Not only eating vegetarian cooking on the Vesak Day or Buddha’s birthday (May 16), many people in HCM City decide to take vegetarian in the entire fourth lunar month to wish for peace.

Though the fifteenth day has passed, vegetarian restaurants in HCM City are still crowded, which only happens in Vu Lan holiday (the seventh lunar month) and every fifteenth day.

According to the owner of Thuyen Vien vegetarian restaurant in the Binh Thanh district, the number of customers has increased since the early of the fourth lunar month.

Mrs. Hue city’s family in Go Vap district are Buddhist followers. They often take vegetarian food on the fifteenth day and the last day of lunar months. However, in the month of Vesak Day (the fourth lunar month), they decided to take vegetarian food for the whole month to clean up their mistakes in life and wish for peace. Hue said she was busy so she often bought vegetarian food from vegetarian restaurants.

Three garment workers - Yen, Thuy and Hoa – also said that they eat vegetarian food in the fourth lunar month to wish for peace. They chose Giac Duc vegetarian restaurant in District 3.

“I know that taking vegetarian food cannot help change my life; cannot turn me from a poor to a rich woman, but when I eat vegetarian food, I always feel peaceful. That’s enough!” said Thuy.

Not only common vegetarian restaurants, but also luxurious ones have many customers this month.

“My restaurant was the most crowded at noon May 16 (Vesak Day). We prepared over 40 cuisines but they were not enough. Though the Vesak Day has passed, our restaurant still has many customers,” said Thang, the manager of Organiz Vegetarian Restaurant in Nguyen Phi Khanh Street.

Most of customers at Viet Chay Restaurant (Vinh Nghiem pagoda) and Tay Tang Mandala in Suong Nguyet Anh Street are office employees. Apart from breakfast, many people take lunch and purchase vegetarian food for their dinner at these restaurants.

Besides taking vegetarian food, our family has decided to not slaughter in the month of Buddha’s birthday, because we want to be peaceful,” said Mrs. Thuy, the owner of a grocery in District 3.

PV