PANO – The tortoise is considered as one of the four legendary sacred animals in the culture of Vietnam. Artisan Tran Do, of Bat Trang Ceramic Village, has worked very hard for 6 months to create an animated ceramic tortoise based on a real old one living in Hoan Kiem Lake, or Restored Sword Lake, in the centre of Hanoi.

This, the biggest ceramic tortoise, is a present of Bat Trang Ceramic Village to the 1,000th Anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi. It will be placed at Ngoc Son Temple as a spiritual animal of the great event.

The Hanoi People’s Committee and the Hanoi Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism organised the process to carry the sacred animal from Bat Trang Ceramic Village to Ngoc Son Temple on September 28th.

The sacred tortoise, weighing nearly four tones and measuring 3mx2.6mx1.36m is the biggest ceramic tortoise in Vietnam.

Translated by Mai Huong