A 30-year-old woman in Vietnam's Mekong Delta spends more than two hours daily on a virtual temple app, swapping TikTok and online shopping for Buddhist chanting, meditation and other spiritual activities.

As virtual temple visits gain popularity among young people in Vietnam, a Buddhist monk warns that spiritual merit comes from compassion and ethical conduct, not digital clicks, virtual gifts or rewards.

Over 45 years and nine terms, the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha has expanded its religious, educational and charitable activities, strengthening its role in Vietnamese society and raising its profile in the international Buddhist community.

From sharing Buddhist teachings on TikTok to accepting donations via QR codes, temples in Vietnam's northern Quang Ninh province are embracing technology to connect with followers and modernize religious administration.

Dai Giac Pagoda in Quang Tri province houses a jade Buddha statue brought from Myanmar and sacred relics of Most Venerable Thich Tri Quang, making it an important Buddhist pilgrimage site.

Eighteen rock carvings of Buddhist Arhats dating to the early Tran Dynasty are believed to be the oldest of their kind in Vietnam, offering rare insights into the flourishing Buddhist culture of medieval Dai Viet.

Beyond its ancient walls and centuries-old Buddhist woodblocks, Bo Da Pagoda in Bac Ninh province preserves a rich spiritual heritage shaped by devotion to Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, and the traditions of the Linji Zen school.

Digital technology is creating new opportunities to preserve Vietnam's Buddhist heritage, but experts warn that virtual religious practices and commercialization could undermine the authenticity of Buddhist traditions.

Unlike the Red River Delta's long-established religious traditions, southern Vietnam's Mekong region gave rise to indigenous faiths whose spiritual leaders offered healing, hope and support to communities facing hardship.

Perched on a hillside in central Vietnam's former imperial capital, Thien Lam Pagoda stands out for its golden stupa, striking Buddha statues and Theravada architecture rarely seen among Hue's historic temples.

At Hanoi's Hoe Nhai Pagoda, a Buddha sits on the back of a kneeling king. Linked by tradition to a Vietnamese monarch's repentance, the centuries-old statue offers a timeless reflection on power, humility and the courage to admit mistakes.

From across Vietnam, handwritten Buddhist sutras have made their way to Dia Tang Phi Lai Pagoda, where 49,000 copies now embody a quiet pilgrimage of patience, gratitude and spiritual reflection.

More than seven centuries later, Vietnam’s Tran dynasty still resonates in the country’s spiritual life, from the worship of national hero Tran Quoc Tuan to the distinctly Vietnamese Truc Lam Zen tradition. 

Co Le Pagoda in Vietnam’s Ninh Binh province is known for its unusual architecture. It also preserves the story of 35 Buddhist monastics who left religious life to fight for their country.

Vietnam’s Buddhist manuscripts, written over centuries in classical Chinese and Nom script, are scattered and deteriorating. Scholars and monks are calling for an urgent effort to preserve them.

Stone elephants, horses and dogs stand guard beside a 350-year-old terracotta tower at An Xa Temple, preserving traces of a rare Taoist spiritual world in northern Vietnam.

Nepalese Buddhist nun and renowned spiritual singer Ani Choying Drolma says a pilgrimage to Vietnam's sacred Yen Tu mountains left her deeply moved by how the country preserves its Buddhist heritage.

For 16 years, Vietnamese artisan Nguyen Cong Dat has searched hundreds of pagodas for traces of his village’s woodblock masters, while fighting to keep their centuries-old Buddhist printing craft alive.

Across a small bridge in northern Vietnam, Nom Pagoda emerges beneath old trees, a place where ancient clay statues, Buddhist legends and the rhythms of an old village market blur the line between the sacred and everyday life.