The ceremony was attended by representatives of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, provincial authorities and thousands of Buddhist monks, nuns and pilgrims.

The typical Vietnamese pagoda, located on the peak of 1,068m-high Yen Tu Mount, has a main hall and two outhouses, 16 columns and two fish scale-arranged roofs. It has about 3,500 details arranged in a way that a wood pagoda is built, with a total weight of 70 tonnes.

“This is the first pagoda cast in pure bronze, which strongly represents the spiritual culture of Vietnamese people," said Venerable Thich Thanh Quyet, deputy head of the managing board of the Quang Ninh provincial Buddhist chapter.

On the eve of January 30, the provincial Buddhist chapter organised several rituals in the lead up to the main ceremony.

The bronze cast pagoda, built during the Tran Dynasty in the 13th century, was damaged more than 60 years ago. Restoration work cost VND21 billion contributed by local people and pilgrims, according to the provincial Buddhist chapter.  

The old pagoda was made from 1.3 tonnes of bronze and covered an area of nearly 3 square metres.