origin and significance of Vu Lan Festival 2025, preserving beautiful traditional values.

1. What is Vu Lan Filial Piety Festival?

Vu Lan Festival is one of the most significant holidays in Buddhism, held annually on the full moon of the seventh lunar month. This is a special time to remember and show gratitude for the immense contributions of parents and ancestors. Vu Lan is not merely a religious ritual but also an occasion for everyone to express their filial devotion to parents and share with those around them.

2. When Does Vu Lan Filial Piety Festival Take Place in 2025?

Vu Lan Festival is always celebrated on the full moon day of the 7th lunar month (15th day of the 7th lunar month). When converted to the Gregorian calendar, this period usually falls between mid to late August, or early September.

In 2024, Vu Lan Festival took place on Sunday, August 18, 2024 (which was the 15th day of the 7th lunar month).

>>> See more: Explore Yen Tu Festival: Origin, Meaning, and 3 Parts of the Festival

3. What is the Origin and Significance of Vu Lan Festival?

Let’s explore the origin and significance of this sacred holiday.

3.1. Origin of Vu Lan Filial Piety Festival

Vu Lan Festival originates from the story of Bodhisattva Mục Kiền Liên (Maudgalyayana), one of the Buddha’s ten most prominent disciples. According to the “Vu Lan Bon” sutra, after attaining enlightenment, he discovered his mother suffering in the realm of hungry ghosts. When he tried to offer food to his mother, the food turned into fire due to her heavy karma.

The Buddha taught that only through the combined efforts of the Sangha, after three months of summer retreat and sincere prayers, could his mother be liberated from suffering. On the full moon of the seventh month, Venerable Mục Kiền Liên followed the Buddha’s teachings, and his mother was freed. From then on, Vu Lan Festival was born.

3.2. Meaning of the Festival

Vu Lan Festival is an important Buddhist holiday where people visit pagodas to pray for the deceased, light incense, and perform rituals to express gratitude and filial piety.

On this day, those whose parents are still alive often return home to visit their families, express gratitude, and share affection. It is also an opportunity for everyone to remember the love of their parents and treat them well.

Vu Lan Festival also carries a social meaning in caring for the elderly, people with disabilities, and those in difficult circumstances, demonstrating empathy and sharing.

4. Guide to Vu Lan Filial Piety Rituals

Here’s how to perform the solemn and meaningful Vu Lan ritual.

4.1. Vu Lan Filial Piety Offering Tray

In Vu Lan Festival, the most important thing is sincerity, not necessarily an elaborate feast. Typically, Vu Lan offerings include:

 
• Thin porridge, white rice, sticky rice, various sweet soups

 

• Rice, salt, popcorn

 

• Boiled sweet potatoes, boiled taro

 

• Fruits, cakes

 

• Betel and areca, cigarettes

 

• Incense, flowers, votive clothes

4.2. Order of Vu Lan Offering Ceremony

The order of Vu Lan Festival offerings is performed as follows:

Offering to Buddha: Prepare a vegetarian meal or a five-fruit tray, recite the Vu Lan Sutra.

Offering to Deities: Offerings include a whole boiled chicken or sticky rice, banh chung, wine, fresh fruits, fresh flowers, and tea.

Offering to Ancestors: Prepare a meal (savory or vegetarian), offer votive money and items like clothes, shoes.

Offering to Wandering Souls (Chung Sinh): Performed outdoors, the offering tray includes rice and salt, fruits, thin porridge, rock sugar, clothes, popcorn, candies, votive money, water, incense, candles, and simple food.

4.3. Vu Lan Offering Prayer Text

5. Things Children Should Do on Vu Lan Festival Day

5.1. Eat Meals with Parents

In today’s busy life, family meals are more precious than ever, especially during the Vu Lan season of filial piety. When children return from afar, gathering around the family meal is not just a time to share food but also an opportunity to express deep affection.

Every dish on the table carries the flavor of kinship, every story told strengthens the bond. No matter how busy work may be, dedicate this precious time to create beautiful memories with loved ones, especially parents – those who have dedicated their entire lives to their children.

5.2. Visit Pagodas to Pray for Parents’ Health and Peace

Vu Lan Day is a sacred occasion to express gratitude in Vietnamese Buddhist culture. Visiting pagodas to pray for parents’ health is a beautiful tradition, demonstrating profound respect.

The roses pinned to clothes – red for those who still have both parents, white for those who have lost their mother – are symbols that remind us of the immense nurturing efforts. This sacred moment is also expressed through radiant floating lanterns at night, carrying sincere prayers for peace and happiness, creating a tranquil and meaningful spiritual space.

5.3. Prepare an Offering Meal for Vu Lan Filial Piety Festival

One of the important activities during Vu Lan Festival is preparing an offering meal for grandparents and ancestors. Families often prepare favorite dishes of the deceased, such as fish, meat, vegetables, fruits, sweets, wine… If the family follows Buddhism, the offering tray can be vegetarian, without meat or fish. The offering tray also includes items such as bowls, plates, lamps, incense, demonstrating reverence and prayers for ancestors to rest in peace.

In addition to the offering tray for grandparents and ancestors, during Vu Lan Festival there is also an outdoor offering called “cúng chúng sinh” (offering to wandering souls). This offering tray is for homeless spirits, lonely souls, and ghosts. The person performing the offering will place the tray in a cool, clean, smoke-free area, inviting the spirits to partake, and praying for the peaceful rest and enlightenment of the departed souls.

>>> See more: Emperor-Buddha Tran Nhan Tong Yen Tu – Life, Practice & Legacy

6. Related Questions about Vu Lan Festival

Here are some frequently asked questions related to Vu Lan Festival and useful information to help you better understand this meaningful holiday.

6.1. Why Wear Roses on Your Clothes on Vu Lan Festival Day?

On Vu Lan Festival day, pinning a rose to one’s chest is a beautiful ritual to express reverence for parents and ancestors.

When you wear a red rose, you feel fortunate to “still have both father and mother in this world.” If you only have your mother and your father has passed away, a pink rose will be pinned to your chest. And if, unfortunately, you have lost both parents, you will receive a white rose.

The rose on our chest will remind us to live slower, love more, cherish what we have, and repay the boundless gratitude to our birth-givers.

6.2. What Gifts Should Be Given to Parents?

During Vu Lan Filial Piety Festival, giving gifts to parents is a way for children to express their affection and gratitude. Here are some suggestions for meaningful gifts for parents:

 
• Nutritional supplements: “Healthy parents are our daily joy” – with this spirit, give your parents nutritional supplements such as calcium-rich milk powder for strong bones, or bird’s nest to provide valuable nutrients for health.

 

• Health support devices: Elderly people often have blood pressure issues, so a blood pressure monitor will help parents monitor their health at home. Or a hand and foot massager, or full-body massager, will help parents relax and reduce common joint pains in old age.

 

• A new set of clothes: Personally choosing clothes suitable for parents’ age and preferences is a way for children to show care and thoughtfulness.

 

• A home-cooked meal: No gift is as precious as time and effort. A home-cooked meal with full nutrition from fresh vegetables, meat, and fish will be a meaningful gift on Vu Lan Festival.

Above all, the most precious gift is the time, attention, and sincere affection that children give to their parents. Take time to be by their side, listen, and share with your birth-givers on this special holiday.

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• Top 6 most standard prayers for visiting Yen Tu Pagoda

Vu Lan Festival is an occasion for every child to express gratitude to parents and ancestors. Through meaningful rituals, the festival evokes profound humanitarian values. Yen Tu Tung Lam hopes you will find peace and family connection in the atmosphere of Vu Lan Festival 2025.