News » Headlines
Statue defiled at legendary festival
  • | dtinews.vn | February 14, 2011 11:42 AM

>> Saint Giong Festival passes UNESCO’s first round

>> Ceremony welcomes UNESCO\'s recognition of St. Giong festival

The Saint Giong Statue was vandalised at the Soc Temple festival, the very festival it was made to honour.

The statue is one of major works inaugurated to mark the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

The festivals at Phu Dong and Soc Temples have been added to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list. And even though the people of Soc Son District are proud of the statue that has been built there, it was scratched up and written on during this year’s festival.

The rear of the statue has been covered in graffiti, much of it crude, which has been carved into the stone. Nearby rocks got the same disrespectful treatment.

Also nearby are 1,000 pine trees, each planted, in October 2010, in honor of an outstanding entrepreneur, for the occasion of Hanoi’s millennium celebration. The list of business people were selected by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry. But the trees have begun to wilt and die, giving the entire site a neglected look.

Adding to the unpleasant air of the place are two rows of bamboo beside the statue that have died, revealing a system of pipes and valves, which they were meant to cover up

Vice Chairman of People’s Committee of Soc Son District said, “Tourists wrote on the statue to leave their marks on it”, adding that the authorities will deal with the situation.

A vantage from the foot of the statue

Nearby rocks got the same disrespectful treatment

Sad looking trees

Leave your comment on this story