South Africans impressed by Lunar New Year atmosphere at Africa's largest Buddhist temple

Since the morning of February 11 (the second day of the Lunar New Year), thousands of people in South Africa have flocked to Nam Hoa Temple, located 50 km from the capital Pretoria, to attend the annual cultural festival to celebrate the New Year of the Dragon 2024.

Nam Hoa Temple, located in Gauteng province, 50km from South Africa's administrative capital Pretoria, is the largest Buddhist temple and monastery in Africa. (Source: VNA)

This is the largest Buddhist temple and monastery in Africa and is also one of the few places in South Africa that holds festivals on the occasion of Lunar New Year.

Here, visitors can enjoy many performances and presentations imbued with Asian culture such as dragon dance, lion dance, listen to the deafening sound of firecrackers celebrating the New Year, experience offering incense, candles to Buddha or write wishes for the New Year and throw them on a lucky bridge...

To welcome the New Year, the temple is beautifully decorated with traditional symbols. The festival program is vibrant, colorful and is attended by many people from different cultures.

For many people in South Africa, attending the Lunar New Year festival at Nan Hua Temple is a truly exciting and culturally enriching experience.

At the festival, Mr. Mehdi, a South African, said this was the first time he, his wife and two sons attended a Lunar New Year festival and was surprised to see so many people in South Africa celebrating the New Year.

He said: “We were very impressed with the culture and the food. This was a great festival especially for my children who were born here so they don’t know much about the culture in Asian countries and started to have a lot of questions. They were very curious and this has motivated us to participate more in events like this in the future. On the occasion of the Lunar New Year, I wish everyone in the world to live in peace and always be happy and joyful.”

(according to VNA)

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/nguoi-nam-phi-an-tuong-khong-khi-don-nam-moi-am-lich-tai-ngoi-chua-phat-giao-lon-nhat-chau-phi-260667.html